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FreshBooks

FreshBooks

Overview

What is FreshBooks?

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…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

FreshBooks is a user-friendly accounting software that has been highly praised by users for its ability to streamline invoice creation, …
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Know what you are buying first

2 out of 10
November 02, 2023
Our main use for FreshBooks is invoicing and estimates, linking with our credit union is very spotty so not reliable enough to do any …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 20 features
  • Dashboards (52)
    4.6
    46%
  • Standard reports (50)
    4.1
    41%
  • Expense management (46)
    2.9
    29%
  • Accounts receivable (50)
    2.5
    25%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Lite

$15

Cloud
per month

Plus

$30

Cloud
per month

Premium

$55

Cloud
per month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttp://www.freshbooks.com/?ref=11573&ut…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Working Better Together with FreshBooks

YouTube

InfoPoc: Freshbooks Connector for Salesforce - Demo

YouTube

Create Freshbooks Invoices for New WooCommerce Orders

YouTube

FreshBooks Demo

YouTube

Freshbooks Demo

YouTube

Become a Certified FreshBooks Accounting Partner

YouTube
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Features

Customization

This addresses a company’s ability to configure the software to fit its specific use case and workflow.

1.2
Avg 7.1

Security

This component helps a company minimize the security risks by controlling access to the software and its data, and encouraging best practices among users.

6.3
Avg 8.0

Reporting & Analytics

Users can report on and analyze usage, performance, ROI, and/or other metrics of success.

4.5
Avg 7.6

General Ledger and Configurable Accounting

Financial management solution, including capabilities for general ledger and configurable accounting

4.6
Avg 7.4

Order Management

The ability to process orders, and track them from quote to cash.

3.9
Avg 7.4
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Product Details

What is FreshBooks?

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.

FreshBooks Features

General Ledger and Configurable Accounting Features

  • Supported: Accounts payable
  • Supported: Accounts receivable
  • Supported: Expense management
  • Supported: Time tracking
  • Supported: Regulations compliance

Order Management Features

  • Supported: Pricing
  • Supported: Order entry
  • Supported: Credit card processing

Reporting & Analytics Features

  • Supported: Dashboards
  • Supported: Standard reports

Customization Features

  • Supported: API for custom integration
  • Supported: Plug-ins

Security Features

  • Supported: Role-based user permissions

FreshBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of DashboardScreenshot of Invoice OverviewScreenshot of Beautiful, Customizable InvoicesScreenshot of Invoice seamlessly across devicesScreenshot of ExpensesScreenshot of Time TrackingScreenshot of Time TrackingScreenshot of Time TrackingScreenshot of Time TrackingScreenshot of App IntegrationsScreenshot of Recurring BillingScreenshot of PaymentsScreenshot of ReportsScreenshot of Projects

FreshBooks Videos

Accounting, for the Non-Accountant.
Say Hello to FreshBooks Cloud Accounting

FreshBooks Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Mac
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android
Supported LanguagesEnglish

Frequently Asked Questions

QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Zoho Invoice are common alternatives for FreshBooks.

Reviewers rate Self-service portal highest, with a score of 9.1.

The most common users of FreshBooks are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).

FreshBooks Customer Size Distribution

Consumers0%
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)95%
Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees)5%
Enterprises (more than 500 employees)0%
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(202)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

FreshBooks is a user-friendly accounting software that has been highly praised by users for its ability to streamline invoice creation, email tracking, and expense management. With FreshBooks, users can effortlessly create, email, and track invoices, as well as set up recurring invoices. The detailed reports provided by FreshBooks allow users to efficiently manage their financials and gain insights into their expenses and client details. Clients also appreciate the convenience of accessing their accounts, viewing/printing invoices, and even filing disputes through FreshBooks. Another notable aspect of FreshBooks is its responsive and helpful customer support team, which is always ready to address any issues or questions that users may have.

Freelancers in particular rely on FreshBooks to stay organized and generate reports for estimating, invoicing, expense tracking, and timekeeping. However, the versatility of FreshBooks extends beyond freelancers. It has been widely used across industries for invoicing clients and keeping the process organized and efficient. For example, Picobarn implemented FreshBooks as a mandatory tool for its employees, enabling them to streamline the invoicing process and provide real-time project tracking. Additionally, FreshBooks has been adopted by organizations to integrate accounting and bookkeeping activities, simplifying day-to-day tasks and ensuring security. By replacing manual bookkeeping processes with FreshBooks, users have saved time and resources while improving client understanding of financial documents.

FreshBooks handles all invoicing needs effectively by making invoice creation quick and easy while enabling online payments. The software has become a valuable tool for independent representatives in various business sectors such as graphic design, helping them track business expenses effortlessly. Similarly, freelance writers and editors find FreshBooks indispensable for tracking hours worked, invoicing clients accurately, and managing their one-person operations smoothly. Companies also utilize FreshBooks to track time and expenses for both staff and consultants working on client projects. In addition to customer invoicing and expense tracking capabilities, it provides direct access for tax advisors, facilitating bank account reconciliation and ensuring accurate financial reporting.

While FreshBooks has garnered positive feedback from users, some have experienced challenges with credit card integrations and payment processing, leading them to explore alternative options. Despite this, FreshBooks has remained a popular choice for businesses seeking to centralize invoicing and accounting processes, improving efficiency and organization. Consultants and support teams have also found value in FreshBooks as it helps them track time, invoice clients, and consolidate tasks within one program.

FreshBooks has successfully helped users streamline their invoicing process, resulting in faster invoice creation, professional-looking invoices, and improved payment tracking. By allowing users to set automatic reminders for overdue invoices, FreshBooks ensures timely follow-up for payment. However, some users prefer to send manual reminders.

FreshBooks has been praised for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for users to navigate and use for multiple purposes. It is particularly beneficial for small businesses and freelancers who need a simple accounting solution without the complexity of tools like QuickBooks. Users appreciate the ease of use and simplicity of FreshBooks for handling administrative tasks such as bookkeeping, expense tracking, and invoicing. The software eliminates the need for more complex tools and reduces the need to hire additional staff.

One of the key advantages of FreshBooks is its cloud-based nature, allowing users to access and send invoices from their smartphones and tablets. This flexibility enables users to manage their financials on the go, keeping them connected to their business at all times. The ability to track time spent on projects, calculate project estimates, invoice clients, and accept payments all within FreshBooks makes it a valuable tool for freelancers and small businesses alike. Additionally, FreshBooks offers a free trial without requiring credit card information, allowing users to test the software before committing.

FreshBooks caters to a wide range of industries and has been used by marketing and manufacturing customers to properly track invoices and increase productivity and cost savings. It is also utilized across entire organizations for account receivables, setting up and sending invoices, collecting payments, tracking hours on projects, and efficiently managing billing. Moreover, FreshBooks has found its place in small family businesses that depend on it for managing expenses, logging hours, invoicing companies, and tracking total sales. Users have even customized FreshBooks using its API to automate payment entry and tracking according to their specific needs.

Overall, FreshBooks has proven itself as a reliable accounting software that simplifies the invoicing process, tracks expenses effectively, provides comprehensive financial insights, and offers user-friendly features. Its extensive range of functionalities makes it a valuable tool for freelancers, small businesses, and organizations looking to streamline their financial management processes.

Based on user recommendations, FreshBooks receives the following common suggestions:

  1. Familiarize yourself with the interface: Users recommend purchasing the free version of FreshBooks to get acquainted with the interface. This allows users to understand how the software works before committing to a paid plan.

  2. Suitable for small businesses: FreshBooks is highly recommended for small businesses. It is seen as a valuable program that caters to their day-to-day transactions and accounting needs. The software's simplicity and user-friendly interface make it an ideal choice for small business owners.

  3. Try before committing: Users suggest trying the trial version or taking advantage of the 1-month free trial offered by FreshBooks. This allows potential users to test out the software and assess its suitability for their specific business needs before making any financial commitments.

Overall, users find FreshBooks to be a valuable and user-friendly tool for online accounting, billing, invoicing, and expense tracking. They recommend giving it a try, especially for small businesses looking for a simple and easy-to-use accounting or invoicing program.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(26-50 of 70)
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Kristina Kadykeeva | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I used to receive and give invoices using Excel and Word. It required a lot of time for me to do this. I wound up procrastinating a couple of times in getting invoices out, which led me to get paid more slowly. Utilizing FreshBooks has facilitated this process for me, so I am ready to make and send invoices significantly faster. Likewise, the invoices I send now are extremely professional looking, and being able to track my customer's progress on the invoices spares me from doing as much follow up with them to get paid.
  • FreshBooks gives independent businesses a very thoughtful and instinctive UI that can be used for a wide range of functions, most outstandingly charging, and invoicing. User are offered a variety of templates to browse while making invoices, taking into consideration snappy, yet proficient looking records.
  • FreshBooks also gives you tools for group collaboration, monitoring, and operations, which can all be effortlessly explored and set up to build your business's capacity to increase communication, send regular updates, submit recommendations, and secure jobs without hardly lifting a finger.
  • As a bookkeeping bundle, FreshBooks offers some crucial accounting and bookkeeping functions, and has some banking functions. It lets you see online credit card charges, and alerts you via their fully-functional app.
  • FreshBooks gives amazing support from the beginning. Users can get started with a detailed and easy-to-follow startup guide, while their well-prepared staff is always available to give clients answers to any questions or issues they may experience. FreshBooks is extremely proud of their client support and their consumer loyalty rating, and you can really see that when you talk with one of their agents.
  • Its estimates, goal setting, and detailing highlights can be better. One user also discovered bugs in FreshBooks' email click-throughs and computerized costs which he did not like. Aside from these minor glitches, however, FreshBooks is a first class bookkeeping software.
  • Rather than representatives focusing on one complete ticket, FreshBooks adds an additional task where you need to utilize a clock and ensure that they get the job done. The representatives are generally paid less every day regardless of whether they were available or online inside their given planned hours. Pay isn't credited right away and will be on pending for 3 days regardless of whether it was at that point affirmed by the Manager.
If you need to use Paypal to acknowledge installments, then the new form of Freshbooks won't suit you. If not, though, I very, truly exceedingly suggest Freshbooks for anybody requiring a cloud based invoicing, venture time following, and overseeing cost framework. Consultants, small administration organizations working on the web, and offices all will profit extraordinarily. The iPhone application is easy to use to oversee costs and can do most everything you can do on the web application, and is fast and intuitive.
David Kaufer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use FreshBooks in our marketing agency to invoice clients and to track accounts receivable. We've also used it a bit for some small project bids.
  • VERY easy to set up and manage.
  • Provides great info in an easy-to-read and navigate manner.
  • Multiple credit card processing options (as well as other payment options).
  • Customer support is outstanding.
  • The bid/estimate area is pretty light. It would be nice to be able to do more editing (including adding images etc) to help make it look better.
  • We don't really use it but I think the time tracking function is also pretty basic.
I've recommended FreshBooks to other small business/agency owners who needed an easy way to invoice clients/customers (and to track everything). It's well-suited for nearly every small-medium sized business.
Bart Caylor | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have been very pleased with FreshBooks. It is a simple and robust solution. I admit I don't use all of the features, but I have it integrated through Zapier to my proposal software (Proposify) so that I can generate quick invoices upon approval. I also like that it keeps notifications going when bills are late.
  • Notification of late bills.
  • Quick invoicing.
  • Easy to use.
  • Has more features than what I need, but I just don't worry about it.
  • I did not like the new version. Once I upgraded, I went back to the classic version...it was easier and had a few features I didn't like.
  • Would like to be able to export users out of FreshBooks. I don't think you can do that right now.
Small business...solo consultants. I do have QuickBooks Online, but use FreshBooks for all of my invoicing.
Joshua Burcham | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I used FreshBooks to track my time, invoice clients, and track payments. FreshBooks makes it very easy for me to set up new projects and track the amount of time I spent working on them. As a freelancer, I don't want to send a lot of time doing non-billable work. FreshBooks almost makes all of the project tracking stuff happen "in the background" with very little effort.
  • It makes sending invoices for billable time super easy. You can generate an invoice with a detailed description of each time entry in just a few seconds.
  • The user interface is great. It makes the normally tedious tasks associated with time tracking and invoicing seem easy.
  • Reporting is easy. It's great to be able to see quickly which clients are slow to pay, what clients have I spent the most time this month/quarter/year working with, etc.
  • Sometimes I wish there was more flexibility with the options: applying late payments, the details that show up in the reports. I suppose being able to customize things adds to complexity... so it's a trade-off.
  • There aren't enough accounting reports to use this as a stand-alone accounting solution. I paired it with QuickBooks Online.
  • It's not a problem for me, but they don't support many currencies.
FreshBooks is great for small businesses that need an easy, simple solution to track time and invoice clients. If you work with simple project rates and hourly rates that don't get too complicated it should work great. For businesses that need complex financial reporting, you'll either have to use an additional solution that integrates with FreshBooks or look for a different solution altogether.
Ashish Parihar | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I am a freelancer and I have used FreshBooks for more than 4 years. Before that I was creating invoices manually and sending them to clients through my personal email. Well... I really got the burden off my head when I started using FreshBooks. I can create invoices, maintain clients' profile, perform billing easily on it and send them to the client I want. Moreover it keeps all history and reports at one place which is very useful for me.
  • Very good looking user interface. Clean and clear. It really looks like a fresh accounting book in the real world.
  • Easy to use interface, easy to find all features at a same place. I can create invoices in seconds and send to the clients.
  • It is really a great application for small business owners or freelancers like me. I can concentrate on other things while FreshBooks do all accounting for me, easing that burden off my shoulders.
  • It should have a free version which can be used for unlimited time not just 30 days. Although the company can limit the number of clients in them but the free version should always be free.
  • Need more integration features and should be able to integrate with other third party apps and payroll tools for enhancing the functionality. But I look forward to the next updates in FreshBooks.
  • Need an essential feature which is Time Tracking. Hope to get it soon!
Very good for small businesses and freelancers. When your business needs more and more customization and bulk accounting, I think FreshBooks might not be a good fit but still manageable.
Julio A Rivas | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The software is being used for my whole organization as a base to set up all the products and address every clients needs. We focus our products on the needs of our clients, and we are looking for international business, so this app allows us to keep on the market and expose ourselves on other markets. The main business problems we address are daily project appearance, proposals, configuration, leads, tracking, invoice and collect by any means. The most important thing is the control of expenses and the ability to make fixed payments, which allows us to focus on our work.
  • Time tracking
  • Quick invoicing
  • Easy navigation
  • Accepts all payment methods
  • Invoice is manual entry, and has to be automaticly numbered
  • Manual entries are a little time consuming
  • I would like my logo on invoices
The software is well suited for when I have clients with the same type of contract, and in projects where we use one hour rate, but if I have several clients with hourly rates and construction rates, this scenario is less appropriate because every invoice or entry has to be done manually and this is a time consuming process.
Sandra Ikegwuonu | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Freshbooks as our go-to book-keeping tool in our branch of my organization. We basically use this tool for invoicing our clients and customers alike, calculating project estimates, tracking amount of time spent on projects, and also as a platform to accept payments from selected customers and clients.
  • 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.
  • Multi currency support - FreshBooks currently doesn't enable us enter our financial transactions in our local currency. Thus to use FreshBooks, we enter our financials in basic digits which can sometime be very confusing.
  • Templates - FreshBooks invoice templates are currently limited to what is provided in the tool by default. It would be nice to have the ability to customize our own invoice to meet our demands.
FreshBooks is the perfect tool for businesses who have hundreds of clients and customers whom they invoice regularly. It removes the need to manually send invoices to clients and customers, by streamlining inputted information to create an automated invoicing system which keeps clients and customers up to date with their bills.

It is also a great tool for managing expenses, especially for companies with different teams working on varying projects, ensuring these teams do not exceed the budget ceiling.
Abiola Ademosu | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Freshbooks to integrate our accounting and bookkeeping activities across my organization. From invoicing clients to tracking expenditure, tracking projects, setting proposal cost etc., thereby making our day to day activity at work fast, easy and secure.
  • Estimates and proposals: Freshbooks enables us to make a concise estimate on new projects. With just a few clicks we and our client get on the same page, start a project and streamline billing. From the beginning of new projects to the end, Freshbooks gets us covered.
  • Mobility: Freshbooks enables us to keep tabs on our finances even while on the move - courtesy of its mobile app.
  • With the FreshBooks mobile apps, we stay connected with our clients, while also taking care of our accounting from anywhere and everywhere.
  • Financial-report: FreshBooks enable us to measure our business performance. Via its dashboard and reports, we are able to stay in touch with our business performance and growth. Making the job of the accounting department, much more easier.
  • Currency support: Freshbooks doesn't support all currencies. That has been a major hindrance to our using this tool for some of our bookkeeping activity.
  • Credit card payment: As of the moment, Freshbooks doesn't support all credit card providers. They seem to have credit card payments providers, whose cards they accept.
Freshbooks is suited for measuring the performances of a business, allows users accept online payments from their clients; making it faster to close sales. However, Freshbooks is best used for bookkeeping needs as against full-time accounting tasks.
Suyi Harrison Iwalewe | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Freshbooks to manage our startup's finances from day to day basic book-keeping to ticketing, setting reminders and invoicing customers, alongside responding to customer query regarding the invoice we send them.
  • Integration with a third-party application.
  • Time-tracking and invoice booking.
  • Payments.
  • Payments; Freshbooks sometimes doesn't accept certain credit cards.
  • Poor chat and phone support.
  • Subscription can be better.Probably a pay as you use model, as against the monthly, yearly model.
Freshbooks is a top choice for basic book-keeping, making payments, time tracking and basic accounting. However, it is not a full accounting software.
Matthew Robinson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Freshbooks to track time against projects for our consulting business. We also use Freshbooks to issue invoices to our clients on a periodic basis. The system is used by our employees and contractors to log their time and provides real-time visibility to time entries that we can provide to our customers on a timely basis.
  • Time Tracking - Simple, Intuitive, Easy to use.
  • Invoicing - Simple, Easy to Understand.
  • Online Payments - Can accept credit cards through multiple providers.
  • Accounting - The reports are very time and invoice centric. There are no easily accessible A/R, A/P type invoices, the data is there but must be manipulated manually.
  • Reporting - This could be stronger, more flexibility vs. the static pre-canned reports.
Businesses which track time against projects are a perfect fit for the tool. The tool allows you to set a budget and employees for projects. You can assign a project rate or varying rates per employee depending on the project arrangement and this works hand in hand with the billing.
Nate Shields | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
My use case for Freshbooks is simple: track hours worked and expenses incurred for various clients/projects, send invoices to collect payment, track whether payment was received. Freshbooks has made it extremely efficient and simple for me to do all of that, including doing it right from my phone.
  • I love the Freshbooks mobile app. That thing is a huge life saver and time saver for quickly capturing expenses and images of receipts the moment I have a receipt in hand for business expenses, and assigning them to the right project/client with the right expense category. That alone makes Freshbooks worth it for me.
  • I also love the ease of tracking time to various projects/clients and then the ability to quickly and easily create, edit and send invoices.
  • And best of all, for the usage levels I need...it's FREE.
  • I wish there was a way to separate expense reimbursements from revenue in the invoice section. When creating an invoice you can choose whether to send just expenses, or just hours, or both together, but in the outstanding invoice view, there's no indicator of what's revenue vs. what is expense reimbursement. Takes some manual work to figure that out when looking at your invoice list.
If you are self-employed, or a small business and your use cases for billing and invoicing are pretty simple and straightforward, FreshBooks is great. If you are a larger organization and/or have a more complex accounting process, FreshBooks might not be the right fit for what you are looking for.
Chamakhe Maurieni | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Before we adapted FreshBooks as a solution in my organization we had to manually update our books on Microsoft Excel and at the end of the week, or month we had to send an Excel sheet to each of our clients; and also had to add a long email explaining the details of the financials contained on the sent document. It was a lot of stress and used a huge amount of human and financial resources. However, with FreshBooks, we spend less time and resources on keeping our account up to date and sending clients invoices and bills at the end of the week or month because it became a click away. It was also easier for the clients to understand what they were being sent than they did when we did things manually.
  • Work scheduling and client invoicing.
  • Integration with third party programs like MailChimp, Zapier, Toggl.
  • Support ticketing; FreshBooks allows clients to open a support ticket to clarify issues with your team; that's a huge plus with the program.
  • I would appreciate it if FreshBooks can have a pay as you use payment plan instead of the monthly plan it currently runs on.
  • I think FreshBooks can be engineered to favor users across the world. FreshBooks users in non-western countries will have some issues using the program as it is currently mainly geared towards western based users.
If you are a very small startup , FreshBooks will do a whole lot for you and will remove the need for a day to day accountant with your team.
Nick Jakubowski | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We utilize FreshBooks across our entire team in all different departments. We originally used multiple tools to track time for employees, time spent on clients, and invoicing clients. With FreshBooks we are able to do all our tasks in one program. No longer do we need to jump around different tools to get these tasks done, all our tracking is in one place.
  • Building custom invoices for clients. Some white label products are very plain and don't allow for much customization. With FreshBooks we can build custom, well designed invoice templates for our clients.
  • Project time tracking. When working on multiple accounts we need to know how much time has been delegated to specific projects. Employees select which project they are working on and add in notes of what was done. We can see if too much or too little work has been done.
  • Employee time tracking. We work with many freelance and consultants and with FreshBooks we can monitor how much they have worked. Notes can also be added which helps us see what projects and specific things they did for the accounts.
  • The price. Although FreshBooks brings many features into one place there are cheaper, and even free, tools to get the same results.
  • Importing contacts. If you have quite a few client contacts get ready to manually import them into the program.
Are you a project manager and need to monitor time spent on a project or time an employee spends on a project? FreshBooks allows for any employee to be able to track their time and how much time was spent on a project. This way no time is wasted or missed out on.
Mandy Cramer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
FreshBooks is a really practical tool for invoicing, keeping track of time and expenses, etc... It's a particularly useful tool if you don't already know how to keep your own books.

Another great thing about FreshBooks is that you are able to do a trial which is free, I mean, completely free. You don't have to enter any credit card information, so if you decide it's not for you, you can quit using it. I'll admit I didn't continue using it because I already had a pretty in-depth system in place that worked for me as far as invoicing and keeping track of my hours and expenses, but I would definitely recommend FreshBooks overall to any new business owner.
  • Great Trial
  • Perfect for streamlining your accounting
  • Accept payments from multiple sources
  • Lovely Design
  • Client limits are sometimes a downer.
  • Credit Card fees still cost you when accepting payments via credit card.
  • Lite Services isn't worth the cost.
  • Unable to perfectly maintain my established branding with FreshBooks. Of course I can upload my logo, but it is not entirely consistent with my overall branding.
It is perfect for new business owners or businesses that want to be able to keep their own books. Of course it is still important to check with an accountant, but this can certainly save some time and money.

This is also great for freelancers because you can choose between billing by project or hourly. You can even keep track of how many hours you are working for each project.

I don't think FreshBooks would work as well with a large company because they might have tons of clients or accounts to keep track of. In those situations, it is best if they have their own accountant.
Renea Hanks | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Freshbooks to invoice my clients. It is a flawless and easy to use software. The business problems it addresses specifically are:
  • Time
  • Money
  • Energy
I create estimates and then convert them to an invoice which can be paid immediately to start work. It saves money. The pricing plans are very fair and attainable for startups and small business. The energy I used previously to handle time and money is used for more productive things like creating products and services to help my clients.
  • Nomadic. Seriously, if I forgot to send an estimate or an invoice, I can do it right where I am, even on the beach.
  • Organized. The interface is clear, clean and simple. It keeps me very organized.
  • I get paid quicker.
  • Email click through for my clients has been a problem. I have had to resend repeatedly to one client. That is frustrating but has been the one thing I feel needs improvement.
  • I don't completely trust the automated expenses. I still use another application for that.
  • I would like better reporting tools.
Freshbooks is well suited, in my opinion, for small businesses and startups that wish to take control of their business right from their smartphone. Freshbooks is less appropriate for companies that need to track inventory heavily.
Jeff Looby, CPA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It is used for tracking time and expenses, invoicing said time and expenses and was once used for reporting purposes. Originally, the software was used across the organization but now it is only being used by the employees who insist on design considerations over a robust functionality. The invoices look satisfactory at best.
  • Intuitive user interface
  • Invoices are easy to edit
  • The mobile app provides notifications
  • The projects functionality is good in theory
  • The reporting functionality is poor - behaves more like a ledger than financial reporting tool
  • Transaction fees are very high unless your dollar volumes are very high
  • The estimates tool is nothing more than an excel spreadsheet

FreshBooks is potentially well suited for a freelancer graphic designer who often collaborated with others who were also accessing FreshBooks and had a lot of non-professional customers who highly valued being able to pay online by credit card to the point where one may notice a material uptick in collections.

FreshBooks is not well suited for business owners who have professional, established businesses who prefer to pay by check or ACH - not credit card.

Lisa Keyser | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Freshbooks for invoicing clients for both hourly and project-based work. I can also invite contractors to track and bill hours through Freshbooks, which is helpful when re-billing hours. One of the biggest issues we continually face is late payments. Freshbooks help us manage that problem with automated invoice reminders and late fees.
  • Automated invoicing is one of the best features. Whether we have annual or monthly billing, the invoices are created automatically, cutting down on staff and admin time and manual labor.
  • Ease of payment is also another plus. Allowing clients to pay in a variety of ways means we are able to get our money in the most efficient manner for each client.
  • Time tracking is another Freshbooks feature we use on a daily basis. The monthly calendars that give a snapshot of hours worked is useful as well.
  • The reporting feature leaves a lot to be desired. None of the lines of data in a report are hyperlinked, so when an problem is identified in hours or billing in a report, you have to go back and search for that particular time entry or item, rather than being able to click through from the report.
  • While the late fees are an awesome feature, there should be more flexibility and more options on how and when late fees are applied. For example, picking a 60-day window for late fees means that additional late fees aren't added until 120 days, rather than 90 as I would prefer.
Freshbooks is a great fit for small businesses, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and solopreneurs that invoice on a regular basis. The suite of tools it offers make it a great fit for a freelancer with a few dozen clients, thanks to the ability to create quotes, charge deposits, and create custom projects and tasks with their own individual rates. It would not be as appropriate for a company with a large number of employees, as it does not handle payroll. It's also not true accounting software, either, and can't be a replacement for something like QuickBooks.
Hollie McArthur | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I have enjoyed the FreshBooks brand and the ease of use. I am trying to run a business and be efficient, and running a fancy complex accounting software is not where my time is best spent. FreshBooks is easy to use, and the customer service is amazing. They are laid back and fun to work with. Even my log-in is fun to look at. They offer a great service that has streamlined how I work and keep the shop open and the bills paid!
  • Fun Branding.
  • Simple to use - for the NON-accountant type.
  • Easy time tracking and project management as well as simple invoicing.
  • Faster mobile app
Small businesses are a match-up with FreshBooks!
Ana Tirolese | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I use Freshbooks, myself. I am an independent representative of the company working strictly on commission. I also use Freshbooks for my graphic design, fine arts, and other jobs I do for people. I track all of my business expenses and income in one Freshbooks profile. I use it to send out quotes, invoice my clients and for time tracking.
  • Freshbooks is easy to use. It is very intuitive. It allows you to easily track time, invoice clients, and track expenses.
  • It tracks all payments, expenses, and sends out friendly reminders to clients who have not paid yet. I can see if the client has opened and viewed the invoices so they cannot tell me that they did not get it.
  • Freshbooks creates great reports to take to my accountant at tax time. This makes it so much easier and a lot less headaches for me.
  • I wish they would bill their Canadian customers in Canadian funds.
I use Freshbooks for tracking my time and expenses on any of my design or art jobs. It makes it easy to properly and fairly invoice my clients. Everything is tracked and I can show a digital paper trail if necessary (It has not been necessary, but it is there if someone wants to see it).
Mildred M. Tassone | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Freshbooks to track time for billing, track time for personal time management and invoicing and estimates. I have been able to standardize estimates and procedures and convert and get paid right from there. It aids in really seeing how much time something takes to do and then bill accordingly.
  • Time tracking is essential to determining how long tasks take for billing later on, but for keeping yourself on time.
  • The mobile version is a solid technology app. Easy to use and sync so you can go between tasks easily and keep thing on target.
  • Customer bill is easy and accurate.
  • Possibly using charts with time on projects. Might even be there, but I haven't seen it.
If you do any kind of hourly billing, this is the best. And if you manage by task, again the best. The estimate feature also makes converting to invoice and getting paid easy. You have the options for payment that, again, make it smoother to get paid, and with partial payments.
March 24, 2017

Thrilled with it

Emily Autenrieth | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I am a freelance writer and editor and I use FreshBooks in my one-woman operation to track hours and invoice clients.
  • Customer service. FreshBooks is responsive, professional, and friendly.
  • Ease of time tracking. I love being able to choose my level of detail and increments.
  • Ease of invoicing and payment. My clients have all been happy with it.
  • I would like a smoother flow for adding projects to clients and then billing them.
  • I would like an easier way to quickly view all the detailed hours I have billed for a specific client and project.
It's perfect for me as a one-woman operation. That is the only capacity in which I have used it and I have been very happy with it. I like how responsive and friendly the customer service team has been when responding to my questions and/or to the feedback I've given them.
Matthew Lee | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use FreshBooks for time tracking, estimating and invoicing. FreshBooks has greatly simplified the process of monthly invoicing. I can now complete in 5-10 minutes what used to take me hours. I am more likely to bill for small items because it is so quick and easy which has improved my bottom line.
  • Very easy to use.
  • Excellent customer service.
  • Excellent connectivity to my bank and other financial institutions.
  • The estimating module is too rigid. It would be great if it offered more flexibility in its layout.
FreshBooks is great for small businesses looking for a very simple way to handle their invoicing. It is particularly good if you work with subcontractors who also use FreshBooks as their time can be logged directly into your projects allowing you to bill for their time even before they invoice you.
September 19, 2016

Freshbooks is User Friendly

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our company, Propecta, uses Freshbooks for account receivables. We set up and send out one time and recurring invoices to clients as well as collect their payments through ACH or via check. Freshbook organizes all of this information in a very user friendly way. We appreciate all of the options for payment to make this easier for our clients.
  • Freshbooks is very user friendly!
  • Payment options are vast for easy use by our clients!
  • Visually appealing.
  • I'd prefer using Freshbooks over QuickBooks, but since Freshbooks does not have all of the features that QuickBooks does, we still use both.
Like I've mentioned before, Freshbooks is very user friendly, and does not take hours of time to become accustomed to it. This is a great way to organize invoices and payments for small businesses.
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Freshbooks was initially thought to make our invoicing and time tracking easier. However after starting to use a vast amount of other services to run our business, we decided that it wasn't worth the extra cost when services like Xero (which is our primary accounting software) – does time tracking and invoicing perfectly fine.
  • Design
  • User Interface
  • Time Tracking
  • Cost
  • Integration Partners (Cost)
  • Mobile Apps
Freshbooks is great for freelancers who are using a relatively low amount of services to be running their business. I would not suggest it for small or medium sized businesses that will rely on multiple different facets of an accounting organization. Freshbooks is great for people who run a single person business.
Raylene Wall | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use FreshBooks for all of our expense tracking, client invoicing, and project time tracking. I use it personally and each of my contractors/service providers have accounts as well. My contractors also invoice me directly through FreshBooks. We can also coordinate with our bookkeeper to export the information she needs.
  • Invoices branded for my company are sent directly to my clients from within FreshBooks.
  • FreshBooks will request reviews of my services from my clients when they make payments.
  • Online payments can be made by my clients directly from the invoice.
  • 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.
If accounting isn't your 'thing', but you need a good basic accounting software for your small- to medium-size business, FreshBooks is a great option. We often recommend FreshBooks to other businesses just getting started. The user-interface is very fast to learn and easy to use. It can be used simply as an invoicing tool, or in a more advanced manner for detailed accounting.
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