FreeAgent Central
FreeAgent Central is an online accounting package with a particular focus on servicing freelancers. The FreeAgent Central website has recently had a design makeover and, in our view, is looking much improved.
The design overhaul prompted me to have a nose around their online accounting offering. I like the fact that FreeAgent Central allows anyone to log in and preview the system, it is a capability we offer too: Try the Clear Books demo. I would encourage all online systems, accounting or otherwise, to let potential users easily trial their demos.
Accounting Features
From an accounting perspective the first thing I noticed about FreeAgent Central is that there appears to be no Cash Flow statement (I stand to be corrected). The Cash Flow statement is, in my opinion, the most important financial statement. Whereas the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet are impacted by accounting rules and peculiarities, the cash flow statement tells no lies. The cash flow shows money coming into the business and money going out. As the saying goes, cash is king. Small businesses should review their cash flow on a monthly basis to understand the performance and position of the business in cash terms. With Clear Books, you can do this!
At the time of writing, the FreeAgent Central Limited Company demo appears to have an issue with its trial balance. The Debits and Credits do not appear to equate, a discrepancy which the guys at FreeAgent Central should take a look at especially with their showcase demo. Whether it is a presentation issue, or a minor bug, a trial balance that does not balance gives the impression that there is an issue with the underlying account balancing system.
Double entry bookkeeping is the cornerstone of the Clear Books accounting system. As a Chartered Accountant, my first priority for Clear Books was a system that would always process transactions with equal and opposite debits and credits to ensure that our trial balance would always net off to zero and hence ensure the accuracy of the core ledger.
Accounting Software Prices
On the face of it, FreeAgent Central’s limited company package is one of the most expensive online accounting products on the market. Imbercal packages range from £100 to £200, KashFlow is a flat £192. After a recent price cut, Xero comes in at £189 while WinWeb has one offering at £119 and a premium at £249. FreeAgent Central tops the lot at £300 for its Limited Company product although its cheapest UK sole trader product is £180. [edit It has been pointed out that the corporation tax and income tax features bundled into the system permit FreeAgent Central to charge a premium over rivals].
FreeAgent Features
FreeAgent Central has a number of features that are on an extensive Clear Books ‘to do’ list. We are aiming to roll these out before our official launch (Clear Books is currently in beta). In the meantime we have yet to develop the following features which FreeAgent do currently provide.
- Export data
- Import contacts
- Time tracking
- Payroll and income tax
- Corporation tax
- Expenses
Website FreeAgent Central
Thanks Tim, I found it intersting to read your analysis of FreeAgent, and best of luck to your Beta Testing programme. I was intersted in your pricing analysis as I think that you could mention that FeeAgent works with some Accountants, like us, who “bundle” FeeAgent with a complete accountancy service, our service is just £65 + VAT per month inlcuisve of FreeAgent. Clients can also get 10% discount from other refferal partners like the PCG and EnterpriseNation.
Accountants working as KashFlow Partners Programme may also be able to do a bundle, but i do not know about Xero or WinWeb.
Will you be planning to work with accountants so that a bundled price can be offerred ?
PS sorry about the spelling ! I clicked submit in a hurry before checking
Your price comparison is a ‘little’ off base, to say the least.
You are comparing WinWeb’s OnlineOffice with accounting programs, you even compare our OnlineOffice Pro. You have not understood what OnlineOffice is, please visit our price guarantee page at: http://www.winweb.com/onlineoffice/low-price-guarantee
Please add website, hosting, email, calender, address book, document management, 10GB data storage and backup, two accounting software modules, invoicing and much more – then you can compare to what WinWeb’s OnlineOffice is, not to mention 24/7 live support.
I would appreciate if you could correct your post accordingly.
Phil, we will be offering a discount to accountants to bundle Clear Books into their accountancy service. Send me an email http://www.clearbooks.co.uk/static/contact-us/ and I will keep you posted.
Stefan, you have added them yourself
The price comparison is exactly that: A comparison of prices of systems that offer online accounting to show that at face value, FreeAgent’s top package is more than the competition. This post about FreeAgent Central would get overrun if I listed all the different features of every online accounting system
Feel free to add further comments about WinWeb’s features if you like.