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I’ve shared my love of Freshbooks before, but they have a fantastic new feature that makes their service even more valuable to freelancers. I’ll tell you more about that in a minute.
What is Freshbooks? It’s an invoicing and accounting software for anyone who routinely sends invoices (like myself, for my freelance writing/photography/styling) or tracks expenses and/or time for clients. Sure, you could make an invoice template yourself and track everything yourself. Why waste that much time? Why bury your head in a spreadsheet for hours at a time? Sure, you can send invoices through PayPal, but is that really professional? I love Freshbooks for so many reasons, but the first is that the invoices look top-notch professional, and are easily trackable. You can even track your time to add to the invoice IN Freshbooks itself. You can even take credit card payments directly through the email invoice…and clients who can pay by credit card tend to pay MUCH faster (Freshbooks says 11 days faster…that’s more than 2 business weeks!). Can you automate this? Yes.
When it comes to tracking expenses, Freshbooks couldn’t make it any easier for you. Use your phone to snap a photo of a receipt, log it, and it stores it in the cloud until tax time for you (which they make SO easy). You can even mark certain receipts as billable to certain clients or projects. Can you import bank transactions to make logging credit card purchases more efficient? YES. Can you bill a client in a different currency? YES. Freshbooks makes it all so easy, you guys.
All of your double-entry accounting needs are covered, too, so you don’t need Freshbooks plus another app or software. You can keep all your P&Ls, COGs, CAs, BSs (that’s Balance Sheets ;)), and you can even give your accountant direct access come tax time.
So now that you’re already sold, let me just put a little cherry on top for you. Freshbooks just released a new feature: Retainers! No, not the kind you put in your mouth. Here’s what Freshbooks can do for you with retainers: “- Collect recurring client payments in advance, track hours against the allotted time, forecast monthly income, effectively manage project progress and avoid scope creep, set clear expectations with clients, and streamline invoicing.” Your life just got even easier.
Sign up for Freshbooks here!
Learn how to create an invoice that gets you paid fast here!
For more of my favorite resources for bloggers and freelancers, click here!