FreshBooks vs. Square Invoices

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreshBooks
Score 8.8 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
FreshBooks is an accounting service for small businesses. The solution enables users to send and manage invoices, track billable time and collect online payments. The vendor’s value proposition this that their solution provides a straightforward service that simplifies the billing process.
$21
per month
Square Invoices
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Square Invoices is a software invoicing solution from Square headquartered in San Francisco, California.N/A
Pricing
FreshBooksSquare Invoices
Editions & Modules
Lite
$21
per month
Plus
$38
per month
Premium
$65
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreshBooksSquare Invoices
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreshBooksSquare Invoices
Features
FreshBooksSquare Invoices
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
9.1
35 Ratings
16% above category average
Square Invoices
-
Ratings
API for custom integration9.330 Ratings00 Ratings
Plug-ins8.926 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
10.0
41 Ratings
20% above category average
Square Invoices
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions9.941 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.5
57 Ratings
4% below category average
Square Invoices
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.957 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.755 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports4.82 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.5
56 Ratings
2% below category average
Square Invoices
-
Ratings
Accounts payable8.041 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable9.455 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash management7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Expense management6.651 Ratings00 Ratings
Time tracking7.642 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance6.021 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal9.13 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
9.4
49 Ratings
21% above category average
Square Invoices
-
Ratings
Pricing8.839 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry9.337 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing9.641 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreshBooksSquare Invoices
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 7.2 out of 10
Method:CRM
Method:CRM
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
TimeCamp
TimeCamp
Score 7.0 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.5 out of 10
TimeCamp
TimeCamp
Score 7.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreshBooksSquare Invoices
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(75 ratings)
9.1
(7 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.6
(18 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.5
(20 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(11 ratings)
9.7
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreshBooksSquare Invoices
Likelihood to Recommend
FreshBooks
I recommend FreshBooks to anyone running a service-based business that needs invoicing, time reporting, and accounting tools. FB is adept in all three of these scenarios and isn't overly complicated like similar accounting packages I have used. I love how I can write estimates and proposals, manage the business development process from the software, and quickly convert prospects to invoiced clients.
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Block, Inc (Square)
Square Invoices is the best service that I have found for what it does: it's easy to use, nice to look at, and never seems to go to spam or be lost by clients. Clients mention that the setup is easier than services my competitors use. You can even attach your contract to the invoice, which is wonderful in case there are questions later on. Unfortunately, not being able to have clients alter quantities or select add-ons means for half of my services, I have to use a different, inferior service.
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Pros
FreshBooks
  • Invoicing - FreshBooks basically ensures our accountants spend less time on invoices via its automated invoicing system, which sends invoices to our customers and clients alike and also send them regular reminders for them to pay up their bills.
  • Collecting business insights - FreshBooks enable our company analysts measure our business performances via data reports provided by FreshBooks' intuitive dashboard. Allowing us do a comparative analysis of key business metrics of a current month against past months and determine if the business is growing.
  • Expense tracker - We have recently embraced FreshBooks as an expense tracker for teams at our company branch. Thusfar, FreshBooks has performed very well, making our expense management a perfect operation; ensuring teams do not exceed their planned budget and also eliminating the need for tracking expenses on excel spreadsheets.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • Adding a customer to invoice is super simple and takes minimal effort.
  • Payment collection is easy and seamless because Square Invoices allows the recipient to pay using credit/cards.
  • One of the fest features is allowing invoices to be recurring. If my contract stipulates a flat fee monthly, I can set the invoices to recur monthly for the duration of the contract.
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Cons
FreshBooks
  • I can brand invoices with my business logo, but I might like to change colours of the invoices themselves to match the rest of my business documents. That isn't a major point at all, but it's something that I'd like to see.
  • Freshbooks doesn't remember the categories that similar expenses were previously assigned to. It would be nice if Freshbooks would suggest a category for an already saved vendor, to ensure the consistency of expense reporting.
  • The home page of a Freshbooks account has a great graph display of expenses and income, but it only shows the last 6 months. This is still very useful, but I'd like to be able to see this kind of graph for different periods of time.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • The reports section is not always the easiest to understand. It seems like I have to stop and think about options instead of it being 100% intuitive.
  • With the fees we pay per transaction, it would be nice to be able to add additional "limited" users for no extra cost.
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Likelihood to Renew
FreshBooks
At the current needs of our business, FreshBooks suits us perfectly - it allows online access by our accountant to the system for GST purposes, easy input of expenses and tracking of Profit and Loss statements. FreshBooks customer service is great as well - very understanding and accommodating.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Usability
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is very easy to use even for novices. If you're looking for an online accounting software that is full of features, has great aesthetics and is user-friendly, then this is definitely the software for you. I've been using it for several years now and despite being tempted to switch by other vendors, I like the feel of FreshBooks and it's mobile features.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
FreshBooks
I think the support level for FreshBooks is on par with a 6 because the folks behind this application do a fairly good job at providing support for their customer base. I still don't think they are at an elite level when it comes to supporting but are getting there although too slow in my opinion.
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Block, Inc (Square)
The only time I had a problem was a false chargeback from a client. Square Invoices referenced our contract and ruled in my favor, and they did so in a timely manner. I sent them the contract and my email history with the client, and they quickly unfroze the amount of money.
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Implementation Rating
FreshBooks
I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
FreshBooks
FreshBooks does very well in comparison, especially since it is free software for Barclays bank users. Sage software is much worse than FreshBooks. However, Xero and QuickBooks, the market leaders, are still ahead with usability, additional features, reporting, and connection with third-party software providers. We chose FreshBooks as it does everything we require from this type of software.
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Block, Inc (Square)
Square Invoices is easier to use and automatically transfers your money to your bank account vs Paypal that holds your money and you have to manually transfer and it takes 3-5 days (many times more). Square Invoices looks better overall, and for the same fees as Paypal, provides a better service overall.
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Return on Investment
FreshBooks
  • In reality, we do not implement all of its use at the moment in order to determine an adequate ROI.
  • In our approach to the use of the system, it seems to us a considerable time saving by achieving the integration of the Mexican subsidiary with its parent located in the US.
  • Financial reports meet the necessary USGAAP requirements.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • I love that I can sort my invoices in total, or by a specific time period to see how my sales are doing and comparing to prior time periods.
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ScreenShots

FreshBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of the dashboardScreenshot of an invoice overviewScreenshot of an example of a customizable invoiceScreenshot of an invoice appearing across devicesScreenshot of expensesScreenshot of time tracking