For example, Xero allows you to view accounting reports and specific budgets for any time period. You can even opening times and prices monitor your company’s performance by customizing and measuring specific KPIs. FreshBooks is best equipped to serve small business owners without much accounting experience. The larger your business is, the better equipped Xero becomes to meet your needs.
Bank reconciliation
But Xero’s reporting is more robust thanks to its detailed accounting features. FreshBooks doesn’t offer bank reconciliation with its least expensive option, FreshBooks Lite. And while the software automatically suggests some transaction matches for you during the reconciliation process, you cannot create your own custom bank rules. Feature set includes an excellent mobile app and suite of reports, capable invoicing features, plus automated bill and receipt capture through Hubdoc. These plans differ based on the features you’ll need access to and the number of users you want to give access to your account.
Both services let you track time for a project, meaning you’ll know exactly how long a certain job takes. However, FreshBooks seems to have more in-depth client features, as it lets you store their contact info, communications and any internal notes you might have about them. It does have the option to input your inventory as invoicing items, but this is clunky and not as intuitive as Xero’s inventory process. However, to their credit, many of the negative reviews have replies from the FreshBooks team, all trying to solve any issues or at the very least apologizing for the inconvenience.
While Xero and QuickBooks are wildly popular, they’re not the only options available. There are a number of alternative accounting software programs that can offer powerful features and a user-friendly interface. Xero, meanwhile, is great for small-to-mid-sized businesses, and particularly for those who have a smaller number of clients at any given time. Xero has an almost identical feature set to QuickBooks, albeit allowing you to give unlimited users access to your account instead of a maximum of five. Naturally, this makes Xero a better choice for larger teams (small-to-mid-sized businesses).
- You can use the FreshBooks automated bookkeeping software wherever you have access to the internet, so let FreshBooks take care of your invoicing worries while you sit back and relax.
- 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.
- Integrates with more than 100 third-party apps; limited choices for direct payroll and point-of-sale integrations.
- Freelancers and independent contractors may find all of the basic accounting functions they need with FreshBooks, and for a lower price point than QuickBooks, to boot.
- That’s to say nothing of the ability to create and track projects, and the fact that you and your team can track the time you spend on any given item (including billable time).
If you can’t justify paying for QuickBooks Online or Xero or they have too many features your business doesn’t need, Wave might be an ideal alternative. It has comparable invoicing features, but lacks an audit trail and doesn’t integrate with third-party apps. Robust feature set includes thorough record-keeping, comprehensive reporting, excellent invoicing and inventory management, plus a capable mobile app.
Being able to create and send invoices on the go means no delays and no accounting headaches waiting for you. You can use the FreshBooks automated bookkeeping software wherever you have access to the internet, so let FreshBooks take care of your invoicing worries while you sit back and relax. Don’t let the amount of data tied up in your current accounting software stop you from finding the right fit for you and your business. With Easy Switch, our specialists will handle the heavy lifting, moving all your important info (like expenses, invoices, and client details) from Xero to FreshBooks. FreshBooks can replace QuickBooks for companies that only need basic accounting features. FreshBooks will be able to handle the basic reconciliations and invoicing needs of most small businesses, making it a good alternative to QuickBooks.
Pricing and plans
The support for both software programs is the knowledge base where you enter in what the question is and an answer is populated. Users will have an easier time finding third-party support for QuickBooks as it is more widely used with popular social media groups providing user-populated support and workflows. Integrates with more than 750 apps and offers live, rolling forecast best practices: a guide for fp&a professionals in-house bookkeeping add-on. Zapier is the leader in workflow automation—integrating with thousands of apps from partners like Google, Salesforce, and Microsoft.
Industry Best Customer Service
The company also offers its own Wave Payroll solution — just keep in mind that it only handles payroll taxes in some states and isn’t free. As a client, receiving a FreshBooks invoice with line items for subscription-based products or services, it’s easy to pay. All you have to do is save your credit card, banking or other payment details online in the FreshBooks application so you’re automatically billed each time an invoice comes due. Imagine doing this without invoicing software—dealing with paper invoices and receipts and having to keep track of phone and address records separately. As two of QuickBooks Online’s biggest competitors in the small-business accounting software space, Xero and FreshBooks each have their own strengths.
Better feature set
QuickBooks’ email support team were also very helpful in my experience. They both managed to quickly resolve the questions I had and were friendly to boot. As with Xero and QuickBooks, Xero also has a free trial which lasts 30 days to let you get to grips with the app and its features. In other words, this is where Xero shows its face as a tool aimed at small-to-mid-sized businesses, rather than just small ones. It’s not too difficult to get the hang of, but it’s certainly clunkier and more intimidating than the more modern interface. As I’ve already mentioned, FreshBooks is fantastically easy to use thanks to its complete overhaul and redesign.
It might not change the review score, but it’s nice to see them take an active approach with user feedback. Complaints with the main app seem to be focused on two things in particular. First, that FreshBooks isn’t an all-in-one accounting suite as many believe it is advertised, but is instead a thorough piece of invoicing software. Even though the thing I asked for wasn’t available, capital stock and surplus definition the team themselves were extremely polite and helpful, and recommended other support materials to help me smooth out any other teething problems with the service. As with the other apps in this post, FreshBooks comes with a 30-day free trial and then the option to upgrade to one of three paid plans. Xero’s design is great, but as soon as you hover over your submenus for the first time it’s easy to get lost and have no clue where to start.