FreshBooks Review — Pros & Cons [2023]

Top Features

FreshBooks have too many features to fit into one review. Here’s what we consider to be the top features of the platform.

Accounting Capabilities

From maintaining your balance sheets to tracking accounts payable, everything can be done with the utmost convenience with this software. Check these accounting features out.

• Chart of Accounts – Advanced accounting lets you manage all your books with less hassle. Customizing expenses in various categories and the chart of accounts require only a few clicks. You can also track loans or assets and create new expense categories. But making the report might be a bit difficult for beginners.
• Advanced Reporting – Understanding the financial metrics of your business is crucial to making informed decisions. FreshBooks lets you take a quick look at all essential metrics for faster actions. And you can create detailed reports using various tools to break every transaction down.
• Automated Bank Reconciliation – During audits, you might need to compare your bank statement with your books on the platform. But the process is slow almost all the time. With FreshBooks, you can reconcile with your bank accounts and directly import statements to compare them with your books. Analyzing statements and getting summary reports is much easier on FreshBooks.
• Accounts Payable – Outstanding bills can be a pain in the butt if you don’t track them properly. With FreshBooks, you have the ability to upload your bills via various sources and import expense statements to the platform. It will help you generate profit and loss reports, cash flow statements, and many more.

Invoicing Features

Creating invoices that accurately show what you did and getting payments on time are two significant challenges. FreshBooks helps you mitigate these challenges with its array of useful features. Here is a quick breakdown of them.

• Professional & Customizable Invoices – Maintaining brand consistency in your invoices is extremely important. FreshBooks lets you generate attractive invoices and customize them to match your brand. From your business logos to personalized emails, everything can be customized here. But the necessary tools for editing your invoices aren’t adequate on the platform. So, beginners might find it hectic.
• Accept Payments Online – Once you send the invoice, clients can directly pay online using cards or payment gateways. If you are in the US, you can accept ACH payments as well. This reduces waiting time for payments to a great extent and can be highly helpful for small businesses.
• Automation Features – If you need to accept recurring payments or send payment reminders, don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. FreshBooks handles all these with automation features where the tool will automatically send payment reminders or securely charge your client’s card for recurring payments. You can also charge a late fee by setting up a percentage or flat rate.
• Deposits – Covering the expenses of a project by yourself can be a big headache if you are working on a lot of projects. In such cases, you can request your clients to deposit a percentage of the invoice value. You can also choose a flat amount for deposits.
• Multiple Currencies – This lets you send the invoice to your client in their local currency. So there will be less confusion regarding payments. And you can also use several languages so that your clients understand the content of the invoice easily. It increases trust between parties and makes working easier down the road.

Mileage Tracking

When you use the same car for personal and business purposes, it is crucial to track mileage for business purposes to get tax deductions. FreshBooks makes it easier to keep track of every mile you drive for the business and helps you stay tax compliant.

• Automated Tracking – Forget paper trip logs, as you can log every detail of your trips using FreshBooks. It collects all the relevant information and can generate mileage reports ready to be downloaded. You can even get those reports into your email.
• Tax Deductions – During mileage tracking, FreshBooks will also show you a possible tax deduction for the distance you have traveled. The report generated by the tool can be used directly while filing taxes so that you can accurately show the taxable income.

Expense Tracking

Managing expenses is probably the biggest challenge in any business. You need to accurately track all the expenses and organize them carefully to ensure your business is profitable. FreshBooks makes it extremely easy to track all your expenses by minimizing the need for manual tracking.

• Link Bank Accounts – Regardless of how many bank accounts, debit or credit cards you have, you can link them all to your FreshBooks account. Once they are linked, you don’t need to input any expenses manually. The tool will automatically track every expense and organize them in categories for your convenience.
• Mobile Receipt Scanning – Losing receipts can create a big mess while calculating your business expenses. FreshBooks lets you scan paper receipts and save digital copies of them to your account. And the tool can capture transactions from the receipt to automatically track your expenses.
• Cloud Storage – All your information is stored in the cloud, so there will be no worries about losing your receipts or statements with FreshBooks. But the storage limit can be a bit low.

Time Tracking

Tracking the time spent on a project is crucial not only to calculate billable hours but also to determine your productivity. With FreshBooks, you can now track time more efficiently.

• Google Chrome Timer – Using the Google Chrome Timer is the easiest way to track every second you work for a client.
• Team Tracking – If you manage a team, get a complete breakdown of how they are spending their time.
• Reporting – Once you start the timer, the tool will generate automated reports after you finish the work. And the time log contains detailed information to make your invoices more transparent.

Pros & Cons of FreshBooks

Every invoicing software comes with its advantages and drawback. FreshBooks is no different, so let’s check its pros and cons.

FreshBooks Plans & Pricing

FreshBooks offers four pricing plans, and you need to take a look at all of them before making the decision.

• Lite – $15/mo – send unlimited invoices to up to 5 clients, track expenses, and track sales tax
• Plus – $30/mo – everything in Lite, plus the ability to set up recurring billing and client retainers, automatically capture receipt data for expenses, and collaborate with your accountant.
• Premium – $55/mo – everything in Plus, but with the ability to send unlimited invoices to an unlimited number of clients, automatically send late payment reminders, and run advanced financial and accounting reports.

There is also a plan called Select that is customized to suit your individual business needs. Pricing varies, but it includes all of the features found in Premium, along with access to lower credit card transaction fees, capped ACH fees, and help if you’re migrating from other invoicing software.

Summary

FreshBooks is one of the most popular online accounting and invoicing software available out there. It is packed with features like automated bank reconciliation, expense tracking, online payment, mileage tracking, time tracking, and many more. Managing your chart of accounts is very easy on the platform. With advanced reporting, you can have a quick look at how the business is operating. Payable accounts tell you about outstanding bills. Sending professional invoices is just a few clicks away, and you can customize them to your liking. Automation in invoices and payments make the whole process a lot easier and faster. You can also link your bank accounts and cards to track expenses more efficiently. Though the mobile app may have some minor flaws, the platform is overall an excellent choice. Prices start from $15 per month, which is quite reasonable considering the features this tool provides.

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