Freshbooks vs Manager

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Our analysts compared Freshbooks vs Manager based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Accounting Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Freshbooks is a cloud-based accounting software designed for freelancers and small businesses. Its core features include invoicing, expense tracking, online payments, project management, and basic reporting. It's user-friendly and integrates with popular tools like Stripe and PayPal. Freshbooks shines for solopreneurs and small teams seeking a simple, affordable solution to manage basic accounting tasks. Its intuitive interface and mobile app make it accessible even for non-accountants. Users appreciate its automated features like recurring invoices and expense categorization, saving them time and effort. Compared to some competitors, Freshbooks may lack advanced accounting functionalities like inventory management or double-entry bookkeeping. However, its focus on simplicity and ease of use makes it a popular choice for those starting out or needing a lightweight accounting solution. Pricing starts at a reasonable monthly fee and scales based on the number of clients and features needed. This pay-as-you-go model ensures users pay only for what they use, making it a cost-effective option for small businesses.

Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Mobile app access
  • Automated invoicing
  • Online payments
  • Affordable
Cons
  • Limited features
  • No double-entry
  • Price increases with clients
  • Basic reporting
  • Not for large businesses
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Manager, a cloud-based accounting software, streamlines financial tasks for small and medium-sized businesses. Its intuitive interface simplifies bookkeeping, from recording transactions and managing accounts payable/receivable to generating reports and filing taxes. Geared towards entrepreneurs and accountants, Manager empowers users with control and flexibility. Key benefits include automated data entry, real-time financial insights, and robust inventory management. Popular features like bank reconciliation and custom reports enhance efficiency and decision-making. Compared to similar products, Manager boasts user-friendliness, affordability (starting at around $15 per month per user), and a supportive online community. While it may lack advanced features of enterprise-level software, Manager excels as a user-centric accounting solution for growing businesses.

Pros:
  • Easy to use
  • Affordable
  • Real-time insights
  • Mobile access
  • Active community
Cons:
  • Limited reports
  • No payroll integration
  • Basic inventory management
  • Learning curve for taxes
  • Limited customer support
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$4.50 Monthly
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$15/User, Monthly, Freemium
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Small 
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Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Improve Efficiency: Automate every routine task such as sending invoice reminders and collecting payments from patrons so users can redirect their attention to cultivating their organization.  
  • Elaborate Reports: Produce in-depth reports that provide critical KPIs, giving users a live snapshot of their business' health and enabling them to make wiser decisions. 
  • Quicker Payments: Initiate simple online payment methods so patrons can quickly make payments and users are compensated faster. 
  • Establish Due Dates: Swiftly inaugurate due dates for invoices with the invoicing module, ensuring patrons are always aware of their payment deadlines. 
  • E-Sign Estimates and Proposals: Permit customers to e-sign estimates and proposals so users may rapidly return to their important tasks.  
  • Increase Accuracy: Prompt bank reconciliations allow users to instantly scan bank accounts and correspond account activity with financial records. 
  • Mobile Availability: Scan receipts, develop sophisticated invoices, respond to customer feedback and more with FreshBooks' mobile app available on iOS and Android devices. 
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  • Effortless Bookkeeping: Streamline daily tasks with intuitive data entry, automated calculations, and pre-defined accounts, freeing up time for strategic planning and growth.
  • Financial Clarity at Your Fingertips: Gain instant insights into your business performance with real-time reports and dashboards, allowing you to make informed decisions based on accurate data.
  • Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity: Automate repetitive tasks like invoicing, bank reconciliation, and expense tracking, boosting team productivity and minimizing errors.
  • Scalability for Growth: Manage your finances with ease as your business expands, accommodating multiple users, currencies, and locations with flexible configurations.
  • Cost-Effective Solution: Access powerful accounting tools at an affordable price point, making Manager a budget-friendly option for small and medium-sized businesses.
  • Control and Customization: Tailor the software to your specific needs with customizable accounts, reports, and workflows, ensuring your financial data is organized and accessible.
  • Mobile Access on the Go: Manage your finances from anywhere with secure mobile access, allowing you to review reports, approve invoices, and stay connected on the move.
  • Collaborative Environment: Share financial data and collaborate with colleagues in real-time, enhancing communication and transparency within your organization.
  • Secure and Reliable: Protect your financial information with industry-standard security measures and cloud-based data storage, ensuring peace of mind and data integrity.
  • Supportive Community: Leverage the knowledge and expertise of a thriving online community, finding answers, tips, and support from fellow Manager users.
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  • Invoicing: Personalize invoices and thank-you emails with company logos via the invoicing apparatus. Users may request deposits on invoices at the start of a project so they'll have the right amount of funds to financially sponsor a project in its preliminary stages. 
  • Expense Management: Link bank accounts and credit cards to FreshBooks instead of manually inputting data with the expense module. It displays data in real time so users will instantly know where their money is going. 
  • Time Tracking: Manage project and task durations through the time tracking feature. It's equipped with a timer that accurately records a time log of tasks that easily appears on invoices. Users may also see how their employees spend their time from completed responsibilities to arising issues to address before they become major problems. 
  • Project Management: Store files and vital attachments in the centralized project management accessory, enabling teams to efficiently find what they need so they can get right back to high-caliber tasks. Users may also allocate project deadlines, share images and files through FreshBooks and even designate rates or hours to particular projects.  
  • Estimates: Produce adjustable proposals in addition to outlining a project's extent, timeline and necessary deliverables. Users may quickly transform estimates into invoices and permit their clientele to validate estimates online. This tool also allows users to send invoices in different currencies and add discounts. 
  • Accounting: Receive precise profit and loss calculations and effortlessly share valuable financial data and reporting information with accountants. This module streamlines bank reconciliations by importing and arranging financial transactions, validating or revising automated matching recommendations and drafting and exporting Excel-friendly summary reports.  
  • Reports: Color-code spending breakdowns and obtain profit and loss reports with the reporting attribute. Users may save, export and even print financial reports for their accountants. This tool also enables users to have a headache-free tax season because it stores valuable data such as money earned to taxes that have already been paid off.  
  • Payments: Initiate various payment options such as VISA, MasterCard, AMEX and Apple Pay with the payment feature. This tool also instantly creates payments, collects reports, activates quick and painless bank deposits, requests deposits and provides payment schedules and partial payments for client flexibility. It also automatically sends receipts to patrons. 
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  • Remittance Advice: Simplify the record-keeping process by informing suppliers or vendors of completed payment including, the purpose, type, invoice number and invoice date. 
  • Fixed Asset Management: Store all asset-related data and make it easy to find the specific data in a hurry. Simplify the audit and reporting process with centralized asset information. 
  • Bank Reconciliation: Prevent theft, keep mistakes at bay and identify accounting errors with bank reconciliations. Know which cash transactions cleared and which are outstanding. Check the validity of bank charges from the by account. Identify the fraudulent use of money, prevent additional charges and give the bank the time to restore the account in case of theft. 
  • Recurring Billing: Minimize the possibility of missed payments or plate payments with recurring billing. Bring greater stability to the business with revenue predictability. Ensure customer data is compliant to PCI standards. Boost flexibility, increase customer retention by making it easy for subscribers to change plans. 
  • Multi-Currency: Spend less time making accounting adjustments due to exchange rate differences. Keep money in multiple currencies in one account. Manage foreign exchanges with reduced transaction cost with convenience and simplicity. 
  • Profit And Loss Statements: Track expenses, profit and loss, revenue with detailed profit and loss statements. Present data in a digestible format and easily sort through stored data. 
  • Cash Management: Minimize excessive spending and use income efficiently. Keep a tab on how revenue is used, manage cash collections and plan expenditures. 
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Product Ranking

#2

among all
Accounting Software

#322

among all
Accounting Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

87
69
94
93
94
97
73
94
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Platform Security
Project Accounting
Tax Management
Financial Statements and Revenue Management
Journal Entries
Platform Capabilities
Tax Management
Accounts Receivable
Banking and Cash Management
Accounts Payable

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Freshbooks
Manager
+ Add Product + Add Product
Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Banking And Cash Management Budget And Expense Management Financial Statements And Revenue Management General Ledger And Chart Of Accounts Integration And Extensibility Inventory Management Journal Entries Mobile Support Multi-company Accounting And Asset Management Platform Capabilities Project Accounting Reporting And Analytics Tax Management 94 94 73 86 98 75 88 81 97 97 49 89 100 92 100 93 97 94 69 86 71 15 73 73 20 60 100 54 62 100 0 25 50 75 100
89%
0%
11%
78%
22%
0%
94%
0%
6%
100%
0%
0%
80%
0%
20%
80%
20%
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85%
0%
15%
69%
0%
31%
100%
0%
0%
86%
0%
14%
75%
0%
25%
75%
0%
25%
77%
0%
23%
15%
0%
85%
57%
0%
43%
57%
14%
29%
100%
0%
0%
40%
40%
20%
100%
0%
0%
20%
0%
80%
50%
0%
50%
60%
0%
40%
89%
0%
11%
100%
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0%
100%
0%
0%
60%
0%
40%
89%
0%
11%
58%
5%
37%
100%
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

67%
0%
33%
67%
0%
33%
100%
0%
0%
33%
0%
67%

User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 4096 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 81 reviews
90%
of users recommend this product

Freshbooks has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 90% when considering 4096 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

94%
of users recommend this product

Manager has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 94% when considering 81 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

4.8 (28)
n/a
4.6 (586)
4.1 (12)
n/a
4.8 (69)
4.5 (3332)
n/a
4.0 (150)
n/a

Awards

Freshbooks stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Manager and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Platform Capabilities. Manager stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award
Platform Capabilities Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Customer Support: Approximately 89% of users that mentioned it in their review said customer support is supportive, helpful and quick to respond to issues.
Appliances: Precisely 58% of users that discussed the system functionalities enjoyed this program's appliances because they can create clean reports, set up repeating invoices, and add and manage credit cards.
Simple and intuitive interface: Freshbooks' clean layout and straightforward navigation make it easy for even non-accountants to manage their finances.
Time-saving features: Automated invoicing, expense categorization, and online payments let users save time and effort on routine accounting tasks.
Mobile app for on-the-go management: Access invoices, track expenses, and manage clients from smartphones or tablets, ensuring flexibility and productivity.
Affordable plans for growing businesses: Choose a plan that scales with your needs and budget, with options starting at an accessible price point.
Seamless integrations with popular tools: Streamline workflows by connecting Freshbooks with tools like Stripe, PayPal, and Google Workspace, centralizing financial data.
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Completely Free: Offers a fully-featured desktop version with no limitations, costs, or ads.
User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive design makes it easy to navigate and manage finances, even for those without accounting experience.
Flexible Chart of Accounts: Customize account structure to match specific business needs, ensuring accurate tracking and reporting.
Comprehensive Reports: Generate a wide range of financial reports, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and more, providing valuable insights.
Offline Functionality: Access and work on accounts even without internet connectivity, ensuring productivity regardless of location.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Works seamlessly on Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing flexibility for different operating systems.
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Limited features for complex accounting: Freshbooks may not handle advanced accounting needs like inventory management, double-entry bookkeeping, or fixed assets.
Not ideal for large businesses: As businesses grow, Freshbooks' scalability and feature set might become insufficient for complex financial operations.
Price increases with client base: The cost of Freshbooks can rise significantly as you add more clients, potentially exceeding initial budget expectations.
Basic reporting and analytics: Freshbooks' reporting capabilities may be insufficient for businesses requiring in-depth financial analysis and data insights.
Limited customer support for free plans: Free trial and Lite plan users might have limited access to customer support, potentially hindering troubleshooting and issue resolution.
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Limited Customization Options: Some users find certain features or reports cannot be tailored as extensively as desired, potentially hindering specific workflows.
No Dedicated Mobile App: Lacks a native mobile app, limiting on-the-go access and requiring web browser usage for cloud-based access, which may not be ideal for all users.
Basic Payroll Features: Handles essential payroll tasks but may not suffice for businesses with complex tax regulations or extensive payroll needs, potentially requiring integration with other software.
Potential Feature Lag: Some users report a delay in the implementation of highly requested features, which could impact those seeking the latest functionalities.
Cloud Version Cost: While the desktop version is free, the cloud-based version incurs a subscription fee, which may deter those seeking entirely free cloud-based accounting solutions.
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Freshbooks emerges from user reviews as a reliable and user-friendly accounting solution for solopreneurs and small businesses. Its intuitive interface, mobile app access, and automated features like invoicing and online payments are consistently praised for saving time and streamlining workflows. Compared to competitors like QuickBooks, users appreciate Freshbooks' ease of use for non-accountants, while acknowledging its limitations in advanced functionalities like double-entry bookkeeping or inventory management. This makes it ideal for those starting out or needing a lightweight accounting solution, but potentially less suitable for complex financial needs as businesses grow. Another key differentiator for Freshbooks is its affordability, with tiered plans starting at an attractive price point. However, user reviews also highlight a potential drawback: as client bases expand, so does the cost, which can become a concern for some users. Additionally, while basic reporting and analytics are included, users seeking in-depth data analysis may find Freshbooks' capabilities limited compared to more robust competitors. Overall, user reviews paint a picture of Freshbooks as a user-friendly and affordable accounting solution for solopreneurs and small businesses seeking to simplify their financial management. Its strengths lie in ease of use, automation, and mobile access, while its limitations emerge in advanced features and scalability for larger businesses. Ultimately, the decision to choose Freshbooks hinges on individual needs and priorities, with users emphasizing the importance of weighing its strengths against its limitations to ensure a perfect fit.

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Manager's user reviews in the past year paint a contrasting picture. Fans adore its free, full-featured desktop version, praising its "intuitive design" and "flexible chart of accounts" that cater to specific business needs. "Manager beats anything else free by a mile," exclaims one user, highlighting its "comprehensive reports" and "offline functionality" as major wins over cloud-based competitors. Another reviewer applauds its "cross-platform compatibility," appreciating seamless usage across Windows, macOS, and Linux.** However, some users yearn for more in-depth customization. "Limited options for tweaking reports" and "basic payroll features" leave them wanting, especially compared to paid software like QuickBooks. The lack of a native mobile app also disrupts their workflow, making on-the-go access cumbersome. And while the cloud version offers more features, its subscription fee stings some users who enjoyed the desktop's "completely free" model. Ultimately, Manager seems to shine for solopreneurs and small businesses seeking a functional, free accounting solution. Its strengths lie in user-friendliness, flexibility, and offline accessibility. However, those with complex needs or seeking advanced features might find its limitations outweigh its free price tag.

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