What’s better FreshBooks or QuickBooks?

FreshBooks is cloud-hosted accounting software that offers invoicing, time and expense tracking, simple project management, and a wide range of general accounting applications all in one easy-to-use desktop and mobile interface. It has fast onboarding with great customer support and good for small businesses, a sole proprietor business, and freelancers.

QuickBooks is the browser-based version of the popular desktop accounting application that’s also cloud-hosted. It has extensive reporting functions, multi-user plans (for up to 25 users), and an intuitive interface. It’s good for SMBs, a sole proprietorship business, financial industry, and freelancers. For ease of use and features, it’s a 9, for its pricing an 8, and a 7 for its support.

Overall, FreshBooks is better than QuickBooks.

Let’s dissect our verdict as to FreshBooks being better than QuickBooks. Both are great options but the question is; What would be best and would work for your business?

Who would FreshBooks work best for?

FreshBooks is designed with sole proprietors, consultants, and micro-business and small-business owners in mind. FreshBooks also currently offers a self-employed version, freelancers, as well as a team's version, which is designed for small businesses with employees or contractors who would use it regularly.

It’s also great for first-time business owners and start-up businesses since it would greatly help in managing their businesses easily and remotely.

Ideal for those just entering the business world or the first-time consultant, FreshBooks makes it easy to manage your business, even from your cell phone.

Who would QuickBooks work best for?

QuickBooks had been associated with small business for quite some time now. With its evolution to QuickBooks Online, it’s now more flexible, accessible-from-anywhere. The challenge is for small businesses outgrowing QuickBooks Online any time although an application that can support up to 25 users at a time.

Let’s tackle features they offer:

FreshBooks and QuickBooks are both designed for small businesses. FreshBooks’ features are more fitted for sole proprietors and consultants, while Quickbooks Online is a better solution for a developing. They both regularly enhance their features.

FreshBooks has added a lot of new features for how many consecutive years now.  Some of these include the addition of ACH payment acceptance and a Retainer option which comes in more helpful for self-employed professionals such as attorneys or accountants.

FreshBooks has upgraded and offers double-entry accounting that could make any financial transaction be entered with attached corresponding transactions made. This added feature itself makes FreshBooks a much stronger competitor with other online accounting applications.

FreshBooks’ dashboard offers a nice summary view of your business, including outstanding revenue, total profit, spending, and a chart that displays exactly where your money is going.

FreshBooks invoicing is a simple process, and you can add a new client at the same time that you create their invoice.

There an option button to the right of the screen that would enable you to change the settings from invoice to invoice, including payment options.

FreshBooks has great customization features that would automatically customize your invoice directly from the invoice entry screen or make any invoice recurring if you need to. They also provide strong expense management that would allow you to add a vendor and create an expense, make the expense recurring, and even mark the invoice as billable if ever it could be charged back to a client.

Automation is the name of the game for FreshBooks. It’s the key as all your import banking transactions would also include expenses.

Another big edge of FreshBooks is its awesome time-tracking capability, which can be used when creating estimates, proposals, and invoices. Client and vendor management capability is also very limited but you can add a reminders prompt that will go out when an invoice is due.

You could also add late fees and choose your preferred currency and language for any client. FreshBooks makes it possible for you to invite your CPA or accountant to access your data at no extra charge.

On the other side of the fence, QuickBooks offers many of the same features that you'll find in FreshBooks, such as quick invoice creation, the ability to make an invoice recurring, and the ability to customize an invoice directly within the software on the invoice entry screen.

QuickBooks also offers retainer management, though it requires more data entry than FreshBooks.

The features available in QuickBooks vary to which plan you choose. Each plan comes with more features as they get more costly. It’s the higher plans that offer time tracking, inventory, and bill payment capability.

You can connect your banking institutions in QuickBooks for automatic reconciliation, assigning rules to particular accounts for automatic classification, which will eliminate the need to manually enter the expense. Like with FreshBooks, you could also invite your CPA or accountant to have access to it.

QuickBooks customer information screen with fields to fill out about clients and its Online Customer Management screen tracks extensive information.

QuickBooks offers customer and vendor management capability, with customer data such as billing and shipping addresses, notes, tax information, payment and billing details, and language preferences that can be adjusted in each customer account.

You can also attach documents to any customer account, such as an invoice, statement, or other correspondence.

On higher plans, detail can be tracked for vendors for things like billing rates, terms, account numbers, and Tax I.D. number, along with the ability to track any vendor and contractor payments for year-end 1099 processing. Attachments can be managed in the vendor file as well.

In this aspect, it’s almost a tie for both.

Who has a better support system?

Technology had come a long way where software apps provide customers with the help, assistance, resources they would need. There are phone help lifeline and live support charts for both.

FreshBooks is known to have an above par customer support system wherein users have access to both telephone and email support during extended business hours, with a toll-free number available to subscribers. Also, FreshBooks offers the following support resources:

• In-product help
• In-product messaging
• FAQs
• Searchable knowledgebase

While QuickBooks offers numerous support options for its users, including the following:

• Connect with a support agent by telephone
• Connect with a support agent through email
• Connect with a support agent through messaging
• Featured articles
• In-product help
• Product training options
• Searchable knowledgebase
• User community

The point goes to FreshBooks that encourages telephone support as more personalized customer support. Although QuickBooks offers live support options as well it lets their users try other resources first.

What’s easier to use?

A good factor to choose an app over another app is its easiness to use and navigate. It also poses a good factor when an app or software doesn’t need a lot of training to be able to find your way around it.

A good user interface that’s easy to figure out wins hands down. By just going through it, you would have a fast understanding of how the features all work!

Both FreshBooks and QuickBooks are easy to use; both offer intuitive user interface screens as well as help options throughout each application.

FreshBooks’ dashboard offers a nice friendly screen, which conveniently displays your setup progress. FreshBooks does prefer that the system be set up before using since there is more time saved instead of adding as you go along.

Freshbooks' home page is for client information and the main navigation screen offers easy system navigation for its users.

FreshBooks uses a vertical menu bar to the left of the screen, but once a category is chosen, a series of options and information is displayed on the screen, including recent activity, a summary of all activity, and various actions that can be taken.

Help is available from any screen in FreshBooks, and all data entry screens offer easy look-up options to help the data entry process much faster.

QuickBooks offers an easy setup process, so if you want to jump in and get started, you can just tend to the basics and add other details as you go along.

QuickBooks also has an intuitive user interface, with a vertical menu bar to the left of the screen offering easy access to all system functions. Data entry screens contain solid look-up options in all fields, and you can access the help option from any screen in the application.

FreshBooks gains another point as it’s easier to use and it offers activity summaries and has a variety of task options in each category.

Who’s more expensive?

The pricing for both is almost identical although FreshBooks’ pricing levels are the number of billable clients while the basis for QuickBooks is the number of users of their system.

Both offer similar features in each of their respective applications, with extensive features in the more expensive plans.

FreshBooks offers a variety of plan options, mostly based on the number of clients that you will be billed. The plans offered are:

• Lite: $15/month for up to five billable clients
• Plus: $25/month for up to 50 billable clients
• Premium: $50/month for up to 500 billable clients
• Select: Custom pricing for more than 500 billable clients

QuickBooks provides four plan options ranging from Simple Start for single users to an Advanced Plan that supports up to 25 users. The plans offered include:

• Simple Start: $12/month for 1 user
• Essentials: $20/month for up to 3 users
• Plus: $35/month for up to 5 users
• Advanced: $75/month for up to 25 users

Another point goes to FreshBooks although QuickBook comes in slightly lower than FreshBooks in their initial pricing, QuickBooks typically increases after the first three months. While FreshBooks pricing remains the same every month with no increases or price escalation.

How about Integration with other apps?

Both FreshBooks and QuickBooks could be integrated into other apps since all software’s now are streamlined thus they are offering solid accounting functionality and could be integrated with numerous apps designed to provide you with the tools you need.

FreshBooks and QuickBooks both offer good integration options, which can extend product functionality efficiently.

FreshBooks offers integration with more than 200 apps, including Gusto Payroll, Stripe for online payment acceptance, and Avalara Tax for easy tax management. Integrations with e-commerce, inventory, CRM, and time-tracking apps are likewise available. Besides, you can connect to more than 1,500 apps using Zapier.

QuickBooks lets you connect with apps from within the application. By clicking on the Apps feature, you can search for an app, browse popular apps, and view any recommended apps.

Quickbooks' external app integration home page offers easy access to the app from their Apps option.

There are apps in a variety of categories, including online payment apps such as Stripe and PayPal as well as to Bill Pay for QuickBooks, which allows you to pay bills from within QuickBooks. There are also numerous CRM and time-tracking apps you can easily get connected to.

Who provides better reporting?

Figures, data, information, and facts are very important in any business and it should be reported accurately. Everything should tally and match.

FreshBooks offers a total of 14 reports, with limited customization capability, though you can export those reports to Microsoft Excel for customization if desired.

FreshBooks has a great report management screen wherein you can save your favorites for easy future access, but their reports are limited to financial statements and basic management reports. Reports can be saved as a PDF.

QuickBooks has more than 50 standard reports in a variety of categories. You can also create and save custom reports in this FreshBooks alternative, export reports to Excel for further customization, or save any report as a PDF.

With their 50-plus reports available, QuickBooks has more numbers here in this aspect. FreshBooks reports are useful and provide the information you need but QuickBooks has a much better variety of reports with much better customization options available.

It’s a tie since FreshBooks has the best reporing efficiency but QuickBooks has more reporting categories.

After Thoughts

Still indecisive? If you can’t seem to decide on your own, we recommend you begin with FreshBooks.

They have a great team that would give you all the help and supports you’ll need and they have a very caring attitude towards all their clients.

FreshBooks is highly-rated, all the best features, and it’s capable to provide a superior service and they are headed for greater things.

Plus it’s very easy to use and you’ll have a support that would be with you every step of your way.

It’s the software that can grow with you and you could try it for free to have a good feel of it and what it offers.

FreshBooks would be your wings to be able to fly and soar high!