How to switch from QuickBooks to FreshBooks

Why service businesses switch from QuickBooks to FreshBooks

Most people who switch from QuickBooks to FreshBooks are freelancers, consultants, or small agencies who never needed QuickBooks' inventory and payroll depth in the first place. They want fast invoicing, mileage tracking, and a bill that scales with client count instead of user seats. FreshBooks starts at $23 a month for 5 billable clients, against QuickBooks' cheapest paid tier at $20 a month for a single user with far less invoicing built in. The move makes sense for service businesses. It's the wrong move if you rely on inventory tracking, multi-currency, or a bookkeeper who only knows QuickBooks.

The cost delta: QuickBooks vs FreshBooks pricing

Here's how the two line up plan by plan, using each vendor's published pricing.

The columns aren't a straight like-for-like because the two vendors charge on different axes. QuickBooks gates you by user seat: Simple Start is stuck at 1 user no matter how many clients you bill. FreshBooks gates you by billable client count instead, and every plan except Select ships with only 1 user, so a team costs extra on top ($11 a month per added teammate).

That split decides who saves money. A solo consultant billing 8 clients pays $38 a month on QuickBooks Simple Start but only $43 on FreshBooks Plus, roughly a wash. A 3-person shop billing 15 clients pays $75 on QuickBooks Essentials, and on FreshBooks would need Plus at $43 plus two extra team seats at $11 each, landing at $65. The savings show up for solo operators and small teams with a short client list. They shrink or disappear once you add several teammates, since FreshBooks' per-seat add-on eats into the lower base price. Note that QuickBooks Essentials, Plus, and Advanced list prices are also rising on August 1, 2026, to $85, $140, and $340 a month, which widens the gap in FreshBooks' favor for anyone comparing quotes after that date.

Paying FreshBooks annually knocks another 10% off any tier, and FreshBooks is currently running a rotating promotion of 90% off for the first 6 months on Lite, Plus, and Premium, on top of the annual discount. Confirm your own quote on both vendors' pricing pages before you commit, since promotions like that one change without notice.

What actually transfers from QuickBooks

FreshBooks moves QuickBooks data through a free migration service called Easy Switch, run with its partner MMC Convert. It transfers client details, expenses, and invoices, and FreshBooks says it can carry over more beyond that list. Easy Switch is included at no extra cost on some plans and discounted on others; you get exact pricing for your case through FreshBooks' Select plan contact page.

Outside of Easy Switch, FreshBooks also takes direct CSV imports for clients, expenses, items, vendors, and bank reconciliation transactions. Other income and tax data can be imported too, but you submit those files to FreshBooks support directly rather than uploading them yourself.

What this means in practice: your client list, open invoices, and expense history are the easy part of a switch from QuickBooks to FreshBooks. Anything tied to QuickBooks-specific structure, like inventory records, project profitability history, or payroll data, doesn't have a stated import path and likely needs manual rebuilding or a bookkeeper's help.

What accounting depth you give up

FreshBooks is built for invoicing first and bookkeeping second. QuickBooks is built the other way around, and the gap shows up in a few places:

• Inventory tracking. QuickBooks offers it starting on Plus ($115/month). FreshBooks has no inventory module at any tier.
• Multi-currency. QuickBooks includes it from Essentials ($75/month) up. FreshBooks doesn't list multi-currency invoicing among its plan features.
• Double-entry accounting reports. QuickBooks includes full double-entry from its cheapest paid tier, Simple Start ($38/month). FreshBooks only unlocks double-entry reports and bank reconciliation starting on Plus ($43/month); Lite skips it entirely.
• Payroll. Both vendors sell it, but as a separate add-on charged on top of any plan, on QuickBooks and on FreshBooks alike.
• Project profitability. QuickBooks includes it on Plus. FreshBooks includes a comparable feature only on Premium ($70/month) and above.

If your books need any of the above at the entry-level price, moving to FreshBooks Lite or Plus means paying more to add it back, or going without.

What your accountant loses when you leave QuickBooks

Cost and features aside, there's a people problem worth naming. Most US bookkeepers and accountants already work in QuickBooks day to day, and that familiarity is real value: fewer questions, a faster year-end close, less back-and-forth explaining where a number came from. FreshBooks' own numbers are thinner here. Its double-entry reports only start on Plus, and reviewers note that FreshBooks support outside the top Select tier has gotten slower and more scripted over time. If your accountant is doing anything more than reading your books once a quarter, ask them directly whether they're comfortable working in FreshBooks before you commit to the FreshBooks pricing that looks cheapest on paper.

Who should switch, and who should stay on QuickBooks

Switch from QuickBooks to FreshBooks if you're a freelancer or small service business invoicing a client list under 50, you don't carry inventory, and you bill in a single currency. FreshBooks' mileage tracking on every tier and its 30-day trial with no credit card make it low-risk to run in parallel with your current QuickBooks account before you commit to anything.

Stay on QuickBooks if your bookkeeper already works in it, you need inventory or multi-currency support, or your team has grown past what FreshBooks' per-seat add-on makes affordable. A 10-person shop billing dozens of clients will likely pay more on FreshBooks once you tally the extra seats, even with the lower base price. If neither vendor fits once you've weighed it against your actual client count and team size, our ranked QuickBooks alternatives guide covers the rest of the field, including Xero for unlimited-user pricing and Zoho Books for a genuine free tier under $50,000 in revenue.

How to make the switch without losing a month of billing

Run FreshBooks and QuickBooks side by side for one full billing cycle before you cancel anything. Start the FreshBooks trial, run your Easy Switch or CSV import, and check that your open invoices and client balances match what QuickBooks shows before you send a single new invoice out of FreshBooks.

Keep both accounts active through your next tax deadline or accountant handoff, whichever comes first. Export a final set of QuickBooks reports, including profit and loss, balance sheet, and any inventory or project reports FreshBooks won't carry over, before you cancel, since those won't move with Easy Switch or the CSV imports. Cancel QuickBooks only after that cycle closes clean, your books tie out, and your accountant has confirmed they can work with what landed in FreshBooks.