Awesome! Before you read this Freshbooks review, allow me to paint a picture. You decided to start your own freelance business and you just can’t wait to dig into preparing proposals and invoices to business clients. The decision has been made, and you just want to be more professional in your freelance business. Isn’t this what you were looking for? This honest Freshbooks review is for you.
FreshBooks is the best accounting software for freelancers and small business owners. You might be wondering, how does an accounting software prepare proposals? Well, this is an extraordinary FreshBooks feature that allows you to send pitch proposals to new clients, convert those proposals into invoices, create new invoices, customize them and get paid.
Awesome, right? Wait! I have got more for you.
This post will help you learn how to prepare proposals and invoices with Freshbooks. It hardly takes five minutes or more to add all the details. Save the template and it can be used anytime again!
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Huge Announcement For Freshbooks Users
For only a limited time, you can also enjoy Big Fall Sale and get 50% for 3 months on Freshbooks! You can check out the Sale here.
If you have been keeping an eye on Freshbooks software then this is the high time you think seriously. With this Big Fall Sale season update, you can enjoy 50% discount on all pricing plans for 3 months. That means, once your free trial expires, you will get 50% off. This is a big discount savings for a tool like Freshbooks which handles all your accounting, invoices, payments, financial reports and manage your projects easily without any trouble.
Spend a minute and check out the Big Fall Sale before it expires. This pricing is so attractive that you’d never want to miss it.
Interesting, right?
But, how do you do that?
Too often you see a freelance job ad, and the companies ask you to submit a proposal. A freelance job proposal mirrors your skills and plans to achieve the business needs and requirements. You’ve to convince potential clients and impress them that you’re the perfect fit for the job. It’s always a major hurdle to document a proposal and then, send it to your clients and wait for the response.
Next,
Your proposal got accepted and the client is interested in working with you. All the other terms are decided and the client says, ‘Send me the invoice’.
If you’re new, and you have never created an invoice, what will you do?
I was exactly in the same situation. So, I figured out the online tool that my other freelance friends have used and recommended. FreshBooks is the online accounting software that just not help to create invoices but can be used to send freelance proposals, track the invoices and prepare the accounts for your business.
You might like to read : 27+ Freelance Services You Can Offer From Home To Make Extra Money
FRESHBOOKS REVIEW: HOW TO PREPARE PROPOSALS & INVOICES WITH FRESHBOOKS
Few links in this post are affiliate links. Being a blogger, I promote few of my favorite tools which I have tested or use for my blog and freelance growth. If you make a purchase, it will help me make a small commission. Relax, you won’t cost anything extra. It’s the just a little payout for efforts I make into this blog every day. Thanks for always supporting my blog. You can also find the full disclosure from the top menu.
Freshbooks is an ultimate solution for smart business owners and freelancers who always get stuck with proposals, invoices, collaborations and account management. As said, this review will guide you to prepare proposals and invoices for business clients.
What else?
Here’s what you will learn in this FreshBooks review;
FreshBooks Features
How To Prepare Proposals From FreshBooks
How To Create FreshBooks Invoices
FreshBooks Pricing
Freshbooks Disadvantages
Let’s quickly cover all of these headings so that you start using FreshBooks;
FRESHBOOKS FEATURES FOR FREELANCERS AND BUSINESS OWNERS
FreshBooks is a tool that keeps accounting so easy for busy freelancers and business owners. It helps to process payments and make tracking a smooth process for self-employed workers.
Related: Best Freelancing Job Sites For Beginners To Apply And Get Paid
Here’s what you can do with FreshBooks;
Create Customizable Invoices
Just choose a template, add your logo, image and enter the invoice details. Set automatic payment reminders to clients who have a hard time remembering the invoices.
You can also further learn how to create professional invoices with pre-made invoice templates.
Send Proposals/Pitch
Impress your clients by designing professional-grade pitches. Freshbooks has also introduced the ‘proposals’ feature through which you can also send pitches to your clients and get booked right away.
Track Expenses
No need to maintain tons of spreadsheets and receipts for business expenses. FreshBooks allows you to connect the bank account or credit card to record, and track all the expenses. Say goodbye to manual entry!
Track Time
It’s easy to track the total hours spent working for a client. Easily manage the team time tracking. Collaborate with other team members and track the hours.
Projects
Invite employees and clients for collaborations. Share files and discuss projects overview.
Payments
Do you know 40% of small biz owners still get paid by check?
Getting paid has become easier with FreshBooks payment feature. Accept credit cards online and transfer the payment to your bank. Super easy, and fast!
The other features include preparing estimates for clients, collect accountant friendly reports, keep connected to clients and keep up an overall summary of your account activities.
BIG FALL SALE UPDATE : Get the limited time offer and enjoy 50% off for 3 months on all Freshbook plans. As your free trial expires, you only pay 50% for 3 months. Big money to save this fall season!
This Big Fall SALE is a big saving for small business owners, and self employed individuals. You can save upto 50% on any plan for next 3 months which can save you a lot of money during this purchase. This is a limited time offer that is going to spend in a few days. Avail it while you can!
DOUBLE-ENTRY ACCOUNTING
Do you wonder, what is double-entry accounting? It’s an industry-standard method that bookkeepers and accountants use to track and manage a business’s financial records.
Thus, double-entry means there will always have two entries for every accounting transaction. One is credit, and the other one is debit. Let me give you an example;
If you, as a business owner, buy a new office equipment then double-entry accounting system will track the purchase as the credit and the debit as the new asset you now own.
With this new advanced accounting feature, you will have a clear picture of financial status. Now, it’s easier to know how much you’ve got in assets, and liability. It further adds an extra layer of verification so that your account is always updated.
Double-Entry Accounting Features
Freshbook’s new double-entry accounting functions have 8 new features;
- Cost of goods sold (COGS)
- Other income
- General Ledger
- Trial Balance
- Chart of accounts
- Accountant Access
- Bank Reconcilation
- Balance sheet
A balance sheet is a full aggregate record of a business’s finance that includes all assets, equity and liability. It shows you where you’re in your business. The balance sheet also helps to watch trends over time so that you can simply compare the difference between periods in order to determine the true position of your business.
The double-entry accounting helps YOU to make better decision for the future of your business.
Check Out Freshbook’s New Double-Entry Feature
Who will get more benefit from double-entry accounting feature?
- Fast-growing small businesses
- Small business primed for growth
- simple but sustainable small business
However, if you’re a freelancer or a solopreneur and you are happy with Freshbook’s invoicing, project management, time tracking and all other reporting functions then you can simply ignore the advanced method of double-entry.
With new double entry accounting feature business owners can ;
- Generate a year end business report
- Get profit & Loss and Sales tax summary with Freshbooks. Simply download it and share with your personal accountant.
- Generate a separate profit & loss report that determines how much your personal business has spent vs earned.
The new function double entry accounting is absolutely perfect for businesses who want to get deeper insights on their business finance.
As a self employed pro, you can use Freshbooks for a variety of purpose.
With Freshbooks,
- Create quickly polished invoices
- Manage expenses
- Track your time
- Accept payments and get paid online
- Get ready-made financial reports to find out how your business is performing.
ACH PAYMENTS ON FRESHBOOKS
Are you a small business owner, or maybe, a self employed freelancer? While there are endless things that are under your belt, but when it comes to getting paid – all you want is a steady and streamlined process. Is that true?
Freshbook has now come up with Automated Clearing House Payments aka bank transfers for U.S customers. What does that mean?
ACH is the network that currently connects all financial institutions across the U.S. It allows to transfer money from one bank to another. This also means that it is only applicable for U.S customers.
When you enable Freshbooks payments, you actually give more flexibility to your customers to pay through bank transfer using ACH. This actually gives another option to any of your customers who only use bank transfer as the preferred method.
Here are four benefits you should know about using ACH payment system;
- ACH payment system is much faster than traditional checks. Whether it’s about you or your client, you will find instant bank transfer a painless process rather than using checks every time. We all know that checks are extra work. Using ACH will help cut down the time using checks and other formalities. This thus means, more online flexibility to your clients.
- When you use ACH as the preferred option, funds will be automatically transferred to your bank account and will also be marked as paid in Freshbooks. How interesting is that? That means, you will not need to perform an additional step in marking the paid payments in Freshbooks.
- ACH is less expensive than other available online payments. Large invoices usually have more online transaction fees. However, ACH has only 1% transaction fee which is an affordable solution for all small business owners.
- Get paid 2x times faster with ACH. As soon as funds are approved, they will be deposit in 3-5 days. Moreover, by the end of 2019, Freshbooks will offer same/next day deposits. Blazing fast, right?
<<Check out Freshbooks Payment Process here>>
HOW TO CREATE FREELANCE PROPOSALS WITH FRESHBOOKS?
Here’s the step by step process to create a professional pitch using Freshbooks;
- Create your Free FreshBooks account. Yes, it allows an honest 30-day free trial so that you can enjoy the experience of using all the features.
- Go the FreshBooks Estimates Page and use the icon on the right to create a new proposal.
- Use the features and put all the details.
- Add your company logo.
- Customize the overview, scope of work and timeline.
- Add the pricing, notes, and other terms.
Try the new proposals feature at FreshBooks Estimates Page and see how ridiculously easy it is!
HOW TO CREATE FRESHBOOKS INVOICES
The Invoice feature is typically similar to the proposal feature. It’s so easy to create an invoice and let your client know about it. If you’ve recurring clients, you can simply edit the description of the invoice and send it right away.
It can be done in few steps.
- Create a free account on FreshBooks if you’ve not used it before.
- Click on the Create New button and choose invoice.
- Add your first client.
- Customize your invoice with a template, color, company name, due date, invoice description etc.
- Add terms and notes if you’ve any.
- Hit send to get paid 😉
Furthermore, you can save all of your invoices and set payment reminders after due dates. FreshBooks makes it so easy to create invoices in minutes and send them directly to clients. On the other hand, the clients get notified and pay you instantly.
The video below is a quick tutorial to show you how to create professional invoices within a few minutes. When you’ve successfully designed your invoice, simply send it to your client. In addition to that, you can also set up settings for late payments, or due dates, etc.
FRESHBOOK PRICING PLANS
How much does this one-in-all accounting tool cost you?
The Lite plan starts with $15/month which reduces to $13.5 if you buy yearly. It lets to work with 5 clients and create unlimited Invoices and Estimates.
The Plus plan costs $25/month which reduces to $22.5 on yearly plans. It allows working with 50 clients with all features.
The Premium plan costs $50/month which costs $45 on annual plans with almost 500 clients.
For Big Sale, all of the above plans are 50% OFF!
If you're just starting out in your freelance business, the Lite plan would give you enough flexibility to maintain accounts with 5 clients. But, if you are a seasoned freelancer, the plus plan would be an ideal choice.
<<Check out Freshbook Pricing>>
DISADVANTAGES OF USING FRESHBOOKS
I didn't find any of the major problems with FreshBooks. But, I would say that the initial plan should allow more than 5 clients. I guess it's a bit pricey for new freelancers or businesses who are struggling and don't have enough budget. But, if you've had recurring clients, then it's fair to bear $15/m.
The older dashboard wasn't appealing at all. It was also confusing, but the new FreshBooks has got it covered.
Are you going to give it a try?
Use the 30-day free trial to enjoy the painless accounting with FreshBooks.
You can upgrade the plans at your own choice and of course depending on your business needs.
Hi Arfa,
I actually haven’t heard of this software. The review you presented is great in that it provides a clear picture of what one should get from this freelancing tool.
Inasmuch as it can help you create remarkable proposals and invoice your clients as well, it is a must try for freelancers and other marketers.
Thanks for sharing this information.
Hi Moss,
Freshbooks is an amazing tool. It just makes creating proposals and invoices incredibly easy for busy freelancers and small business owners. The best thing is that it also enables to save the invoices for the next time. So, it just takes a minute editing to prepare and send the new invoice.
You can try the free trial and see if it fits to your requirements.
Thanks for commenting, Moss!
Thanks for sharing this great review. I think that Freshbooks is a great app for business owners like me. I am now super excited to try it.
Absolutely, it is! I’m sure you will have a great experience using Freshbooks for your business.
Thanks for sharing these great review. I am hearing a lot of good thing about Freshbooks so I tried it out. I also love the outcome of it. It really suit me and my business.