QuickBooks is better suited for larger companies as it enables more customization options, but it comes at an additional cost. FreshBooks, on the other hand, is a better fit for small businesses and situations where no more than one person is managing the account. With plans starting at $15 a month, FreshBooks is well-suited for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small-business owners alike. Unlike both FreshBooks and QuickBooks Online (and, frankly, nearly every other accounting tool), Xero includes inventory management with each plan. Xero is a more popular name in this industry, and it’s the better choice if you deal with inventory. It has a more comprehensive set of features than FreshBooks, including financial reporting and analysis.
Why You Can Trust Fit Small Business
Ease of use gets the highest weight in this case study because we want to give more credit to easy accounting software. For this section, we considered customer service, support network, and a subjective expert opinion score. Users must have easy access to customer service channels in case of problems, questions, or assistance. We believe that it is easier to use and more intuitive than Xero, especially passive v non passive income for freelancers and users with limited accounting knowledge. Xero is a more capable accounting software, but it has a learning curve. If you have an experienced accountant in your business, pick Xero, but if you intend to DIY accounting, FreshBooks is better.
FreshBooks is known for its intuitive interface that’s easy to navigate. If you’re looking for a simple solution to organize your business accounting in one system, it won’t take long to get started with the basics and send your first invoice. FreshBooks is ranked the Best Accounting Software for Sole Traders and Small Businesses by PCMag. And we do more than just invoicing and payments – we have award-winning support, are twice as easy to use, and cost half the price. Check out our other picks for the year’s best small-business accounting software. If you’re a freelancer consistently working with the same handful of clients, you’ll likely do fine with FreshBooks’ cheapest plan.
Quickbooks Online
In Xero, you can view the platform as a demo company with pre-recorded data, which makes it far easier to see how the platform will look and operate when you input your own business’s data. There’s a reason FreshBooks made it on Zapier’s list of the best self-employed accounting software, while Xero made it on the list of the best accounting software for bigger businesses. The software must have enough reports that can be generated with a few clicks. Moreover, we’d also like to see customization options to enable users to generate reports based on what they want to see. You can only interact with a chatbot that’ll guide you through some common customer problems or redirect you to self-help articles on Xero’s support page.
Best expense tracking: FreshBooks
Has robust reporting tools and report customization options, basic inventory tracking in all plans and a capable mobile app; Early plan limits the number of invoices and bills. Talk to your accountant and start a free trial to see how easy it is to work together. And if you need a hand our phone support with a live rep extends to both you and your accountant with no additional fees.
We recommend it to freelance service providers who only need to track income and expenses for projects. Both FreshBooks and Xero are cloud-based accounting software that operates under the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. FreshBooks provides a software environment that blends accounting and project management, making it ideal for self-managed businesses and freelancers. In comparison, Xero has more accounting features, making it an excellent choice for growing businesses, especially product-based companies. FreshBooks includes unlimited time and mileage tracking with all plans. You can automatically track time using the mobile app, a browser extension or third-party apps like Trello and Asana.
- Xero also offers Analytics Plus, available on the Established plan, to analyze your cash flow.
- You can generate traditional financial reports, but they aren’t available with all plans.
- And Xero doesn’t limit your billable clients, but it does limit you to sending just 20 invoices a month with the cheapest plan.
- ET, so if you’re having a late-night issue trying to sort out an invoice, you’ll have to wait until morning for in-person help.
- You can only interact with a chatbot that’ll guide you through some common customer problems or redirect you to self-help articles on Xero’s support page.
FreshBooks makes it easy to transfer all of your financial data over from another platform so you can get up and running. Even though FreshBooks doesn’t yet offer similar AI-driven tools, both platforms can connect to Zapier AI. This means you can build customized AI workflows to automate tasks, whether you’re team Xero or team FreshBooks.