FreshBooks
Send invoices, collect card or ACH, and keep the books here. Bank rec and accountant access start on Plus.
Best for
US freelancers and service shops who want invoicing, time, and payments in the same file, and whose CPA will open FreshBooks.
Not ideal if
Anyone whose CPA will only open QuickBooks Online, shops that need inventory COGS, or teams that need bank feeds that stay connected without a reconnect loop.
Standout
Time, expenses, and retainers land on the invoice, and the client pays on that invoice.
About FreshBooks
FreshBooks is the books for a US service shop that lives on invoices. You send invoices and estimates. Clients pay on the invoice by card, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Buy Now, Pay Later. Tracked time and billable expenses pull onto the next invoice. Bank and card lines import through Plaid or Yodlee. On Plus and above you reconcile those lines, run double-entry reports, and invite an accountant into the same file.
It does not sit on QuickBooks Online. Easy Switch can import clients, expenses, items, and vendors from QuickBooks, Xero, or Zoho Books; it does not keep a live QBO file. Kick is the other replacement ledger in this directory, cash-first with a year-end tax package. Wave is a cheaper cash file. Invoicely is invoices only; you still close elsewhere. FreshBooks is invoice- and time-first. Inventory is a stock count on items (Shopify and 2Ship can update that count), not a COGS system.
People who stick are freelancers and small service teams who found QuickBooks heavier than the invoices they actually send. They care about time-to-invoice, retainers on Plus, and a phone app for receipts and mileage. They stay when their CPA will open FreshBooks. They leave when bank connections drop or the shop outgrows invoice-first books.
What people who used it say
What they tend to like
Lighter invoicing than QuickBooks for a service owner
Owners who left QuickBooks cite a shorter path from time and expenses to a sent invoice, without an accounting-degree file.
Projects, time, and the mobile apps
A FreshBooks-partner bookkeeper on r/Bookkeeping preferred FreshBooks for projects and invoicing and called the mobile apps usable.
Support when the product fits
The same partner thread called support a reason to stay. That praise sits next to long wait and reconnect-loop complaints; treat it as mixed, not a guarantee.
What they hesitate about
Bank connections stop importing
r/freshbooks and r/Bookkeeping threads describe Yodlee / Plaid feeds that stall for weeks. Support often asks people to re-auth 1 to 2 times a day. CSV upload is the workaround.
Invoice-first, not a bookkeeper's ledger
Bookkeepers argue income wants an invoice line rather than a bank deposit, and that Lite-era FreshBooks marketed accounting without rec. Plus now has Bank Rec; the invoice-first habit remains.
The bill can jump past the published ladder
One r/Bookkeeping comment described being moved onto a custom plan far above Premium. Select is quote-only. Seats, Advanced Payments, Payroll, and processing fees stack on Plus.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- Yes
- QuickBooks Online
- No
- Xero
- No
- Multi-entity
- Partial
- Inventory
- Partial
- 1099s
- Partial
- Payroll
- Partial
On Plus and above: categorize imported bank lines, match receipts, reconcile each account, review A/R, then close in FreshBooks. Lite has no Bank Rec and no double-entry reports. Built-in expenses have no approval chain.
Invite the accountant (Plus and Premium: up to 10 seats, no extra cost) or export P&L, balance sheet, and trial balance. FreshBooks does not e-file the income tax return. 1099-NEC e-file is Payroll / Gusto only and needs a W-2 employee; otherwise you fill the form from an expense report.
Images
Features
Invoices, estimates, and pay-on-the-invoice
Send invoices and estimates. Clients pay by card, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Affirm, or Afterpay. Recurring invoices, reminders, late fees, and deposits are on every plan. Lite: 5 billable clients. Plus: 50. Premium and Select: unlimited. Proposals, retainers, and e-signatures start on Plus.
Time and billable expenses onto the invoice
Log hours and expenses, mark them billable, add a markup if you want, and pull the lines onto the invoice. Unlimited time tracking and expenses on every plan. Mileage is in the iOS and Android apps.
Bank import on every plan; reconcile on Plus
Connect US banks and cards through Plaid or Yodlee. Lines land as expenses. Plus and above add Bank Rec so you match the book to the statement. Lite imports and does not reconcile. CSV import is the fallback when the connector drops.
Receipts and bills (plan-gated)
Plus and above: snap or email expense receipts; FreshBooks captures merchant, totals, and tax. Premium and Select add bill and AP receipt capture. Select adds automatic multi-line capture on bills. Lite has no automatic receipt capture.
Double-entry reports and accountant access (Plus and above)
Plus and above: chart of accounts, journal entries, P&L, balance sheet, trial balance, and bank rec. Invite up to 10 accountants per business at no extra cost on Plus and Premium. Lite has tax-time reports only and no accountant access.
Payroll add-on (US, Gusto)
FreshBooks Payroll powered by Gusto is $40/month plus $6 per user. Pay-run journals post to the FreshBooks chart of accounts. US only. Not on the free trial. Contractor 1099 pay in Payroll needs at least one W-2 employee. Without Payroll, 1099-NEC is an expense-report total you fill yourself.
Pricing
List prices on 12 Sep 2026: Lite $23, Plus $43, Premium $70, Select custom. A 90% off promo for 3 months was on the pricing page (Lite $2.30, Plus $4.30, Premium $7.00); the homepage countdown said it ends in 4 days. After the promo, a 5-client solo shop is Lite at $23/month. Past 5 clients, or if you need bank rec and an accountant, you are on Plus at $43. Yearly is 10% off; official yearly dollars were not on the monthly scrape. Team seats are $11/month per assigned role (unassigned profiles are free; Select includes 2). Advanced Payments is $20/month unless you are on Select. FreshBooks Payments takes 2.9% + $0.30 on consumer cards, 3.5% + $0.30 on commercial/Amex, and 1% ACH. Payroll is $40/month plus $6 per user. Each extra LLC is its own subscription. A 5-person service shop on Plus with two extra seats and payroll is $43 + $22 + $40 + $30 before processing fees.
Lite
Solo shop with 5 clients. Invoices, expenses, and bank import. No rec, no double-entry, no accountant. 30-day trial.
- 5 billable clients (active plus archived)
- Unlimited invoices, estimates, time tracking, and expenses
- Card, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Buy Now, Pay Later
- Automated bank import and tax-time reports
- No bank rec, double-entry reports, receipt scan, or accountant access
Plus
The usual pick once you need retainers, receipt scan, bank rec, and an accountant in the file. 50 clients.
- 50 billable clients
- Proposals, retainers, and e-signatures
- Expense receipt scanning and email-in receipts
- Double-entry reports, bank rec, and accountant access (up to 10, no extra seat cost)
- Team seats $11/mo each; Advanced Payments $20/mo extra
Premium
Unlimited clients, bills, and project profitability.
- Unlimited billable clients
- Bills / accounts payable and bill receipt scanning
- Project profitability
- Custom email templates and signatures
- Everything in Plus
Select
Growing shops that want lower card and ACH fees, Easy Switch, and dedicated phone support. Not self-serve.
- Unlimited clients
- Lower credit-card rates and capped ACH fees
- Advanced Payments included
- 2 team member seats included (extra seats $11/mo)
- Easy Switch migration and dedicated phone support
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of FreshBooks
Wave
Pick Wave instead if you want a cheap cash-basis file and invoicing and you do not need retainers, project profitability, or FreshBooks' paid invoice stack.
QuickBooks Online
Stay in QuickBooks Online if your CPA will only open that file, you sell inventory, or you want the US tax-prep default. FreshBooks replaces the file; it does not sit next to it.
Kick
Pick Kick instead if you want to leave invoice-first software for a US cash ledger and a year-end tax package a CPA can use.
Invoicely
Pick Invoicely instead if you only need to send and collect invoices at a published low price and you already close in another ledger.