FreshBooks Reviews: 4.5/5 — Highly Rated

FreshBooks has proven to be a solid software solution for our Digital Marketing agency. We like it's simplicity yet robust powerful capabilities. Automatic invoices are one of the features that have saved us the most amount of time and money.

There are a few things I dislike about FreshBooks. The system to email clients when sending them proposals or invoices can sometimes be a bit flaky. In reality, it works very well and has almost always delivered our proposals and invoices. They have some features that seem a little redundant like recurring invoices as well as retainers, which in our line of work are pretty much on in the same. Their time tracking system sometimes can seem a little counter-intuitive so we really don't use it. It's not bad at all but other systems out there are just much more powerful than FreshBooks' time tracking features. Plus, FreshBooks makes integrations so seamless that it's easy to sync up to other software we use to track time to our books.

We have avoided having to chase clients for money while getting notified if an automatic payment was denied. We love that FreshBooks will automatically charge a client's card on file, send a client the paid invoices, and even send late invoice notifications if their payments failed. You can pretty much automate all of your billing. When it comes time to file taxes, FreshBooks allows you to give our accountant access to our books at no additional cost. Our accountant can pull all of our numbers at the end of the fiscal year in preparation for taxes and on a monthly basis to keep our books. Another awesome feature is how FreshBooks allows you to sync your bank accounts and then automatically imports all of your expenses. You can then view your numbers at a glance on the dashboard.

I love that the invoicing of my clients is easy, professional looking, and offers secure online financial payment so that I receive payments faster.

Transaction fees for the credit card payments eat away at my profits. Payments are faster, but I keep less of my earnings and may need to raise my prices to compensate.

Faster payment from clients and better tracking of both income and expenses year-round to make tax time easier. Also more professional looking, and automates some tasks to save me time and keep track of clients who take a while to pay.

Quick and easy invoicing, automated reminders, and customizable templates make it easy. I like how you can make it not look generic. Works really well with my other software. This makes me look much more professional than PayPal and the fees are on par with everywhere else.

It took me a little while to figure out how to set up deposits for open-ended projects without setting off alerts or overdue notices. I'm still not sure I've got the process down, but I found a way to make it work. Their basic version is very limited and you'll outgrow that faster than you expect.

I wanted something that took payments from any platform across the world and this one does. No more having to resort to paypal and no more unprofessional MS Word invoices. The bank integration was a huge win. ACH bank transfers are crazy easy, and I even switched to Gusto with the free offer from FreshBooks. They work well together. I could probably do more with the accounting options than I do, but it hasn't been an issue. Maybe one day I will.

I love seeing the overview of my income and invoices, the ability to easily attach receipts to expenses, how I can track different types of projects, how I can categorize for taxes, and how it makes me a better businesswoman.

I find the "reoccurring" expense ability to be moot - instead of recognizing that an expense is reoccurring, it just shows up as a duplicate.

I can track my invoices a lot easier and send follow up reminders for payment.

I like how easy it is to search for customers and their invoices, estimates, etc. I also like the ease of copying invoices and estimates to create new ones.

With the updated version it's no longer possible to copy rows of invoices/their info to copy into a spreadsheet.

We've been a Freshbooks customer for about 7 years and would not be interested in search for a "better" solution. We like it!

This is a great tool, organizer and time saver. Especially if accounting is not your specialty or it's not a priority on your daily timeline. We run a small business that has multiple clients with multiple projects and juggling communicating with them and keeping track of what has been paid and what is owed by who can be overwhelming. In addition to that the time involved in using a template to send out project proposals or invoices or receipts is also another time eating factor. On top of that to regularly keep track of the expenses and the invoices that are due on our end can easily slip through the cracks. Finding Freshbooks has been an invaluable asset. Not only does it save me time, it saves me brain cells. Now I don't have to rack through my mind to try to remember details accurately. I can answer clients questions quickly without having to do you lay them with, "let me call you back" or "I'll email you shortly". Freshbooks is my go-to and I don't think I'll ever be able to give it up. They keep improving with new features every couple of months they're also very customer oriented. If you have a question or an issue they're on it. It's the new best way to organize your business!

Would like more templates and customization. I wish the price was a little more cost efficient.

TIME and organization. Using a template to send out project proposals or invoices or receipts . Keeping track of expenses. It quickly personalizes and streamlines our business communication design.

Being able to easily track my time and my employees time, and then turn it into invoices. Invoice management is also easy, being able to attach payments and mark as paid.

The retainer functionality is not as flexible as I'd like. In order to edit a retainer's invoice schedule, I have to delete it and start a new one. Also, we tried using the accounting portion and expense reporting, but our CPA got frustrated with it.

Personally tracking time and reviewing my employees time is easy and extremely valuable. I've been able to base employee reviews on the details they keep when entering time into FreshBooks.

I like the ease of use. I run a video production company where I am the only employee, so I have to do everything. The interface is simple and easy to use. When tax season comes, I just print out my reports and give them to accountant and it's that simple

I've had some issues linking my bank account to the expense section

before using Freshbooks I was having to try to keep track of everything in spreadsheets which was a hassle and no really effective for me

It's super intuitive, and very, very easy to use. I was able to get up and running in five minutes and didn't need any training. Also, it's pretty darn affordable. I am the only one that handles billing, and it's not my full time job, so I like being able to log in and get an instant pulse on where we are in terms of what's been billed vs what's been paid, and who is late beyond the grace period. It doesn't have a ton of bells and whistles, but I like that, I'm not paying for anything fancy, I'm paying for SMB billing and invoicing software that's simple, effective, and integrates with my financial services.

Strongly dislike that every single screen that features an invoice offers to give me a loan. I think loans have their place, but i wish a product for invoicing for SMBs and freelancers didn't try and shove loans down users throats on almost every screen. The mobile app is just not great. It's okay, but not great. The charts on it are often off/lagging/using old data.

Freshbooks makes me never have to worry about billing/late payments/status of payment. There's times where if i didn't have freshbooks, i would have spent hours figuring out what clients owed me what payments. Freshbooks has my back, and has saved me hours.

Easy UI - I jumped right in and figured it out easily. It's been 9+ months and I haven't had to look for an FAQ page yet! I've been able to easily map my savings and checking accounts to FB so that it can see which transactions tie to which invoices.

Can't think of anything I dislike at this time.

Tracking invoices & payments received is glorious. I've also realized that as much as I hate tracking my time on various clients, it's critical.

I most appreciate Freshbook's commitment to being better every day. It's a scrappy startup of sorts, supporting fellow scrappy startups. I appreciate the ongoing improvements and being a disruptor. Other things I like: - Invoicing is super easy. - Layout is logical. Easy to find things. - Priced right. - I have not been fully utilizing reports and accounting resources but will be this year. - Bank reconciliation is super logical and easy. - Love the integrations with Gusto and Stripe. - Appreciate the self help documents to troubleshoot.

- I miss the old time tracking system SOOOO much. I don't like how I have to open up each day to add a descriptor to each time task. I wish I could add the new entry for multiple days (in week view) AND add notes. - Would like to assign an expense to a client without it having to be billable. This would help me track costs associated with the client that I later recoup with lump sum invoicing. - Would like to remove expense categories that I don't use.

- Must have a product for time tracking, accounting and invoicing. - Has helped me have visibility into the status of my business and feel on top of something that generally feels very overwhelming.

I really like the time-tracking for the clients I invoice on an hourly basis. It has helped me feel more confident that my billing is accurate and transparent. I also really like the app and the ability to take photos of my receipts. I attended a Freshbooks meet-up last year in Atlanta and I it was a great way to meet other like-minded individuals and learn more about how to maximize the product.

I don't like that my current plan only allows me to have 5 clients. I typically have 3-4 active clients at a time, so I don't feel the need to upgrade my plan. I wish there was a way for me to separate my active clients but still the ability to archive past clients should they become available again.

Keeping track of expenses is so much easier for me! My paperwork is so much more clear come tax time. I also don't love keeping track of invoices and was previously using an excel spreadsheet. This software makes me look more organized than I am. Collecting deposits and billing is so much

I love that FreshBooks lets me easily track time for a project, submit the time, and then add it to client's invoice with literally one click. It saves me so much time.

Most of what I dislike are petty UI things that don't work the way I want them too. Also, it's WAY more powerful than I would ever use so I feel like I pay more than I should for tools I won't ever use.

It has literally solved all my bookwork problems. It keeps me organized in a way that I never would be without it. It's part of my daily work routine and I really cannot say enough good things about it. I love that I can track my time on each project and submit it without a thought and then at the end of the month voila! easy invoicing. Plus, it has automatic invoicing for clients with retainers so I don't even have to think about those invoices, FreshBooks just sends them out to my clients every month. It's amazing and I really could not run my business without it.

It's a pretty seamless process to invoice customers, collect payments, and look at your statistics.

It has gotten a little more pricey over the years, I am paying over $700 for invoicing software and still paying nearly 3% on credit card payments.

Fresh books is solving the problem of keeping track of invoices and making it easy for my clients to pay. The benefit of course is regaining time in my life.

I LOVE the automatic billing/payments. There's no other (great) software out there that automatically sends invoices AND pays them with my client's saved card at the same time. My clients love that feature the most, and because of that, I would not switch from Freshbooks.

I wish there were more features that brought it closer to be like Quickbooks Online. I would make the switch to QBO if they allowed for my client's to save payments just because the features offered are so much more in depth compared to Freshbooks.

I am solving the problem with retainers and automatic billing with Freshbooks. It is the only payment processing system that I've used that consistently bills my clients automatically and tracks my time towards my retainers. The fact that my clients can automatically pay their retainers/invoices with their saved cards saves so much time on my end and theirs.

I love that freshbooks is simple to use, and makes me look professional with clients I invoice.

There has been some screwy stuff going on with searching for an invoice. But I got a message this week that a solution should be available in the software now. I haven't tried the problem operations to see.

I would not be very organized with my invoices and expenses if this software wasn't here to help!

I use FreshBooks to track time and expenses for a side freelance business and I don’t have a lot of time to manage books. This is easy to use and the mobile app helps me stay up to speed wherever I go.

The only thing I can think of is that for tax purposes, I would expect that as user-friendly a tool this is to have a link to click and download a report or the ability to connect it to my accounting software.

No issues at all, and I’ve saved a lot of time because using FreshBooks had me up and running in minutes.

As a one-peraon consulting firm i do my own books and billing. The format is simple and available across devices. Presentation to customers is easy and professional in appearance

I create proposals for customers, which they can accept online, but I am unable to convert those proposals to projects against which to bill. Additionally many of my projects are fixed fee, which I progress bill as a percentage of the fee across several months. Freshbooks does not track my progress billing, so I end up needing to track separately by spreadsheet.

Ease of billing reimbursable expenses with backup.

Streamlines accounting and keeps book keeping efficient.

I can’t use multiple currencies for my expenses. I have bank accounts in two countries but the software can only track one currency. So outside of having two separate accounts, I have had to create separate categories for my Canadian expenses which makes double the amount of work. Also, their chronic issues with my bank has meant that my accounts weren’t synching for months resulting in me having to upload all the files, creating so much frustration and extra work. I sometimes wonder why I still use it. But I’m Canadian and support local business.

I like that it’s a Canadian company. That’s a benefit. Categorizing expenses and creating invoices is really what I use most.

How easy it is to invoice from the web and generate a P&L at the end of the year

If I don't use the app for a while it takes a very long time for it to sync the data. Not very useful when out in the field trying to create an invoice on the fly and collect credit card payment. Also, the P&L in Freshbooks classic used to have links on each month/category making it extremely easy to deep dive into those expenses and verify or recategorize.

My biggest problem with Quickbooks for PC was collecting automatic payments. No longer a problem with Freshbooks. They do that very well

In-app time tracking (mobile & browser based) for retainer billing.

Bank reconciliation is a little buggy and slow.

Retainers are a big part of my business, so Freshbook's retainer options are really great and something I've not found elsewhere. It still needs a little work on options, like the ability to have a retainer that's not bound my time, but by hours billed. So, if I have a fresh retainer for $5,000, and bill $x/hr over, say, 5 weeks to deplete the retainer, there's not currently an option to avoid the repeat drafting of retainers based on a week/month/quarter, etc. This makes retainer billing a little difficult because the retainer time interval doesn't match with the time needed to exhaust a retainer fee.

Invoicing. Freshbooks makes invoicing super easy. So fast. So cool. I like having a control panel for my clients. I like adding services to a project. I make notes all the time under each client. It's so well organized and works how my brain works so that I rarely have to stop and think about hmm...how do I... before I'm off and invoicing again. I also love the timer. I love how the timer integrates into creating an invoice. This alone is worth the money to me. All the other features are just sprinkles on the cake. I used to avoid invoicing clients because I keep copious notes on projects I've completed, but hated doing the tallying up myself. I avoided it. And would not send out invoices until much later, when work piled up, and the amounts were larger - which led to more conversations with clients about the amounts. Now I don't have to think about it. I don't have to explain myself in that way. I get paid faster. I just love this software.

I recommended Freshbooks to a colleague who also loved it until she got hit with a chargeback from a disgruntled client. She lost money because of that exchange - apparently Freshbooks returned the money the client had paid without going to court. It wasn't clear to me how this all happened because we were both knee-deep in another project. But she moved to a different software where she felt that would not ever happen. So .. that has me slightly gun shy when it comes to recommending Freshbooks, though I actually have continued to recommend it. I usually proffer that anecdote though. The other thing that I want and haven't been able to find when I'm running though the invoicing phase is I have 3 different choices of how to present the bill. It's a sorting thing. I'd like a little more flexibility when it comes to displaying the time by different projects. I'd like to be able to add details to that layout, but don't see a way to do that. Other than that, this a small niggling thing that hasn't bothered me enough to do anything about it. Which means I should probably call up their excellent support people and figure that out.

Saves me so much frigging time. Call it frigtime. Hours and hours of it. I haven't put a number to it because.. that would require me to stop and do the counting. There are fewer delays in getting paid by clients. Freshbooks makes the invoicing look polished and pro, I guess. Perhaps it's also due to the fact that I'm just tackling more jobs and work better because I don't have to organize an invoice. It's like tax time. Invoicing to me is a small hell realm like tax time. Or it used to be. Isn't anymore. Normally I don't like to pay for subscriptions for anything. I'm super frugal. I started out with the free trial. I agreed to pay for a basic subscription afterwards. When I started getting more work *because I had more time* then I gladly bumped my account up to a higher and more expensive level. It's one of the few bills that I don't begrudge paying.

Very responsive support. I've made a few feature requests and some have actually been implemented.

Still lacking some advanced sorting features and an occasional bug here or there but they all seem to be in the process of being fixed.

Great value for the money and a very powerful way of keeping our business on track.

I like how easy it is to create and send invoices and accept payments.

I wish it would recognize duplicate expenses better (same expense paid via PayPal and also shows via my bank account). Better AI for categorizing expenses, especially if I have already categorized that recurring expense before.

Not needing to hire an accountant for my business. I'm able to get paid in a timely manner. Able to easily see how much money is coming in and going out. I use the reports to help figure out my taxes.

Simplicity. I can invoice my clients with only a few prompts. Reminder emails. I don’t have to follow up as often because Freshbooks will do it.

It is sometimes difficult for clients to pay failed invoices if their credit cards don’t go through.

Clients have trouble navigating changing their information.

Having invoices and time tracking is really helpful.

Proposal side is lackluster. Would be great if it were more visually appealing.

The time tracking and easily sending invoices. The biggest issue I was having was online payments to only accept ACH, but that has been solved.

Freshbooks is easy to use! It is affordably priced and makes daily bookkeeping easier for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

My biggest complaint is that not all reports are easy to find or intuitive to use.

I use FreshBooks for time tracking to provide accurate invoices to clients. I also use it to keep me bookkeeping records straight for tax time.

I like that I can call, and a real person answers and they have the ability to actually solve my problems. This is rare these days!

I would like the ability to bulk edit recurring invoices.

Recurring invoices are a breeze. And the new ACH payment options helps a ton

I like that it makes invoicing my clients very quick and easy.

I'd like to see the addition of other services. For example, there is a proposal feature but some help with the legalese would be a nice touch.

FreshBooks allows me to provide my clients with proposals, estimates, and invoices and makes it very easy for them to submit payments.

Invoicing is super easy, I like that I can customize the invoice look and colors. Once an invoice is sent, the use of auto reminders is a really efficient way for clients to be kept accountable to their vendors

It would be nice if you could do a more customized version of the proposal tool. I don't use the auto-pay feature in the invoicing because the fee that is tacked on is a little too high.

I do not like to deal with accounting. Quickbooks looks like something that was going to take a lot of time to learn. Freshbooks is really easy.