Freshbooks vs Zoho Books

May 18, 2023 | Author: Michael Stromann
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Freshbooks
FreshBooks is an online invoicing software as a service for freelancers, small businesses, agencies, and professionals. The product includes a myriad of other related features, such as time tracking, expense tracking, recurring billing, online payment collection, the ability to mail invoices through the U.S. Post, and support tickets.
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Zoho Books
Zoho Books is an online accounting software with time tracking that allows you to easily manage the money flowing in and out of your business. Manage your customers and invoices, while keeping expenses in check. Record, monitor and reconcile your bank accounts and transactions, and collaborate with your accountant in real-time. Most importantly, Zoho Books helps you make better, more informed decisions and stay on top of your business.
FreshBooks and Zoho Books are both popular accounting software solutions, but they have different strengths and features. FreshBooks is a user-friendly accounting platform designed for freelancers, small businesses, and service-based professionals. It offers features such as invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, and basic financial reporting. FreshBooks prioritizes ease of use and intuitive interface, making it accessible for users without accounting expertise. On the other hand, Zoho Books provides a comprehensive accounting solution suitable for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a wider range of features including invoicing, expense management, bank reconciliation, inventory tracking, and more advanced financial reporting options. Zoho Books also integrates well with other Zoho applications, providing a seamless experience across different business functions.

See also: Top 10 Online Accounting software
Freshbooks vs Zoho Books in our news:

2021. Zoho Books gets a Free Plan



Zoho has introduced the free plan for Zoho Books, a solution specifically designed to address the accounting requirements of small businesses, startups, and freelancers. The aim of Zoho Books' free plan is to revolutionize the financial workspace for small businesses by offering a modern cloud-based accounting platform that replaces traditional or spreadsheet-based accounting methods. This transition helps eliminate the risk of data loss, reduces manual effort and errors, and provides a more efficient accounting process. By utilizing the free plan, you can embrace a paperless approach, automate various accounting tasks, and access your accounting system from anywhere. The free plan enables you to create, customize, and send up to 1,000 invoices annually. You can conveniently collect payments both online and offline while automating payment reminders. Additionally, the plan allows you to upload expense receipts and effectively monitor expenses by category, helping you stay within your budget. By enabling the client portal feature, your customers gain access to view their outstanding invoices, provide transaction comments, make online payments, and leave reviews.


2017. Zoho Books gets document hub and receipt auto-scanning



The Zoho Books online accounting app has incorporated valuable features to enhance document management. The Auto-scan functionality within Zoho Books enables you to effortlessly scan your documents and automatically extract relevant details, which can then be converted into expenses, bills, or purchase orders. In case you have already scanned your documents, you can directly upload them, and our software will intelligently extract the essential data for you. With the Documents feature, a unique email address is provided, allowing you to conveniently import files into Zoho Books simply by sending an email. Upon receiving a file, you can organize it into folders or create a transaction, subsequently clearing the inbox. All uploaded documents are instantly stored in a secure centralized hub, providing a unified location for convenient viewing and management.


2015. Freshbooks allowed to invoice clients faster



FreshBooks, the online accounting software, has introduced three enhancements to streamline your billing process. The addition of a search box at the top of the list allows you to quickly find specific clients by typing their names, ensuring that only relevant results are displayed. Creating a new client directly from the New Invoice screen is now more convenient as the "New Client" field is prominently positioned at the top of your client list, simplifying the process of adding new clients. Additionally, any updates made to a client's contact information, such as their address or phone number, will be instantly reflected on all unsent invoices for that client. Previously sent invoices will retain the original information by default, but you have the option to manually update them if necessary. This improvement eliminates the need for redundant data entry, which is particularly beneficial for efficiency-minded users.


2014. Zoho Books became available on iPad



Zoho has recently unveiled the new Zoho Books iPad app, designed specifically for iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Mini. This native application has been optimized to provide a seamless experience on your tablet, enabling you to manage your business operations from anywhere. The iPad app offers all the key functionalities available in the web version, empowering you to efficiently run your business on the go. Upon launching the app, you will be greeted with an interactive dashboard that delivers crucial insights into your business. Instantly access information regarding your receivables, payables, and cash flow, enabling you to evaluate the performance of your business and identify areas that require attention. Moreover, Zoho Books for iPad offers various features, including business expense management, time tracking, timesheets, estimates, and a range of informative reports.


2014. Zoho Books app for Windows 8.1 released



Zoho has introduced a Windows 8 version of its accounting app designed for growing businesses, known as Zoho Books. This app enables users to send invoices to clients instantly, record payments, track expenses, and categorize them by type. It also helps identify and reduce unnecessary expenditures, providing instant insights into business performance through interactive graphs and charts. With Zoho Books, users can efficiently organize contacts, capturing crucial information like currency, email, phone numbers, and billing addresses in a centralized location. Additionally, the app facilitates the maintenance of a product and price list for streamlined management.


2011. Zoho launched online accounting service Zoho Books

Zoho has recently addressed a notable gap in its suite of online applications for small businesses by introducing the online accounting service Zoho Books. With this addition, Zoho now offers a comprehensive set of tools tailored to meet the needs of small businesses. Zoho Books facilitates the management of financial transactions, bank accounts, invoice creation and delivery, as well as receipt of payments through PayPal or credit cards. It also enables revenue and expense planning. The integration of Zoho Books with Zoho CRM, Email, and spreadsheets enhances its suitability for accountants and other staff members. Existing users of Zoho Invoice will be provided with a straightforward upgrade path to Zoho Books. Unlike other Zoho products, Zoho Books does not offer a free version, instead providing a 30-day trial. This decision is understandable considering that most small companies typically have only one accountant, and offering a free single-user version would not be practical. The service is priced at $24 per month for a single account, with an additional cost of $5 per month for each additional user.


2009. FreshBooks comes to Salesforce AppExchange

FreshBooks, the widely used Web-based invoicing software, has made an exciting announcement regarding its integration with Salesforce.com CRM. This collaboration proves to be a perfect match, particularly for sales-related activities. With the introduction of the FreshBooks Connector for Salesforce, enterprises can seamlessly generate invoices for contacts or opportunities directly within their CRM system. The functionality of converting contacts and opportunities in Salesforce.com into invoices appears to be a straightforward process. Moreover, apart from facilitating the transfer of data between platforms, the Connector establishes a dedicated tab within your CRM, allowing you to track activities related to your 20 most recent invoices. While the app offers a 15-day free trial, subsequent usage comes at a cost of $50 per month per organization.


2009. FreshBooks adds collaboration features

FreshBooks, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) invoice application, is introducing a networking capability to its software, enabling direct collaboration between freelancers and small businesses within the program and facilitating the sharing of information. With the new "Contractor" feature, FreshBooks users can now create and collaborate on client projects across different FreshBooks accounts, allowing multiple users to access various accounts simultaneously. Previously, collaboration on projects across the internet was not possible within FreshBooks. Additionally, the Contractor feature offers real-time project tracking, providing businesses with visibility into a contractor's ongoing progress on a project.


2009. FreshBooks - online billing for small business



There are numerous online billing services available on the Web, each offering their own unique blend of usability and relevance to businesses. However, if you're seeking a straightforward solution that simplifies monitoring your billing cycles, FreshBooks is an excellent starting point. FreshBooks streamlines the management of clients, projects, and, most importantly, invoices. This tool facilitates the generation of recurring invoices and automates the billing process for customers. Furthermore, it is relatively cost-effective, with the option to use basic invoicing for free or pay up to $149 per month to grant additional employees access to the account. In addition to the ability to import from and export to QuickBooks and CSV files, FreshBooks seamlessly integrates with popular payment processing solutions like PayPal. Its intuitive design enables swift completion of invoicing tasks. However, the most valuable feature lies in its tracking capabilities. If you currently employ a rudimentary billing system, you may encounter difficulties in remembering when payments were made or received. FreshBooks eliminates this issue by providing a menu pane that displays outstanding and historical payments, allowing you to stay informed about incoming revenue. Moreover, if you have concerns about the appearance of your invoices, you have the freedom to customize them according to your preferences, including the option to incorporate your company logo.


2008. Online Invoicing Service FreshBooks Takes Industry Benchmarks Public

FreshBooks, an online invoicing and business time management service, is introducing quarterly anonymized benchmarks for various industries such as web development, IT, design, and marketing. The purpose is to provide the public with concrete financial statistics specific to each sector, enabling businesses to set and achieve goals. FreshBooks is leveraging data from its extensive clientele to offer these benchmarks, recognizing that understanding one's performance relative to others is crucial in a competitive industry. While too much data can be overwhelming, FreshBooks' generalized approach benefits both contributors and consumers by providing perspective and insights for company managers. With over 500,000 users, FreshBooks has accumulated substantial data over the past year and a half, allowing them to compile valuable information. While there is a sales pitch involved, the provided benchmarks have significant value, attracting a majority of users who appreciate FreshBooks' transparent approach. Overall, this move by FreshBooks is considered a smart and positive decision, offering concise and helpful benchmarks to assist businesses.

Author: Michael Stromann
Michael is an expert in IT Service Management, IT Security and software development. With his extensive experience as a software developer and active involvement in multiple ERP implementation projects, Michael brings a wealth of practical knowledge to his writings. Having previously worked at SAP, he has honed his expertise and gained a deep understanding of software development and implementation processes. Currently, as a freelance developer, Michael continues to contribute to the IT community by sharing his insights through guest articles published on several IT portals. You can contact Michael by email stromann@liventerprise.com