Freshbooks

Once the clock strikes Q1, tax season is dead ahead. Or, as accounting professionals call it, game time.

The accounting busy season is like the Super Bowl meets March Madness meets Boston Marathon. You need strategy, endurance, and the best advice you can get.

Speaking from their own experiences, here are tips from FreshBooks Accounting Partners on staying sharp, working smart, and finding motivation during the busy season.

Plan Ahead and Start Early

Every athlete will tell you that success starts long before game day. That’s why the best plan is to have a plan, which includes getting everything you need in place as early as you can.

Most accounting professionals start tax season prep at year-end to help clients wrap up one fiscal year and move on to the next. One of the best ways to make every tax filing process routine is to use checklists.

This and comprehensive list of the will help you build a solid game plan before it’s crunch time.

Set Boundaries

Setting boundaries with clients can feel kind of formal, but it’ll go a long way in helping with your time management. Having rules of engagement also makes for a healthier and more functional relationship for you and your clients.

Managing client expectations is a crucial part of . It helps you avoid dreaded scope creep and starts the moment you and continues throughout the entire customer lifecycle.

During busy season, the last thing you need is more work on your plate. Be clear and kind (but firm) with your clients about what’s expected. Let them know the and communicate your expectations clearly before, during, and after tax season.

Many accountants outline their planned tax season working hours, including when they’ll check incoming communications and answer questions.

Lashanda, a bookkeeper and FreshBooks Accounting Partner, stays on top of things by being clear about her tax season work hours. She sets additional boundaries for herself by only working on tax returns until a set time.

“I am only available to my clients from 9 to 5 on Mondays to Fridays,” says Lashanda. “I will only answer clients within those hours and will work on returns up until 9 p.m. It’s best to have a cut-off, or you will neglect other duties such as family, self-care, etc.”

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Building out your tech stack can help you cut down on how many hours you work in a week. FreshBooks Accounting Partners and the greater accounting community have plenty of tips on using a range of technology tools.

“I use and to keep me on track and set habits for things that just need to happen, like time blocking around meetings and decompressing right after,” says Megan Justice, founder of .

Develop an effective accounting workflow to help you earn back precious time and keep your focus on higher-level tasks and advisory services. Using accounting software like FreshBooks gives you and your clients a leg up with a central source of truth for business finances. like Tallyfor and Gusto are other tax season lifesavers for you and your clients.

eliminates up to 90% of your manual data entry by automating book-to-tax reconciliation. tracks your payroll incomes and deductions, including payroll taxes, making tax preparation faster and easier. For businesses with W2 employees, , powered by Gusto, was released in 2024 as an add-on to your FreshBooks subscription. Look for enhancements to FreshBooks Payroll, including processing payroll for contractors.

Put First Things First

It’s called the accounting busy season for a reason. No matter how much planning and prep you do, chances are that you’ll be faced with distractions. Prioritizing the things that matter most is a great way to manage your time to avoid working more hours than you need to.

“When prioritizing the most important activities, I made a list of everything I do in a day,” said Cason Benham, CPA, and FreshBooks Accounting Partner. “Then I removed all nonessential activity that didn’t add value to my life. For example, instead of scrolling on social media, I go to the gym or play tennis.”

Get Advice From Trusted Peers

The ups and downs of the busy season rollercoaster can get a little lonely. But it doesn’t have to be! Reaching out to peers helps you connect, problem-solve, and, most importantly, know you’re not alone.

Accounting is not an easy job. Tax laws are some of the most complex legislation, and these regulations are constantly changing. Having a sounding board keeps you from working in a vacuum.

“There are some things that I just need to talk through with others,” said Rebecca Kittel, owner of . “Otherwise, I can waste so much mental energy on what was really a 5-minute task.”

You can search #TaxTwitter to get advice, voice frustrations, or share a few cheesy accounting jokes. Explore LinkedIn, FaceBook, Instagram, and other social media platforms to connect with your peers.

Joining connects you with close-knit peer communities.

Prioritize Mental Health

During tax season, taking care of your mental health and are just as important as tackling your to-do list. When you burn out, no one wins. Not you, your family, your clients, your friends—not anyone. Make time for the activities that help clear your mind and maintain a sense of stability.

“I still make time to walk away from office work,” shares Rebecca Weingartner, founder of . “It’s good to take opportunities to step away and connect with nature or other living beings. Whether it’s walking the dog or grabbing a coffee with

Find Your Balance

Whether it’s your first busy season or you’re a seasoned professional, working longer hours over the busy season can take its toll. Eventually, you may get to a point where you realize you need some extra help—from your team or even from someone outside the profession.

“For maintaining work-life balance, many years ago, I went from working 12-16+ hours a day to working around 8–9 hours a day,” said Cason. “I realized that I needed to surround myself with strategic partners (i.e., lawyers, CPAs, etc.) to outsource some of the work and then hire assistants to prepare the routine work that didn’t require advanced experience and technical knowledge.

After implementing this change, I found an extra 5–6 hours in my day to spend on everything else that wasn’t work-related. Meanwhile, the business grew really well each year.”

Schedule a Break After the Busy Season

Give yourself time to . Taking a vacation improves your health and helps you return more refreshed, mindful, and productive. It even . When you’re back from your vacation, the post-tax season is also a good time to work on your professional development and earn CPE credits.

Get Ready to Do It All Again Next Year

Once you’ve made it through your busy season, . Evaluate your workload and identify friction points that made it hard to get things done.

Set yourself up for a less stressful busy season by finding ways to address those pain points throughout the year. If you struggled to get clean data from your clients, then it might be worth looking at options for how to help them manage their books better throughout the year. Or, if time was your biggest enemy, it might be time to think about growing your firm and hiring more employees. Whatever solution you choose, you’ll be glad you did when the next busy season rolls around!

This post was updated in March 2024.

As a business owner or independent contractor, you understand the importance of accommodating your clients’ preferred payment methods. Dealing with a diverse portfolio of clients means you encounter a range of payment preferences, from traditional checks to online transactions.

To simplify and streamline the payment process for you and your clients, FreshBooks has introduced Bank Transfers (aka Automated Clearing House or ACHΩ payments). By accepting Bank Transfers (ACH payments) with FreshBooks, your clients can send payments in seconds, and you can say goodbye to manual payment tracking and time-consuming trips to the bank.

What Is a Bank Transfer (ACH Payment)?

Bank Transfers, or ACH payments (which stands for Automated Clearing House), allow your clients to transfer money online from their bank to yours. ACH in particular connects financial institutions across the U.S. for seamless transfers.

Are Bank Transfers (ACH Payments) Secure for My Business and My Clients?

Yes! The ACH network, which facilitates Bank Transfers through FreshBooks, follows strict security protocols to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the transferred funds and all sensitive information.

These transfers use encryption, which protects the information sent between banks and keeps it private and safe. Additionally, ACH transactions require strong authentication to ensure only authorized individuals can initiate or approve payments.

The ACH network has built-in security measures, like firewalls, to prevent unauthorized access. Moreover, there are regulations in place to ensure that financial institutions take the necessary steps to protect customer data.

By using ACH transfers, small business owners can have peace of mind knowing that their payment transactions are secure and their sensitive information is well-protected.

Why Should I Enable Bank Transfers (ACH Payments)?

Here are some great reasons:

• Only a 1% flat fee, lower than a credit card payment
• Get paid 2x faster than by check
• More flexibility and convenience for clients
• No setup fees, monthly fees, or minimum charges
• A good, reliable option for recurring payments

How Long Do Bank Transfers Take?

Good question! Bank transfers are often completed in 1 business day. But they can take up to 5 days, depending on which payment gateway you use and how long it takes the financial institution to process the transaction from your bank account.

How Do I Enable Bank Transfers (or ACH Payments)?

To enable Bank Transfers:

1. Log into your FreshBooks account and click the gear icon in the top left corner.
2. Click on Online Payments Settings. Here’s what it looks like in-app:
   
3. Click Get Started with Online Payments and then click Continue
4. Verify your email, business information, and add a bank account
5. Now, you’ll have the option to accept Bank Transfers on an invoice

You can also enable ACH payments directly on an invoice:

1. Click on the right of the invoice.
2. Select the checkbox beside ACH.
3. Click Done. That’s it!

Here’s what it looks like in-app:

Note: to be able to accept Bank Transfers (ACH), you first need to set up Online Payments. You can .

How Do ACH Transactions Work?

ACH payments are similar to bank transfers or wire transfers (the sending of money from one bank account to another). So let’s say a client wants to use ACH payments on an invoice. When you send the invoice out to be paid, your client can provide their bank account information to you (their account and routing number) and sign an authorization for ACH transactions.

Then, when it’s time to pay, your bank will send their bank a request to transfer the money they owe from the provided account. And the two banks will then communicate to ensure that there are sufficient funds to process the ACH transaction into your bank account (similar to a direct deposit).

All of this is done through the Automated Clearing House network, which handles the transactions for a variety of banks and financial institutions.

Need Help With Bank Transfers (ACH Payments)?

If you have any questions about getting started with Bank Transfers or ACH payments (like how to set up ACH payments, what are the ACH transaction fees, or how exactly do ACH payments work) feel free to .

Plus, learn more about accepting online payments with , , and .

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This post was updated in September 2023.

FreshBooks releases new features and updates every month – designed to make accounting even easier for your business. And this post is the best place to check in on all the latest changes.

January 2023

Change Time Zones for Both Your Business and User Accounts

Work with team members in different parts of the world? You can now adjust the time zones associated to both , as well as . This allows employees to log time entries in their time zone, and have it reflected in yours.

Easily Update Business Information From Within Documents

While on an Invoice, Estimate or Proposal, you can now hover over your Business Details and click on the Edit Business Information button to change your details directly inside a document.

Show or Hide Your Phone Number and Address on Documents

On Invoices, Recurring Templates, Estimates, Proposals and Credits, you can now show or hide your Business’ Phone Number and/or Address.

🇬🇧 VAT Filing Is Now Available to Those on a Flat Rate Scheme

Making Tax Digital for VAT allows you to submit VAT Returns digitally to HMRC using FreshBooks. And now, the integration is available to businesses on a Flat Rate Scheme.

February 2023

Create Custom Due Dates on the iOS App

You can now create a custom invoice due date via the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS – giving you more control over how and when you get paid.

Easily Share Invoice Links From the FreshBooks Android App

Need to send an invoice link on-the-go? The Share Link now generates a shorter unique link on the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android.

When Exporting a CSV, Address Line 2 Is Now Included

If you’re exporting a list of Clients or Vendors, the second address line is now included if it has been filled in. This will make your CSV exports more detailed and accurate.

March 2023

Payments Are Now Easier to Create and Edit

We have made improvements to the input fields on Payments, making them easier to deal with when creating or editing.

Track the History of Your Documents More Accurately

When viewing the history on an Invoice, Estimate, or Proposal, the year is now displayed next to any date stamp if the event did not occur in the present year.

Track Your Team Members’ Capacity At-A-Glance

As part of Project Profitability, you can now set your Team Members’ and track the utilization rate on the .

States and Provinces Are Now Abbreviated on Documents

If the Country is set to Canada or the US for any address, the Province or State is automatically abbreviated (two letters) on Invoices, Estimates and Proposals.

The is now updated to reflect all functionality while creating or editing Invoices on the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS.

April 2023

Find Potential Expense Matches for Scanned Receipts

If a matches the Date and Amount of an existing Expense or Bill, this is flagged as a Potential Match for you to attach the image to instead.

Change the Date Your Calendar Week Starts On

You can now choose whether you want calendars to start on Sunday or Monday in your account. Just go into the to make the change.

Assign Income Accounts to Items & Services

Items & Services can now be assigned to Income Accounts in your Chart of Accounts. This will make it easier to more accurately track all your numbers.

Payments and Partial Payments Just Got Easier on iOS

Set up online payments and manage them in the new , as well as accept partial payments while creating or editing Invoices on the .

May 2023

Easily Search Through Bank Transactions

You can now by amount, date, or description. This will make it easier to find the entry you’re looking for.

Specify Currency When Importing a CSV for Expenses

When importing a list of Expenses, you can now choose the format your currency is in. It’s a small change that will make it easier to organize all your numbers in your preferred currency.

Address Line 2 Added to CSV Imports

When importing a list of Clients or Vendors, Address Line 2 can now be included in the CSV file.

Updated Invoice Options Menu on the Android App

The options menu is now updated to reflect all functionality while creating or editing Invoices on the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android.

June 2023

Add Your Team for Free on FreshBooks

Add Team Members as to store their information at no extra cost.

Multi-Language Emails Templates

Email Templates can now be customized in other languages based on your Client’s language. Email Template defaults are provided for French and Spanish (Latin America).

Use FreshBooks in Spanish

In your Account settings, you can now choose to use your FreshBooks account in Spanish and as the default language for all Client communications.

Accountants: Manage Clients More Easily With the Accountant Hub

Easily add clients, manage their books, and toggle between client accounts from one central location with the free FreshBooks .

July 2023

FreshBooks in Spanish on Android

Set your Android device to , and the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android will be displayed in Spanish.

Balance Sheet in Collected (Cash-Based)

You can now run the .

August 2023

Archiving Income Accounts

When , Items and Services will be reassigned to the Sales Account under the Revenue Parent Account instead.

Updated Business Switcher

The  now includes links to the Accountant Hub and Developer Hub, as well as updates to support keyboard navigation.

Time Format

Choose to have your time displayed in 12 hour or 24 hour format in your  settings.

September 2023

Verify By Code

When signing up for FreshBooks, you have the option to  by code or by email.

Accountant Hub Log in to Client’s Account Opens in Frame

When using  as an Accountant Hub user, the Client’s FreshBooks account now opens in the same window in a frame.

Estimate and Proposal Share Links

Send Estimates and Proposals using  to share outside of email.

October 2023

FreshBooks in English (Canada)

In your , you can now choose to use your FreshBooks account in either English (United States) or English (Canada).

Updated Profit and Loss Report Filters

View a breakdown of your Income by Transaction Type or by Account on the .

November 2023

Updated Navigation and New Settings Section

In Beta: The navigation experience has been updated along with a new Settings page for all business settings, and a new top menu for account settings.

Retained Earnings on Balance Sheet

Retained Earnings is now displayed on the Balance Sheet.

Coming Soon

FreshBooks Payroll powered by Gusto

In Beta:Businesses in the US can sign up for  and payroll for employees, file payroll taxes, and maintain labor compliance.

Interested in trying FreshBooks Payroll? Join the .

For a full changelog and list of upcoming releases check out our .

In a perfect world, every project would go off without a hitch. You deliver great work, and your customer pays the invoice straight to your bank account. But in reality, working with different on different projects makes every invoice a little different too.

Sometimes a client wants to pay for your work before you’ve even created an invoice. Other times you may want to reward a loyal customer with a discount on their next invoice. And sometimes, you need to refund a client after an invoice has been paid (for a customer overpayment).

To help with all of this, FreshBooks just launched the new feature. It’s a powerful addition that allows you to track overpayments, refunds, and discounts, and easily apply them to invoices, so you know exactly how much a client owes.

What Are Credits?

Credits allow you to track prepayments and overpayments from clients, that you can easily apply to future invoices. This allows you to keep track of discounts, refunds, and service credits.

Why Should I Use Credits?

Credits are a great way to ensure you’re tracking every transaction between you and your clients – even when you don’t have an invoice created.

It also allows you to build better relationships by offering discounts, service credits, and even refunds for your work – so you can be more flexible with your payments.

It also allows you to carry forward a credit balance for any subsequent invoice payment – making a potential invoice payment on a future invoice super easy for you and your client.

How Do I Create A Credit?

Creating a Credit is simple:

1. Log into your FreshBooks account
2. Once on your Dashboard, click Create New in the top right corner
3. Select Credit
4. Choose a Credit Type
5. Click on Add a Client to choose a Client
6. Click on Date of Issue to change the date if needed
7. Click on Add a Line to add Items or Services you’re giving a credit for
8. Click Save to create the Credit, or click Send to email it directly to your Client

That’s it. Plus, once you’ve created a Credit, you can then View, Edit or Delete it. .

How Do I Apply a Credit to an Invoice?

After creating a Credit, you can quickly apply it to an Invoice:

1. Click Invoices in your left navigation
2. Click on the Invoice you want to apply the Credit to
3. Click on the More Actions button
4. Select Add a Payment
5. If there is Credit available, it will automatically be selected for you
6. Add Payment Notes if needed and click Add Payment to finish

 

Note: If a client has a Credit tied to their account, you’ll have the option of automatically applying it when creating your next new invoice for them.

Plus, when you run a you can match any existing Credits with your bank transactions (so that your bank account and FreshBooks account are in line).

What Types of Credits Are There?

There are 3 types of Credits that you can create on FreshBooks:

• Prepayments: For when a client has prepaid for a service, before an invoice has been created (think of it as an advance payment)
• Overpayments: For when a customer overpays an invoice, and you want to carry the amount forward (for use on a future invoice)
• Credit Note: For when you want to apply an offer, service credit or refund for a client

Wait: How Are Prepayment Credits Different Than Deposits?

Prepayment Credits can be used when a client voluntarily pays for your product or service ahead of time. can be used when you ask for on a specific project.

What Else Can Credits Do?

Credits are also directly linked to each of your client’s Account Statements. This makes it easier for you to keep track of all Credits and credit balance tied to specific clients, so you’ll know exactly where they stand financially. This makes it easy to ensure your accounts receivable is accurate for each customer account.

Alternatively, you can run a Credit Balance Report to see any balances, credits issued, and applied amounts tied to a particular client. Here’s what it looks like:

If You Need Help, FreshBooks Is Here

Your business’ success is always top of mind for us. So if you have any questions on how to use Credits, or anything else, our support team is here to help.

Ready to use Credits? to learn more or !

This post was last updated in December 2022.

Getting paid is something to celebrate. It means someone loved your product or service enough to hand over their hard-earned money for it.

And when it comes to getting paid, both you and your clients want transactions in as few steps as possible. When working on big projects spanning a few weeks the traditional process of creating invoices, sending them to , and accepting payment fits the bill. That doesn’t mean it’s one-size-fits-all. Collecting payment for a single item like an initial consultation or an event ticket doesn’t necessarily need to be invoiced, and can be done much quicker without having to invoice.

Enter a really simple, invoice-free, way to accept client payments online: A new one-off payment solution called Checkout Links. Now, you can create payment links, post them anywhere online—as a URL, text, or button link—and without having to create an invoice.

What Are Checkout Links?

Checkout Links, or payment links, are an amazing new way to get paid in FreshBooks. They let your customers pay in a single click with bank transfers or credit cards. Post them anywhere you want to accept payments like a website, blog, or social channels. You can create an unlimited number of Checkout Links to be reused indefinitely or deactivated when you’re done with them.

What Can I Use Checkout Links For?

Checkout Links are designed to help you quickly collect payment for fixed-price items, whereas invoices are a record of work against a project or highlight the details of services rendered. They allow you to create custom payment links that can be used for as long as you want them – and avoid the need to collect copious amounts of payment details or invoice data. Overall, how you use payment links really depends on your business, but here’s a hit list of possibilities vs what might be commonly invoiced:

Checkout Links	Invoicing
Collecting payment for an initial consultation Selling individual or groups of products on your website or blog Collecting deposits for Selling products you might not have sold previously, like eBooks. Selling tickets to an event like a webinar or online class	A project involving multiple staff members A project with a varied amount of time tracked against it that needs a record to show for it Services that are outsourced and rebilled Projects that involve retainers, milestones, and specific timelines A number of project-related expenses

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Where Can I Find Checkout Links?

You can find a dedicated page for Checkout Links nestled in the main navigation under Payments (aka your payment page). Which means, Payments is now its own category in the main navigation, and within it are tabs for Invoice Payments, , and now Checkout Links Payments.

How Do I Create Checkout Links?

1. Log into your FreshBooks account
2. From your dashboard click Payments in the main navigation and then click Checkout Links when it appears underneath
3. On the Checkout Links page click on the New Checkout Link button
4. Fill out all fields that apply – don’t forget about the setting on right for Online Payments and Notifications
5. Click Done to apply the payment settings
   

6. That’s it! Just click the Create button to make your new Checkout Link (which will generate a unique, secure payment link)

7. A pop-up will appear with the link – click Copy to Clipboard and then Done. Now you can paste it anywhere you want to accept payment.

What Do My Clients See?

When a Checkout Link is clicked, your customer is presented with a payment page/box asking them to fill out all the pertinent payment information and their contact information (including shipping address if you want to request it). They have the option to pay with a credit card or bank transfer. Then, all they have to do is click. A receipt is automatically generated on a checkout page right after they submit payment.

What Payment Gateways Are Available With These Payment Links?

Your customers can pay by either credit card or bank transfer, which means you can choose to accept through . Each payment provider then gives you other payment methods/options including Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AMEX, Apple Pay, and so on. Which allows your customers to use payment links with their preferred payment methods.

How Else Do Checkout Links Help With Clients?

When a new client of yours pays by Checkout Link, they’ll automatically be added as a Client within your FreshBooks account. This makes it easier to track and manage every payment you receive, and means less time spent adding new client profiles every time you get paid. It’s a simple, barrier-free payment process that allows you to sell products and collect payments super fast.

Where Are These Transactions Reflected in My Reporting?

You’ll see all the financial information for Checkout Link transactions reflected under Sales > in the Profit & Loss Report. This number doesn’t include the tax, which is available separately in the Sales Tax Summary Report.

FreshBooks Is Always Here to Help

Payment links are an exciting function we hope you find helpful. But if you have any questions, or you just need a hand getting started, a team is ready to help you out. .

to create your first link or .

This post was last updated on December 14, 2022.

To look at The Influence Agency now, it’s hard to believe it came from humble beginnings only a short time ago.

Based in Toronto, the full-service marketing and creative agency specializes in influencer and social media marketing. In just five years, its team has grown to 45 (including Chief Happiness Officer Joy, a rescue dog from Costa Rica), and it’s amassed an impressive client list that includes names like Staples, Jamieson Vitamins, the Skill Trades College of Canada, and HelloFresh.

“The big names are feathers in our cap, but we also really care about the SMBs that come to us and entrust us with their entire marketing budgets,” says Michael Landry, Co-Founder and Vice President of Strategy.

This values system is likely the result of own roots as a start-up. Back in 2017, a team of five crammed into a small one-bedroom condo in downtown Toronto to make its first sales. Landry usually rode his bike to work to save money, and meetings sometimes took place inside his car.

“Once, it was so cold, but we didn’t want to turn on the engine because we didn’t want the client to know we were making the call in a car,” recalls Landry. To make it, Landry knew the agency needed to appear as professional as possible. But when The Influence Agency did land its first major sale, a previous accounting software provider refused to release the funds, undermining the team’s hard-won efforts.

Since then, The Influence Agency has made the switch to FreshBooks. We spoke with Landry to learn more about the agency’s early days and how FreshBooks is now helping it support its clients—of all sizes.

How did The Influence Agency get its start?

Michael: As we [the four founders] did research into influencer marketing, we saw that it was an emerging advertising method, and there weren’t a lot of players in it. We felt we could find a way to offer something unique that would appeal to us, the consumers. We also stuck true to the services we knew were in demand, including content writing, search engine optimization, Google ads, Facebook ads, and web development.

Today, we’re a full-service digital marketing agency. With every new person we hire, we’re hiring a unique set of skills and talent, which sometimes creates a runway for new things. It unlocks new possibilities and new things that we can do.

Why did you make the switch to FreshBooks—twice?

Michael: We started on QuickBooks. And with one of our very first big sales that we made, QuickBooks decided that we were too small for them to send us the money. They said, “We’re not sure your business could sustain a chargeback because you’re so new.”

So, we had to send them the contract, along with our financial records, to show them it was valid. We waited three weeks for the statements to come through so that we could start work for one of our first clients ever.

And at the end of the long process, QuickBooks said they couldn’t release the money. So, we had to go to the client and say, “Hey, look, we’re going to have to refund the money. Can you please send us a cheque?” It was really embarrassing. We had hustled to get our business off the ground and make that transaction.

So, we moved on and got FreshBooks. The price point made trying it out very easy. It didn’t seem to have any of these issues. We used it for about a year and a half, then one of our accountants said, “You know, we have got to try QuickBooks again. They won’t give you trouble because you’re a more established business now.”

And again, QuickBooks pulled the same stuff. They questioned a $20 web hosting fee. They held our money hostage, and again, we had to produce contracts. And on top of that, they told us they wouldn’t authorize the $5,000 a month worth of recurring charges and that it could get flagged. So being successful or having a high volume of transactions could cause us more issues.

We had to spend hours upon hours dealing with something that should really be super turnkey when meeting or exceeding our clients’ expectations is what we should be focused on. You don’t need other friction when you’re starting a new business.

How has FreshBooks supported your needs as a scaling business?

Michael: We’re an 8-figure company now. We’ve never had a chargeback. We’ve never had debt as a company.

We’re continuing to grow our team, and now we’re on Stirling Road, where we have a 5,000-square-foot office that we fully renovated. We’re starting to delve into commercial production, print, and out-of-home advertising. As an agency, we’re evolving to meet all the advertising needs of our clients and become a one-stop shop.

With FreshBooks, I was able to operate my business effortlessly from day one. It took that stress off.

For us, visibility into our business and accounts receivable continues to be so important. Making sure that payments are deposited on time for reliable cash flow is really important. With FreshBooks, I was able to operate my business effortlessly from day one. It took that stress off. The support has been awesome, and it’s so fast and easy to use.

We got to the point where we were billing enough that we wanted to get our fees down on credit card transactions. We also needed to add more clients, which is a great problem to have. FreshBooks set us up on a custom Select plan, which includes an unlimited number of clients and helps keep fees down. FreshBooks has always made life easy.

What FreshBooks features do you use most frequently

Michael: FreshBooks has the best user interface, in my opinion. I enjoy the automated report section. It’s one click, and I can get a pretty good understanding of where I’m at.

Every month, we take all of the line items that we sell and categorize each item by department in terms of revenue. And based on that, I can deliver Profit and Loss statements very quickly to our department managers, so they can understand how their individual departments are working. It allows each department to take ownership over its profitability.

Keeping tabs on every department’s individual performance can raise the whole company’s profitability. If you understand how they’re functioning, you can zero in on the ones that need some adjustment, which can really move the needle on the whole organization.

We also built a tool that lets our clients log in and see the results of their marketing efforts. And we included FreshBooks in that tool as an API so that customers can look at their bills anytime. This is just one of the ways we leverage FreshBooks to add value to our customers.

What accounting advice would you give to other start-ups?

Michael: Since starting The Influence Agency, I’ve started another business—a recruiting company—and FreshBooks was the system I decided to use.

My advice is to go with the system that gives you the most visibility as to where you’re at. You want to make sure that when you invoice somebody, they can pay it, and you can receive those funds in a timely manner. When you get your first big deal, you want to be able to grow your business and not be hampered by a long and arduous process to prove that you’re worthy enough.



Once exclusively the domain of software developers, data privacy and regulation has been making front-page headlines in the past few years.

“I went from nobody ever really understanding what I do to everyone now telling me what I do,” says Samantha Simms, CEO of , a U.K.-based digital compliance consultancy.

Samantha, an attorney by trade, has spent roughly two decades working on data privacy and compliance for large corporate legal departments. In 2017, she set out on her own.  “I’m a bit of a tech geek,” she says,  “I love tech and love to see new software developed and brought to the market.”

Today, she works with clients to help them develop new technology products and scale in an ethically compliant way while remaining commercially viable. Her focus is on helping businesses that have some social impact and on supporting underrepresented communities, including Black software developers.

We spoke with Samantha to learn what makes a great piece of software—and why she thinks FreshBooks fits the profile.

Can you tell me a bit about why you started the Information Collective?

Samantha: The more expertise I gained in my area of law, the less I felt I knew about everything else. I felt there was much more than I could bring to the global table, and I wanted to explore more of myself as a leader. I was looking for a certain freedom, as well, to live my life on my own terms. I also wanted to have more impact—for myself and the wider world.

My clients are largely what I call Black tech and big tech. My focus is on giving underrepresented communities who are trying to enter the tech world the professional support that they may not have access to otherwise. I also work with big tech to ensure that there is fairness built into their tech products.

With so many data privacy legislation changes recently, I can imagine you’ve had a big couple of years!

Samantha: The Information Collective started in the boom time of digital privacy. was just about to be brought into force, harmonizing the European data privacy landscape. With the new legislation, people have recognized the need for digital privacy, so my services don’t require as much of a “sell” as pre-GDPR.

We’re now at the frontier of a newer digital era, where I help clients be prepared for a lot more than data privacy compliance requirements. Our team also assists clients with e-commerce regulations, advertising and marketing rules, and compliant e-communications. We make sure those are handled in a fair, transparent, and secure way.

What surprised you about starting your business?

Samantha: I remember somebody saying to me, “You will always work for someone.” At that time I didn’t understand it, because I was thinking, “Well, if I’m running my own company, I’m not working for anyone.” But I get it now. I am working for my clients. And that is not a problem. That is exactly what I love. But it does mean that I have to be fully present and available As the leader and the principal consultant of my business, everyone looks to me. There is a lot more required of me now than ever before. So now I have more work-life harmony, but I’m not as focused on achieving work-life balance.

Some of the other accounting software seems to have been designed with big business in mind. FreshBooks has been designed with a small business in mind from its DNA. That simplicity saves me a lot of time.

What was your accounting experience prior to starting your own business?

Samantha: I had absolutely no clue about accounting or cash flow or anything like that for a small business when I first started out. When I first started The Information Collective, I had been working in large corporate organizations for a very long time. I knew how large enterprises operated, but I had very little knowledge of the operations of small businesses.

How did you find out about FreshBooks?

Samantha: I literally did a Google search for “small business accounting software.” What came up was a range of options. I read through a lot of marketing materials and comparative studies. What jumped out at me was that people talked about FreshBooks being simpler to use. And it was more suited to my needs because I only work with a handful of clients at any one time. I didn’t typically need to invoice more than 4 clients in a given month.

It was also easier for my personal assistant, trainees, and the contractors I work with to come onto FreshBooks. They charge their time to me through FreshBooks, and that works really well for us.

Which FreshBooks features do you use the most?

Samantha: I love the Dashboard. When I go in, I’m immediately able to see exactly what’s going on and get a snapshot of the financial health of my business. I love the invoicing function as well. I was able to create a more-or-less bespoke invoice straight out the gate. As a fledgling small business working with enterprise clients, branding my own invoice was really important to me. FreshBooks was able to give me a more professional look and feel, even when I was just starting out.

I also use Expenses, Proposals, Time Tracking, and Projects. All those features have really helped me to quantify and qualify effectiveness in my business.

For instance, since the U.K. has allowed , I’ve linked my bank account and my expenses are automatically imported and categorized in FreshBooks. So when it comes to doing the accounts, or looking at disbursements for my clients, I can easily link those back to the actual expense itself. It’s very seamless.

And then, as I continued to grow I started using the Retainers, which is linked to Time Tracking, and also Projects. Those have worked fantastically for me.

Can you talk a bit about how you use Projects?

Samantha: After I, say, send a proposal, within a new project I’m able to see—because of the tight time-tracking system—how effective my team has been against the number of hours we set for the delivery of the project. Using the (Team Cost Rates, Project Estimates, Profitability Reports) I can see what it actually costs to deliver a project versus the profit made. And I can then use that information for other projects of a similar nature. So it’s helped me a great amount with my as a result.

As a U.K.-based business operating globally, how have you found payments with FreshBooks?

Samantha: I run my business across the U.K., U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, and get paid in U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, and British pounds. Using the integration with Stripe for means that my clients who are not in the U.K. have a familiar way to make payments quite easily and simply. I know funds are coming in and we don’t have to go through convoluted banking systems. It’s really enabled me to expand the business beyond the U.K. market.

Since business accounting was new to you, I’m guessing you’ve had a question or two! How has your experience been with FreshBooks’ Support?

Samantha: That’s one thing I liked about FreshBooks from the very beginning. Early on I had a query. The FreshBooks staff member I spoke with was very friendly and helpful, and able to get things done to the extent that I actually assumed I was one of the only people using it. To be honest with you, I was like, “Oh bless, he’s probably the CEO.” And then not long after that, I realized, “Oh, FreshBooks has been around for a long time and they have quite a few customers, so that couldn’t possibly be true.”

A year-and-a-half into my time using the software, FreshBooks invited me to a dinner in London where I met other FreshBooks users and the executive team. I just thought that was such a nice touch—bringing us all together and showing interest in us as clients and customers.

I work with a lot of software companies. I’ve helped to develop a lot of software on the legal side of things. That customer care is not something that you often see in the software business.

Why would you recommend FreshBooks?

Samantha: I’m not an accountant; I’m a lawyer. I have to spend a lot of time either doing client delivery or learning or marketing. I have little interest in learning accounting, beyond what I need to do to keep my business operating. FreshBooks built something because they understood where their customers were coming from. Some of the other accounting software seemed to have been designed with big business in mind, whereas FreshBooks has been designed with a small business in mind from its DNA. And that simplicity, I think, saves me a lot of time.

I’ve been at the forefront of developing a large number of consumer-facing and business-facing software technologies as a specialist in digital compliance. I would say I’m a very good test use case for whether something works well or doesn’t work well. If it feels simple to use, it gets my tick in the box. And for me, that’s FreshBooks.

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If you want to avoid stress at tax time, it all comes down to one thing: Preparation.

Even before you or your client (whoever is doing the hands-on bookkeeping) can , some housekeeping is in order. That means making sure all financial data is accurate and compliant.

There are many moving parts, and it can be easy to overlook something, especially when you’re working with , or you’ve got clients on multiple platforms. Unless that is, you have a handy-dandy checklist like this one that covers the steps you need to get tax-ready.

Et voilà! Here are all the end-of-year processes to complete in FreshBooks so you’re ready to file.

First, Get Set Up With the Accountant Role in FreshBooks

First things first: To gain access to your client’s account in FreshBooks, you’ll need them to from within the platform. (Note that there is no cost to your client to do this.)

Once you accept the invite, you can . In the Accountant role, you can access all your client’s accounting reports and expenses. You’ll also be able to create Journal Entries and custom Sub-Accounts in the Chart of Accounts.

However, only can request admin-level permissions (the Accountant – Full Access role in FreshBooks), which allows you to complete many tasks, like setting up your client’s account for them, doing day-to-day tasks like invoicing and managing bank connections for bank feed.

If you are a FreshBooks Accounting Partner and need these permissions turned on, contact your Partner Consultant directly.

Reconcile Your Bank and Credit Card Accounts

Step one is ensuring that FreshBooks balances match up with the bank and credit card balances. This task is done using our Bank Reconciliation feature. If the balances still don’t match, it is time to review the bank accounts!

Using the , start at the opening balance date of the bank account and go month by month. If you find a place where the FreshBooks balance doesn’t match the bank statement, a transaction was missed. If you run into any problems, check out the answers to .

Check Your General Ledger’s Petty Cash Account

If you’ve done step 1, your petty cash balance should be $0. But I recommend double-checking the Trial Balance to be sure. If petty cash is not $0, you can drill down into the Petty Cash balance and view all transactions that make up the balance in the .

The only transactions you should see under the Petty Cash account in the General Ledger are transactions marked as transfers. (Transfers between connected business accounts and credit card payments, for example.)

Expense Allocation, Including COGS, Uncategorized Expenses, and Expense Refunds

For a full view of last year’s expenses, run the (P&L). Viewing either month-on-month or quarter-on-quarter is a great way to quickly spot spikes in spending/expenditure. You can drill down into what makes up the expense category total and easily to fields like merchants or expense categories.

If you need more explanation on expense categories or expense refunds, you can run the . You can email your client directly from FreshBooks to ask for additional expense information to complete your year-end tasks.

In FreshBooks, any expense refunds (located at the bottom of the Expense report) are deducted from the refunded expense category.

Calculate Owner’s Equity and Personal Expenses

Consistency is key and helps keep the business owner’s personal expenses separate from business expenses.

Run the General Ledger report or Trial Balance report for transactions that are in the personal expense category or marked as Owner’s Equity in the Bank Reconciliation screen.

If business expenses paid for with the business owner’s personal credit card were added here accidentally, this will need to be fixed manually. on how to do that in FreshBooks from one of our Accounting Partners, Kate Josephine Johnson.

Run These Key Accounting Reports

You’ll want to run all of the following reports. I recommend running them in the order listed below.

Make sure you run your reports with your preferred accounting basis: Billed (Accrual Basis) vs. Collected (Cash Basis). And be sure to set the filters consistently when you run each report.

All reports are available on accrual and cash basis except for the Trial Balance and General Ledger reports, which are accrual-basis only.

Profit & Loss Report (P&L)

You know it, you love it, you need it for tax filing. It’s the P&L report! has general info and FAQs about how to access and run this report in FreshBooks.

Invoice Details Report

While your P&L summarizes revenue from invoices on a single line, the gets into the nitty-gritty. In this report, you can dig into which items and services make up the revenue amount, whether sales tax was applied, and more details. This report can be exported to Excel.

Expense Report

If you’ve been following the steps to this point, you’ve already run your . Done and done!

Sales Tax Summary Report

The shows the amount owing to the government in sales taxes. For each sales tax set up in FreshBooks, you can see the total sales tax collected minus sales tax paid for expenses.

These amounts can be reconciled/matched to your Invoice Details and Expense reports to see which transactions have sales tax applied.

Accounts Aging Report (and Accounts Payable, If Applicable)

Run the to confirm whether invoices have truly not been paid or to determine if they are due to be paid in the following period. (See the , if needed.)

A Note About Payroll

Businesses with employees or contractors have additional tax requirements. Be sure you and/or your client know the deadlines and understand which forms to file. In the U.S., it’s 1099 forms for contractors and W-2 forms for employees.

For businesses with W-2 employees, in 2024, we launched , powered by Gusto, as an add-on to your FreshBooks subscription. Look for enhancements to this add-on, including processing payroll for contractors.

One, Two, Five…File!

Once you or your client have ticked off each box on this checklist, you’re ready to file all your paperwork. If you rely on your clients to do their bookkeeping, share this for clients with them as a next step.

Keep in mind that FreshBooks Accounting Partners receive comprehensive training in all the platform’s business tools, accounting features, and reports. In addition, Accounting Partners get 1:1 support from FreshBooks Partner Support Specialists, which can be extremely helpful during tax time. If you haven’t considered becoming a partner yet, .

Thanks to  for inspiring this post.

This post was updated in March 2024.

Throughout her career, Sara Lobkovich has honed in on her expertise in adult learning, instructional design, and helping teams understand their strengths to work together and achieve peak performance. She has oscillated between being an entrepreneur and holding full-time positions across technology, law, marketing, and strategic ops.

Her latest passion is her own company, . The company focuses on OKR coaching, business strategy, conflict resolution, and sustaining organizational momentum.

“OKRs are about increasing organizational performance and results, and, done with integrity, help organizations improve inclusion, belonging, and increase well-being and humane conditions in the workplace,” Sara said.

With Red Currant, Sara was looking to translate her passions and career experience into a viable business, but scaling her business quickly while starting with no revenue was quite the challenge. By seeking out FreshBooks to , invoices, and expenses, and to fill in her , Sara was able to focus on growing her business with confidence that her books and finances were in good hands.

Talk to me about Red Currant. What made you decide to start your own business after stints of full-time employment?

Sara: Red Currant Collective is a strategic impact consultancy. The main services we’re focused on are around objectives and key results (OKRs) for organizations to build momentum throughout all areas of their business.

I formed the business in January of 2020, but I took on some full-time work amidst the pandemic and officially opened Red Currant in March of 2021. We’re relatively new, but we’ve exceeded my own expectations in terms of revenue and growth so far, so I’m really happy and excited about where we are headed.

Accounting tends to be an afterthought for small business owners. How did you initially feel about handling your finances? Empowered? Terrified?

Sara: The scariest part for me of starting my own business is the financial operations of it. It’s not my zone of genius or competence. I knew I needed help with this area, and my husband is also a small business owner on the blue-collar side.

I learned through his business that outsourcing what isn’t in my area of expertise could only make things run smoother, and I made that decision to immediately look for a good way to outsource both the bookkeeping and the financial component of my business before I actually needed to. It was important to me to find a platform I trusted and the best tool for the job.

So you knew you were gapped when it came to finances, and finding a solution was more of an exercise in foresight?

Sara: Exactly. There wasn’t a pain point necessarily. It was more just the awareness of knowing the and financial side of things was not my strong suit. For me, it was important to invest in a tool like FreshBooks to fill that gap and give me confidence on that side of my business.

I don’t have to spend a moment worrying about my finances. I know this is not super sexy to say, but it just works.

How did you hear that FreshBooks and Bench work so well together?

Sara: I used FreshBooks at a previous business years ago and loved it, and Bench was also recommended to me by a colleague. Knowing I needed help in this area, I didn’t even do a trial. I just signed up and took the leap of faith, and I have absolutely been blown away by the effectiveness of

We’re trying to get my husband to move over to FreshBooks, but there are some industry-specific details in his inventory management which make that tedious. It’s so much less of a hassle using FreshBooks, though! We’ll migrate him eventually, [laughs].

Being a new business owner at the time, did you look at other solutions in your search for an accounting tool?

Sara: I looked at a few other options, but considering where my business was starting from zero, anticipating rapid growth, and needing an extremely easy-to-use tool, FreshBooks stuck out to me, and I’m so glad I went that way.

How has FreshBooks fast-tracked your business growth?

Sara: I knew I needed it for invoicing, and I knew I needed expense tracking management, so basically bookkeeping. I also really wanted something I could accept online payments through, and that’s been of tremendous value for me. Lately, I’ve actually been really annoyed when won’t use the online payment option, [laughs]. I have a client right now who’s asked me to send them my bank routing number and account numbers so they can pay me. And I’m like, come on, just pay me through FreshBooks!

You mention the tremendous value you get from FreshBooks with tools like online payments. What would you tell other business owners considering FreshBooks?

Sara: With FreshBooks and Bench, I don’t have to spend a moment worrying about my finances. I know this is not super sexy to say, but it just works. And for a business owner to subscribe to platforms and services and then have them over-deliver on their promises, it just makes a huge difference.

I would say it’s never too early and never too late to get on board with FreshBooks. When I wrote the first check for that first month of service, I didn’t have any real revenue yet. It was difficult because it felt like I was spending money before I was making money. However, worked with me going back to the very beginning of my business, only a month or two after I really started operations. They helped me account for everything from my owner contributions, to the startup of the business, from my personal finances before the business was formalized and held my hand through that transition from being a personal project, spending money on my future business all the way to being an up and running LLC with .

So, when I think about tax time coming up and my overall readiness, I have so much peace of mind. I’m thrilled that I signed on early because things were so simple in the first couple of months. But now, as things get a little more complex, I have a solid foundation with a few months of finances that are crystal clear and accounted for.

When Victoria launched her Ottawa-based marketing agency 16 years ago, she expected to ease into entrepreneurship. Instead, on day 1 her former employer called up to hire her as a contractor and she was off to the races. From that day, has seen consistent organic growth.

Rapid growth is the dream, . Victoria didn’t have systems in place—everything was done manually. And it was just her. She was the designer, the marketing expert, the accounts, the admin. It only took a few months to realize that she needed help.

Today, Excentric Agency is a full-service marketing firm specializing in branding with B2B in Canada, the U.S., and the UK. Victoria’s 15-person team is a mix of graphic designers, web designers, website developers, marketing strategists, and SEO/PPC experts, plus contract writers and other freelancers.

We spoke with Victoria to learn more about why and how she uses FreshBooks for her agency.

Why did you first look into FreshBooks?

Victoria: We had a client using FreshBooks and she was telling us how great it was. At that time, we were using Excel. And then we had to do our invoices in another program. Because we’re a branding company, our invoices had to look nice. So we had Excel for tracking the financials and then we had another program to make them look pretty and then another system for people to track their time. And it was just it was so cumbersome.

And that’s okay if you’re just starting out and you have just a few invoices. But as the company started to grow, the team members started to grow, the client base started to grow, keeping track of receivables just was not easy. And end-of-month invoicing was very time-consuming. It was a real chore. End-of-month invoicing was taking 5 times as long as it needed to.

We can actually say within a Project how many hours we have as a team and we can monitor where we are. [It] gives us really good intel for quoting future projects.

Which features in the app are most useful for you?

Victoria: I like that we can set up Projects. We do have clients that use us on a monthly basis, but we also win project-based work. So we know based on the price tag of the job, we know how many hours, if we’re estimating correctly, it should take us combined as a team. And it’s important that we know where we are in the hours that we have allotted to that project.

So [in FreshBooks] we can start a Project and we can actually say within the Project, how many hours do we have combined as a team and we can monitor where we are. And then also it gives us really good intel for quoting future projects. Because we can go back into FreshBooks and we can say, “Oh, wow, we were way under on that one, or we were way over on that one.”

And because our team members are logging specific tasks of what they’re doing…we can actually see even where we need to allot more or less time on similar future Projects. So it’s really, really good in that respect.

So it sounds like you’re a fan of the features built for project-based work. Are you using Proposals in FreshBooks too?

Victoria: Yes, and I like that there’s a choice between Estimates and Proposals. The Estimates are great for smaller project-based work, but the Proposal is nice because you can actually do a long-form Proposal in FreshBooks with an overview of the Project.

Sometimes we have 30- to 40-page proposals that we do, say, in Google Docs. We PDF them and we can actually embed the 30- to 40-page long-form in the FreshBooks Proposal, so we can just put the pricing and everything for signature in FreshBooks with the attached 40-pager. And then it acts as a service-level agreement. And it’s more like a contract because we can request an actual signature.

How has using FreshBooks changed how you run your business?

Victoria: Now it’s just so much more efficient. It’s just easy. The Dashboard alone. Just to go and see: How much do I have in receivables? What’s in U.S. dollars, what’s in Canadian dollars? What’s [owing] past 30 days? Just to see that at a glance—it’s fantastic. And to be able to sort. I do that often, for example, when I’m at the end of Q1, I can go and look at, okay, well, what are our earnings for Q1? And then I can see what are our taxes collected so that we know how much of that is tax.

End-of-month invoicing is a breeze now, it really is. We can see the number of hours each team member has worked on a project. I would say end-of-month invoicing saves us a full day of time each and every month. It also reduced our bookkeeping costs because our bookkeeper has access to our FreshBooks account.

How has it been working with your bookkeeper in FreshBooks?

Victoria: My bookkeeper is added [with the Accountant role] so she can go in and see, what have we invoiced, what have we collected, what tax have we collected. So she just is invited to that. And then every month… I mean, in the old days, I used to have to send her all these attachments of files and now she’s just she can go in and she can just look. So that is really great, too.

End-of-month invoicing is a breeze now, it really is.

For businesses like yours that are growing quickly—or hoping to grow—what would you say about investing in FreshBooks?

Victoria: Well, we actually had a record year this past year. And so, you know. Could we have done it without a platform like FreshBooks? I don’t know how we would have, to be honest with you; because as you grow, you need to have processes in place. [There’s] no way we could have grown without the tools in place.

So I would say if they want to keep a pulse on how their company is doing financially, that’s key. And if they want to spend less time on admin, then they should try it out… And honestly, I wouldn’t even say “invest”, because it’s not a lot of money, and the time that you’ll save alone is— your time is more valuable.

Any parting words to share about FreshBooks—good or bad?

Victoria: I know this sounds like a silly thing, [but] I love the new feature of the motivational quotes. You’ve added this is a kind of a new feature where when you’re waiting, instead of looking at a spinning wheel, they serve you with a motivational quote. And I know it’s such a small thing, but I like it. It’s a nice touch.

Carolina Ramirez Herrera is a digital nomad and dot connector with brands and people in the travel agency, amassing an incredible portfolio of work and collaborations around the world with her namesake agency

Prior to flying solo with her own venture, Carolina cut her teeth as a Global PR Director for the Oasis Collections team specializing in strategic partnerships and business development. She has mastered the art of collecting memories without sacrificing her knack for business, but her initial introduction to being a solopreneur was accidental.

“I started consulting kind of by accident,” said Carolina. “I said, ‘OK, let me start freelance consulting until I know what I want to do’. One thing led to another, and four years later, here I am. Today, Carolina specializes in consulting across public relations, marketing, and digital media with clients ranging from real estate, hospitality, travel, art, and health and wellness.

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, with Colombian heritage, Carolina is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian, and truly embodies a worldly perspective in her business and private life. We sat down with her to understand how she has been able to scale her business with the help of and balance her jet-set lifestyle.

Why Miami for your business?

Carolina: I’m Colombian originally. My parents and I grew up in Miami. My parents live in Miami, and I grew up there, went to school there. I moved to New York after college and traveled a ton. But my base, I guess, for a while has always been Miami just because my family is there. I guess it’s also a great place to “hub,” in terms of travel. It’s super close to travel to Latin America and to Europe. It was only later in life when I noticed people were like, oh, of course, Florida. That’s where you have your company. Taxes. Duh.

How did FreshBooks first get on your radar?

Carolina: I remember it was around the time I was doing my first invoice for my company, and I was thinking it would be easy to just do them in Excel. After using Excel for about a month or so, my business began to grow quickly, and it was hard to keep up. I even tried writing down expenses and owing amounts in my physical notebook. Finally, I realized it just wasn’t the way to move forward.

And then, it was actually one of my really good friends who said, “Wait, you don’t have accounting software?!”

After some Googling, I looked at my options and bounced around between FreshBooks and QuickBooks. QuickBooks, for me, was too expensive, and the user interface of FreshBooks stuck out as it was very simple to navigate. The competitive pricing of FreshBooks and the user interface…it’s just very user-friendly. For someone in branding and marketing PR, that’s important.

What FreshBooks features have been most useful in your day-to-day business?

Carolina: Invoicing and are a lifesaver for me. The invoices dashboard is so useful; the fact that it shows you overdue amounts right away keeps me organized. Rather than stressing about it, I basically look at it once or twice a day and know what’s coming in and what’s going out.

I love the offered as well because I work with clients in different countries with multiple currencies constantly. It shows me euros and dollars separately, and it’s easy to stay organized and takes away a lot of manual work.

What does that added boost in efficiency do for your business?

Carolina: Consulting in marketing and PR, every client is different in their needs and what they’re looking for. For example, I use many contractors, and then I kind of build mini-teams with the people I am working with.

For example, there might be one client that needs a social media manager and a copywriter, so I need to find a way of tracking that. Now I use the FreshBooks Bills and Vendors tabs in the Accounts Payable section. Before, I would just write things down ad-hoc!

What would you tell other small business owners and solopreneurs about investing in accounting software?

Carolina: Well, you should definitely invest in accounting software because will murder you if you don’t, for starters!

Taxes can be really difficult if you’re not an accountant. If there’s one thing you should be organized with, it’s and your finances because it’s your money. And there’s no way you’re going to grow, especially when you work with larger clients with full-on accounting departments. They don’t have time to deal with your invoice mayhem.

How do you and your business plan to evolve and grow in the future with FreshBooks?

Carolina: Honestly, there’s a lot more I could be doing with FreshBooks for my business. I love Recurring Invoices and some other features, but there’s a lot more I have to learn.

What makes it easy with FreshBooks is the customer service. Not to sound like a cheerleader, but support is always so supportive and quick on calls and emails. Since I’m always traveling, sometimes I need quick answers and quick fixes, and FreshBooks is very supportive.

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For Lindsay Darby, CMA, using FreshBooks with her small business clients has been transformative. Why? They love the automation and the ease of using FreshBooks compared to other tools.

Once she became a FreshBooks-Certified Accounting Partner, Lindsay realized how valuable the community behind the program is:

“I just really love being able to bounce ideas off the other accountants. The other FreshBooks Accounting Partners have been so helpful. … I’ve received great feedback from them—and from the FreshBooks Accounting Specialists. It’s been really collaborative.”

(Read more about as a FreshBooks Accounting Partner.)

What Sets It Apart (Why Partner With Us?)

Not all accounting partner programs are created equal. Our program is designed for accountants and bookkeepers who are seeking deeper connections with their clients and want to work with clients in a more strategic and advisory capacity. We make this happen through what we call Collaborative Accounting.

Collaborative Accounting™ Model

In a Collaborative Accounting model, your business-owner clients manage some or all of their day-to-day operations, like invoicing, expenses, and payments. This frees up your time to provide high-value services, including strategy, analysis, and coaching.

You and your clients work together in the software, each handling part of the workflow. That way, you both have visibility into the business and a deeper understanding of it. The goal is a seamless experience where the accounting professional becomes a true partner in their client’s business.

User-Friendly Platform

FreshBooks was built for small business owners. Again and again, they to use FreshBooks compared with other accounting software. They tell us how by their bookkeeping. And that their accountants are relieved to no longer wade through piles of receipts at tax time.

That creates a ripple effect that makes the collaborative accounting approach possible.

“When business owners have access to the technology they’re comfortable with, accounting professionals get timely data that enables them to provide so much more than bookkeeping or compliance support,” said , CPA and Head of the FreshBooks Accountant Channel.

“Businesses benefit immensely when their accountant or bookkeeper offers forward-looking analysis and advice. It sets the stage for success.”

What Is the FreshBooks Accounting Partner Program?

The mission of the Accounting Partner Program is twofold:

• To promote collaborative accounting between accounting partners and their
• To empower accounting partners—through knowledge, community, and support—to provide more  strategic and to clients (which, in turn, empowers clients)

Our mission centers around the FreshBooks’ 4E philosophy: “Execute extraordinary experiences every day.”

Partner Program Benefits

Just looking for the master list of partner program benefits? Okay, you’ve got it!

Comprehensive Collaborative Accounting™ certification and ongoing education. Starting with our comprehensive FreshBooks accounting professional certification and training, you’ll have many opportunities for learning and development.

Human-centric account management. Work with a Partner Consultant who will help you reach your goals as a FreshBooks Accounting Partner.

Dedicated support. Get help when you need it from Accounting Specialists on our industry-defining support team. These FreshBooks experts understand the needs of accountants and bookkeepers.

Client discounts. Offer your clients access to exclusive FreshBooks discounts, including a 15% discount on new subscriptions.

Free data conversion. We’ll help you migrate client data from another accounting platform to ensure a smooth transition to FreshBooks.

Free FreshBooks Account. Receive a personal subscription to use for your own books
or as a demo environment.

Client referrals. ​​Want more clients? Through our FreshBooks-Certified Accounting Partner Directory, you can get connected with our small businesses seeking your services.

In addition to these program benefits, as an accounting partner, you also have opportunities to provide product feedback and contribute to the FreshBooks feature roadmap.

Who Is the Program For?

The Accounting Partner Program is best suited to modern accountants and progressive bookkeepers who are interested in a and are actively building a cloud-based practice.

The Collaborative Accounting model makes it that much easier to plan proactively. So, the program is also for accounting professionals who are investing in working with scaling businesses and want to grow alongside them.

How Do I Become a FreshBooks Accounting Partner?

Curious to learn more and connect with the program? We can’t wait to hear from you.

First, to apply online. Then, we’ll be in touch directly so you can:

• Complete your FreshBooks certification
• Access all your , including your discounts and referral bonuses
• Share your goals for the program
• Connect with your dedicated Partner Consultant
• Join the FreshBooks Accounting Partner Community

Ready to begin your journey?

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