I have recently started using FreshBooks to track my Blogging accounts, expenses, and invoices to my clients. It’s the best Invoice and Accounting Software for Small Businesses and Bloggers!
This is a post I shared a few weeks back on my finance Blog “The Fortune Frenzy” which I thought could also interest you as Bloggers. I tend to keep the topics separate but in this case, its just such an amazing tool I know could help your Blog and Business to be organized and professional! Here we go:
Ps. you want to Start and Grow a Blog that Makes Money FAST! You’re in luck. My signature blogging course, THE BLOG STUDIO, IS OPEN for enrollment for just a few days! Don’t miss it. You don’t have to do this alone. Let me help you get to your creative online business faster. Check it out now!
Best Invoice The Best Invoice and Accounting Software for Small Businesses and Bloggers
When I earned my first $ blogging I was so excited! However as it was so little, I definitively did not think about starting a balance sheet or any tracking of where my money was coming from and going to.
However, once I started earning more income through affiliate income, (you can read my full guide on how to start out with affiliate marketing here), as well as making money with sponsorship, e-course sales and consulting things started to get very confusing very quickly!
For a long time, I used an excel sheet to track everything which was working very well in the beginning. But once I turned Blogging into my full-time business, it was again not sophisticated enough to track my clients, bank accounts, expenses, income and just lacking a holistic look of my entire business in general!
So I started searching for the best Invoice and Accounting Software for Small Businesses and Bloggers. And that’s how I first got to know and love FreshBooks! Start your FREE FreshBooks Trial here!
In this guide I want to review some of the most amazing features FreshBooks offers such as creating Invoice Templates, tracking your Expenses and integrating your Bank Connections! It’s truly the best Invoice and Accounting Software for Small Businesses and Bloggers!
If you haven’t started your own Blog yet this is a great read to get you all set up: How to start a Blog: Beginner’s Guide!
1. Invoice templates
With FreshBooks it’s ridiculously easy to create beautiful looking invoices for your clients. There are two template options classic and modern to choose from. Then you can start adapting them to fit your business or blog branding!
- Clients pay you online by credit card, so you can actually get paid twice as fast!
- Track your clients, which are late in their payment schedule and send them reminders (I love this feature because it makes your life so much easier)!
- See how much income is still outstanding each month.
Here is an example I created of how your Invoice could look like in the modern look. It literally took me 5min because you don’t need to do the layout yourself! Which we all know takes the longest! Once you have created your template you can use it for all of your clients! Start your FREE FreshBooks Trial here!
2. Bank Connections
Another incredible thing is that you can connect your Business or Blog Accounts Bank to FreshBooks! It one of the biggest advantages why I believe it’s the best Invoice and Accounting Software for Small Businesses and Bloggers.
You can connect your Accounts (yes all of them Bank and Online Services over 12’000 are registered) and it automatically updates your positions (Income + Expenses) within FreshBooks.
We all have our private and business accounts, we have got our PayPal account and there are more new payment options like Venmo appearing each month! I get paid through all different kinds of channels nowadays such as:
- Consulting Clients usually pay me through wire transfer to my bank account or by Credit Card!
- Blogger E-Course Income is paid through Paypal (Check out my Bloggy Badass Online Course here). It is hosted on Teachable, which does all the back end payment process and provides the system for me which is great!
- Affiliate Income depends heavily on what kind of Network or Business the money is coming from. It is usually paid through Paypal or Bank Transfer.
- Small Social Media Sponsorships are usually paid through Gift Cards, Paypal or physical product.
You see there are various ways in which I conduct my income and it gets overwhelming very easily!
Using FreshBooks you have it all under one big umbrella and it updates automatically. It just saves me so much time and if I do want to add something manually such as receiving a gift card or a physical product I can add that in just a few clicks too. FreshBooks just so simple and intuitive to use!
3. Expense Tracking
Another feature I love love love, is FreshBooks expense tracking! I don’t know about you but I hate thinking about my expenses when I am not in control. As I was using my excel sheet I was just inputting my expenses at random times. Basically, whenever I felt like coping with it :). Obviously, that’s no way to run a business!!
FreshBook’s Expense tracking is great and another reason why I believe it’s the best Invoice and Accounting Software for Small Businesses and Bloggers.
- First of all, it automatically adds expenses, which are coming from your connected accounts. FreshBooks lists them within your dashboard overview in “spendings” as well as in your profit and loss statement.
- Second of all, you can add expenses manually which you might have paid cash or through your personal account or whatever!
- Third, you can add all kinds of additional information to the expenses such as a recurring cost, what currency the invoice is paid in and if it is related to your costs of goods sold (if it was related to a specific client).
In the image below you can see some mock expenses I created for a typical Blogger. (Bluehost is my favorite Hosting Service to start a new Website. Tailwind is the Scheduler I use to grow my Social Media).
It all comes together in the Dashboard of the program and the additional Advanced Reports.
4. More additional features
There are so many more feature in FreshBooks which are related to your Business and Blog such as
- Creating a Client Register
- Time Tracking (Accurately bill your clients for the time you’ve worked.
- Managing your Projects (track timing, scope, budget…)
- Control your Charts of Accounts
You can start your free Trial for 30 Days here in just two clicks! FreshBooks has literally helped me so much to calm my mind and get my finances in order.
Here are some examples of what extra things you could do with FreshBooks:
Please let me know what you are struggling the most within your business and where you think FreshBooks could help you most! Also if you have any more questions or input leave me a COMMENT DOWN BELOW NOW!
All the Best
Katie
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