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FreshBooks Review 2024

FreshBooks offers accounting features best suited for freelancers or very small businesses.
By Hillary Crawford
Last updated on May 13, 2024
Edited bySally Lauckner
Fact checked and reviewed

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Our Take

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

The bottom line:

FreshBooks is well-suited for freelancers and independent contractors. However, it's not ideal for fast-growing businesses because of user and client limits on some of its plans.
Full review

FreshBooks

Starting at
$19/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $33, $60, custom.
Promotion
30-day free trial or monthly discount (terms vary).
Learn more

on FreshBooks' website

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Simple to use for freelancers and very small businesses.
  • All plans include time tracking, plus the ability to add billable hours and billable expenses to invoices.
  • Mobile app lets you reply to clients’ questions and notifies you when invoices have been viewed or are overdue.
  • 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time phone support Monday through Friday.

Cons

  • Highest-tier Select plan comes with only two users, and lower-tier plans put limits on billable clients.
  • Least expensive Lite plan lacks bank reconciliation tools, accountant access and double-entry accounting reports.
  • Accountant can’t access full audit trail, regardless of plan.

Full Review

FreshBooks is a small-business accounting software that stands out with its solid phone support, customizable invoicing features and for offering time tracking in all plans. The software started out primarily as a solution for managing invoices and grew to become an accounting product.

How does FreshBooks work?

After testing out a free 30-day trial, you can choose from one of four FreshBooks plans; the best option depends on the size and complexity of your business. A support page can help with account setup, and video webinars explain how to use the software and its bookkeeping features.
On the main dashboard, you can see charts that summarize invoices, profit and loss, revenue streams and spending. FreshBooks also has a mobile app for iOS and Android.

Pricing and features

Plan
Pricing
Features
Lite
$19 per month or $228 annually.
Designed for self-employed professionals.
  • Covers five billable clients.
  • Unlimited and customized invoices.
  • Unlimited expense entries.
  • Send unlimited estimates.
  • Accept credit card payments and ACH bank transfers online.
  • Automated bank import.
  • Unlimited time tracking.
  • Add billable hours to invoices and rebill expenses to clients.
  • Tax reports and sales tax tracking.
  • Mobile mileage tracking.
Plus
$33 per month or $396 annually.
Designed for small businesses. It includes all Lite features, plus:
  • Covers 50 billable clients.
  • Automatic expense receipt scanning on mobile app.
  • Double-entry accounting reports and business health reports.
  • Recurring billing.
  • Client retainers.
  • Accountant access.
  • Bank reconciliation tools.
Premium
$60 per month or $720 annually.
Designed for growing businesses. It includes all Plus features, plus:
  • Covers unlimited billable clients.
  • Customized email templates and signatures.
  • Track project profitability.
  • Track accounts payable.
Select
Custom pricing.
Designed for businesses that need dedicated support. It includes all Premium features, plus:
  • Access for two team members.
  • A support phone number exclusive to Select subscribers.
  • Customized training.
  • Accept credit card payments in person or over the phone.
  • Lower credit card transaction rates.
  • Send client emails without FreshBooks branding.

Where FreshBooks stands out

Phone support availability

As opposed to limiting phone support to normal working hours, FreshBooks offers phone support from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays. This is convenient for people who work on their books toward the end of the day or own a business, like a restaurant, that operates on a later schedule.

Robust invoicing services

FreshBooks' suite of invoicing features is one of the product’s strong suits. You can choose from various customizable designs, set up recurring digital invoices, easily include discounts, and get instant updates when invoices have been viewed or paid online. Invoicing features are available on the mobile app, too.

Time and mileage tracking included in all plans

All FreshBooks plans include mileage tracking and time tracking features, which are also built into the mobile app. That way, small businesses with multiple employees don’t have to pay for a third-party time tracking app. In comparison, QuickBooks Online subscribers must pay separately for automatic time tracking. Xero users track mileage and time through project tracking and expense claiming tools that are only found in the highest-tier Established plan.

Where FreshBooks falls short

Limits on users and clients

FreshBooks’ biggest drawbacks are its limits on users and billable clients. It includes one user in all plans but the Select tier (which allows two users); each additional user costs $11 per month. The lower-tier Lite and Plus plans allow up to five and 50 clients, respectively. These limitations may not matter for very small businesses, but they can make it more expensive to scale up.
Other accounting platforms offer more flexibility. QuickBooks Online has a limit of five users in its most popular Plus plan and 25 users in its Advanced plan. Wave doesn't place limits on the number of users with its paid Pro plan. Xero doesn't cap the number of users or clients you can have, but it limits the number of invoices you can send in its lowest-tier Early plan.

Lite plan lacks double-entry accounting basics

The lowest-tier Lite plan doesn’t include basics like bank reconciliation tools or double-entry accounting fundamentals (i.e., a general ledger, chart of accounts and trial balance). It also doesn't allow accountant or bookkeeper access. Most accounting software companies provide these basic services even in their cheapest plans.
In the same vein, FreshBooks might be limiting for growing businesses that have multiple people working in the software. Regardless of which plan you choose, your accountant will not have access to a full audit trail.

FreshBooks alternatives

Bookkeeping and accounting software
Price
Highlights
$30 per month and up.
As the industry standard, QuickBooks Online is ideal if you have a growing business with specific accounting needs — as long as you don't mind taking the time to learn the program's ins and outs. Like Xero, it can easily scale with your business.
Free and up.
Wave is a solid choice for small businesses looking for free accounting software.
Free and up.
Zoho Books' paid plans all come with free live chat and phone support. The free plan comes with email support only.
» Learn more: See our full list of the top FreshBooks alternatives

How FreshBooks stacks up

Read more about how FreshBooks compares with the competition.

Learn more

on FreshBooks' website

Methodology

NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Information is gathered on a regular basis and reviewed by our editorial team for consistency and accuracy.
NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, reasonably priced, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. The best accounting software received top marks when evaluated across 10 categories and more than 30 subcategories. Learn more about how we rate small-business accounting software.
These ratings are meant to provide clarity in the decision-making process, but what’s best for your business will depend on its size, growth trajectory and which features you need most. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.

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