Freshbooks Review: Best Free Time Tracking and Billing Software

Want to spend less time billing your clients?

I know I did before I started using Freshbooks. I used to spend hours every month preparing weekly reports and monthly invoices for my clients. Now it literally takes me just minutes to get my client invoices out, and I can spend my time doing things I actually enjoy doing!

Free (or Low Cost) Time Tracking and Billing Software

Like I mentioned I used to do all my reports and invoicing for my clients manually. It took a minimum of 10 hours per month of unbillable time.

That’s time I could have spent working on billable projects so I was thrilled when I found out about Freshbooks and used it to save all that time!

Freshbooks offers free (up to three clients) and very reasonably priced (above three clients) time tracking and billing for small business owners everywhere.

What Does This Time Tracking and Billing Software Do?

Here is a list of just some of the things you can do:

1. Track your own time and your contractors time.

The time tracking tool lets you track to the second. It breaks time up into a number of hours with two decimal places (so 30 minutes is .50 of an hour). You can quickly scan monthly, weekly or daily timesheets to see how many hours you or your team has worked and there are tons of report options (beginning/end date, by contractor, by client, by task, etc). Contractors can even have their own account linked to yours and sync up the time tracking.

Here’s a shot of my account and the time tracking tool I use anytime I do billable work:

2. Invoicing and Billing.

You can quickly bill for work completed simply by selecting the client you have already entered in the time for (preferably as you go) and selecting the project you want to bill for.

If you prefer to invoice at the beginning of a project this is easily done as well.

Freshbooks also keeps track of what has been paid and what is outstanding in a handy chart you can see as soon as you log in to your account.

Oh and did I mention with the click of a button you can have actual, physical SNAIL MAIL invoices sent out as well?? Pretty cool feature they have there. When you sign up for Freshbooks you even get a surprise (fake) bill in the mail to show you an example.

Another great feature is that you can give your clients a username and login where they can view their invoices and their time tracking data.

There are a number of great invoicing reports you can create including invoice details, item sales, revenue by client or staff and recurring revenue.

Here’s a screenshot of the billing and invoicing section when I’m ready to collect my cash-o-la:

3. Tracking Your Expenses

Freshbooks can even be used to track your expenses and to do bookkeeping for non-complex business models. There are finance reports available including accounts aging, expense report, profits and loss, tax summary and payments collected.

Who Is This Billing and Invoicing Software Program For?

Freshbooks is great for solopreneurs and those will a small team. It’s for people who provide a service and need to track their time and send their invoices from the same place to create a simple billing and time tracking system.

Negatives to Using Freshbooks

I’ve been wracking my brain a bit trying to think of something I don’t like about the program. A month ago I probably would have told you I don’t like that I couldn’t bill in both US and Canadian funds. You see, I bill mostly in US funds but on occasion I work with Canadian clients and I need to bill in CAD and charge GST. But I can’t complain about that anymore because Freshbooks just added multi-currency billing!

I guess I could complain that I have to pay for the program monthly instead of all in one shot. But I see that as being the cost of running such a great program with superior customer service (you can just call them up!) because I can tell you I paid for Quickbooks in one shot and I nearly pulled my hair out trying to figure it out AND you have to pay quite a bit if you want to get anyone on the phone. I also was paying a bookkeeper about $80/month at one point but I had no idea what my income/expenses were until a week after the month was over – as a small business owner that just doesn’t work for me!

Extras You Wouldn’t Expect From a Billing and Invoicing Company

I think Freshbooks is all about doing things people wouldn’t expect, going above and beyond and all that. Here are a few things they do that you just wouldn’t think you’d get from a time tracking and billing software:

- Add-ons Like Crazy: You can invoice from your iPhone, connect to your project management software (like Basecamp which I also use and love), connect to a program that turns your paper receipts into invoices and more.

- Above Average, no – GREAT, Customer Support: Like I mentioned you can get them on the phone which is more than many, many online service companies I know of. They also have an online forum, they tweet and email support is quick and responsive (I’ve used that a few times). I also have to note that it’s SAD I have to add customer service to the list of ‘things you wouldn’t expect’.

- They’ve Got FANS: One thing Freshbooks seems to do really well is build a community around their business. They’ve got raving fans. Just have a look at which a quick Twitter Search found:

Free or Low Cost Options for Freshbooks Software as a Service

There are two options available for Freshbooks Signup:

1. Free: You can get a free account with Freshbooks, complete with your own branded login address. It allows you to have up to three clients and one staff member. The best thing about it is it really is completely free, no limitations, as long as you have less than three clients at any given time. Click here to get your free time tracking and billing software subscription from Freshbooks.

2. Paid: If you know you’re going to need more than three clients then you’ll want to go with the paid version of Freshbooks. It starts at just $19 per month for 25 clients which is still very cheap compared to the time you’ll save doing it on your own (I bill out at $45/hour so that’s 10 extra hours I can now get in by paying the monthly fee). Click here to sign up for your 25 client account for just $19/month at Freshbooks.

Ready? Want to Ease-ify Your Life With Much Less Complicated Time Tracking and Billing?

Just CLICK HERE and Relax