As a client, receiving a FreshBooks invoice with line items for subscription-based products or services, it’s easy to pay. All you have to do is save your credit card, banking or other payment details online in the FreshBooks application so you’re automatically billed each time an invoice comes due. Imagine doing this without invoicing software—dealing with paper invoices and receipts and having to keep track of phone and address records separately. From generating, sending, and tracking invoices to managing your payroll and preparing you for tax season, modern accounting software is your financial Swiss Army knife. These platforms often go beyond the basics to offer real-time expense tracking by linking directly to your bank accounts or enabling you to snap pictures of your receipts with a mobile app.

1. The basic features for small businesses centralize accounting operations in one place.
2. FreshBooks offers almost the exact same integration features as Xero including offering developers APIs and integrating with Zapier for more add-on access.
3. But the two apps are geared toward different audiences, which explains their functional differences.
4. 95% of users agree that FreshBooks makes it easy to work with your accountant.

All Xero plans come with accountant access, but FreshBooks’ least expensive option does not. In the same vein, FreshBooks does not provide audit trails for accountants. Audit trails show all changes within the software, who made them and when they were made to help accountants track down errors or unauthorized entries. While FreshBooks has a live chat option for sales inquiries, you have to send an email or request a phone call for customer support. ET, so if you’re having a late-night issue trying to sort out an invoice, you’ll have to wait until morning for in-person help.

FreshBooks vs Xero: Features

Additionally, clients can acquire add-ons, such as Advanced Payments for $20 per month or Gusto Payroll. You can quickly mark your business expenses as billable, add a markup, and then automatically pull them onto an invoice for your client. You can also snap and store pictures of receipts in the FreshBooks mobile app (touched upon later). Both FreshBooks and Xero are industry-leading cloud-based accounting tools with huge client bases. While both are similar in many regards, there are some key differences in their features. I started The Digital Merchant to test the tools, services, and products I use in my digital business.

Xero, on the other hand, has only three pricing tiers:

We took the liberty to drop our well-researched opinions on both software via this table. You can save 10 percent on a FreshBooks subscription by making a single annual payment rather than monthly payments. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. No, it isn’t possible to reconcile bank statements manually in FreshBooks because it doesn’t allow you to upload files of transactions unless you connect your bank account.

Nevertheless, both are similarly priced and have three different plans to choose from. Both are user-friendly and may work well for your business — and the answer to FreshBooks vs Xero really comes down to what you’re looking for. Now that you have a clear idea of what features both tools offer and their pricing structure, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each. We will summarize their key benefits and drawbacks so you can reach a decision based on your preferences. Inventory management is one of those advanced features that you don’t get in FreshBooks. You can keep a count of up to 4,000 items you have in stock as you buy and sell.

FreshBooks beats Xero decisively when it comes to invoicing capabilities. The FreshBooks design suite allows for more customization and is easier to use compared to Xero. Xero also lacks the seamless integration with time tracking that FreshBooks offers. If you want to add multiple users to your accounting software, Xero is likely a better choice than FreshBooks because it accommodates unlimited users in all plans. You can add new users via email and assign them one of seven different user roles, including “read only” and “advisor” access. If you want to further customize a user profile, you can give users additional permissions to particular features, like reports, projects and new expenses.

FreshBooks vs Xero: How They Compare

FreshBooks and Xero are excellent accounting software options whose features and focuses may make one or the other better for specific businesses. When it comes to inventory management, Xero is also the name to beat for larger companies with lots of products and customers. Apart from FreshBooks’ user-friendliness for those who aren’t accounting experts, it also appeals to freelancers through its time tracking and client management tools. All plans offer unlimited time tracking and allow you to bill clients for the time you track.

Hazel loves to split her time between writing, editing, and hanging out with her family. And if you’re on the fence, you should definitely give both of them a whirl as they both offer a 30-day free trial, so you can get a hands-on feel of both before committing to one. You can also connect your Gmail or Office 365 account to see all your email correspondence with customers and suppliers in one place.

FreshBooks vs Xero At a Glance

However, since FreshBooks charges $10 per additional user, per month, it can quickly become more expensive than Xero if you need three or more users. FreshBooks’ expense management tools are easier to use than Xero’s. They’re also available for all users, not only those who opt into the most expensive pricing plan.

So either you have to plan to cancel 2 months in advance or you have to plan to pay an additional month of service after you actually cancel. Xero also provides 24/7 support, which may or may not be a dealbreaker for you. However, it is worth remembering that Xero’s plan prices are higher than FreshBooks’, and that its more advanced features come at a cost.

The software’s bill management tools are detailed, giving you the ability to access all of your bills online in one place, make batch payments and schedule them in advance. In contrast, FreshBooks includes basic accounts payable tools like bill tracking with the Premium plan and doesn’t offer them with the Lite or Plus plans. As two of QuickBooks Online’s biggest competitors in the small-business accounting software space, Xero and FreshBooks each have their own strengths. When you compare them head-to-head though, Xero pulls through as the more scalable, easy-to-use solution for small businesses looking to grow their operations.

FreshBooks offers online accounting software designed specifically for small- to medium-sized businesses, with features accessible via desktop or mobile. The customizable “Let’s Talk” plan stands out as a unique option, allowing users to select the features they want. However, limitations in features, inefficiencies, and bugs hinder its scalability and overall user experience, making it seem fairly average in terms of usability and other aspects. Xero is cloud-based accounting software for small to medium-sized businesses with a subscription model offering three plans priced between $15-$78/month. The software has a broad range of features, including bill payment, inventory management, and the ability to integrate with numerous apps like HubSpot and DocuSign. The platform has a user-friendly interface, making it ideal for small business owners without extensive accounting knowledge.

With our software, you gain access to up-to-the-minute financial reports. Empower your business with Fusion Software’s accounting software for … The offers that appear on the website are from software companies from which CRM.org receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear).

Integrates with more than 100 third-party apps; limited choices for direct payroll and point-of-sale integrations. You can easily test out expense tracking, https://intuit-payroll.org/ team expense claims, and expense importing during your 30-day free trial. 95% of users agree that FreshBooks makes it easy to work with your accountant.

If you’re a small business owner looking for more automation and insights, this may be the right plan for you. For $25/month, you can bill up to 50 clients, set up recurring billing and client retainers, run business health reports, and send unlimited proposals (in addition to the Lite features). However, deciding on cloud-based accounting software that’s right for your business is not an easy task. A quick search will give you plenty of appealing options to choose from.

We felt that each tier’s features justified its costs as did the automatically included (but optional) Gusto payroll integration. We’ve encountered few platforms that make it so easy and low-cost to automate your stock turnover ratio formula payroll accounting. The FreshBooks app is considered among the best iPhone apps to get you through the workday, helping you create invoices, accept payments, track time and record expenses from your smartphone.

You can also compare cost estimates to actual costs, which is useful for contractors. The only project accounting feature lacking in FreshBooks is the ability to assign actual inventory cost to a project, which is expected since FreshBooks doesn’t provide inventory accounting. FreshBooks focuses on being user-friendly and lacks some of the more sophisticated features included in Xero, such as inventory and fixed assets. The difficulty in using Xero compared to FreshBooks is compounded by a lack of customer service. Xero automates bill payments in bulk and across vendors, whereas FreshBooks only allows manual bill recording, not payment. We found Xero’s bill pay tools to be the best of any accounting software we reviewed ― not just when compared to FreshBooks.