FreshBooks Reviews

Pros

When I'm juggling freelance work, it is my go-to for managing the accounting side of things. The invoicing and time tracking are simple enough that I can spend more time on the actual projects and less time worrying about admin. I've also noticed it includes more project management features than a few other accounting tools I've tried. Also, the mobile app is solid which helps a lot when I need to capture and track expenses while I'm away from my desk. One more thing I really appreciate is the ability to see whether customers have viewed their invoices, useful context even before payments come in.

Cons

If your team grows beyond a couple of people, you may feel like it doesn't cover everything you'd want. The updated version removed inventory tracking which was one of my favorite parts from the earlier version. Still, for the cost, it delivers the core invoicing functionality most freelancers realistically need.

Pros

It's simple to use and it handles recurring invoices really well which made billing much more manageable for us.

Cons

Once you're an established customer, the pricing jumps dramatically, our costs went up 67% over the past year even though we didn't change anything. Also, we've started getting sales calls from it trying to push third-party services which has been pretty annoying.

Pros

Love how flexible it is for logging all my expenses in a clean organized way and how quickly I can pull up the right details when it's time to prepare tax reports. It also makes it simple to create estimates and invoices, including options for taking payments and setting clear due dates.

Cons

An annoyance is how it handles rounding when I enter numbers... sometimes it rounds up or down for expenses which can be slightly off.

Pros

Using it has been pretty simple and the customer support team has been genuinely outstanding when I had questions.

Cons

Most recent upgrade introduced a few glitches and the pricing feels much higher for recurring billing and for features like storing client credit cards.

Pros

This has been working really well for me. I like that I can track my time by either setting a timer or simply adding time manually. Also, it lets me use the calendar when I want but I can also set up an invoice directly without jumping through extra steps.

Cons

No real complaints, everything functions as expected for my needs.

Pros

Has a clean, user-friendly interface that works really well for sending invoices and keeping track of expenses. The time tracking is probably the simplest and most adaptive I've used so far, It just makes sense without a lot of effort.

Cons

Only real criticism I had was something that, as of writing this review, looks like it's already been fixed or improved. Otherwise, there isn't much to complain about.

Pros

I like using it and the live support is honestly the standout. You get real people who know what they're doing and work hard to resolve things quickly. I'm also using it for time tracking and it connects with Asana which keeps my workflow in sync. Also, I like the level of control, everything from managing late fees to checking whether a client has viewed an invoice, plus filtered search options.

Cons

What I'm still hoping for is more accounting depth basically QuickBooks style features so I can fully move away from QuickBooks. At the moment it doesn't handle checkbook balancing and accounts the way QB does which is a bit of a letdown but I'm expecting improvements over time.

Pros

Feels really simple if you're trying to track time and send invoices without having to spend every day on bookkeeping. Sharing invoices is simple and it's clear enough to keep an eye on revenue as it comes in.

Cons

It could be faster when you're entering lots of time entries. Since I do the same type of work most days, it's a bit annoying that I still have to add each day separately. I'd also prefer a smoother way to enter multiple expenses in one go instead of doing them one at a time.

Pros

Super convenient since the iOS app stays with me all the time. After I wrap up a client visit, I can log the time right away. It also seems like my clients appreciate what they see on their side.

Cons

There are a bunch of confusing snags when I enter time. For instance, clients are organized by the contact person's name instead of the company name and sometimes that "contact" is someone in accounting that I don't deal with often. That makes finding the right client take longer than it should. The overall flow isn't very adaptive and the UI would really benefit from an Apple focused UI developer. After the interface redesign, it actually became much harder to use compared to the previous setup.

Pros

It feels really adaptive to use and the branding customization is solid. It's a good choice for anyone just getting started who needs to send invoices and collect payments properly. I used it for around two years and don't recall running into any problems during that time.

Cons

Some limitations, mainly because it's geared toward smaller business needs, are there. If your business process is very complex, you might hit some drawbacks though I didn't run into any of that myself.

Pros

So when it comes to creating invoices, its usability is a big win. Everything feels adaptive and I've been using it for almost 11 years so I've watched the product evolve through a bunch of updates. The latest interface does a solid job of handling the different line, Item services my company offers. I'm also happy with the invoice layout style we chose, it looks decent and works well. It did take a short adjustment period to get used to the new interface but it's been steadily growing on me. The "request a deposit" and "reminder" features are also genuinely useful and appreciated.

Cons

I'd love to see more flexibility with invoice formatting down the road things like more control over the look and feel, billingable hours handled separately from quantity and the ability to apply dollar discounts as well as percentage discounts. It would also be nice to have extra options such as end of year tracking that compares revenue collected versus invoices issued.

Pros

The software feels quite fast especially when generating reports and switching between pages. Page navigation within the app is responsive and overall the functionality meets our needs so we're genuinely satisfied with how it works day to day.

Cons

When working with the invoice list across multiple pages, moving from page 1 to page 2 unexpectedly redirects to the Dashboard instead of taking us to the next page of results. Also, the invoice status shown under "All Invoices/Search Results" doesn't always look accurate for example, invoice 0004295 appears overdue by about 3 months but when we open the invoice, it shows as paid.

Pros

I use it to automate customer billing. It lets me send invoices quickly and keep everything organized in one place. There's also full integration with Google Checkout and PayPal so major payment systems are supported.

Cons

One downside is that reporting can't be reconciled with taxes. Another issue is the lack of an option to automatically populate details using a personal identification number.

Pros

Really glad this tool lets me use it quickly and it feels accessible enough for anyone to jump in and use at any time. The system's design is also a strong point, everything feels convenient for everyday use which makes the whole experience smoother.

Cons

No cons about the software from my end!!

Pros

Using it was genuinely effortless, I was up and running straight away. When anything came up, I called support and got a real knowledgeable person on the phone with no annoying robo call runaround. Their marketing and customer service honestly blew me away and I even pointed my own clients to them as an example of how support should work.

Cons

There were a few minor quirks with the older software (especially around expenses) and we had to find workarounds. After switching to the newer version, I'm still adjusting, there's no PayPal payment option now which isn't a dealbreaker. It also takes more effort to locate old invoices and clients since everything feels different and while it still seems to function fine, the interface feels less adaptive and simple than before (though I get that they're trying to make it better and more modern). The search is also tough for me because I'm dyslexic, I have to type 3 4 letters before it suggests options and that makes it pretty frustrating and close to unusable at times. Despite that, support is still excellent so I'm sticking with it for now.

Pros

The estimate-to-invoice flow has been really solid and we keep getting compliments on how smoothly we manage everything online. That includes not just the invoices but other services we provide too, it plays a big role in the overall process. What's especially good is that even older or less tech-savvy customers haven't run into issues using it.

Cons

Pricing based on the number of customers doesn't fit our setup. We're not truly an account based service so we keep reaching the limit and end up deleting clients just to stay within the cap, even while paying for the top tier plan.

Pros

Helps me keep track of my time, send invoices to customers and stay on top of payments. The automated reminders are a standout... especially the alerts that let me know when an invoice is overdue. I also enjoy the little notifications that pop up when I submit an invoice or record a payment. On top of the software itself, I really like how it treats its customers. I've been invited to a bunch of fun customer events and they've even taken care of dinner for attendees a few times. I honestly can't think of another company that's done that for me.

Cons

Every now and then, I run into features that don't feel fully adaptive so I may need to spend a little time clicking around to figure out the right way to make something work. Also since I tend to leave the app open in a browser tab most of the time, there are moments when it feels a bit sluggish or I'm prompted to sign out and sign back in.

Pros

The time tracking is really useful, having visibility into where my hours are going helps a lot. I also like the project tools since they make it easy to compare what I'm doing against the planned/projected hours. Also, the invoicing system is a big win especially with the way it ties back into my tracked work (even with a couple of notes).

Cons

Something I'd change is the ability to track time across multiple projects simultaneously. It would also be more convenient if I could open a new tab and start tracking without having to wrap up and log the other one first. Finally, I'd like PayPal e checks back since they cut down my bank fee costs a lot right now I'm losing money using WePay.

Pros

System's logic feels solid and generating reports is genuinely simple.

Cons

One thing that didn't work for me, it wouldn't accept an electronic transaction list exported from my credit card.

Pros

Over time, it has clearly tried to keep improving and updating its tools. The most recent interface changes have made a few areas better but some other parts seem to have been left untouched for years, at least from what I've noticed. One thing I genuinely appreciate is the original feature set for reminders, being able to nudge clients at the 30, 60 and 90 day marks to pay their invoices. It's still useful, even though the way you configure it changed after a big update and now it doesn't feel nearly as simple as it used to.

Cons

There are several workflow annoyances that really add up. I don't like how the timer starts running before I've even chosen which project I'm working on this feels like an unnecessary design choice and it seems like it could be fixed with a simple change. Also, setting up a new project and suddenly getting a bunch of pre added tasks is frustrating, I end up having to deselect around 20 tasks every time, then manually select the correct ones for that project. Also, configuring default payment settings and reminders for each individual client is a pain why can't those be controlled with universal defaults you can toggle on once? Lastly, the way service tiers change is hard to swallow, I got notified that my previous tier would shift to a more expensive level and I'm stuck accepting it even though I'm an independent contractor with only a handful of clients so I don't need the next plan. "Whatever" is basically the mood at that point.