FreshBooks Review
FreshBooks is ideal for small businesses that want a basic, easy-to-use accounting solution and don’t need complex accounting features or multiple users.
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Expert Analyst & Reviewer
- 54 comments
- Updated on:
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FreshBooks
| Total Rating | 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Poor |
| Hardware & Software Requirements | Excellent |
| Accounting Method | Fair |
| Ease Of Use | Excellent |
| Features | Fair |
| Customer Service | Excellent |
| User Reviews | Excellent |
| Integrations & Add-Ons | Good |
| Security | Good |
Pros
- Easy to use
- Excellent customer service
- Good mobile apps
- Well-designed UI
- Attractive invoice templates
- Numerous integrations
Cons
- Expensive monthly cost
- Limited users
- Limited features
FreshBooks Overview
FreshBooks is one of the biggest names in the invoicing and accounting scene and is the software choice for over 10 million customers. FreshBooks has a number of key accounting features, double-entry accounting, and numerous integrations. FreshBooks has finally stepped up to the plate with its feature set and joined the big leagues with other accounting competitors, such as QuickBooks Online and Wave.
While there are numerous positive aspects to this accounting software, there are still several drawbacks to consider. For one, the app is expensive. Each plan only comes with one user, so the cost of additional users adds up fast. There are also some features missing that you’d find with other accounting software, such as built-in payroll.
Despite these drawbacks, FreshBooks is incredibly easy to use and has some of the best customer support on the market. It’s also one of the few programs to offer built-in proposals. This software could be a good option for some small businesses.
Read on for our full FreshBooks review and see if this accounting software is right for you.
Table of Contents
- FreshBooks Pricing
- Cloud-Based Or Locally-Installed
- Hardware & Software Requirements
- Specific Size Of Business
- Accounting Method
- Ease Of Use
- FreshBooks Features
- FreshBooks Customer Service
- FreshBooks User Reviews
- FreshBooks Integrations & Add-Ons
- FreshBooks Security
- Is FreshBooks Worth It? The Final Verdict
- FreshBooks FAQs
FreshBooks Pricing
FreshBooks offers three different pricing levels. Only the two largest plans come with double-entry accounting and the subsequent accounting features. You can make monthly payments or purchase a yearly subscription, which will get you a 10% discount. There is a free 30-day trial. No credit card or banking information is required, and you can cancel the service at any time. A custom plan option is also available.
FreshBooks also offers a generous referral program where you can receive $5 for each referral that ends in a free trial and $55 for referrals that end in a paid subscription. There is also a 30-day money-back guarantee if you change your mind about the software.
Here’s what you get with each FreshBooks pricing plan:
FreshBooks Lite
FreshBooks Lite costs $15/month and includes:
- Unlimited invoices
- Unlimited estimates
- Expense tracking
- Contact management
- Project management
- Time tracking
- Mobile mileage tracking
- Reports
- Five billable clients
- One user
FreshBooks Plus
FreshBooks Plus costs $25/month and includes everything in the Lite plan, plus:
- Double-entry accounting
- Advanced reports
- Proposals
- Live bank feeds
- 50 billable clients
- One user
FreshBooks Premium
FreshBooks Premium costs $50/month and includes everything in the Plus plan, plus:
- Bill-tracking
- 500 billable clients
- One user
FreshBooks Select
If you have more than 500 clients, FreshBooks offers a fourth service called FreshBooks Select. FreshBooks Select includes all of the features of FreshBooks Premium but adds more users and more features, such as advanced payments, QuickBooks and Xero integrations, and a dedicated account manager.
Contact FreshBooks directly for a quote for FreshBooks Select.
Extra Costs To Consider With FreshBooks Pricing
Before purchasing FreshBooks, there are a few extra costs you may have to factor in, depending on your business’s needs:
- Additional Users: Each of the plans above only supports one user. Additional users cost $10/month per user. FreshBooks has recently added a new manager role to help you better control user permissions. You can add contractors for no additional cost. (The contractors will have to pay for the software if they invoice more customers than just your business.)
- FreshBooks Payments: FreshBooks Payments allows you to accept payments from most major credit cards directly from your invoices. Payment processing costs 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for most credit cards.
- Advanced Payments: Advanced Payments is an add-on that allows you to save and charge credit cards, manage subscription-based billing, and use it as a virtual terminal. This service costs an additional $20/month.
Cloud-Based Or Locally-Installed
FreshBooks is cloud-based, so no downloads or installation are required.
Hardware & Software Requirements
As cloud-based software, FreshBooks is compatible with nearly any device so long as you have an internet connection. FreshBooks also offers a mobile app for iOS (11.4+) called FreshBooks Cloud Accounting and a mobile app for Androids (4.4+) called FreshBooks Invoice+Accounting.
Specific Size Of Business
With the recent addition of double-entry accounting, I finally feel confident recommending FreshBooks as an accounting solution. FreshBooks is ideal for freelancers, micro-businesses, and small businesses needing simple accounting and basic features, such as invoicing, expense tracking, and project management. The software is not ideal for small businesses that require in-depth accounting and more advanced features, such as budgeting or tax support. FreshBooks does not offer native payroll but does integrate with Gusto for businesses in need of payroll services.
The software is also unsuited for small businesses needing many users. Each of FreshBooks’ pricing plans only supports one user, and the software does not support multiple businesses. FreshBooks has decent user permissions to help you manage your employees’ access to the software.
If you need accounting software with more users or features, we recommend looking at QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books instead.
Accounting Method
FreshBooks uses accrual accounting.
Ease Of Use
FreshBooks has always been simple to use, and the company has been rolling out small navigational updates nearly every month to improve usability. The software is easy to set up and use and requires little previous bookkeeping experience. The company is listening to users and has addressed previous navigational issues.
There is still the occasional navigational difficulty, but if you have any trouble using the software, FreshBooks offers strong customer support and provides plenty of tools to help.
FreshBooks Features
In terms of features, FreshBooks covers all the basics and has a lot of built-in automations to help save time. Here are the most notable features you can find in FreshBooks’ accounting software:
- Dashboard: After entering your FreshBooks login info, you’ll go to your dashboard. FreshBooks has an attractive dashboard where you can quickly view important financial information about your business. The dashboard is organized by graphs for Outstanding Revenue, Total Profit, Revenue Streams, Spending, and Unbilled Time. The side menu offers quick access to key reports. There is also a quick create button in the top right-hand corner of the screen and a help button in the bottom right-hand corner.
- FreshBooks Invoices: FreshBooks offers two basic invoice templates that are customizable. You can change the colors, font, logo, and header. You can also add terms and notes to invoices. There’s still no way to create default email messages, but the built-in chat feature is one of the coolest parts of FreshBooks. Plus and Premium users can send reminders, charge late fees, and set recurring invoices. If you click on the small cloud bubble icon, you will be taken to a screen that shows any recent action(s) on that invoice as well as messages from your client.
- FreshBooks Estimates: FreshBooks makes it easy to send estimates. You can create duplicate estimates, quickly convert them to invoices, and view the status of your estimates (sent, viewed, accepted, etc.).
- Client Portal: FreshBooks offers a beautiful client portal where your customers can accept, save, print, or comment on estimates; pay, print, save, or write messages on invoices; or view, comment on, or accept proposals. Your clients can also choose to save their bank information in the client portal.
- Contact Management: The contact section of this accounting software allows you to add basic client information as well as internal notes. You can also set a default currency and language and create default invoice reminders and late fees for each customer. A nice client page features graphs that show total money overdue, amount outstanding, and the amount in draft. Underneath this chart is a list of recently active clients and a full client directory. You can easily send statements directly to your clients. There is no way to manage vendors.
- Expense Tracking: Expense tracking is made easy with FreshBooks. You can enter expenses manually, import bank statements, or connect to live bank feeds (FreshBooks’ live bank feeds are not automatic like you would expect and are updated once daily). When you enter an expense manually, you can add a receipt image, a vendor, description, total, and a category. Categories are set up to closely resemble IRS tax filing categories, which will come in handy during tax season. There is no way to mark these expenses as deductions, but you can separate business and personal expenses. Note: Like almost all software using live bank feeds, FreshBooks partners with Yodlee, which may violate some banks’ Terms and Conditions. Consult with your bank to see whether live bank feeds are the right choice for you.
- Bank Reconciliation: With the addition of double-entry accounting, FreshBooks added a much-needed bank reconciliation feature. You can now reconcile your bank accounts in FreshBooks. Double-entry accounting is only available on the Plus and Premium plans.
- Accounts Payable: An accounts payable feature is available for Premium plan subscribers. This feature allows you to track bills, bill payments, and vendors.
- Chart Of Accounts: FreshBooks offers a basic chart of accounts. There is no way to edit or delete the existing accounts. There is the ability to create custom subaccounts, but only your accountant can do so.
- Items: You can add items and services to FreshBooks. While there still isn’t an items tab, having a place to view items is a much-needed improvement from our last review in February 2021. You can enter basic information, such as the item name, description, rate, and any default taxes.
- Project Management: With this feature, users can create hourly or flat-rate projects and assign them to employees or clients. You can set a time budget and due date as well. FreshBooks sets itself apart by offering an internal communications tool called “discuss,” where you can chat about the project internally with your team. You can send messages, answer employee questions, and even add attachments and images with this tool. When a project is completed, FreshBooks makes it easy to bill projects as an invoice.
- Time Tracking: You manually log time in FreshBooks or use the built-in timer. You can also easily review the logged time of your employees and contractors. Time can be added to projects and billed as an invoice, or you can choose to record unbillable time as well.
- FreshBooks Reports: FreshBooks offers eight reports and three extra accounting reports for Plus and Premium users. The company has also added a reports tab for easier access. While the new FreshBooks does have more reports than the last time we reviewed the software, FreshBooks Classic used to offer 22 reports.
- Journal Entries: Your accountant can create journal entries. They are available on the Plus and Premium plans only.
- FreshBooks Proposals: One of the coolest features of FreshBooks is the proposals feature. It’s well-developed and allows you to showcase your work with plenty of space for writing, images, and attachments. The sections include Overview, Scope of Work, Timeline, Pricing, Notes, and Terms. You can also require an e-Signature on approved proposals and easily convert proposals into invoices. Available on the Plus and Premium plans only.
- Sales Tax: Since there is no settings section, you have to add sales tax manually on each line item of an invoice. FreshBooks does save the sales tax rates that you add, but you still have to select them manually.
- Multiple Currencies: FreshBooks is compatible with nearly 170 currencies and fourteen languages, making the software ideal for international invoicing and business.
- FreshBooks Importing & Exporting: You can import clients and expenses via .csv. There’s no way to personally import items or services (which is a bit annoying), but if you send a file to FreshBooks’ support, the company will import the data for you. You can export reports and download estimates and invoices as .pdfs, but that’s about it as far as exporting is concerned.
FreshBooks Customer Service
The one thing that hasn’t changed over the years is FreshBooks’ great customer support. FreshBooks highly values its customer service, so much so that every FreshBooks employee spends their first month in customer support. The company has also won numerous customer service awards.
Phone calls get answered right away, and in my experience, representatives are friendly, informative, and helpful. Emails are also responded to quickly, and there’s a well-developed help center as well as an expansive blog.
Here are all of the support options available to FreshBooks users:
- Phone: FreshBooks’ phone support operates Monday through Friday from 8 AM-8 PM Eastern. Reps answer calls quickly, making this a great go-to support option.
- Email: You can contact the FreshBooks support team via email. Emails are generally responded to within a few hours.
- Support Form: FreshBooks also has an online support form.
- In-Software Help: FreshBooks offers an in-software help section where you can search the built-in help center or leave a question for the FreshBooks team. You can also access FreshBooks’ FAQs, email, and phone number from within the program.
- Help Center: The help center features a large number of how-to articles and a list of FAQs. The articles are well-written with step-by-step instructions. There are two separate help centers — one for FreshBooks and one for FreshBooks Classic — so be sure you’re using the correct one.
- Webinar: FreshBooks offers free introductory webinars to help you become acquainted with the software.
- Blog: Much like the help center, FreshBooks’ blog provides a ton of articles with helpful business advice and information on product updates.
- Press Center: There is also a FreshBooks Press Center if you are curious about the company’s business news and coverage.
- Social Media: FreshBooks maintains active Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram accounts. FreshBooks also has a well-developed YouTube channel featuring how-to videos, getting started demonstrations, advice for small businesses, and customer testimonials.
FreshBooks User Reviews
Negative FreshBooks Reviews & Complaints
FreshBooks receives predominantly positive reviews from its customers. When New FreshBooks launched, there was an increase in negative reviews; however, these have decreased as FreshBooks has addressed common issues, such as the lack of double-entry accounting and some navigational difficulties.
Here are some of the most common issues users still have with the software.
- Limited Features: Users commonly call out for better reports, a QuickBooks Online integration, more invoice templates, and more supported currencies. These features were not added when the company redesigned FreshBooks, and these requests still seem overlooked.
- FreshBooks Classic Was Better: Several users like FreshBooks Classic better than the new version of FreshBooks, especially since the new version offers far fewer features. A few users note that they appreciate how FreshBooks still allows them to revert to the Classic version.
- Too Expensive: Many people find FreshBooks to be far too expensive, particularly when considering its free competitors (such as Wave) offer more features for $0/month.
Positive FreshBooks Reviews & Testimonials
Overall, customers seem to like the FreshBooks product. FreshBooks has an A+ rating on BBB and receives 4.5/5 stars on GetApp (based on over 3,500 reviews), 4.5 stars on G2 Crowd (based on over 600 reviews), and 8.2/10 stars on TrustRadius (based on over 170 reviews). FreshBooks also features customer testimonials on its website and YouTube channel.
Some of the aspects that customers say they love the most in their FreshBooks reviews are:
- Ease Of Use: This is, by far, the most common point of praise. Users like that FreshBooks is simple to use and saves them time on expense tracking, invoicing, and billing. Users also like that they don’t have to be accountants to learn how to use the software successfully.
- Amazing Customer Service: FreshBooks’ customer service gets high praise. Users particularly appreciate the fast email responses and that they can talk to a representative on the phone right away without waiting.
- Strong Mobile Apps: Despite a few reported glitches, most users find FreshBooks’ mobile apps convenient and well-designed. The iOS app even receives 4.8/5 stars from users. While not capable of all desktop functions, FreshBooks seems to have some of the most developed mobile apps in the cloud accounting world.
- Professional Invoices: Users appreciate that FreshBooks makes their invoices look professional and appealing. Freelancers especially appreciate this aspect of the software.
FreshBooks Integrations & Add-Ons
FreshBooks offers over 100 integrations to cover just about any need businesses might have. While FreshBooks offers many popular integration options, such as Gusto, Asana, and Basecamp, only two payment gateways are available. API is available for developers as well.
Many accounting software programs, such as Wave and QuickBooks Online, now offer bookkeeping services. While FreshBooks doesn’t have its own bookkeeping service, it does integrate with Bench Accounting.
FreshBooks Security
FreshBooks is secured by 256-bit SSL encryption as well as Cisco-powered firewalls. Data is backed up on two servers in two separate (undisclosed) locations and is also backed up nightly onto a physical tape. FreshBooks has intrusion detection and vulnerability test programs that run frequently.
FreshBooks’ servers are housed in Rackspace’s data centers in addition to cloud-based security measures. To learn more about FreshBooks’ security and its partnership with Rackspace, contact the FreshBooks team.
Is FreshBooks Worth It? The Final Verdict
FreshBooks is easy accounting software that offers many great features suitable for small businesses. Double-entry accounting, bank reconciliation, and reporting make this accounting software a viable competitor in the small business accounting space.
However, keep in mind that the software is expensive and missing important features, such as built-in payroll. QuickBooks Online and Xero have only slightly more expensive plans than FreshBooks but offer far better accounting, more features, and more users (see our FreshBooks vs. QuickBooks Online and Xero vs. FreshBooks posts for a comparison). Even free companies such as Wave have more to offer for $0/month.
That said, FreshBooks’ ease of use and amazing customer service put both Xero and QuickBooks Online to shame, which may make FreshBooks 100% worth it for your business. FreshBooks also has a unique proposal feature. Take the free trial for a spin to see if the pros outweigh the cons for your business, or explore all of your options by taking a look at our top accounting picks.
FreshBooks FAQs
Matt Sherman
Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick
A former sports editor and journalist, Matt Sherman has been writing about and researching small business software since 2015, with a special emphasis on retail and restaurant sales. Matt's expert opinions are cited in various industry publications, including Fox Business. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon.
View Matt Sherman's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
FreshBooks |
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see FreshBooks for yourself.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
FreshBooks |
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see FreshBooks for yourself.
Read Next
Organization Name: All Points Locksmith Service
We have been using Freshbooks for our small locksmith business for over 7 years now. Over a year ago we were forced to migrate from the Classic FBs to the new one without any notice or choice in the matter. We were given the option to “check out” the new version, which we never did because we were very happy with the Classic version but were never notified that the Classic would be discontinued – they just switched us over one day & that was that.The new version SUCKS. They took away so many basic accounting features. I can no longer do a negative line entry on a vendor invoice, there is no account to record a company Visa payment that we made, they want you to use the bank reconciliation feature to do this – which a contact of mine says is a nightmare (her company’s personal experience). They have removed features from us that I used to be able to do with the Classic version:I cannot add accounts or modify / rename accounts within our chart of account list, it HAS to be done by our accountant. I cannot do my own journal entries, they also need to be done only by our accountant. I cannot even do a CREDIT NOTE from a vendor. And after being on hold for over half an hour regarding this issue with support, the young lady who took my call did not even know what a credit note was! Needless to say, she is forwarding my issue to someone in their accounting support group.On the invoicing side, when you create a credit note to a customer’s account, say for a return or a overpayment, yes it lists it as a credit. HOWEVER, a BIG issue is in processing their payment on which they have taken said credit note. The ONLY option is to deduct the credit amount from an outstanding invoice, rather than traditionally where the payment would be recorded / processed as follows:inv. $$$inv. $$$Inv. $$$CN ($$$)Clean & simple! Not with the new FBs. I am so frustrated with this company now. The “developers” do not seem to have any idea as to what basic accounting needs are, that the Classic FB provided & as many others have stated, FB has been destroyed. And it is a shame because we really liked the Classic.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Web Promotion
It was all good until they made a awful changes. The new version has become a disaster to our billing department. We are now switching to other invoice service provider – we were forced to use something functional.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: FreshBooks
Hey Steve, thank you for taking the time to share your review of FreshBooks.
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve experienced issues with the new FreshBooks. If you’re not working with someone already, our Support Team would be more than happy to assist however possible. The contact details for our team can be found here: https://www.freshbooks.com/contact. ^DM
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I have been with Freshbooks for about a decade and for most of that time would have given it five stars. A few months ago my account was moved to the new Freshbooks. That was a rocky move. We experienced all kinds of issues with data not updating fast enough. For example, I would create an invoice for a project’s unbilled time, but the project’s unbilled time stats would not update… sometimes for hours. With dozens of often very similar invoices to send, this can lead to accidental double invoices for customers. I have emailed their support many times about this over the past few months, and it just does not seem to get fixed. I do love the new Freshbooks UI and feature set, but this slowness in updating project and other data makes it difficult to use, and difficult to trust that the information it is showing me is reliable. As I write this, I am checking on some Freshbooks projects that I invoiced 40+ minutes ago, and they still show as if they have not been invoiced… they still show as having unbilled hours. This is simply unacceptable for financial software. Hopefully it will update itself some time this week.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: MLXLLC
They sucked right out of the box. Their ad pushes you to their free trial and 60% off the first 6 months offer, but those are not one-in-the-same. Once my trial started, I set up all my accounts, but then when I decided to pull the trigger and subscribe, they take away the 60% offer. Lie to me right away and I’m gone. Now, all my customer data is in their system, and I have to spend more time removing it. Horrible customer service and the wound up just deleting my support ticket. Find another solution with better support and business policies.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: SoMo Transactions
I have been pleased overall with Freshbooks however, since I believe customer service is everything, I had to give them 3 stars. I run a small business that has been trying to navigate finances amid COVID and recently needed to upgrade to premium because Freshbooks only allows you 50 clients with my current plan. I saw online they were offering 70% off (for a limited time) of the premium plan to new users so I called and asked if I could have this applied if I upgraded to the premium plan. I was told that was only for new users (I’ve been a customer for years with them) and the best they could do was offer me 25% off of next month’s bill. Very disappointed.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hey there, thank you for taking the time to share your review of FreshBooks.
I understand that COVID has been financially challenging for many small businesses, and I appreciate the honesty of your feedback. I’d be happy to get you in touch with a member of our Customer Success team, who’s worked with other customers like yourself who have been impacted by COVID. Feel free to reach out to our Support Team at 1-866-303-6061 Monday through Friday, 8am-8pm EST or [email protected], and we can get you in touch with Customer Success. ^DM
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Mcewenservices
Bank connection is a common and persistent problem. We have not been able to use this feature for a total of three months this year alone. FreshBooks reply to complaints quickly but are unable to fix it. Disgraceful and misleading business practice
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hey there, thank you for sharing your review of FreshBooks.
I can certainly appreciate that Bank Connection issues can be frustrating. Bank Connection problems can have a variety of underlying root causes, so sometimes resolution can take some time. However, we here on the Support Team are here to help you through these issues however we can!
If your bank is unable to connect to FreshBooks for whatever reason, a workaround for getting your Expenses into your FreshBooks account would be our CSV Import feature, which you can learn more about here: https://support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001651111-How-do-I-import-Expenses-from-a-file-
If there’s anything specific for your account that you need assistance with, our Support Team can be reached at 1-866-303-6061 Monday through Friday, 8am-8pm EST or [email protected]. ^DM
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Freshbooks is a nightmare for developers, their api documentation is counter intuitive, they force you to use oauth while all other integrations can work with a single api key for each environment.Their old classic version was way easier to use, without any notification they just moved us to the new version. Really hate this new api and system. Very interested in alternatives!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hey Dylan, thank you for taking the time to share your review of FreshBooks.
If you have any specific questions on how to use the new FreshBooks API, you can reach out directly to [email protected] and our API Team would be happy to assist however they can. I have passed along your feedback from this comment about the API to our team, but if there is any other feedback or suggestions regarding the new FreshBooks, our Support Team would be happy to hear them. We can be reached at 1-866-303-6061 Monday through Friday, 8am-8pm EST or [email protected]. ^DM
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: NamanModiDigital
Great post on Freshbook. Very well written, and every point is explained beautifully. I want to add one more point, The dashboard of the fresh book is stylish as compare to other tools.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Janitorial Sevices
I started a new business and needed an invoice program. I chose to use freshbooks because it was cheaper then quickbooks. Big mistake.!! Everything was going great until I had a Big client pay 5 invoices that totaled about $9,000. I waited two days and the money was never sent to my bank account. I called freshbooks and they told me to wait a couple more days and I should see the money. I never received the payments. I called freshbooks back and was told that the money was sent to my other bank account. I then told the freshbooks rep, ” I dont have another bank account. ” So then I was told well freshbooks doesn’t handle the payments, I have to contact We-pay and Stripe. However freshbooks cannot give out these companies phone#. So freshbooks has to email We-pay and Stripe and instruct them to call me. By the time all of this happened my money was long gone. The company Stripe did pay me $1000, because they said thats all they was responsible for. But We-pay never paid me anything and freshbooks acted as though they where not even involved, even though I pay them a monthly fee to take care of my invoices and payments. I really think It was an inside job. I think a worker from freshbooks changed my bank account information. Because in order for me to change my bank account information back to my original account I had to sit on the phone for hours with a rep. I had to get codes sent to my phone and then enter the codes into freshbooks to unlock my freshbooks online banking info. So I’m thinking how did an outsider do all of this. Without needing these unlock codes, without and alarms going up in the freshbooks,we-pay system. Because I put my phone# into the system the first day I set everything up. So why didn’t I get alerts to my phone when someone was trying to change my bank info. Dont use freshbooks, if you really have to, pick Stripe to handle any payments. Dont be like me, hurting during this pandemic. I took an $8000 lost and freshbooks rep talked to me like I did something wrong.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
July 25, 2019To whom it may concern,This is a review of our experiences with Freshbooks that has been copied and pasted onto every platform where these types of reviews are appropriate. Our goal is to make this review as visible as possible, and to let people know why we are a DETRACTOR to Freshbooks as a business.We started with Freshbooks Classic back in 2016. As a small business, what freshbooks offered in terms of features and pricing was reasonable. At the time we were growing exponentially so soon we ended up with the need to add more and more users. This drove the price up significantly with Freshbooks as well, which we understood and considered to be a sunk cost.Now in 2017, Freshbooks announced that they were changing over to New Freshbooks, and while there are no hard facts to back this claim up, we strongly believe that New Freshbooks and their bank card syncing feature was not as built out at launch as it could have been, with potentially leaked data, as the moment we synced our bank card with New Freshbooks, we started receiving spam / phishing emails where they somehow knew the exact dollar amount within our banking accounts. We quickly reverted back to Freshbooks Classic following a realization that a lot of the features within New Freshbooks were not worth making the switch.Now, being back on Freshbooks Classic, because our monthly plan was suddenly considered a legacy plan, even when we restructured our administrative team to require less and less users, the price stayed the same. Each time we communicated with customer support, either by phone or email, would result with the same reply that if because we were on a legacy plan, instead of the price going down when removing users, it would actually be more expensive for us to switch to the newer plans, even with less users.Now due to most of us having a background in the telecommunications industry, this type of pricing seemed like something a company would do when it was a monopoly / oligopoly like the big three telecommunications company in Canada. After the third or fourth time of being told that when we paid for nine or more users (while only having four active users) was the best option, we decided to price out Freshbooks with another cloud based accounting software.To nobody on our team’s surprise, the other accounting software, had a far more built out platform. They also had way more features (including payroll) that were standard in both accounting and reporting than Freshbooks. They were also much cheaper by more than half. From the start of 2019, we’ve made the switch and decided to wind down operations with Freshbooks. Since Freshbooks bills in USD for some reason, we were paying upwards of CAD$ 150.00 a month for a service we essentially only needed for cloud storage, due to the fact that there was no direct option to export INVOICES. We decided to reach out to Freshbooks customer service back in May / June. After a long and strenuous phone conversation with the customer service representative (let’s call him MJ), as well as email correspondence, all parties involved agreed that we would downgrade the account to Freshbooks Lite option, which would provide us with access to our invoices as needed, and a single user login (which is what we have been doing since January). We considered this matter as done. Anything that we had overpaid prior to communicating with the customer service team was written off.Now today, we receive another invoice for the full $130 USD (conversion to CAD). When we follow up on the email correspondence, it is clear that MJ never made any of the changes that were discussed and approved, and had no recollection of the discussions and was quite unapologetic.As a full disclosure, the monthly charge isn’t really a significant expense to us due to the nature of our business and our operations; however, there is a principle involved. There should never be a reason when a business has to pay more, just because they can. There should never be a moment when the customer service representative promises to make changes and then proceeds to drop the ball and forget everything once the phone call ends.Frankly, if this was not such a waste of our valuable time, we would pursue this much further.Sincerely,A Detractor of Freshbooks
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: FreshBooks
Hey there, thank you for taking the time to share this review. I am sorry to hear about the issues you had using FreshBooks, and I wanted to address a few of the concerns raised.
FreshBooks has always charged in USD, but we do understand that this can be a challenge for our Canadian customers. This is something our team is aware of, and I have ensured that this feedback has been passed along to our team.
You are entirely correct that the new FreshBooks was lacking some features when we first launched, but there has been a lot of work done and so many features added! You can see them all here: https://support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000847207-Changes-Updates
As for the final issue you’ve raised, with the error in your downgrade and still being charged at your old price – I can’t speak to the specifics of that situation, but I am sorry that it happened. If there are any outstanding concerns you have or feedback you wish to provide, you can contact our Support Team at 1-866-303-6061 Monday through Friday, 8am-8pm EST or [email protected]. ^DM
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: SI LTD
For those people who continue to use and like classic, Freshbook enjoys playing a little game of… “How often can we have a Freshbooks Classic problem so users will move to higher tier paid plan.”Look, when Freshbooks came out, it was simply THE BEST option out there. Now, greed, fees, nickel and dime practices and ‘problems’ with classic make this one of the poorer choices. I would look at other options and will when I determine it’s time to switch.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: FreshBooks
Hey Dave, I’m sorry to hear about the issues that you’ve run into using the classic FreshBooks. Any one here on the Support Team would be happy to speak with you about these concerns, and talk about your account specifically. We can be reached at 1-866-303-6061 Monday through Friday, 8am-8pm EST and [email protected]. ^DM
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.