Tried two different bookkeeping software options for my shop, QuickBooks beat FreshBooks without breaking a sweat

I run a small custom framing business over on Georgia Street, and last year I was trying to decide between QuickBooks and FreshBooks for tracking invoices and expenses. FreshBooks looked simpler and prettier on the surface, but after three months I kept running into limits on how many clients I could track and the reports just weren't detailed enough for my needs. QuickBooks was harder to set up at first, sure, but once I got through the initial headache, it handled my inventory and tax stuff way better. I only pay about $30 a month for the basic plan, which is actually less than what FreshBooks wanted for similar features. The real kicker was when I had to reconcile my bank statements at tax time - QuickBooks matched everything in half the time. Has anyone else here switched between these two or found another option that works for their small business?

2 comments

2 Comments

nguyen.dylan12d ago

The $30 a month price point is exactly what made me stick with QuickBooks too lol. I run a small landscaping business out in the suburbs and had the same FreshBooks headache with their client limit. It felt like they wanted me to upgrade to a way more expensive tier just to add a few more regular customers. Once I got used to QuickBooks I realized the initial setup pain was totally worth it for the bank reconciliation alone. I remember sitting there with FreshBooks trying to match transactions and it felt like pulling teeth compared to how fast QuickBooks auto-categorizes everything.

casey84312d ago

Totally agree with you @nguyen.dylan, the bank reconciliation alone makes QuickBooks worth sticking through the setup. I had a similar moment where I spent like 20 minutes trying to get FreshBooks to match a single transaction and just gave up and switched.