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FreshBooks Cloud-based Accounting Review

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FreshBooks cloud-based accounting: the only accounting software you’ll ever need to run your small business.

What is FreshBooks?

FreshBooks is a cloud-based online accounting that makes running your small business fast, easy and secure! The FreshBooks website claims “Over 24 million people have used FreshBooks to save time billing and get paid faster.” I actually used FreshBooks years ago when I ran my own small consulting business for construction project management and architecture. I can endorse this review 100% because of that.

  • Create a professional invoice in just minutes
  • Set up online payments to get paid faster
  • See when your client viewed an invoice
  • And so much more!

Right now Freshbooks is having a HUGE sale! 50% off your first 3 months for al plans.

What does FreshBooks do?

FreshBooks is an online cloud-based accounting and time tracking software. It’s got a super simple internet interface and intuitive apps so you can access your information no matter where you are! It’s “ridiculously easy to use” as they say on their website and I can 100% agree with this having used FreshBooks before.

They make it easy to stay organized and on top of your game so accounting isn’t something that you have to worry about!

How it works

FreshBooks is 100% web-based so you don’t need any special software and you can access it from anywhere. Just log in to your account and start using the tools. It’s super simple, user-friendly and just about anyone can use it!

Features: Cloud-Based Accounting

FreshBooks is a feature-rich tool that packs a punch! When I used FreshBooks I didn’t use the estimates or the payments (not sure if they had the payments functionality back then since it’s been a few years)

Invoicing

Create professional-looking invoices in seconds. This is really true. It takes nothing to put together an invoice and shoot it off to your clients. This was one of my favorite features in Freshbooks.

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You can set reminders for clients to automatically send if they haven’t paid an invoice.

Expenses

The expense tracker makes tracking your expenses super easy. This was a favorite feature of mine because I could log expenses on the go with a few taps on my phone complete with my receipt attached. This made tax time SO much easier. I also didn’t need to worry about keeping them around since I snapped a photo and added it right away.

Connect your bank account and expenses will auto-import.

You can also mark expenses as billable and you can auto-add these when you invoice clients. This was a great feature when I had projects with billable expenses.

Here are some other ways FreshBooks makes expense tracking easy

  • Multi-currency expenses
  • Auto-categorization of expenses
  • Tax friendly categories
  • Easily assign recurring expenses
  • Automatically import expenses from your bank
  • Easily mark expenses to rebill to a client later
  • Snap and store pictures of receipts in the mobile app
  • Secure receipt storage in the cloud so mobile and desktop are always in sync

Time-Tracking

Time Tracking was probably by far my favorite feature. I billed clients by the project and the hour so this was key for me.

cloud-basedHere’s what time-tracking will help with according to FreshBooks:

  • Timekeeping for your entire team
  • Record time against a specific client
  • Add detailed time entry notes
  • Automatically bill for tracked hours
  • Weekly and monthly views of your tracked time
  • Track and manage time for a specific project
  • Daily breakdowns of your tracked work hours
  • Built-in, easy to use timer on desktop and mobile

I used the time tracking feature every single time I worked on a project. This step made invoicing clients a breeze!

Infographic: Write an Invoice That Gets You Paid

Projects

Even more features!

  • Chat and collaborate on work
  • Assign project due dates
  • Quickly see an overview of project status
  • Manage team projects and deliverables
  • Invite your staff, clients or contractors to a project
  • Share images and files from within FreshBooks
  • Manage projects on the go with the FreshBooks mobile app
  • Assign a rate or hours to a specific project for a client
  • Control what your team can and cannot access with team permissions

Estimates

I never used the estimates functionality with FreshBooks but here are the great features

  • Track estimate status from viewed to accepted
  • Turn an estimate into an invoice
  • The ability for your clients to accept an estimate online
  • View and Respond to client feedback about an estimate
  • Preview estimates and quotes before sending
  • Easily add a discount
  • Send estimates in your preferred currency
  • Create and email an estimate from anywhere with the FreshBooks mobile app
  • Easy to customize so you can look professional and showcase your brand

Payments

Accept credit cards and payments online and get paid 2x faster. FreshBooks payments, stripe and ACH makes pricing transparent.

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  • Payment scheduling keeps you on track
  • Request deposits to control your cash flow
  • Accept international currencies with Stripe
  • Auto-generated Payments Collected Reports
  • Fast and easy bank deposits
  • Payment options include VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Apple Pay
  • Processing fees are automatically imported as expenses

Accounting

Easy to use double accounting

  • Financial transactions are imported and categorized
  • Easily approve automated matching suggestions, or make changes and additions
  • Equity, transfers and refunds are easily marked and categorized
  • Create a summary report and export it to Excel

Reports

  • Color-coded breakdown of spending
  • Summary of most recent activity
  • Profit and Loss Report
  • Sales Tax Summary Report
  • Accounts Aging Report
  • Payments Collected Report
  • Accounting Reports (General Ledger, Trial Balance, Chart of Accounts)
  • Expense Report
  • Invoice Details Report
  • Report filtering by client, team member, or date
  • Save, export or print financial reports for your accountant

How much does it cost?

FreshBooks is affordable no matter what your budget is.

Lite is $7.50/month (regularly $15/month) and you get the following features:

  • Unlimited + Customized Invoices
  • Unlimited Expense Entries
  • Accept Credit Card Payments Online
  • Accept ACH Bank Transfers Online
  • Automated Bank Import
  • Unlimited Time Tracking
  • Unlimited Estimates
  • Insightful Tax Time Reports
  • Custom functionality and workflows with 200+ integrations
  • Team Members ($10/person)

Plus is $12.50/month (regularly $25/month) and comes with:

  • All Lite Features
  • Unlimited proposals
  • Automated Recurring Invoices
  • Double Entry Accounting Reports
  • Scheduled Late Fees
  • Automated Late Payment Reminders
  • Client Retainers
  • Team Members ($10/person)
  • Advanced Payments ($20/mo)

Premium is $25/month (regularly $50/month) and comes with:

  • All Lite Features
  • All Plus Features
  • Up to 500 Clients
  • Team Members ($10/person)
  • Advanced Payments ($20/mo)

Finally, they have Select which you have to call for custom pricing. Here’s what that comes with in addition to all of the above

  • A personal Account Manager
  • Customized training for you and your team
  • Super low credit card transaction rates
  • Easy QuickBooks and Xero integration

Additionally in all plans, you get:

  • Customize invoices and look professional
  • Send estimates that help you win jobs
  • Accept credit cards and ACH bank transfers online
  • All your information is securely stored
  • Award-winning Toronto-based customer service
  • Project budgets that keep your team on track
  • Dashboards that keep your finger on the pulse
  • Powerful reports with insights about your business

Bottom Line

FreshBooks is the only accounting software you’ll ever need. And with 50% off there’s no better time than now to start using it! Cloud-based makes it super easy to access it wherever you are!

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