- Invoicing: Create professional, customizable invoices with templates, automate recurring invoices, and accept online payments via credit cards, ACH transfers, or PayPal for faster client payments.
- Expense Tracking: Capture and categorize expenses by snapping receipt photos, importing bank transactions, and generating detailed expense reports for streamlined tax preparation.
- Time Tracking: Log billable hours for projects using a built-in timer or manual entry, then easily add tracked time to client invoices for accurate billing.
- Financial Reporting: Access real-time reports like Profit & Loss, Accounts Aging, and Expense Reports to monitor business performance and simplify tax filing.
- Online Payments: Integrate with payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal to accept secure credit card or bank transfer payments directly through invoices, improving cash flow.
- Bank Reconciliation: Sync with bank accounts to automatically import and match transactions, reducing manual data entry and ensuring accurate financial records.
- Double-Entry Accounting: Maintain accurate financials with double-entry tools, providing accountant-friendly reports like General Ledger and Balance Sheets for comprehensive insights.
- Project Management: Track project time, expenses, and profitability, assign tasks to team members, and collaborate with clients for efficient project oversight.
- Mobile Accessibility: Manage finances on the go with a mobile app for iOS and Android, offering full access to invoicing, expense tracking, and client communication.
- Payment Reminders and Late Fees: Automate customizable payment reminders and apply late fees to overdue invoices to encourage timely client payments.
- Client Management: Store client details, track interactions, and send professional proposals or estimates to enhance client relationships and streamline communication.
- Tax Automation: Automatically calculate and track sales taxes, generating tax summary reports to simplify compliance and remittance processes.
- Role-Based Access Control: Set permissions for team members to restrict access to sensitive financial data, ideal for businesses with multiple users.
- Integrations: Connect with over 100 apps, including payment processors, project management tools, and e-commerce platforms, to customize and enhance functionality.
- Security: Protect sensitive data with industry-standard encryption, secure servers, and GDPR-compliant protocols to ensure client and business information safety.
- Customer Support: Access responsive support via phone, email, or live chat, with a 4.8/5.0 rating across 120,000+ reviews for quick issue resolution.
FreshBooks
Simplify small business accounting, invoicing, expense tracking, time management, and financial reporting.
Updated February 26, 2026
FreshBooks Overview
FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting software designed for small businesses and freelancers. It streamlines invoicing, expense tracking, time management, and financial reporting with an intuitive interface. Users can create professional invoices, accept online payments, track billable hours, and manage projects efficiently.
FreshBooks also offers automated tax calculations, financial insights, and integrations with popular tools, making it ideal for simplifying business finances and improving cash flow management.
Key Features
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Clients | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $2.10/month (90% off for 3 months) | Up to 5 | Basic invoicing, expense tracking, estimates, tax-time reports |
| Plus | $3.80/month (90% off for 3 months) | Up to 50 | All Lite features + proposals, client retainers, financial reports, receipt scanning |
| Premium | $6.50/month (90% off for 3 months) | Unlimited | All Plus features + project profitability, customizable email templates |
| Select | Custom pricing | Unlimited | All Premium features + lower transaction fees, dedicated support, data import |
Pricing details: https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing
Pros
Competitor |
Pros of FreshBooks |
|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online | FreshBooks offers a more intuitive and user-friendly interface compared to QuickBooks, making it easier for small business owners and freelancers to manage invoices, expenses, and projects without a steep learning curve. |
| Xero | FreshBooks provides better customer support, including phone support in all plans, which can be more accessible than Xero’s primarily email-based support. |
| Wave | FreshBooks has a broader set of features than Wave, including project management, time tracking, and automated recurring invoices, which are limited in Wave’s free version. |
| Zoho Books | FreshBooks’ simple interface and easy-to-use automation tools make onboarding faster and less complex than Zoho Books, which may require more setup. |
| HoneyBook | FreshBooks includes more robust accounting features like double-entry bookkeeping, tax-time reporting, and expense tracking, whereas HoneyBook focuses primarily on client management and invoicing. |
Cons
Competitor |
Cons of FreshBooks |
|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online | FreshBooks lacks some of the advanced accounting and inventory management features that QuickBooks offers, which could be limiting for larger or growing businesses. |
| Xero | FreshBooks charges extra for additional users, whereas Xero allows unlimited users in its plans, making it potentially more cost-effective for larger teams. |
| Wave | FreshBooks is a paid solution, whereas Wave is free for core accounting functions, so small businesses with minimal needs might find FreshBooks more expensive. |
| Zoho Books | FreshBooks’ reporting and analytics are less customizable than Zoho Books, which offers advanced reporting options for complex accounting scenarios. |
| HoneyBook | FreshBooks’ pricing plans may be higher than HoneyBook, which could matter for freelancers or small businesses with tight budgets. |
Reviews
- nerdwallet.com Review: Multiple reviews note that the software offers less functionality than QuickBooks Online and may not suit businesses that need detailed transaction tracking and reporting. It works best for freelancers and very small service-based businesses that value built-in time tracking, mileage tracking and project management in lower-tier plans, though the lower price comes with fewer capabilities.
- Reddit r/Bookkeeping: One small business owner described a “nightmare experience” after switching to FreshBooks, citing bank transactions that imported at higher amounts than expected and repeated follow-ups with a sales rep that led nowhere. Another long-term user complained that it only imports debits, ignores deposits, fails to recognize transfers between accounts, and stopped importing transactions entirely after December 2023, which pushed them to consider Wave instead.
- Trustpilot Review (Rating: 3.9/5): Many small business owners praise FreshBooks for “top notch” customer care, quick call-backs, and patient guidance over the phone. Users highlight easy invoicing, simple expense tracking, and straightforward P&L reports for taxes, though some criticize strict cancellation policies and say invoicing works well but the overall experience feels limited compared to alternatives.
- G2 Review (Rating: 4.5/5): FreshBooks earns high marks for letting teams run billing, books, and payroll in one place and for invoices that users claim they can build “in seconds” to get paid faster. Reviewers value automatic bank and credit card updates, double-entry accounting for clear profit and loss tracking, and built-in time tracking that shows exactly how long tasks take.
