Freshbooks

I'm always on the look out for valuable applications and tools that can be leveraged by businesses.  Cloud-based services really interest me and I think they are increasingly going to become the way of the future.  I believe that to be true for a number of reasons (that I've spoken of before), but today, I want to highlight one in particular:  mobility.  

The mobile trend is going to drive cloud-based services in a way we've never seen before.  The value of cloud-based tools is there without the mobile aspect, but it's obvious that as we become more and more untethered from our computers and laptops, light weight browser-based or internet-centric services are going to continue to make in-roads.

That brings me to the featured application for today's post: Freshbooks.  What is Freshbooks?  Well, from their website we read:

"Our mission is to deliver fast and simple invoicing and time tracking services that help you manage your business. We call these Unaccounting™ services and they will:

• Save you time
• Be easy to use
• Make you look professional (think Fortune 500)
• Let you manage your books without an accountant
• Secure, encrypt, and back up your data
• Be available 24/7 from anywhere with any computer"

I was intrigued when I came across this simple, elegant and effective offering. Of course, I thought of Quickbooks and that is what drew me to thinking about the cloud and mobility.  The traditional desktop app, like Quickbooks (or any other time tracking and invoicing tool), is stuck....stuck on the desktop computer or the laptop.  Freshbooks is free - it can come with me wherever I go.  In a short while, for example, the iPad will arrive, and guess what, users of Freshbooks can track time, manage invoices, send invoices from wherever they might be.  Don't believe me?  There is already a great companion app to Freshbooks for the iPhone called Minibooks.  It's that type of mobility that makes an already great service like Freshbooks even better.  

Of course, just existing in the cloud and having an iPhone app aren't enough.  The tool itself needs to be good; it has to allow you to work effectively.  Freshbooks is a winner here.  As I said before, the tool is simple to use but not lacking in features.  I've used other "time tracking" tools before that were web-based and they were awful.  Cumbersome, not intuitive and not something you'd let a client see.  Freshbooks is wonderful to use and elegant in the way it allows you to generate invoices for a client that get delivered by snail-mail or via email.  I did some testing by setting up sample projects and clients and tracked time and then generated invoices.  Invoices delivered via email allow the client to view them on a customized portal-like web page.  It was perfect.

If you are looking for a good time tracking and invoicing system, I'd strongly recommend looking at Freshbooks.  Check out their tour for more info.  Or sign-up for a trial account.  As for me, I look forward to continue some more usage testing on it, especially once I obtain my iPad so I can get a better sense of what it would be like to carry around such a cloud-based service with me on that type of device.

Comments

[Michael O'Connor Clarke]

Thanks so much for this writeup, Michael. We're delighted to hear you've enjoyed your initial experiences using FreshBooks and the companion mobile app from our friends at Groovy Squared.

We would naturally agree, of course, that apps based in the cloud are the way of the future. Access to all of your billing and bookkeeping data from anywhere, 24/7, without the need for any clunky client-side app is enough of a benefit in itself for many people, but some of the hidden advantages are even more profound. The fact that cloud-based apps are a great deal more efficient to upgrade and maintain is another remarkable advantage that benefits both the developer and the customer.

As mobile platforms become more and more powerful and convenient, and fast, standards-based mobility becomes close to ubiquitous, we think we're only going to see more developers moving their applications to the cloud.

Again, many thanks for checking out FreshBooks. If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch.

[Michael Detwiler]

Excellent write up on FreshBooks! I've used FreshBooks for over a year and have been extremely pleased.

[mip]

Michael O'Conner Clark - I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for providing the added detail in your comment. I agree totally with the added advantages. I will continue to use Freshbooks and if I have questions I will definitely reach out and let you know.

Michael Detwiler - thanks for the comment, it's always great to get real world input from end-users who are benefiting from the tools directly. I'm glad to hear that Freshbooks was a winner for you. Thanks for sharing.

[Jason Phellps]

Is there a way to extract or export your data in case you want to change services? That is what always worries me about these internet-based services.