You’ve made the decision to work for yourself. These 10 best tools for freelancers can help you keep your schedule, your company, and the tasks you decide to work on all under control. There are several things happening, including managing your workload and acquiring new clients. The fact is that, especially when you’re just getting started, you kind of have to do everything.
One of your first choices as a freelancer is how to manage your procedures, particularly your invoicing, bookkeeping, clients, and projects, in order to increase your chances of success.
You need a productive and scalable method to keep on top of billing, accounting, time tracking, and client management if you want to attract, keep, and get rave reviews from clients. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to overlook the revenue-generating chores that support your company’s growth and always be playing catch-up.
Here are our top picks for the finest freelancing applications to run your business and set up your job for maximum success after extensive testing.
Best Tools for Freelancers
- FreeAgent
- Quickbooks Self-Employed
- Xero
- Freshbooks
- Cushion
- Wave Accounting
- AND.CO
- MeetFox
- Todoist
- Gusto
Now let’s explain them one by one.
1. FreeAgent
FreeAgent is a highly regarded online accounting tool made exclusively for small businesses, freelancers, and the accountants and bookkeepers that work with them.
FreeAgent is a well-liked all-purpose accounting program that prepares tax returns, organizes projects, monitors time, and sends invoices. For small firms and freelancers in the UK, it is particularly effective.
FreeAgent performs extremely effectively in a wide variety of use scenarios, despite having a user interface that is a little bit more traditional than some of the other applications for freelancers in this article.
FreeAgent offers a simple approach to simplify accounting if you receive payments in different currencies and use an app like TransferWise to receive and convert payments. It’s easy to bill customers in the appropriate currency, track payments in that currency, and automatically convert back to your local currency as well.
Automatically adding costs made using a business card is simply because of FreeAgent’s connections to several well-known banks. Alternatively, you might import a CSV file containing a large number of costs.
There is a brief summary of all of your freelancing business’s main KPIs at a glance on the FreeAgent dashboard.
Features
- Invoices that send and chase themselves
- Hassle-free expense tracking
- A bird’s eye view of your projects
- Automatic Bank Feeds
- Create super-speedy estimates with great-looking templates
- Keep tabs on your project income, expenses, and profitability
- Never miss another minute with time tracking on mobile and desktop
Read more: 15 Best Freelance Skills in High Demand in 2022
2. Quickbooks Self-Employed
Even while it might be challenging for freelancers to locate the ideal plan, QuickBooks is the industry leader in accounting software and a wonderful match for many small businesses.
There’s a good likelihood that if I ask you to identify an accounting program, QuickBooks will come to mind. Freelancers can acquire a more affordable plan through QuickBooks Self-Employed than what the most widely used cloud-based solution (QuickBooks Online) provides.
However, there are certain restrictions with QuickBooks Self-Employed. There is little room for customization and no time tracking capability with this plan, despite the fact that you can send and monitor straightforward invoices, track mileage, and segregate business and personal spending. Instead, you should select a QuickBooks Online package for small enterprises.
Features
- Track mileage
- Sort expenses
- Organize receipts
- Run reports
- Estimate taxes
- File taxes
3. Xero
One of the most well-liked accounting programs on the market, Xero gives freelancers a superior way to manage their finances and pipeline.
Xero is one of the most widely used accounting software available, along with QuickBooks. It is really easy to use, exquisitely made, and ideal for freelancers who want to grow their business in the next years. Whenever you’re ready for additional power from Xero, you can simply move to the next plan.
As a freelancer, Xero is laser-focused on saving you time by connecting directly to your bank, producing and tracking invoices quickly, and integrating with your preferred business software. You may reduce document clutter and gain further time savings by using Xero’s Hubdoc data capture and automated input feature.
Features
- Pay bills
- Claim expenses
- Bank connections
- Accept payments
- Track projects
- Payroll with Gusto
- Bank reconciliation
- Manage Xero contacts
- Capture data
- Files
- Reporting
- Inventory
4. Freshbooks
FreshBooks is a straightforward yet effective software option for freelancers and business owners since it offers a robust all-in-one small business solution for accounting and invoicing.
FreshBooks is extremely user-friendly and has a strong feature set overall. You may create an infinite number of customizable invoices, costs, time tracking reports, estimations, online card payments, and bank transfers with the $15/month Lite plan. Additionally, you receive comprehensive Tax Time reports.
You may automate more aspects of your freelancing company with the Plus plan (starting at $25/month), including scheduled reminders for late payments, recurring invoices, and late fines. Additionally, client retainers are accessible. For expanding organizations that must manage up to 500 clients, choose the Premium package.
Features
- Customizable Invoices
- Payment Reminders
- Automatic Late Fees
- Accept Credit Cards
- Recurring Invoices
- Due Dates
- Received Invoices
- Discounts
- Deposits
- Preview Before Sending
- Multi-Currency Billing
Read more: How to Start Freelancing in 2022 (Comprehensive Tutorial)
5. Cushion
Cushion enhances cash flow while providing robust invoicing and time tracking tools. It was created to provide freelancers with a clearer picture of their workload and availability.
Cushion provides stunning UX and distinctive features to assist you in staying away from taking on too much work, promising “Peace of mind for freelancers.” Since future workload, revenues, costs, and bills are simple to visualize, freelancers may plan ahead for their financial status.
Cushion excels as a tool for independent contractors to manage their workload, increase income flow, and strike a healthy balance. The software makes it simple to charge clients and track time.
Freelancers may manage their workload, boost their revenue, and maintain a healthy balance with the help of Cushion. The program makes it simple to log time and bill clients.
Features
- Schedule Visualization
- Income Forecast
- Invoice Creation
- Feature Insights
6. Wave Accounting
Financial software that costs the least and provides the most value to independent contractors; you need precisely no money to get started.
Wave is particularly well-liked among independent contractors for good reason—free. it’s The essential accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning capabilities you need to manage your freelancing business smoothly are provided by the financial software for entrepreneurs. If necessary, you can access online payments by paying per usage.
Features
- Wave Finance Dashboard
- Wave Accounting
- Wave Invoice
- Wave Expense Tracking
- Wave Accounts Payable
- Wave Contact Management
- Wave Inventory
- Wave Reports
7. AND.CO
The sophisticated all-in-one solution AND.CO helps freelancers run and expand their businesses. Fiverr purchased the website in 2018.
For newly established freelancers, AND.CO is a fantastic fit. Over 300,000 companies use AND.CO to make proposals, invoice customers, get paid, and manage their time, costs, and projects. It bills itself as “the one app to operate your freelancing business or studio.”
After being bought by Fiverr in 2018, AND.CO, which had previously been labeled “free forever,” altered course and offered premium options. The free plan is still available, but it only allows one active customer, which is insufficient for the majority of freelancing enterprises.
You may manage an unlimited number of clients, and get rid of the AND.CO logo, update contracts and pay 2.9 percent plus 30 cents for online payments for $18 per month. Additionally, you may link up to six bank accounts to keep track of the payment status of invoices.
Features
- Time tracking capabilities.
- Payment management.
- Recurring payments.
- Task management.
- Centralized dashboard.
- Contract management.
- Proposal management.
- Expense tracking.
8. MeetFox
MeetFox, a scheduling and meeting software all in one, is an additional choice. Actually, it has many of the same functions and user interfaces as Calendly. But it does differentiate itself from the competitor’s thanks to the built-in conferencing facility.
Features
- Schedule
- Customized booking page
- Synced to your calendars
- Meeting reminders
- Automatic time zones
- Meet
- Screen sharing
- Recording
- Meet in person
- No download required
- Pay
- Credit card payments
- Automatic invoices
- Cancellation policies
- Flexible charging
Read more: Freelancing Meaning and Definition, How to Pursue Freelancing as a career?
9. Todoist
Then there is Todoist, a really straightforward tool that aids in keeping you organized and reminding you of upcoming events. It allows you to assign tasks, make notes, set priorities, and add comments. It may also be a wonderful productivity enhancer thanks to the colorful graphs for tracking progress.
Features
- Start each day feeling calm and in control
- Focus your energy on the right things
- Share the workload
- Personalize your task views
- Centralize all your work in one place
- See tangible progress
- Connect Todoist to your world
10. Gusto
It’s possible that you’ll need more sophisticated tax accounting as your freelancing firm expands. In this situation, Gusto can be really beneficial. It functions fundamentally as a simplified payroll solution tailored to S-CORP and LLC enterprises.
Features
- Automated payroll, taxes, and filings
- Automated taxes
- W-2s and 1099s
- Child-support garnishments
- Payroll on AutoPilot®
- New hire reporting
- Tip credits: minimum wage adjustment
- All the forms
- Form W-2
- Form 940
- Form 8974
- Form 1099
- Form 941
- State and local
- Flexible payroll features
- Gusto debit card
- Unlimited bonus and off-cycle payrolls
- Hourly and salaried employees
- Paperless paychecks
- Easy cancellations
- Multiple pay rates
- Multiple states
- Flexible payment schedules
- Garnishments
- Unlimited payrolls
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