But the two apps are geared toward different audiences, which explains their functional differences. Eric is an accounting and bookkeeping expert for the difference between gross sales and net sales Fit Small Business. He has a CPA license in the Philippines and a BS in Accountancy graduate at Silliman University. You can call its customer service hotlines, ask a rep to call you, or contact the provider via email.
In some cases, we earn commissions when sales are made through our referrals. These financial relationships support our content but do not dictate our recommendations. Our editorial team independently evaluates products based on thousands of hours of research. Learn more about our full process and see who our partners are here. You can easily test out expense tracking, team expense claims, and expense importing during your 30-day free trial. That’s why FreshBooks is built to save you time and effort with an interface that lets you efficiently manage your books and navigate tax time.
- As two of QuickBooks Online’s biggest competitors in the small-business accounting software space, Xero and FreshBooks each have their own strengths.
- But Xero’s reporting is more robust thanks to its detailed accounting features.
- You’ll have to sign up for FreshBooks’ mid-tier plan to increase that number to 50.
This ensures that businesses are matched with accountants that suit their specific needs, and gives them access to the financial and accounting reports they need. Automatic Recurring Invoices in FreshBooks combined with Recurring Payments makes it simple for clients to pay and for you to accept payments for products or services rendered—hands-free. Recurring Payments works together with Recurring Templates to automatically bill clients every time an invoice is generated and sent. There are a number of payment processors and payment options you can choose through FreshBooks. FreshBooks integrates with a number of payment processors so that you can choose the payment method that works best for you and your business (and can deal with multiple currencies). Whether you want to accept online credit card payments, set up bank transfers, or get paid through FreshBooks Payments, you can easily set up the method you prefer.
FreshBooks Pricing and Plans
While Xero’s reporting suite isn’t as advanced as QuickBooks, it’s still noteworthy. When you log into your Xero dashboard, you’ll immediately see your team’s expenses and tracked time. This feature makes it incredibly easy to see which inputs you might need to adjust to cut business expenses. Xero offers more than 80 reports, including standard financial reports, and lets you add tracking categories to monitor performance in different areas of your business. You can generate traditional financial reports, but they aren’t available with all plans. You’ll need the Plus plan to access a general ledger, trial balance or chart of accounts and the Premium plan to create any accounts payable reports.
FreshBooks vs Xero Comparison
We don’t guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services. Of course, even though Xero is more comprehensive than similar accounting products, you should make sure it has the right features for you before committing to a plan. In stark contrast to FreshBooks, it also uses the double-entry accounting system for every plan, even the most basic. Learn more about how to automate Xero, or dive into these ready-to-use workflows for both apps. For example, Xero allows you to view accounting reports and specific budgets for any time period.
Time tracking and client management
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. 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. It includes stronger accounting features across all its plans, as well as unlimited users, inventory management and access to over 1,000 third-party integrations.
If you frequently collaborate on finances with your business’s co-owners, Xero saves you more money than just about any other accounting service provider. Compared to Xero’s app, it’s more user-friendly and offers a wider selection of features, including entering bills, live time tracking, and billing clients for time worked. FreshBooks may not be as comprehensive an accounting platform as Xero, but it’s hard to deny that its invoicing features are top-tier. Even with FreshBooks Lite, I was able to create and send unlimited customized invoices for up to five clients, whereas Xero restricted me to 20 total invoices per month. With FreshBooks Plus, this limit increased to 50 clients, and with Premium, there’s no client limit at all. The Xero app has the basic features found in the cloud version, such as invoicing, bank reconciliation, cash flows, profit, and loss.
Since FreshBooks is mainly software for freelancers who often don’t follow traditional working schedules, this could be a drawback, especially if you’re working in a remote time zone. FreshBooks and QuickBooks are two of the most well-known accounting software on the market. Plus, while Xero has thorough invoicing and receipt scanning capabilities, it doesn’t include business expense tracking with any plan except the most expensive.
FreshBooks and Xero are excellent accounting software options whose features and focuses may make one or the other better for specific businesses. FreshBooks is a software that provides the accounting essentials for freelancers, small business owners and solopreneurs. It’s simple to use, relatively affordable and it makes it easy to stay organized.