REVIEW: (Work) Life Changing Web App for Business Owners & Entrepreneurs
Life changing? Dramatic. I know. However, stick with me.
The start of the year is a great time to review and adjust your business budget. If your 2009 budget included ongoing expenses for software that allows you to invoice, accept payments and manage your expenses, you may be interested in considering the following web based application for 2010.
Freshbooks
The website states that it’s the “fastest way to track time and send invoices.” Before signing up, I initially thought “Sure. That’s what they all claim.” After signing up for a free trial, I quickly began to believe the hype. The user interface is much more effective than the average desktop application with a third party web interface for invoicing. It is unbelievably simple. There are simple tabs for creating new clients, new projects, new invoices, and new estimates. The invoices look professional and include simple buttons that allow your client to quickly pay online. There’s automation included for payment reminders and alerts. It also allows you to create estimates and quotes and have the client review and accept them online. Also, the integration with third party and mobile applications seem to be endless. After using the tool for less than a week, I quickly realized how much time (and money) I’d saved compared to my previous invoicing and time tracking application. Freshbooks is certainly worth a review. Particularly if you are a service provider (www.freshbooks.com).
About author:
Kishau Rogers is the founder of Websmith Group, a website development company. Her mission is to connect small to mid-sized businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers has over fourteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on tools and best practices for maintaining an effective web presence. Kishau maintains an ongoing partnership with her clients in defining strategies to ensure effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.
All entries by Kishau Rogers
8 Responses to “REVIEW: (Work) Life Changing Web App for Business Owners & Entrepreneurs”
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Do you, or will you, still use Quickbooks (or similar), for accounting purposes?
That's my dilemma. I really don't want to have to enter invoices in twice. I also don't want to pay for two financial packages.
Hi Carlos,
My current setup is:
Freshbooks: for day-to-day invoicing (i.e. client & account receivable)
Quickbooks: for quarterly reconciliation w/ the accountant (i.e. accounts payable & taxes, asset liability)
A seamless integration with Freshbooks & Quickbooks would be ideal, but it currently doesn't exist. The pricing (relative to Quickbooks Billing) and Freshbooks invoicing and recurring invoicing features were of most benefit to me.
Also, you may be interested in the following services as well:
- Outright: Income & expense tracking for small businesses. This one does integrate well with Freshbooks (automatic importing of invoices etc).
- Shoeboxed: Organizes and manages receipts for tax & expense reporting. This one also integrates well w/ both Outright and Freshbooks.
Hello there,
Might I also add another time tracking and invoicing app for your consideration – Bill4Time. It tracks your billable time, expenses, and payments. You can create invoices in both digital and traditional media. And it integrates with Quickbooks so you can transfer your invoice balances to your QB.
I just looked in to Freshbooks but it doesn't manage inventory. I don't have a lot, but just having some means I need the option. Would love to take my books online. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks for commenting! You may want to look into Invoicera. I 'think' they offer the ability to manage inventory. Let me know what you find out! http://www.invoicera.com/tour.html
Thanks for that. It doesn't look like it could completely replace QuickBooks however. I don't see how you can set up bank accounts, etc.
Sorry for the delayed reply (I was just notified of your comment). I agree that it's difficult to completely replace Quickbooks with one solution, at this time. That's why we currently use Freshbooks & Quickbooks … for now. Until a comprehensive solution is available, we focused on replacing the elements of Quickbooks that did not work effectively for business (the invoicing/billing add-on). This article outlines 2 methods for using Freshbooks as an invoicing system & Quickbooks for accounting; this is similar to my existing setup. -> http://www.iacprofessionals.com/blog/2010/02/qu.... Best of luck on finding a solution that works for you. Let me know what you find!
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