FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Which is Better for your Business?
The FreshBooks vs QuickBooks debate has been going on for years. Which of this two accounting software should you choose: QuickBooks or FreshBooks?
The comparison between these two accounting software platforms shows that both vendors have improvements in functionality and customer satisfaction as well as efficiency in terms of complexity of use. QuickBooks and FreshBooks have user bases in the 20-30 million customers and small business segments respectively.
In this article, we take a look at what separates these two accounting software apps.
- What is QuickBooks?
- What is FreshBooks?
- QuickBooks vs FreshBooks – Which is Better?
- In Terms of Benefits
- Advantages
- Features
- FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Which is Better for your Business?
- FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – A Comparison
- FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Pros and Cons
- FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Verdict
What is QuickBooks?
QuickBooks is great accounting software that has been around since 1998. It is a large business software that many businesses use somewhat successfully. Sales and financial transactions, as well as receipts and invoices, are organized and presented to the user in the most convenient manner. It allows the user to keep track of their sales, expenses, and profits and is capable of sending PDF reports and notices to clients.
The cloud-based accounting industry is led by QuickBooks, which offers a highly specialized, flexible, and tailored service portfolio. Automating all bookkeeping procedures, enables customers to discover a solution to their accounting problems more rapidly.
QuickBooks makes it easier for company owners to keep track of payments and costs, examine all of their financial data in one location, and create invoices and receipts.
It offers a robust report builder to assist you in presenting your financial accounts in a proficient and legal manner.
It now includes extra features like an Accountant Friendly Form, support for multiple currencies, and online banking syncing.
Related Read: QuickBooks Online
What is FreshBooks?
FreshBooks, the online accounting software, is a great alternative to traditional software such as QuickBooks. One of the most popular companies out there, QuickBooks software makes it easy to track your information and manage your company’s finances. FreshBooks has revolutionized the accounting software industry with its extremely user-friendly software and affordability.
FreshBooks is a one-stop-shop for small business owners and entrepreneurs, who need to efficiently manage their business operations without any technical knowledge or experience in accounting software.
The majority of the services offered by FreshBooks are completely free and come with several useful features and enhancements.
It allows users to connect with all the accounts, bills, and invoices from any bank in the world. It helps entrepreneurs and small businesses to manage and organize all their bookkeeping needs.
The powerful and intuitive interface allows you to access all your accounts and data anytime from anywhere.
It offers free products and add-ons that you can easily integrate into your FreshBooks account.
QuickBooks vs FreshBooks – Which is Better?
1. In Terms of Benefits
- Benefits of QuickBooks
Customers in QuickBooks get analytics to measure the growth, profitability, sales, and growth of an accounting department.
It comes with an intuitive interface, compared to the newer software suites. In addition, it has flexible features and upgrades options, so that the customers can easily implement their desired software upgrade for the departments.
The customer’s teams can view each other’s records in each other’s work applications.
QuickBooks also offers other free tools such as
- Paycheck Calculator
- Sales Tax Calculator
- Free Self Employment Tax Calculator
- Free Invoice Generator
- Free Invoice Templates
- The W2 Form: Explained
- 1099 vs W2 Employee
- Payroll Set-Up: A Guide for Employers
- Employee Cost Calculator
- Equity And Investment Calculator
- Business Entity Wizard
- Benefits of FreshBooks
FreshBooks has a diverse customer base with 4,00,000 new customers signing up each month. Moreover, with its business cloud accounting software, the vendor provides payroll and bookkeeping.
It also provides features such as real-time status reporting, customizable invoice format, and unlimited file and payment options. Apart from that, it comes with transaction consolidation for managing multiple payrolls and invoices. It also provides a mobile app with payments and record keeping.
2. Advantages
- Advantages of QuickBooks
An accounting tool for small- to medium-sized enterprises, QuickBooks is a general ledger (G/L) application and accounting software program. It is a component of the Quicken (formerly Quicken.com) products business service lineup from Intuit.
Each version of the operating system that QuickBooks supports is matched to an edition of the software. One of the three most popular installed operating systems—Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, or Linux—is supported by QuickBooks.
All common PC peripherals, like modems, printers, scanners, and other devices, are compatible with QuickBooks. It supports most of the 350 standard media types as well as the newest formats.
It supports US and UK payment terms and does not call for the usage of a particular set of licenses or Registered Agents. The greatest accounting software for small businesses is QuickBooks.
On the website www.intuit.com/quickbooks, a free version of QuickBooks Premier for Windows may be downloaded.
Keeping track of what their clients were meant to accomplish or when they were expected to be paid is particularly helpful for accountants.
It’s crucial to follow the instructions when creating an account to connect your business with QuickBooks and create the account effectively.
If not, it won’t function and will cause you problems. It’s likely that if you don’t follow these instructions, your effort will be unsuccessful, and you could have to start over.
Features like drag and drop, drag and drop import, expense recognition, vendor management, team management tools and other functions make using QuickBooks advantageous.
Additionally, it features a mobile version so that users may access it while on the move.
- Advantages of FreshBooks
The benefits of using FreshBooks include its easier-to-use interface, rapid online help, ability to save money and security threats by providing the most economical solutions, and ease of usage.
The business provides software for desktop, mobile, and tablet computers. Installing is simple and cost-free. It also features the lowest cost management and the lowest pricing because it is the most affordable cloud accounting software.
FreshBooks was created to address the demands of businesses in a variety of industries with a wide range of organizational structures.
The invoicing template is designed with basic modification choices, and it’s also straightforward to add and change data.
There isn’t any online application that offers a simple, cost-efficient solution to the issue your clients are having when you recreate invoices.
FreshBooks is compatible with the vast majority of widely used browsers and OS systems. So, you are not concerned about compatibility.
It’s easy to make changes to your template. There is also a clear accounting manager for your organization.
Numerous add-ons are available for you to utilize to customize your invoice template. The extras are the types of help you’ll need as you go up the corporate ladder.
FreshBooks is available for one month of free use at no cost to you. It is simple and easy to use.
FreshBooks also provides benefits. The company assists small businesses with fundamental accounts payable and accounts receivable, focusing more on consumer clients than corporate clients.
Customers may read their reports without a computer thanks to the company’s mobile applications, which they can utilize while on the road.
3. Features
- QuickBooks Features
The features of QuickBooks include a set of features including inbound, up-to-date, dynamic, flexible, and easy-to-use, 24×7 support, customer support, real-time communication tools, mobile accounting, credit card, address book, text messaging, GPS location tracking, customer charts, landline and wireless texting, checkout, and PayPal integration.
Features Highlights:
- Invoicing
- Time tracking
- Mileage tracking
- Bill management
- Inventory management
- Profit and loss reporting
- Automated online banking
- Income and expense tracking
- FreshBooks Features
FreshBooks offers a complete accounting solution and the company features a set of key features including invoice, accounts receivable, payment, time tracking, and sales tax integration. The mobile app allows having direct mobile links to customers and management systems. Moreover, it has advanced payment features for e-commerce and ACH with a shopping cart.
Features Highlights:
- Invoicing
- Time tracking
- Mileage tracking
- Report generation
- Image and file sharing
- Income and expense tracking
- Credit card payments and bank deposits
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Which is Better for your Business?
The easy and affordable pricing for the commercial-grade software comes with a significant set of features which include functionalities for managing accounting, bookkeeping, time tracking, projects, and invoicing.
Both of the accounting software programs do a job in your business but the features offered by one or the other are preferred for your business.
However, we are sure that choosing the best accounting software for your business requires understanding the nature of your business and its processes and industry-specific features to choose appropriate accounting software for your business.
- Productivity of Business Teams
QuickBooks and FreshBooks provide the necessary support to the business teams by offering features to organize your transactions and keep them organized.
The add-ons and integrations in the accounting software help the businesses to streamline processes, increase employee productivity, and provide time-saving reminders, invoices, support, and project management needs to the businesses.
Furthermore, FreshBooks can also be used by small businesses to manage their business process, payroll, invoice management, and customer relationship management.
- FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Subscription Support
Users can make use of both online accounting software for their businesses. However, it is highly recommended that you look for the features which are supported by both of the software on your platform. The services are available for 30 days or annual subscription plans.
The various features and functionalities offered by each accounting software include customer relationship management, email marketing, a mobile application for iOS and Android, team collaboration and process management, relationship management, inventory management, item pricing, appointment, time tracking, and reporting.
However, FreshBooks has capabilities that QuickBooks does not, like time tracking, relationship management, and invoicing. Additionally, FreshBooks has an app for iOS and Android devices, but QuickBooks does not. In contrast to QuickBooks, FreshBooks offers a mobile version of invoicing, time and cost tracking, and revenue recognition.
QuickBooks does not provide additional capabilities like analytics, reporting, and e-invoicing. The new capabilities for the QuickBooks program are a pleasant bonus, though.
It appears that FreshBooks and QuickBooks have comparable functions because of the extensive features that both offer.
With this in mind, QuickBooks will be the finest option for you if you are a beginning business owner or you manage a sole proprietorship or a partnership.
Since you can handle all of your finances in one location, a single proprietorship is significantly more flexible than a partnership.
You must manually search for all of your records in FreshBooks and enter data.
However, you may select your accounting software in accordance with your demands and tastes.
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – A Comparison
| PRODUCTS | FRESHBOOKS | QUICKBOOKS |
| Pricing | $6 per month($15 per month after promotional pricing)Lite: $15Plus: $25Premium: $50Select: Quote | $12.50 per month($25 per month after promotional pricing)Simple Start: $25Essentials: $40Plus: $70Advanced: $150 |
| Number of Users | One included $10 per additional user | Up to 25, depending on the plan |
| Integrations | More than 100 | More than 600 |
| Recommended | Freelancers, Independent contractors, and solopreneurs | Better choice for small to medium-sized businesses, startups, and businesses involved in inventory management |
| Highlights | There are several plans available Very intuitive Provides live customer service | Users up to 25 are available for different plans Excellent reporting options Design that is intuitive |
| Special Features | Invoice Expenses Accounting Estimates | Accounting Banking Expenses Vendor Bills and Credits |
| User Friendliness | Step-by-step installation procedure Simple system navigation Product assistance | Simple user interface App for mobile devices Tool for importing files |
| Accountant Sharing | Available for Plus, Premium, and Select plans up to 10 accountants per business at no additional charges. | It provides multiple accountants to access your account via the manage users page feature. |
| Scalability | Need to upgrade from the Lite plan to other options to get the basic accounting functions like bank reconciliation and double-entry reports. | It comes with a flexible transition from basic to advanced package with more additional features like QuickBooks payroll, inventory management, and so on. |
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Pros and Cons
| FRESHBOOKS | QUICKBOOKS | |
| PROS | Easy to use Great customer support Affordable pricing Time tracking | Scalable Features for businesses of all sizes Inventory management capabilities Extensive reporting |
| CONS | Limits billable clients Lacking features for larger businesses | Lower price tiers lacking important features Less intuitive than FreshBooks |
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Verdict
Both accounting software solutions have the benefit of including customer-friendly technology like social media management, blogs, and coupons, allowing customers to share their invoices with prospective customers.
Because of their innovations and features, both firms are able to maintain a competitive advantage in the industry.
For small enterprises and freelancers that need client-specific capabilities or have a service-based company model, FreshBooks is an excellent option.
For small and big businesses looking for a robust accounting system for managing inventories, filing taxes, and more, QuickBooks is a fantastic option. In addition, if tax preparation is not your strong suit, you can choose the QuickBooks Self-Employed plan.
Watch to see whether any of the vendors add more cutting-edge capabilities to their applications in the coming years, or if they keep things simple and supply the essential apps for small businesses.
It would be intriguing to see how much QuickBooks, the market leader, will be challenged by companies like FreshBooks.
Looking forward to getting started with QuickBooks as a beginner or looking forward to learn QuickBooks in-depth, take a look at our courses that covers everything about QuickBooks whether you’re a beginner or a pro.
Looking forward to getting started with QuickBooks? Click here for a variety of QuickBooks courses for both beginners and pros.
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks – Frequently Questions Asked
How can small businesses benefit from QuickBooks?
QuickBooks is a small business accounting solution that can be easily customized to suit the needs of your Accounting. The Easy to Use Interface QuickBooks is simple accounting software that allows small business owners to keep their accounts in order in a few minutes.
The software is user-friendly and a novice can easily learn and use it. Small businesses can also benefit from the overhead sales tax reporting feature. QuickBooks makes it easy to report the sales tax quarterly and it can be included as part of the final taxable income of the company, thereby helping to save tax on the quarterly sales taxes. QuickBooks is an ideal small business accounting solution to keep the accounts.
Is QuickBooks better than Spreadsheets?
There are several essential features in QuickBooks that make it an ideal alternative to spreadsheets. These include audit book trail, time tracking, and data conversion. This means that an auditor can follow all the transactions and determine whether payments or credits are made to other accounts. This can help the auditors to establish a certain liability and prove it to the IRS. With QuickBooks, all their transactions are backed up so they can be easily restored if the company faces a disaster. QuickBooks is also an ideal accounting software for small businesses that do not have a dedicated IT person to manage their records and create reports.
How to join FreshBooks Accounting Partner Program?
FreshBooks is cloud-based accounting software that allows users to save time in accounting, invoicing, and bookkeeping. However, to join this program, require a company to have at least $1,500 in yearly revenue. FreshBooks offers three different plans, and a business can choose the best plan to fit its needs. From this list, it is recommended to look for the Business package. In this plan, the business owner gets a monthly computer server, all the services needed for the account, and more.
How client accounts are managed on FreshBooks?
Client accounts are stores to keep records of clients that will be subjected to future services. As a business owner, you can update, create, manage and view all the client accounts via client login on FreshBooks. As an accounting software, FreshBooks also handles electronic invoicing. The user just needs to choose the electronic (digital) invoice payment option, and make sure that the chosen payment option is approved for invoices within the system.
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Simon Calder
Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA. He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!