FreeAgent

Makes bookkeeping easy for a novice, and still keeps an accountant happy

Commentaires : Saves me a whole lot of time, and helps me keep clear records for my accountant.

Avantages :

At the moment it's free through my business banking account - I tried it because of this but it would definitely be worth paying for. I am relatively new to running a business and the software is very intuitive for a novice. My accountant is pretty happy with it too, so that's a big thumbs up! It makes invoicing and payment of exenses very easy, and is great for keeping track of money coming in/out and keeping an eye on invoices due for payment. Payroll is incorporated (you can file it with HMRC through FreeAgent or let your accountant do it separately). I also like the fact that it reminds me when my corporation tax and annual accounts are due. In a few clicks I can see my profit & loss account and my trial balance as well as spend in the different (customisable) categories. Really helps me keep on top of everything. The Android app is also great for reconciling payments and recording expenses on the move. The help files are fantastic, and the clear accounting descriptions and explanations make them a great resource for a small business even if you don't use the software.

Inconvénients :

Exporting information is a bit tricky in some areas - you can get a pdf out quite easily but an xls or csv would be more useful (you can export the entire company dataset as a csv, but not filtered individual elements such as unpaid expenses or balances within individual accounts). In some cases you can get round this by cutting and pasting, but it's a bit fiddly. Exporting all company data does not export attachments - so you need to keep a separate copy of scanned receipts etc outside FreeAgent. It is one of the more expensive cloud accounting software packages out there, but I have looked at a whole range and you can't beat the functionality, so that's what you are paying for I guess!

Easy To Use Cloud Accounting Software

Commentaires : Nice and easy to use, makes dreaded bookkeeping a breeze. Highly recommend for small businesses or sole traders - it would save you a lot of accountancy fee.

Avantages :

Having switched from Xero, which I used for a decade, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to use FreeAgent. I would say the user interface and functionality are more intuitive than Xero. The best thing is, the software is free if you have a business account with NatWest or Mettle.

Inconvénients :

It isn't able to split the actual income and fees when reconciling Stripe transactions. I use the DoubleAgent plug-in as a workaround.

Painful to use, Clunky and not great

Commentaires : Using the software was very awkward and restrictive. I lost confidence in it very early on.
My experience has been years of utter frustration.
Regular promises of fixes and upgrades never materialised over the last 3 years and despite sticking with it, and getting the software for free, I ended up having to opt for better software.
Customer services are quick to respond but they tend to misinterpret your issue. Their idea of helping is sending you a link to a long drawn out document that frustrates you even more than the original issue. Most of the issues can't be resolved by sympathetic customer support reps because they are hard-coded into the software as basic incapabilities.

Avantages :

It's a Scottish company, albeit taken over by an anti-Scottish UK bank. Customer services are relatively quick to respond but don't often understand or resolve your issue. They do send you a Monday motivator which is useful. It's now free if you bank with RBS/Nat West, but I'd rather not bank with either and even at £0 it's not worth it. I'd rather pay for a decent software and save the cost of hours of inefficiency and extra accountancy fees later.

Inconvénients :

It is very clunky and awkward to use. It is very expensive for what it is and definitely not even worth using for free. Several essential basic functions are missing and it is very restrictive/prescriptive forcing you to work their way or not at all. Customer services regularly have to fudge "workarounds" to fill the gaps in FreeAgent's basic functionality and often these "workarounds" make more mess than doing nothing, leaving you with more to pay your accountant to fix it. FreeAgent does several things in very unusual ways and then doesn't allow you to fix them. Payroll does post journals into your ledgers but even the best accountants can't make any sense of them. This software tries to be all things to small businesses giving tools that quite frankly are dangerous to unqualified accountants. It allows you to do your own VAT, Corporation Tax and Self Assessment wrongly, without any tax planning advice which could cost you tens of thousands of pounds in VAT/tax that isn't due, not to mention HMRC penalties etc. I know of several clients who have overpaid an absolute fortune and had seriously damaging run-ins with HMRC as a direct result of trying to DIY using this software. Buyer BEWARE!!!

Accounting Simple & Affordable

Commentaires : Great experience, would definitely recommend to small businesses and freelancers!

Avantages :

It's very user friendly. It's great for freelancers or small businesses that do a lot of their own bookkeeping and accounting. It simplifies things in a way to make it easy.

Inconvénients :

The simplified software is great for basic transactions, but sometimes it would be better to have more customisation. There are fixed categories of expenses, so you can't create a custom one.

Highly recommended

Avantages :

I got access to this software FREE of charge through banking with RBS. Having previously used Xero for our book-keeping, I found it had the same great functionality but a much slicker design. It's simplicity and ease of use is the best thing going for it.

Inconvénients :

Had some issues at the beginning with connecting our bank feeds but this was sorted out quickly by the team at FreeAgent - can't think of any real faults with the software.