If you are following our series this month, it’s about highlighting the best online app or software I use for my business that I hope can help you too. First was Typeform. Second was Monday.com, and today, I am pleased to present: Freshbooks.

I was introduced to Freshbooks through a friend who was using Quickbooks as an accounting software for his business and wanted something a little more user-friendly and less expensive. He loved it and sent me a link to do a free trial just to check it out. I think what drew me to start using Freshbooks wasn’t necessarily the user-interface, ease of invoicing or even the recurring invoicing tool – it was how they made me feel once I started their free trial.

First of all, I started learning about the history of Freshbooks. Like most entrepreneurial endeavors, it started out as a dream, back when the co-founder Mike McDerment was a website designer and developer (sound familiar?). One of the tasks they were constantly having trouble doing well in-house was invoicing. He was creating digital invoices from a Word Document  and Excel Spreadsheet… it didn’t quite provide the automation he needed, so he decided with his website-building talent, he would create his own. This turned into a full-time passion, which he ended up working on until it was finally launched. After two years and full effort in growing Freshbooks, he had 9 customers paying $9.99.month. They were making $100/month for the four of them. So, do you know what you do when you start a company and it only makes $100/month after two years? That’s right, you move into your parents basement. And that’s exactly what he did.

Since then, Freshbooks has earned a unicorn status as a privately held startup company with a value over $1 Billion. They now serve over 30 million small business clients in 160 countries. Wow!!

I think their humble beginnings allowed them to relate to business owners like me in a deep way. They really understood who I was and what I was struggling with each day. In fact, as soon as I signed up, they sent me a free book called “Breaking the Time Barrier” which taught me about knowing and charging my worth for my company and had great stories of how to overcome the daily struggles of an entrepreneur. It felt like he knew me. I just looked it up, looks like he’s still giving the book away but in a digital form now – here’s the link.

Aside from my emotional connection to Freshbooks, these are the additional reasons why I have stayed with them for the last 7 years:

• Second to none customer care: Honestly, these guys are amazing. They win awards every year for their incredible customer support. In fact, they promise that when you call, a real human will always answer. Which is crazy to me. And trust me, I’ve called them numerous times for technical questions or even some issues I am having. And sure enough, after a couple of rings, someone always answers the phone…”Hello, Freshbooks, can I help you?”
• I think Freshbooks has the easiest and the most intuitive recurring invoice feature. You can set up multiple ways to automate your billing, so you can easily receive your scheduled payment securely and fast. This feature really sold me.
• Everything about the Freshbooks platform speaks to small business entrepreneurs. It knows how we think because it’s built by the people that get us. Also, it’s very affordable (that alone shows they truly understand my priorities).
• Automated reminders. You can set your unpaid invoices to send out friendly reminders for payment. This really cuts down a lot of manual work on your end.. and you still get paid.

It’s funny – once upon a time, my Freshbooks journey started when a friend sent me a link for a free 30-Day trial… and today the tables have turned. Now I’m honored to be that friend for you! If you are interested in changing your accounting software or if you are ready to finally stop using Excel for your invoicing, here’s a link to a free 30-day trial of Freshbooks!

Hope you love it as much as I do!

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