One of the most common questions that pop up in The Freelance Lifestylers Facebook group, is ‘what accounting software should I use?’
Especially this time of year, when people are keen to start better financial habits so they’re not panicking about their self-assessment again this time next year!
Thankfully we’re surrounded by options, one being Sage. Accounting software used to be clunky and offline, but the new generation of cloud-based accounting softwares are intuitive, easy to use and make the whole accounting side of freelance life a little easier!
I gave their Sage Business Cloud Accounting a trial, to help you see if it’s right for you!
First impressions of Sage Business
Cloud Accounting
◦ There was a 30 Day free trial, so it was easy to setup and get started straight away.
◦ There’s a great startup page on the website which takes you through each of the setup changes. There’s also a quick start bit at the bottom, and a comprehensive help section (including an AI assistant for common questions)
◦ There’s also an app, an important factor in choosing accounting software (I really hate dealing with ‘mobile-responsive’ websites that are anything but).
General overview
Invoices are easy to set up, especially on the app. I like that there’s a Terms & Conditions section built in, as well as the notes (regular readers will know how much I urge freelancers to issue new clients with T&Cs). There’s also an automated section for adding in products or services, so you can quickly add in a product or service (e.g. ‘one blog post’ or ‘one month of Facebook management’). Finally, you can enable foreign currency transactions, which is really handy if you have overseas clients. All good on the invoicing front.
Another important factor when choosing accounting software, is to check whether it offers bank connection. It saves SO much time when you can see all the incomings and outgoings of your business within your accounting software, matching up expenses with receipts, and money in with invoices. Connecting your account is really easy, and they have a wide range of banks to choose from.
On the expenses front, it’s nice and easy to upload and assign expenses to clients, and to the correct category. It took me just a minute to do a couple of them.
Is Sage for me?
Sage is definitely the option for those that want to take their business seriously, rather than for side hustles. It’s also ideal for those who are making the move from freelancer to business owner with more team members.
There are certain elements the average freelancer won’t use. Departments for instance, and for many freelancers VAT is something that isn’t needed (but hey, handy to have for the future). It needs to cover the bases as it’s for 1-25 employees. One handy thing to note is that you can use it for multiple businesses, great for the multipotentialites out there!
Pricing
Sage is running a special offer at the moment, where the first three months are £13.20 a month (+VAT), which then goes up to £22 a month (+VAT). As with any accounting services, I would suggest using the 30 day trials to have a really good try out.
Sage have kindly sponsored this post, and this post contains affiliate links