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FreshBooks Accounting
FreshBooks is a cloud based accounting software package that primarily caters to small business operations. There are numerous features, with an emphasis on client invoicing and tracking time for projects. FreshBooks offers tremendous flexibility with invoice customization, while keeping the user in mind; user friendly modification of invoice documents. No matter what industry you are in, business is competitive and emphasizing your business brand where ever possible is one extra measure a small business can take to leave its' mark.
Pricing plans for this software are reasonable. Freshbooks offers an introductory free trial for 30-days, then Pricing plans are based on the features/requirements of your small business.
Additional Features of Freshbooks
- Attach Files
- Delayed payment alerts
- Project rate assignment
- Bill tracking
- Customized invoices (user friendly)
- Receipt notification (notification when a customer receives the invoice)
- Automated late fee charging
- Expense organization and tracking
- Project/job time tracking (integrated with Basecamp, Asana, and Trello)
- Billing flexibility (to charge hourly or on a flat rate basis pending agreement)
Intuit Quickbooks Accounting
Intuit Quickbooks is a popular product for small businesses, primarily because of its ease of use and affordable price. They offer products ranging from personal use, to small business, to enterprise. At the time of this writing, Desktop Pro costs about $185 and this is an out of the box "and go" version that provides all the basic features needed to run a small business.
Quickbooks Features
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts Receivable
- Project Accounting
- Payroll Management
- Expense Managing
- Banking Integration and Reconciliation
- Automated payments and deposits
- Billing and Invoicing
- PC, Mac, and cloud based for iOS and Android app use
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
Zoho Books
Zoho Accounting for Small Business is specifically geared for small and thriving businesses. It has a great user interface and has been referred to as a solution for intuitive accounting. Zoho Books offers professional invoicing and integrates with Stripe for transaction reconciliation. Based on reviews, customers of this product appear to be very satisfied with their product. The program also offers cash flow statements, Profit and Loss, and Balance sheets to name a few of the reporting features.
Zoho Features
- Invoicing
- Automated Banking
- Inventory Management
- Expense tracking (scan and upload receipts)
- Time tracking with client categorization and billing
- Collaborative client portal
- Dashboard with receivables, payables, income, and expenses
Zoho also offers several free applications for mobile devices that can be downloaded through the Amazon app store. If you are looking for a free Invoice and Time Tracking app, this app allows you to download, print or send professional invoices with various templates to customers and track time and payment status.
Sage 50 Pro Accounting
Sage Accounting is probably one of Quickbooks biggest competitors. Sage offers unique solutions catering to a number of industries; i.e. construction, distribution, manufacturing, and non profit. Not only does it offer integrated features with MS Excel, Word and Outlook, but data can be exported and emailed with a PDF file. Their software also offers analytics and forecasting features. In my research, I found ratings were around 4 out of 5 stars and while users expressed that there is a learning curve with this product, users said the learning was worth it. I would like to add, though, that it seems that long-time users (prior Peachtree users) are struggling with the changes that Sage is making to the software and they don't seem overly satisfied with the changes... but new users that aren't aware of the old software seem happy with the current product.
Sage Features
- Inventory management
- Billing and invoicing
- Analytics and Reporting
- Quotes and Proposals to Sales orders and Invoicing
- Payroll
- Expense Management