New FreshBooks mobile app enables on-the-go accounting

FreshBooks launched an iPhone app today so businesses can balance their books on the go.

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The announcement states that the app adds the “any time, anywhere ability to create invoices, record expenses and track time on projects.” My initial reaction was “why would you want to?” However, upon a deeper examination, I realized that rather than encouraging workaholism, it in fact is a tool to keep work at a manageable level.

For both employees and administrators, it’s easy to let accounting materials stack up into a daunting pile of paperwork or a stuffed inbox. The new mobile version enables professionals to create invoices, document expenses, collaborate on time sheets, and organize expenses and process payments as they happen. This can prevent backlog and a miserable end-of-month spent catching up.

With the app, freelancers can continuously update their hours and business travelers can file expense reports from the back of a cab or after a client dinner. Business owners and accountants can process things whenever it is convenient, as opposed to only in the office.

All the data is stored and secure and can be integrated with over 70 partners, like Zendesk and Google Apps. While third-party developers have used its API to make FreshBooks mobile compatible in the past, this is the first app developed and designed in-house.

Since its founding in 2004, the company has provided cloud accounting services to over 5 million users worldwide. It is one of the most popular online bookkeeping products on the market, primarily competing with Intuit’s QuickBooks Online. FreshBooks is based in Toronto.