Affiliate Marketing Blog from UK Offer MediaWelcome to Kieron’s blog - the life and times of an Internet Marketeer

FreeAgent Central Rocks! Accounting software for small businesses

I never thought in a million years that I would be writing a blog post about accountancy software, possibly the most dull subject ever. But here I am on a Sunday afternoon feeling compelled to put pen to paper to tell the world (well my blog readers at least) about an awesome bit of online accountancy software called FreeAgent Central. Disclaimer: that is a big fat affiliate link, however I have not been asked or paid to write this article or compensated in any way. The affiliate link is there purely because I have to pay the bills Nonetheless even if there wasn’t an affiliate programme available I would still be writing about this brilliant piece of kit.

I found FreeAgent Central a couple of weeks ago when it was the monthly invoice run at Content Now. Typically I hate this time of the month, as it literally takes me around 2 days to create, record and send out the monthly invoices to all Content Now clients. Not because we have a ton of clients but rather because I created all the invoices “by hand”, in other words via a Microsoft Word document. Which I would create for each client then also update a master spreadsheet that we keep that records all invoices and who has paid, cashflow etc etc. In other words it was very old school and a bit long winded. I needed a new system. So I did what any self respecting geek would do and I used the power of crowdsourcing to get my answer. I sent a quick Tweet out asking the Twitteratti if they could recommend any online accountancy software packages that would help make the process less painful. My Twitter posse didn’t let me down and I got loads of recommendations, but the one that seemed to be the most popular was FreeAgent Central. So I popped over to the site, took a look around, was very impressed and signed up to a free 30 day trial. I’ve not looked back since.

I’m a big fan of lists so I thought the best way to put across how cool the software is, is to simply list them as they come into my head. Here you go…

Cloud Based: Previously I created all my invoices in MS Word which means they were stored on my desktop PC. If I ever needed to access them or create new invoices when I was away from my desk then I simply couldn’t. As FreeAgent Central is online I can access it anywhere. Not only that, but my business partner has access also which means he can instantly get a snapshot of the business at any time without having to ask me.

Ease of Use: The interface is so clean and easy to navigate that it makes using it a pleasure. I’m going to sound like an uber geek here but I actually look forward to creatuing invoices or inputting new contacts etc. as it’s just so easy to use and looks so good.

Invoice Templates: There are a range of professionally designed invoice templates for you to use so the end result is your invoices look so much more professional than the old ones I did on MS Word. I’m very proud of our new invoices

It does so much! I admit that I use it primarily for invoice creation. However it does so much more than that. It can work out VAT, Tax, profit and loss and also tell you when all of the above are due to be submitted to the relevant authorities. I know a few freelancers who use it because you can set up projects, allocate and cost time to them and all sorts of really clever stuff. There is also an API for all you clever integration geeks. I think for a lot of small to medium businesses FreeAgent Central will negate the need for an accountant.

Customer service: I’ve found myself stuck a couple of times and have had to use the online ticketing system to ask a couple of questions. Refreshingly, on both occasions I got a response from a named customer service agent within 30 minutes and best or all THEY DIDN’T USE TEMPLATED ANSWERS! They spoke to me like a real person would, imagine that! Customer services people of the world take note. This is good. There is also a huge knowledge base, FAQ and a ton of how-to videos, these guys have got it right on the support front.

It doesn’t cost the earth: The prices start at £15 a month for a sole trader going up to £25 a month for a Limited company. I can’t fault that pricing structure at all, well worth it.

They are UK based: Edinburgh to be precise. Unlike other accountancy services which are based in the US and use dollars and clunky conversions, FreeAgent operates in good old pounds sterling.

I’m sure there are a load of other benefits to the service, after all I’ve only been using it for a couple of weeks and have just scratched the service as to what it can do. For affiliates, agencies and anyone who is self employed though I can’t recommend FreeAgent Central enough.

What I’m listening to right now: Usher - “Ooh Gosh”

Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Blogging, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.