Bookkeeping and accounting are essential parts of freelancing. Freelancers can choose from dozens of software and web-based services that make bookkeeping and accounting easy and accurate. The Unlimited Freelancer has a good list of what’s available.
In this post, I’m going to share my own journey in organizing and systematizing my bookkeeping and accounting.
A Brief History
When I started freelancing, I tracked my income and expenses on a Google Docs spreadsheet. It worked well enough — until I inadevertently deleted a whole chunk of cells!
After that, I moved onto a $12 account in LessAccounting.com. It was great. I could create invoices, and track income and expenses. I liked being able to email invoices to my clients, with a PayPal button embedded right into the email. However, the reports were limited.
So after a few months, I moved up to LessAccounting’s $20 package. With that, I can create professional-looking proposals and turn them into invoices instantly. More importantly, I can generate the reports I need to prepare my taxes.
Choices, Choices
While I’ve been happy with LessAccounting, I’ve been wanting to use an application I can install in my computer and not have to keep paying a monthly fee.
I’ve spent many hours going over the many solutions available for Macs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find many to replace LessAccounting. Some solutions do invoicing but don’t track expenses. Others do accounting, but won’t let you do invoicing.
- Tinybooks
There is one application I found, which does everything I’m looking for: proposals, income and expense recording, reporting, and invoicing. It’s called Tinybooks.
I downloaded the trial version of Tinybooks, but didn’t really use it. You see, it didn’t have a “pretty” interface that’s common among Mac applications.
However, I just checked the Tinybooks site as I was writing this post and discovered that Tinybooks Pro version 7 was just recently launched. This version is much prettier and has some additional features compared to its predecessor.
An individual license for Tinybooks 7 is only $49 so this is an excellent option for freelancers.
- Quickbooks
After asking several Canada-based freelancers, small business owners and even a professional bookkeeper (Monica Ross of virtualbookkeeping.ca, who is amazing, by the way), I’ve come to the conclusion that Quickbooks is the way to go.
Other applications can probably do pretty much the same thing, but if you’re planning to work with an accountant, bookkeeper or other professional, most of them would be familiar with Quickbooks and will probably prefer it.
I’ve heard many complaints about how hard it is to use Quickbooks. However, after using the UN’s financial management software for years, I’m confident that I can handle Quickbooks.
The good thing about Quickbooks is that it can do everything I need to do right now. At the same time, it can accommodate my home business as it grows.
Conclusion
I thought I had made up my mind to get Quickbooks. But after seeing the update on Tinybooks, I’m having second thoughts again.
I’ll have another consultation with Monica before I make my final decision (even though I’m pretty sure I know what she will say).
Your Thoughts?
How do you handle your bookkeeping and accounting? What software do you use? Do you work with bookkeepers and accountants?
Maybe your comments can help me decide, so do share!
photo credit: word_dancer51
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I always found QuickBooks to be a bit too much program for me. I end up using a spreadsheet for most things. I do think I need something with a little more oomph this year, so I’ll have to do some looking around.
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Thank you for describing your decision making process! I signed up for Less Accounting and wasn’t happy with the way it handled my Paypal account (deposits and invoices were both handled the same way). I love using Quicken for my personal finances and had been considering QuickBooks…but I’m in the same place you are in. I’ve gone so long piece mealing it together I need a solution! I’ll let you know what I decide.
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@Courtney – Yes, let us know which way you decide to go. I’ll also post an update when the time comes. I am this close to getting Quickbooks.
@Loretta – Quickbooks does seem to be too much at this point. However, I like that it will grow with my business. And our business will grow, right, Loretta?
I like Freshbooks, have you tried that? So far it has everything I need and a really helpful staff to help make it do what I need it to!
I tried a trial of Quickbooks, but you have to be able to speak that accounting language to figure it out…and I apparently don’t.
This is a good post, I look forward to reading more about your accounting choices.
Hi Emma, I’ve looked at Freshbooks. It’s only a billing application, not a full bookkeeping one. Because I hired Monica to teach me how to set up and use Quickbooks for MY business, I now see how much more superior Quickbooks is than anything else I’ve tried. It’s even better than Less Accounting, which I’ll be discontinuing after this month. There really is wisdom in hiring professionals to do certain things for us, in the same way that our clients hire us to do what we’re trained to do.