I've been freshbooks for 5 years now as a free lancer. I find it to be a great software package and very easy to use for someone who is not nor wants to be an accountant. I know from experience in the tech world people tend to gravitate to what they know, and accounts are the same way, and I will bet your accountant is just that. She may be a great accountant but not an adopter of new technology. The ability to pick up the phone and talk to live person, the simplicity of setting it up, and using it, the time tracker are all huge wins in my opinion. Quick books has no time tracker or not since I last checked 6 months ago. I bill by the hour and track my tasks and freshbooks makes it so easy to add to an invoice. I doubt quickbooks would even work with you and your accountant if she had a problem understanding their reports. Just because it is the most used accounting software does not make it the best software for the consumer, SAP is a prime example of that. To close I would find an accountant who works for me to make my business easier to run for me and successful for me, not easier on them.
Thanks for watching and dropping a comment! Much appreciated! I definitely agree with you for the most part but just didn’t go that way this time. My accountant gave us two years of using FB and didn’t complain so it wasn’t so much her suggestion that I followed but my own attempts at finding a more robust solution for my business. Freshbooks is easier to use for sure. But it also has less focus on accounting and more focus on other areas of business management, all pretty user friendly. But there was some strange numbers coming back on the reports and it just came down to trying to adapt to their way of running numbers or going with what my accountant was used to and seems to be pretty standard as far as I know. I think freshbooks is great for many small companies, especially freelancers! But like I said in the video, I think I just outgrew their capabilities and think QuickBooks is the better solution for my business. But QuickBooks is quite a bit more expensive too… so that’s a big factor to consider as well!
I have been using QBO for the last year for our contractor business and if you deal with 1099 independent contractors and no employees, it’s a nightmare to say the least. I bill my customers for contractor labor and there is no way to make that process easy in QB unless you pay another fee and another fee and another fee and it’s cost me more than $700-$1000 a month just in fees and I won’t even begin to discuss all the work arounds… I’m leaving QB and going to FB with Chase payment processing. Good luck!!
Wow that’s good to know! I don’t do the payment processing through QuickBooks for my contractors. I currently use chase payments for that. But your point is true. It’s more expensive and also they to tend to charge more for additional functionality.
I too HATE QUICKBOOKS! I think the bookkeepers or accountant know the program and are not willing to change their ways. Maybe no software is good for books.
@@KendrickDischCreative Is Chase payment processing only in the US. FB only has Stripe where i am... have to wait a full week before payments are released
I've used QB desktop for over 20 years and I love it. The online version is a bit annoying but still easy to use and doesn't what we mainly need. i have worked with several businesses using QB. My new potential client is thinking about using Freshbooks so I am trying to get familiar with it. Thank you for this video.
Thanks for commenting! It seems like fresh books was using a different set of data to generate reports that caused confusion. Not saying one way is right or wrong, but it caused confusion that I didn’t want to deal with.
I’m so glad you made this video. The accountant’s perspective is not something you usually hear about in review videos. Interface and features are cool to talk about but this review had substance I didn’t realize I was missing out on. Thanks!
Thanks for watching and leaving a note! So far I'm fairly happy with quickbooks but it does have a pretty lackluster interface that just got worse with a recent update.
Hi! This video was very helpful, and straight to the point. I am beginning to offer freelance services, and trying to find the best application to create invoices as well as tracking time spent on the project. I am a solopreneur, so it sounds like freshbooks may be a great starting point. Thank you :)
I am trying to do the same thing but I do not need all the extra stuff and so I did find an application that did work and or more then one. review Zoho books and or Zoho invoice.
I have used Quickbooks for 9 years. I WANT TO SCREAM!!! Invoices were missing, items were missing, and so on! I HATE QUICKBOOKS, especially online! I have a Mac, and not to many bookkeepers work with Mac. No problem it can be downloaded into window version, but the calculation and accounts are way off. That is why I am searching for something new. I paid the premium with them, but they have LOUSY SERVICE! It takes forever for someone to get on the phone, and even then you are switched to someone who still does not know the answer. ARE you sure about Quickbooks? I'm NOT!!! Someone please help. Thank you.
Thanks for watching! Im not an advocate for any particular software. I actually tried freshbooks first because I heard the horror stories about QuickBooks. But so far, and with the help of my accountant, I haven’t had any major issues to speak of and I’m a Mac user as well. It’s not a fun software to use and definitely has a few quirks and keeps getting more expensive, but I haven’t yet experienced the problems others have spoken about. I wish you lots of luck on your accounting journey!
@@KendrickDischCreative No kidding, it is costing me 95 an hour to fix the problems in Quickbooks. There has been many years of people not doing the right job, plus Quickbooks is a mess it's self. Thank you for responding.
I’m glad that I stumbled upon your review. As glad as I am that I did so, I’m also disappointed that you are transferring to QuickBooks, which is what I am currently trying to get out of. The main reason being is that QuickBooks is incredibly difficult to use, and not very intuitive. I get why the majority of accountants use QuickBooks and that is because of how many options they provide 28 knowledgeable accountant. But, from someone who is trying to learn, the system is incredibly difficult, and can be very cumbersome most of the time for the simplest of tasks. I may just bite the bullet and pay for a QuickBooks course so I could be more on top of things, as it seems like the way to go for most businesses.
Wish I had come across this video a week ago. I've had Freshbooks less than a week and I'm already frustrated and wish I had paid the extra money for QuickBooks. I find that not being able to "split" an expense receipt into multiple categories extremely challenging and prone to error. Also, the fact the FB only brings in the previous 3 months of bank data is frustrating. I'm an artist that sells art at art shows and fairs. I am now trying to learn how to track each show or fair to determine profit or loss. I paid for 3 months and will probably not renew. While I don't have complicated accounting, down the road, it might get more complicated and I need something that will work for the future. Thanks for you video!
Thanks for chiming in! QuickBooks keep raising prices so that sucks. I’m still trying to get my books to be better at helping me understand the inner workings and hidden costs/profit of my business. I guess I figure that’s a lifetime challenge tho! Cheers!
Nothing can be worse than Xero for UI, ease of use, learning curve, navigation, reports, etc, etc, etc. It's a nightmare for the average business user hence looking for alternatives. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for your candid explanation of your Freshbooks experience! I'm deciding now between the two after phoning both with a lot of questions. We have 3 LLC's (horse farm, Craft type retail and real-estate business) and I'm starting a contracting business soon and an Air B-N-B rental later this year. So I need to finally get off the excel spread sheets and choose a product. My phone call yesterday had Quickbooks cheaper which was a shock. I think I'll go with them as they are the gold standard and should handle our multiple businesses with ease. Thanks again!
Thanks for watching! Do you have an accountant? With all those businesses and I'm sure there's some cross-pollination of expenses somewhere in there, I bet an accountant would be able to save you a lot of time/effort/money in keeping your business's finances in great shape!
I've been using Quickbooks for two years and have finally had to call it quits due to how buggy it is. I've tried MYOB and Xero, and they lacked some pretty basic functionality. Great customer support, but their software just didn't do what I needed them to do. So now I'm looking at other options. I saw that Freshbooks is supposedly good for businesses that provide services, but now I'm glad I saw your review before I wasted my time. 💔
@@KendrickDischCreative Quickbooks is terrible both as a company and as a software. Unfortunately it seems to be that every competing option has some major drawback or issue and they're all stuck at about 2005 in terms of development and UX
@@bfourney Yeah its true. I'm a CTO for trades contracting management tool called Tradetraks, and we integrate with Quickbooks, so I know their API extremely well. Their customer support is TERRIBLE, most of my colleagues who interact with the UI/IX say its slow and buggy, and their API has some horrible quirks and very strange design decisions. I really wish there was a better online product, but since QBO is king, we have to integrate with it.
Very helpful review. I have been using QB Desktop for more than 20 years and was wondering if there was something better and less expensive out there to manage my business and payroll. I continue my search.
Yeah I've definitely heard the horror stories with QB and didn't even look at them at first... but in my 6-8 months of using QB Online so far, I don't have much to complain about except price. The software seems to work pretty well and it's way more detailed and sophisticated. Perhaps that's not what everyone needs, but I think it's a good product for me at this stage of my business. Thanks for watching!
I'm in the same boat. I've been using QB DT since inception and have been happy. I do not want to use QBO as I've tried and it is not intuitive (haa-Intuit) or user friendly IMO. The annual cost for small business has skyrocketed as they no longer allow the 3 year cost per DT version. I love QB DT but feel I am forced to find an alternative. I'm going to keep looking too.
this is so interesting. I just started using FreshBooks Jan this year (starting slowly). I am already finding the issued with the credit card statements and their 'workaround' philosophy to this just has me shook. Maybe I should switch before I invest more time in platform.
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. I can't say what you should do, but I can say I think the simplicity of Freshbooks is great for a small company that is just getting started. But I matured out of Freshbooks around the 2-3 year mark and think others may also.
Thank you so much for the video. I was considering switching over but the entire process seems tedious and time consuming (and based off what you said it may be more trouble than its worth in the long run)
@@KendrickDischCreative I managed to get my 2013 activated. Looks like you have to contact customer support for that. Maybe it's time to go to upgrade to 2021t though. That's the last year they don't have a subscription model. It's either that or look for another service. That's how I ended up on your video.
I am using toggle for time management and manually entering the info into my invoicing software that's attached to my banking software. I want a package that allows you too have a timer / manually log hours worked that is able to be inserted to a customisable invoice that can include charges for paying via certain methods and let me know when the invoice is paid. I also need to be able to see what hours I have done for each client over time. So am looking for alternatives at the moment. Thanks for sharing. it's been really helpful.
Hey Kendrick - great stuff. I'm running into similar issues with certain feature limitations in Freshbooks when it comes to accounting. Not having the ability to zero out or close out a balance sheet on an annual basis is "crazy" according to my accountant. So I'm in the process of transfering data from FB to QB. Curious to better understand how you went through this process. Did you use any 3rd party software? Did you contract it out? Any insights would be helpful.
Thanks for dropping a note! So in my case, my accountant had been pulling data from Freshbooks all along and putting it in her QB desktop software. So she had the record. Then when I set up a QB online account, we actually did a clean slate and started over setting Jan 1 as the start date. There was no migration of any data. I certainly wish I had the charts and graphs and numbers going back to the beginning, and I could still have that if I wanted to pay her to move it all over, but there were other changes in the business happening around the same time so a fresh start wasn't such a bad thing. I wish I could be more helpful, but hopefully your accountant has some helpful ideas.
Nice presentationon on freshbooks .Im just looking for resourses to help me run my new business .I want to make sure I know and have all my resourses so i can run a success business. Thank you
Great video! I was looking to move away from Freshbook and I came across your video. I'm curious to know what you are doing now for proposals and estimates. Quickbooks has a very basic invoicing option that isn't suitable for contractors who are not providing physical products/services for their businesses. What are you using for proposals now?
I've been doing a couple of different things on a case by case basis. Sometimes I create a powerpoint based off a template I made. I already have most of it put together, I just customize the parts that need customized and send as a PDF. I've also been using a program called Bonsai to do some proposals and estimates. It has a lot of features I like such as being able to let the customer choose different packages or choose add ons, and it can accept deposit payments and digital signatures to make the process more 'official'. I'll make a video on this software at some point.
Sounds good for a smaller business. I wouldn't add a credit card fee as an "extra" charge though. I add that in to the total. Sometimes I feel like too much documentation isn't always a good thing. Especially if you're a smaller company dealing in some cash.
That only works if you know in advance how that client is going to pay you. One of the things I like about FB is how easy it makes it for the client to pay. But I pay a fee for that convenience. Now FB is raising its monthly subscription fee, on top of the money I lose from each payment. Starting to look at other options.
Great video. Question though. You said you had used Freshbooks for 2 years. Did you not have an issues the previous year or years? If so, why did you have an issue only the last preious year?
Hey there! My memory isn’t perfect on this, because I’m learning how to do all this as I go. The first year the issues I ended up having didn’t surface for some reason. I think because I wasn’t pushing the feature set as hard. Part of my inclination to make a change came as my company expanded to include another business line. QuickBooks has more features to deal with something like that so that was part of the impetus to switch. As I said, I think my business outgrew their platform and I didn’t leave only because of some reports that were being calculated differently than my accountant was expecting. I’m not hating on Freshbooks or loving on QuickBooks. Just presenting facts as I experienced them to the best of my ability.
I like how the assets in the video production file were gone at 1:40 when the bell icon was clicked. Someone made an oops and lost that file lmao. nice video tho. just thought it was funny. i recommend not using a mac and not using final cut pro. get a real computer actually made for the job, not advertised to make look like its made for the job by taking advantage of non tech people who dont know any better. gaming laptops and desktops of all things i found out make the best editing machines at the same price of a mac and they have the fastest GPUs and CPUs, and use Davinci Resolve. its completely free and twice as fast as premiere pro or final cut. buisness 101 dont get screwed by other businesses and dont let other businesses take advantage of you.
I'm looking to leave quickbook because ever since they merged with the online intuit things like Intergrations and payment are not syncing right and their customer support is terrible..
My bookkeeper likes Quickbooks but I hate it. I used to use Quicken. I am thinking of going back to it for the ease of it, unless I go with FreshBooks. I like the idea that Freshbooks will scan receipts, if I understand that right.
I just paid for fresh-books it was like $10 a month for 6 months that’s nothing. I don’t need a lot of functions and have a clover pos. I just need to figure out how to add miles that I have before I got freshbooks otherwise I’m going to have to keep track of it in a separate app up to this point but I’ll call customer service and see if they can help
I just got off a call with them and they said their app will track mileage in the background. Otherwise you can create a manual expense but you have to calculate the dollar amt on your own.
I just got a notification that my monthly fee for FB is changing from $25 to $30. Don’t know how you got 6mos for $10, but be sure to check what it becomes after that intro period.
Hi, how you doing? Thanks for sharing your expirience with freshbooks. I'm new ussing it, i'm in charge of the accountantinf option, and your experience it's helping me to understand the problem. My reports are not accurate, and everytime i download a report, its shows differents amounts on some operations or final results.
I am just a medical biller with 1 client. Would FreshBooks be enough for me? I dont plan on growing the biz. I really should be an employee but I make my own hours.
It would definitely be enough for you in my opinion. It might even be overkill. What features do you need? Expense tracking? Invoices? Hours tracking? Estimates? There might be a cheaper option with less features that meets your needs.
@@KendrickDischCreative I really only need expense tracking and income tracking (for 1099 creation). I have an app I use to track hours and plug that info into my own invoice. I tried Wave but it wants to track sales tax which I don't need either.
Freshbooks allows crooks to use there software. As an LLC memberand Manager another member refuses to give me the account records which violates the operating agreement. Then after providing the operating agreement they have the nerve to try to twist the clear definition and refuse to give me access to the accounting.
I had heard the horror stories of QuickBooks which is why I tried other options first. But so far after about 6 months of usage, I don’t hate it. It’s definitely harder to use than freshbooks but also a lot more powerful. I also had my accountant help me figure it out, so that’s a big advantage. Anyway, thanks for watching!
@@KendrickDischCreative Just to clarify, it wasn't the learning curve but the (lack of) customer support. To be around as long as QB has, they should have Customer support down pat. Thanks for the video, though. Informative.
I had heard those stories for years which is why I tried other options first. QB online is not a software that I love, you won't see me shouting from the rooftops about it, and there are some things I can suggest as improvements to the UI, but overall, I haven't had a bad experience using it yet. It is more expensive and I cringe at the bill each month but so far I'm not planning to switch to something else.
I watched this video because I'm moving away from Quickbooks. They've been increasing the monthly cost WAY too much. Especially for what I need. Freshbooks might be the better answer for my small operation.
I have a question... After that many ours of phonecall with fresbooks supports, and your accountant, Did Freshbooks solved the problem?? Because thats exactly whats happening to me. Many crazy numbers, especially in the Loan Accounts, everytime i download the report, the Amount it getting bigger an bigger.!!!
I didn’t get it resolved. Decided to cut my losses and move over to QuickBooks. I’m also testing out one called Bonsai right now for the proposals and invoices features.
Were you and your accountant able to move all the data from FB to QB easily? I'm still considering using FB for now as a solo operator but may have to switch if the business starts growing faster than anticipated.
@@joycemoreau6312 100%. I'm a developer that has a product that integrates with QBO -- and I hate them too. Terrible support, terrible product, terrible API.
I'm looking at one right now called Bonsai. It allows the option to pass the CC charge to the client, but don't know enough yet about the second part of your question of multiple payment options on an invoice. It's worth a look!
@@KendrickDischCreative It's crazy stripe doesn't even seem to be able to do this. I think they don't want to piss off their payment networks by decreasing the amount of CC payments vs ACH as well as possible legal issues with CC surcharge fees in some states. I've been meaning to take a look at bonsai!
What do I think? I think the Accountants/CPA's are familiar with QB, and so push everyone there. Is that a good reason? Not in my opinion. Accountants need to get smarter about accounting software options.
Thanks for watching and dropping some thoughts! I think that’s part of it. But in my case, another part of it was that my accountant is supposedly using standardized methodologies and the reports freshbooks was creating weren’t adhering to the standards. So sure… maybe they shouldn’t be so attached to QB but they also should be able to expect software to use the same formulas to create standard reports and when those formulas aren’t the same across different software, then I’m not going to use the software that is the outlier. Of course my experience is my own, and I’m attempting to be as transparent as possible so that others can judge things for themselves.
@@KendrickDischCreative I personally have been using QB since 2005 and I am officially over them. The customer support is horrible. Good luck if you get a human and you will be bounced around all the time. Lots of variance to their answers and no one takes ownership. I am looking to get out of the Intuit/QB world. I have used them for payroll and regular bookkeeping. I know how to use their software, but if you ever need them for anything, good luck!
@@KendrickDischCreative Well I was looking into Freshbooks, because all I need is basic expense entries, P&L and Balance Sheet reports. Nothing about invoicing or anything with customers. I have not made up my mind, but I need to figure it out so I can start 2023 with it and not with Intuit anymore. I am officially over them.
@@balvarado4885 well give it a shot! You may love it! Just understand that they build reports using slightly different information than QB (from what I understand).
@@KendrickDischCreative Hi Kendrick. Photography and Art. Not really sure where to begin but I am currently writing and illustrating a graphic novel so I'll start from there. @pixbypatric or @artbypatric.
No they are not shutting down. but they are changing to a monthly fee and not selling you the software anymore. I'm an accountant and do bookkeeping for several clients. QB has always been the go to for accountants. But QB is poorly coded and has many issues when used on a server with multiple people accessing. It was a complete nightmare. We went back to buying a program for each accountant at least it worked. QB crashes a lot and their is no real support. They charge for everything and the things charged for seems to be growing. They have gotten greedy as they are the dominate player. I hope MSFT or Google comes out with something useful and not always trying to rip me off with some undisclosed fee.
I would like other options besides QuickBooks as their merchant services made a $22k error and I have been working over a month to get it back and their customer service STINKS.
Yikes! that sounds awful! yeah more options would be great! I haven't had to deal with customer service yet... hopefully, if I do, my experience won't be as bad as yours!
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I've been freshbooks for 5 years now as a free lancer. I find it to be a great software package and very easy to use for someone who is not nor wants to be an accountant. I know from experience in the tech world people tend to gravitate to what they know, and accounts are the same way, and I will bet your accountant is just that. She may be a great accountant but not an adopter of new technology. The ability to pick up the phone and talk to live person, the simplicity of setting it up, and using it, the time tracker are all huge wins in my opinion. Quick books has no time tracker or not since I last checked 6 months ago.
I bill by the hour and track my tasks and freshbooks makes it so easy to add to an invoice. I doubt quickbooks would even work with you and your accountant if she had a problem understanding their reports. Just because it is the most used accounting software does not make it the best software for the consumer, SAP is a prime example of that.
To close I would find an accountant who works for me to make my business easier to run for me and successful for me, not easier on them.
Thanks for watching and dropping a comment! Much appreciated! I definitely agree with you for the most part but just didn’t go that way this time. My accountant gave us two years of using FB and didn’t complain so it wasn’t so much her suggestion that I followed but my own attempts at finding a more robust solution for my business. Freshbooks is easier to use for sure. But it also has less focus on accounting and more focus on other areas of business management, all pretty user friendly. But there was some strange numbers coming back on the reports and it just came down to trying to adapt to their way of running numbers or going with what my accountant was used to and seems to be pretty standard as far as I know. I think freshbooks is great for many small companies, especially freelancers! But like I said in the video, I think I just outgrew their capabilities and think QuickBooks is the better solution for my business. But QuickBooks is quite a bit more expensive too… so that’s a big factor to consider as well!
Exactly! Or receives a commission
I have been using QBO for the last year for our contractor business and if you deal with 1099 independent contractors and no employees, it’s a nightmare to say the least. I bill my customers for contractor labor and there is no way to make that process easy in QB unless you pay another fee and another fee and another fee and it’s cost me more than $700-$1000 a month just in fees and I won’t even begin to discuss all the work arounds… I’m leaving QB and going to FB with Chase payment processing. Good luck!!
Wow that’s good to know! I don’t do the payment processing through QuickBooks for my contractors. I currently use chase payments for that. But your point is true. It’s more expensive and also they to tend to charge more for additional functionality.
I too HATE QUICKBOOKS! I think the bookkeepers or accountant know the program and are not willing to change their ways. Maybe no software is good for books.
@@KendrickDischCreative Is Chase payment processing only in the US. FB only has Stripe where i am... have to wait a full week before payments are released
I've used QB desktop for over 20 years and I love it. The online version is a bit annoying but still easy to use and doesn't what we mainly need. i have worked with several businesses using QB. My new potential client is thinking about using Freshbooks so I am trying to get familiar with it.
Thank you for this video.
Thanks for commenting! It seems like fresh books was using a different set of data to generate reports that caused confusion. Not saying one way is right or wrong, but it caused confusion that I didn’t want to deal with.
I’m so glad you made this video. The accountant’s perspective is not something you usually hear about in review videos. Interface and features are cool to talk about but this review had substance I didn’t realize I was missing out on. Thanks!
Thanks for watching and leaving a note! So far I'm fairly happy with quickbooks but it does have a pretty lackluster interface that just got worse with a recent update.
Hi! This video was very helpful, and straight to the point. I am beginning to offer freelance services, and trying to find the best application to create invoices as well as tracking time spent on the project. I am a solopreneur, so it sounds like freshbooks may be a great starting point. Thank you :)
Thanks for watching! I think you’ll find freshbooks to be a great option for you! What kind freelance work do you do?
I am trying to do the same thing but I do not need all the extra stuff and so I did find an application that did work and or more then one. review Zoho books and or Zoho invoice.
I have used Quickbooks for 9 years. I WANT TO SCREAM!!! Invoices were missing, items were missing, and so on! I HATE QUICKBOOKS, especially online! I have a Mac, and not to many bookkeepers work with Mac. No problem it can be downloaded into window version, but the calculation and accounts are way off. That is why I am searching for something new. I paid the premium with them, but they have LOUSY SERVICE! It takes forever for someone to get on the phone, and even then you are switched to someone who still does not know the answer. ARE you sure about Quickbooks? I'm NOT!!! Someone please help. Thank you.
Thanks for watching! Im not an advocate for any particular software. I actually tried freshbooks first because I heard the horror stories about QuickBooks. But so far, and with the help of my accountant, I haven’t had any major issues to speak of and I’m a Mac user as well. It’s not a fun software to use and definitely has a few quirks and keeps getting more expensive, but I haven’t yet experienced the problems others have spoken about. I wish you lots of luck on your accounting journey!
@@KendrickDischCreative No kidding, it is costing me 95 an hour to fix the problems in Quickbooks. There has been many years of people not doing the right job, plus Quickbooks is a mess it's self. Thank you for responding.
Thanks for the review. I was just about to pull the trigger on FB. You convinced me to bite the bullet and use QBO.
Thanks for the note! Glad I could be of help!
I’m glad that I stumbled upon your review. As glad as I am that I did so, I’m also disappointed that you are transferring to QuickBooks, which is what I am currently trying to get out of.
The main reason being is that QuickBooks is incredibly difficult to use, and not very intuitive.
I get why the majority of accountants use QuickBooks and that is because of how many options they provide 28 knowledgeable accountant.
But, from someone who is trying to learn, the system is incredibly difficult, and can be very cumbersome most of the time for the simplest of tasks. I may just bite the bullet and pay for a QuickBooks course so I could be more on top of things, as it seems like the way to go for most businesses.
Yeah…. Been hearing that since I posted! But I guess it depends on your reasons for wanting to switch away from QB! Thanks for watching!
Wish I had come across this video a week ago. I've had Freshbooks less than a week and I'm already frustrated and wish I had paid the extra money for QuickBooks. I find that not being able to "split" an expense receipt into multiple categories extremely challenging and prone to error. Also, the fact the FB only brings in the previous 3 months of bank data is frustrating. I'm an artist that sells art at art shows and fairs. I am now trying to learn how to track each show or fair to determine profit or loss. I paid for 3 months and will probably not renew. While I don't have complicated accounting, down the road, it might get more complicated and I need something that will work for the future. Thanks for you video!
Thanks for chiming in! QuickBooks keep raising prices so that sucks. I’m still trying to get my books to be better at helping me understand the inner workings and hidden costs/profit of my business. I guess I figure that’s a lifetime challenge tho! Cheers!
Good to listen too, thanks for takingthe time to share your review, it was helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Nothing can be worse than Xero for UI, ease of use, learning curve, navigation, reports, etc, etc, etc. It's a nightmare for the average business user hence looking for alternatives. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for your candid explanation of your Freshbooks experience! I'm deciding now between the two after phoning both with a lot of questions. We have 3 LLC's (horse farm, Craft type retail and real-estate business) and I'm starting a contracting business soon and an Air B-N-B rental later this year. So I need to finally get off the excel spread sheets and choose a product. My phone call yesterday had Quickbooks cheaper which was a shock. I think I'll go with them as they are the gold standard and should handle our multiple businesses with ease.
Thanks again!
Thanks for watching! Do you have an accountant? With all those businesses and I'm sure there's some cross-pollination of expenses somewhere in there, I bet an accountant would be able to save you a lot of time/effort/money in keeping your business's finances in great shape!
@@KendrickDischCreative we do have one but just for filing of taxes to be sure things are correct and we don’t miss anything
I've been using Quickbooks for two years and have finally had to call it quits due to how buggy it is. I've tried MYOB and Xero, and they lacked some pretty basic functionality. Great customer support, but their software just didn't do what I needed them to do.
So now I'm looking at other options. I saw that Freshbooks is supposedly good for businesses that provide services, but now I'm glad I saw your review before I wasted my time. 💔
Thanks for watching! However please consider giving it a try as your mileage may differ! I’m just one opinion!
@@KendrickDischCreative Quickbooks is terrible both as a company and as a software. Unfortunately it seems to be that every competing option has some major drawback or issue and they're all stuck at about 2005 in terms of development and UX
@@bfourney Yeah its true. I'm a CTO for trades contracting management tool called Tradetraks, and we integrate with Quickbooks, so I know their API extremely well. Their customer support is TERRIBLE, most of my colleagues who interact with the UI/IX say its slow and buggy, and their API has some horrible quirks and very strange design decisions.
I really wish there was a better online product, but since QBO is king, we have to integrate with it.
Thanks for this review!
Thanks for watching!
Very helpful review. I have been using QB Desktop for more than 20 years and was wondering if there was something better and less expensive out there to manage my business and payroll. I continue my search.
Yeah I've definitely heard the horror stories with QB and didn't even look at them at first... but in my 6-8 months of using QB Online so far, I don't have much to complain about except price. The software seems to work pretty well and it's way more detailed and sophisticated. Perhaps that's not what everyone needs, but I think it's a good product for me at this stage of my business. Thanks for watching!
I'm in the same boat. I've been using QB DT since inception and have been happy. I do not want to use QBO as I've tried and it is not intuitive (haa-Intuit) or user friendly IMO. The annual cost for small business has skyrocketed as they no longer allow the 3 year cost per DT version. I love QB DT but feel I am forced to find an alternative. I'm going to keep looking too.
this is so interesting. I just started using FreshBooks Jan this year (starting slowly). I am already finding the issued with the credit card statements and their 'workaround' philosophy to this just has me shook. Maybe I should switch before I invest more time in platform.
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. I can't say what you should do, but I can say I think the simplicity of Freshbooks is great for a small company that is just getting started. But I matured out of Freshbooks around the 2-3 year mark and think others may also.
I suggest that you look into zoho books and or zoho invoice and see if that works for you. I am also an entrepreneur and consultant.
Thank you so much for the video. I was considering switching over but the entire process seems tedious and time consuming (and based off what you said it may be more trouble than its worth in the long run)
Yeah I’m finally getting into weirdness with QB also!
I've been using older version of quickbooks and am looking to get away from anything Intuit now. Thanks for the video.
Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching! What made you get tired of QuickBooks/intuit?
@@KendrickDischCreative They're moving to a subscription model. Not a fan of that model.
@@KendrickDischCreative I managed to get my 2013 activated. Looks like you have to contact customer support for that. Maybe it's time to go to upgrade to 2021t though. That's the last year they don't have a subscription model. It's either that or look for another service. That's how I ended up on your video.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Thanks for watching!
I am using toggle for time management and manually entering the info into my invoicing software that's attached to my banking software. I want a package that allows you too have a timer / manually log hours worked that is able to be inserted to a customisable invoice that can include charges for paying via certain methods and let me know when the invoice is paid. I also need to be able to see what hours I have done for each client over time. So am looking for alternatives at the moment. Thanks for sharing. it's been really helpful.
Thanks for watching!
Hey Kendrick - great stuff. I'm running into similar issues with certain feature limitations in Freshbooks when it comes to accounting. Not having the ability to zero out or close out a balance sheet on an annual basis is "crazy" according to my accountant. So I'm in the process of transfering data from FB to QB. Curious to better understand how you went through this process. Did you use any 3rd party software? Did you contract it out? Any insights would be helpful.
Thanks for dropping a note! So in my case, my accountant had been pulling data from Freshbooks all along and putting it in her QB desktop software. So she had the record. Then when I set up a QB online account, we actually did a clean slate and started over setting Jan 1 as the start date. There was no migration of any data. I certainly wish I had the charts and graphs and numbers going back to the beginning, and I could still have that if I wanted to pay her to move it all over, but there were other changes in the business happening around the same time so a fresh start wasn't such a bad thing. I wish I could be more helpful, but hopefully your accountant has some helpful ideas.
Nice presentationon on freshbooks .Im just looking for resourses to help me run my new business .I want to make sure I know and have all my resourses so i can run a success business. Thank you
Thanks for watching!
Great video! I was looking to move away from Freshbook and I came across your video. I'm curious to know what you are doing now for proposals and estimates. Quickbooks has a very basic invoicing option that isn't suitable for contractors who are not providing physical products/services for their businesses. What are you using for proposals now?
I've been doing a couple of different things on a case by case basis. Sometimes I create a powerpoint based off a template I made. I already have most of it put together, I just customize the parts that need customized and send as a PDF. I've also been using a program called Bonsai to do some proposals and estimates. It has a lot of features I like such as being able to let the customer choose different packages or choose add ons, and it can accept deposit payments and digital signatures to make the process more 'official'. I'll make a video on this software at some point.
@@KendrickDischCreative Thanks for the quick response. This is good to know.
Sounds good for a smaller business. I wouldn't add a credit card fee as an "extra" charge though. I add that in to the total. Sometimes I feel like too much documentation isn't always a good thing. Especially if you're a smaller company dealing in some cash.
Yeah I think you’re right. That’s pretty much what I’m doing now and stopped worrying about it.
That only works if you know in advance how that client is going to pay you. One of the things I like about FB is how easy it makes it for the client to pay. But I pay a fee for that convenience. Now FB is raising its monthly subscription fee, on top of the money I lose from each payment. Starting to look at other options.
Great video. Question though. You said you had used Freshbooks for 2 years. Did you not have an issues the previous year or years? If so, why did you have an issue only the last preious year?
Hey there! My memory isn’t perfect on this, because I’m learning how to do all this as I go. The first year the issues I ended up having didn’t surface for some reason. I think because I wasn’t pushing the feature set as hard. Part of my inclination to make a change came as my company expanded to include another business line. QuickBooks has more features to deal with something like that so that was part of the impetus to switch. As I said, I think my business outgrew their platform and I didn’t leave only because of some reports that were being calculated differently than my accountant was expecting. I’m not hating on Freshbooks or loving on QuickBooks. Just presenting facts as I experienced them to the best of my ability.
@@KendrickDischCreative No worries. I read other comments suggesting issues with FB as well.
I like how the assets in the video production file were gone at 1:40 when the bell icon was clicked. Someone made an oops and lost that file lmao. nice video tho. just thought it was funny. i recommend not using a mac and not using final cut pro. get a real computer actually made for the job, not advertised to make look like its made for the job by taking advantage of non tech people who dont know any better. gaming laptops and desktops of all things i found out make the best editing machines at the same price of a mac and they have the fastest GPUs and CPUs, and use Davinci Resolve. its completely free and twice as fast as premiere pro or final cut. buisness 101 dont get screwed by other businesses and dont let other businesses take advantage of you.
You caught me! didn't proof this video very well before hitting publish.
@@KendrickDischCreative Its okay dude, it happens to everyone from time to time
Hi, how can I add an expenses payment from my personal bank account (loan) in freshbooks.
I'm looking to leave quickbook because ever since they merged with the online intuit things like Intergrations and payment are not syncing right and their customer support is terrible..
What about Bonsai? I heard they are also for soloprenuers?
I hadn't heard of Bonsai, but it looks interesting. I will look into it! Cheers!
please, How to make an amending invoice?, the program don't let me make a negative invoice, why?
My bookkeeper likes Quickbooks but I hate it. I used to use Quicken. I am thinking of going back to it for the ease of it, unless I go with FreshBooks. I like the idea that Freshbooks will scan receipts, if I understand that right.
yeah that's a pretty good feature that Freshbooks offers!
I just paid for fresh-books it was like $10 a month for 6 months that’s nothing. I don’t need a lot of functions and have a clover pos. I just need to figure out how to add miles that I have before I got freshbooks otherwise I’m going to have to keep track of it in a separate app up to this point but I’ll call customer service and see if they can help
Thanks for commenting! I think most people will like Freshbooks for small businesses. What kind of business you got?
I just got off a call with them and they said their app will track mileage in the background. Otherwise you can create a manual expense but you have to calculate the dollar amt on your own.
I just got a notification that my monthly fee for FB is changing from $25 to $30. Don’t know how you got 6mos for $10, but be sure to check what it becomes after that intro period.
Hi, how you doing? Thanks for sharing your expirience with freshbooks. I'm new ussing it, i'm in charge of the accountantinf option, and your experience it's helping me to understand the problem.
My reports are not accurate, and everytime i download a report, its shows differents amounts on some operations or final results.
Yeah the reports seemed to be pulling info differently than what was expected. I hope you get it figured out!
I am just a medical biller with 1 client. Would FreshBooks be enough for me? I dont plan on growing the biz. I really should be an employee but I make my own hours.
It would definitely be enough for you in my opinion. It might even be overkill. What features do you need? Expense tracking? Invoices? Hours tracking? Estimates? There might be a cheaper option with less features that meets your needs.
@@KendrickDischCreative I really only need expense tracking and income tracking (for 1099 creation). I have an app I use to track hours and plug that info into my own invoice. I tried Wave but it wants to track sales tax which I don't need either.
You might be able to get away with using something like Monarch for that.
@@KendrickDischCreative Never heard of Monarch. I'll look into it. Thank you.
Freshbooks allows crooks to use there software. As an LLC memberand Manager another member refuses to give me the account records which violates the operating agreement. Then after providing the operating agreement they have the nerve to try to twist the clear definition and refuse to give me access to the accounting.
I'm sorry to hear you're in that situation. Sounds like you need a lawyer!
Wow. I came here BECAUSE of the horror stories I heard about Quickbooks, so to hear you say you were moving to QB was heartbreaking. Oh well.
I had heard the horror stories of QuickBooks which is why I tried other options first. But so far after about 6 months of usage, I don’t hate it. It’s definitely harder to use than freshbooks but also a lot more powerful. I also had my accountant help me figure it out, so that’s a big advantage. Anyway, thanks for watching!
@@KendrickDischCreative Just to clarify, it wasn't the learning curve but the (lack of) customer support. To be around as long as QB has, they should have Customer support down pat. Thanks for the video, though. Informative.
I have used Quickbooks for 9 years...stay away from them!
Thank you for making this. Quickbooks is bloated and overpriced and obnoxious. Their online version is nearly garbageware. But maybe still necessary.
I had heard those stories for years which is why I tried other options first. QB online is not a software that I love, you won't see me shouting from the rooftops about it, and there are some things I can suggest as improvements to the UI, but overall, I haven't had a bad experience using it yet. It is more expensive and I cringe at the bill each month but so far I'm not planning to switch to something else.
I watched this video because I'm moving away from Quickbooks. They've been increasing the monthly cost WAY too much. Especially for what I need. Freshbooks might be the better answer for my small operation.
They are definitely expensive!
Quickbooks is not the answer, I have them for 9 years, I want to cry! Help me find a better solution .
I have a question... After that many ours of phonecall with fresbooks supports, and your accountant, Did Freshbooks solved the problem?? Because thats exactly whats happening to me. Many crazy numbers, especially in the Loan Accounts, everytime i download the report, the Amount it getting bigger an bigger.!!!
I didn’t get it resolved. Decided to cut my losses and move over to QuickBooks. I’m also testing out one called Bonsai right now for the proposals and invoices features.
@@KendrickDischCreative Thanks for the info.... Gonaa check it out...!
Were you and your accountant able to move all the data from FB to QB easily? I'm still considering using FB for now as a solo operator but may have to switch if the business starts growing faster than anticipated.
For some reason we didn’t move it across. We just started over in qb on a new year.
Don't use Quickbooks!!! I hate them, 9 years and I am losing my hair.
@@joycemoreau6312 100%. I'm a developer that has a product that integrates with QBO -- and I hate them too. Terrible support, terrible product, terrible API.
Is there ANY invoicing tool that allows an automatic surcharge if a client pays with a CC when there's multiple payment options on an invoice?
I'm looking at one right now called Bonsai. It allows the option to pass the CC charge to the client, but don't know enough yet about the second part of your question of multiple payment options on an invoice. It's worth a look!
@@KendrickDischCreative It's crazy stripe doesn't even seem to be able to do this. I think they don't want to piss off their payment networks by decreasing the amount of CC payments vs ACH as well as possible legal issues with CC surcharge fees in some states. I've been meaning to take a look at bonsai!
@@KendrickDischCreative I just discovered Melio can do this by default for free
What do I think? I think the Accountants/CPA's are familiar with QB, and so push everyone there. Is that a good reason? Not in my opinion. Accountants need to get smarter about accounting software options.
Thanks for watching and dropping some thoughts!
I think that’s part of it. But in my case, another part of it was that my accountant is supposedly using standardized methodologies and the reports freshbooks was creating weren’t adhering to the standards. So sure… maybe they shouldn’t be so attached to QB but they also should be able to expect software to use the same formulas to create standard reports and when those formulas aren’t the same across different software, then I’m not going to use the software that is the outlier. Of course my experience is my own, and I’m attempting to be as transparent as possible so that others can judge things for themselves.
wow...3 minutes in and you listed four deal breakers for me....dang!!! I wanted so much to quit Quickbooks Onlinw
Thanks for watching! Why are you eager to quit quickbooks?
@@KendrickDischCreative I personally have been using QB since 2005 and I am officially over them. The customer support is horrible. Good luck if you get a human and you will be bounced around all the time. Lots of variance to their answers and no one takes ownership. I am looking to get out of the Intuit/QB world. I have used them for payroll and regular bookkeeping. I know how to use their software, but if you ever need them for anything, good luck!
What are you looking to try?
@@KendrickDischCreative Well I was looking into Freshbooks, because all I need is basic expense entries, P&L and Balance Sheet reports. Nothing about invoicing or anything with customers. I have not made up my mind, but I need to figure it out so I can start 2023 with it and not with Intuit anymore. I am officially over them.
@@balvarado4885 well give it a shot! You may love it! Just understand that they build reports using slightly different information than QB (from what I understand).
She made you switch because she gets a big percentage of your monthly Quickbooks fee. That's it.
Could be… but I’m not aware of that arrangement.
Freshbooks huh.... Ill make sure I do a research before starting a business
So what kind of business are you going to start?
@@KendrickDischCreative Hi Kendrick. Photography and Art. Not really sure where to begin but I am currently writing and illustrating a graphic novel so I'll start from there.
@pixbypatric or @artbypatric.
I read that QB was shutting down.
I haven't heard that. Do you have a source?
No they are not shutting down. but they are changing to a monthly fee and not selling you the software anymore. I'm an accountant and do bookkeeping for several clients. QB has always been the go to for accountants. But QB is poorly coded and has many issues when used on a server with multiple people accessing. It was a complete nightmare. We went back to buying a program for each accountant at least it worked. QB crashes a lot and their is no real support. They charge for everything and the things charged for seems to be growing. They have gotten greedy as they are the dominate player. I hope MSFT or Google comes out with something useful and not always trying to rip me off with some undisclosed fee.
I came here hoping to escape Quickbooks HELL! What a pain in the ass.
Sorry to disappoint!
QB isnt great but Freshbooks is horrible. Dont use it. BTW. Im an accountant.
You said the same thing I did but you did it in one sentence! Haha!
I would like other options besides QuickBooks as their merchant services made a $22k error and I have been working over a month to get it back and their customer service STINKS.
Yikes! that sounds awful! yeah more options would be great! I haven't had to deal with customer service yet... hopefully, if I do, my experience won't be as bad as yours!