Zoho vs Freshbooks vs PastelMyBusiness vs Any other suggestions

w1z4rd

w1z4rd

Karmic Sangoma
Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
49,747
Im looking at setting up another business in several months time. My current business runs on a specialized billing platform designed for the industry it is in so it is not ideal for what I want. It is a cloud based system and is worth every cent many times over. Since I get such great value using a cloud based solutions and I want to apply this to my new business. It is going to be a technology consulting company so I need to be able to do per hour billing.

Ideally I want something that can do quotes, invoices, client management and basic book keeping for my accountant. The top two seem to be Zoho and Freshbook. What is your experience with these platforms? Do you have any better suggestions? I like the payment gateway options in these systems to help automate payments.

Im also considering PastelMyBusiness. It looks like it integrates with our local banks.
 
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Crystal Web

Crystal Web representative
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May 24, 2014
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3,978
ghoti said:
Does it connect with South African banks for when clients pay via EFT?
Click to expand...

Yes, it does, and allows for standard imports into the system as well.

I've used Freshbooks (didn't appreciate it), PastelMyBusiness (heap of crap and full of bugs to the point that we couldn't balance anything because they cocked up, left us locked out of the system, and it sent incorrect information to customers), and I've trialled Zoho and it's an unpolished turd imo.

Xero is the best of the SaaS bunch, and it's only limiting feature for SMEs is automated receipts. SaaSa does automated receipts and works similarly to Xero, but doesn't integrate to the extent that we require.

The other limitation to consider is Xero's API request limitations. We've had to custom build our integrations to work within these limits.
 
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noob_saibot

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2014
Messages
280
ghoti said:
Im looking at setting up another business in several months time. My current business runs on a specialized billing platform designed for the industry it is in so it is not ideal for what I want. It is a cloud based system and is worth every cent many times over. Since I get such great value using a cloud based solutions and I want to apply this to my new business. It is going to be a technology consulting company so I need to be able to do per hour billing.

Ideally I want something that can do quotes, invoices, client management and basic book keeping for my accountant. The top two seem to be Zoho and Freshbook. What is your experience with these platforms? Do you have any better suggestions? I like the payment gateway options in these systems to help automate payments.

Im also considering PastelMyBusiness. It looks like it integrates with our local banks.
Click to expand...

Have you considered an open-source ERP?

Seems like you could customize a "light-weight" ERP to your exact needs.

Most require a decent learning-cuve though.
 
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cpbotha

Active Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2014
Messages
77
I just wanted to add my negative vote for Pastel MyBusinessOnline (now Sage One): I chose this because it seemed to be the cloud-based offering that was the most well-known in SA.

It has been THE most painful software experience ever. Their UI breaks just about every UX rule in the book (discoverability: 0, consistency with mental modal: 0, context-oblivious help: 0). After every single session of trying to do something, I lose an hour or two filled with WTFs. To add insult to injury, I've just discovered via support that they also don't support foreign currencies, so you can't send invoices to foreign clients (if you have them).

In short: Stay very very far away. Although I paid for a year's subscription starting in May, I am evaluating alternatives at the moment. I think carving my invoices into granite with my bare hands would probably already be an improvement. :)

(Offerings I'm looking at: Wave App, FreshBooks, FreeAgent, Xero -- I need SA VAT support, preferably accountant friendly, and support for invoicing foreign clients in their currency.)
 
Freshy-ZN

Freshy-ZN

Executive Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2005
Messages
5,730
I use Debitoor. I cant compare it to Xero but I find it very simple to use and the feature list is growing rapidly. Worth a looksee?
 
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Crystal Web

Crystal Web representative
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May 24, 2014
Messages
3,978
You need to consider the ability of many of these apps to do proper management accounts as well. Just FYI.
 
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