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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    FreshBooks

    Score9.2 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

    Zoho Expense

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AZoho Expense is online expense reporting software, tailor-made for businesses worldwide to automate expense report creation, streamline approvals and make swift reimbursements.

    $5

    per month per user

    Pricing
    FreshBooksZoho Expense
    Editions & Modules
    Lite
    $21
    per month
    Plus
    $38
    per month
    Premium
    $65
    per month
    Select
    Custom Pricing
    Free
    $0
    Standard Plan
    $5
    per month per user
    Premium Plan
    $9
    per month per user
    Custom
    Get a Quote
    per month per user
    Custom
    Get a Quote
    per month per user
    Custom
    Get a Quote
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FreshBooksZoho Expense
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.20% discount for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    FreshBooksZoho Expense
    Considered Both Products
    FreshBooks
    No answer on this topic
    Zoho
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    69%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    82%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    54%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    64%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    62%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Features
    FreshBooksZoho Expense
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of FreshBooks and Zoho Expense
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    9.1
    35 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Zoho Expense
    -
    Ratings
    API for custom integration9.330 Ratings00 Ratings
    Plug-ins9.026 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of FreshBooks and Zoho Expense
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    10.0
    41 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Zoho Expense
    -
    Ratings
    Single sign-on capability10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions10.041 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of FreshBooks and Zoho Expense
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    7.5
    57 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Zoho Expense
    -
    Ratings
    Dashboards9.057 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standard reports8.855 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom reports4.82 Ratings00 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of FreshBooks and Zoho Expense
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    7.5
    56 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Zoho Expense
    -
    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 FreshBooks and Zoho Expense
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    9.5
    49 Ratings
    25% above category average
    Zoho Expense
    -
    Ratings
    Pricing8.839 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order entry9.337 Ratings00 Ratings
    Credit card processing9.741 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Expense Management
    Comparison of Expense Management features of FreshBooks and Zoho Expense
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Zoho Expense
    7.9
    3 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Employee Expense Reporting00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Corporate Card Reconciliation00 Ratings7.73 Ratings
    Payment Management
    Comparison of Payment Management features of FreshBooks and Zoho Expense
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Zoho Expense
    7.2
    3 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Customizable Approval Policies00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Financial Document Management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Payment Status Tracking00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Payment Audit Trail00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Duplicate Bill Detection00 Ratings7.93 Ratings
    Advanced OCR00 Ratings5.12 Ratings
    Electronic Funds Transfer00 Ratings5.23 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    FreshBooksZoho Expense
    Small Businesses
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    Brex
    Score9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Expensify
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    Emburse Expense Enterprise (formerly Chrome River)
    Score8.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FreshBooksZoho Expense
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.6
    (75 ratings)
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.6
    (18 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (20 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.0
    (11 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FreshBooksZoho Expense
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    easy of use for the end users as well as to manage. The option to add new categories (expenses) and have the end users use them immediately is wonderful. The ease of creating a new user as well as customer support has been great. The customer support while having issues has been quick to resolve any issues
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • The program will notify users if they have entered a duplicate charge.
    • Once the end-users understood that receipts were mandatory, attaching those receipts has become second-nature. The app makes it very easy to do so.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • Could have more default options. Instead of making my users select payment method, allow us to default it to one of the options.
    • More room for customization by department. My service department needs different categories of expenses then my sales department.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Ease of use for the simple basic options. I wish the there was an option for reimbursement to be marked separately. Example for all corporate credit expense reports with $0 reimbursements still have to be marked as reimbursed in order to be removed from pending reimbursement section. For the cost the features offer benefits
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    FreshBooks
    FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Zoho
    The only reason I give Zoho a 9 is because of the issue with the Chart of Accounts skewing every time I export/import. I believe this is due to the fact that I use sub-accounts and Zoho cannot differentiate. Still hoping. :)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    FreshBooks
    I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    We selected (switched) to Zoho Expense because it had similar features at a lower price and we were able to receive a discount through our partner relationship with another software company. We have considered moving from Zoho Expense to something else recently due to continued issues with being able to accurately import credit card charges and organize them correctly be team member. Creating some confusion among users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • We have had some issues with the credit card reconciliation process which has made our monthly accounting / close process. This has been a negative
    • Positive ROI is that team members spend less time on expense reports due to the ease of reporting
    • Positive ROI is that substantial training and onboarding is not needed due to the features and simplicity.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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