Software as a Network

How FreshBooks connected one fifth of customers through Software as a Network

July 1, 2009 – Toronto, Ontario – Today, just months after announcing the launch of their “Software as a Network” model, FreshBooks, the leader in online invoicing, revealed that nearly one out of five customers are now “connected”. Their network model enables small business owners to send and receive invoices with each other through their own FreshBooks accounts – and their customers are connecting in droves.

FreshBooks customers who were using the friendly and professional service to invoice clients, are now also enjoying the simple convenience of sending and receiving invoices with each other. Previously, these small business owners would have to juggle and manage incoming invoices from their contractor partners in different formats (word, excel, email, pdf). Now, they are inviting all their key contractors to send them estimates and invoices with FreshBooks so they can receive everything in one place and in one format. The time savings and convenience are enormous.

This is particularly true for businesses that rely heavily on a large contractor network to get work done. The ability to see a contractor’s logged hours in their account, as well as the ability to receive and view all their timesheets, invoices, expenses and estimates in one place, is a major victory. Additionally, businesses have instant visibility into their network as far as who’s worked on what and access to consolidated reporting on all their contractors – another time saving and value added benefit.

“We took a risk by investing in the technology to connect our customers and the response has us all feeling pretty good about it right now. The astonishing thing is, the vast majority of FreshBooks users signed up when we did not offer this networking capability, yet one in five are now using it. We're really excited to see our customers connect like this and enjoy the added conveniences of being able to work with each other, and their clients, on one platform. Small businesses work as a network and therefore they need to be served as a network,” says Mike McDerment, CEO of FreshBooks.

On top of the added convenience and organization, FreshBooks customers now also have an entirely new level of visibility into their cash flow. The FreshBooks dashboard gives them an instant view of what’s come in, and what’s going out while more detailed information can be accessed quickly through the FreshBooks reporting capabilities.

“[FreshBooks’ invoicing network is] brilliant, freakin’ brilliant! We’re growing and hiring lots of freelancers and we never get push back from someone when we recommend this tool - they all seem to think it’s great,” says Matthew Dunn, “Chief Explainer” of video creation company Say It Visually. “We get one place to actually manage our projects and contractors, and we have a consistent mechanism to go from contractor estimate to invoicing our customers. Thanks [FreshBooks] for making my life easy.”

A slice of the FreshBooks Online Invoicing Network shows how much small businesses rely on outside contractors

FreshBooks is regarded as an innovator in SaaS thanks to their Report Card and Benchmarking Service and their Software as a Network (SaaN) approach to servicing small businesses. With their new SaaN model they are now encouraging other SaaS providers to think about how they might view their audience as a network. “Ultimately software is designed for people, and people live and work within networks. Software needs to be designed with this in mind and it’s high time software vendors wake up to this fact” according to McDerment.

For more on the Contractor feature, please go to www.FreshBooks.com.

Enter the code "SAAN" in the Discount Code box when upgrading to any paid account and your first $20 of service is on us!
Offer is valid until July 31, 2009

Screenshots

Invite contractors. Add contractors to your account so they can track time on your projects.

Manage Timesheets. Keep track of hours logged to your projects by your contractors and staffs.

Consolidate Invoices. Invoices sent to you from other FreshBooks accounts appear in your account.

Invite contractors. Add contractors to your account so they can track time on your projects.

Manage Timesheets. Keep track of hours logged to your projects by your contractors and staffs.

Consolidate Invoices. Invoices sent to you from other FreshBooks accounts appear in your account.

In The News

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Brian Solis
FutureWorks
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brian@future-works.com

We are building an invoicing network. What network are you building?"

-- Mike McDerment, CEO, FreshBooks (transcript)

"We are building an invoicing network. What network are you building?"

I am Mike McDerment, the CEO and co-founder of FreshBooks, the leading online invoicing service. Today I am here to tell you about how Software-as-a-Service is flawed in its design.

The way SaaS applications are built today is they are designed in silos. So you have your account over here and you invite me into it. I have my account over here and I invite you in. That's not really the way people work when you're trying to get things done in a group. And often it's pretty hard to draw these clear lines between your account and my account.

So before I tell you the solution to this problem I am going to tell you a bit of story of some things we have learnt over the years. FreshBooks helps professionals--who get paid for their time and expertise--invoice. For years now we have been taking customers out for dinner. Whenever we do, we'll have 20 of them at a table, and they'll start exchanging business cards in no time. Why is that? It's because people don't work alone. They work with other people to get things done.

Today we are announcing that FreshBooks accounts can actually talk to each other. We call this Software as a Network. And I'll tell you a little of how its design is relevant to anyone else who is building a software application today.

Basically what we are endeavouring to build is the world's largest invoicing network. We have designed our software to change context based on what's happening. So if we are both contractors, you can invoice me, I can receive that in my account, I can pass that onto my client. You will never see my client's details. I can rebill your rate and you're not going to see how I did that or what rate I rebilled you at. You're not going to be privy to my client information. If I invite you to join a project and track time on it, I can keep track of your hours. But again, you don't get access to my privileged client information.

That is an experience that reflects the real world relationship I have. It's not forced upon me by how my software is designed, where you need to come into my account to work for my client. You can stay in your own account.

We are building an invoicing network. The question I put out to other software vendors building SaaS applications is, "What kind of network are you building?" We believe this is the fundamental consideration when you're building a SaaS application.

If you want to learn more about how FreshBooks is building an online invoicing network go to FreshBooks.com. If you want to learn more about Software as a Network, go to SoftwareAsANetwork.com.

Thanks very much.

- Mike McDerment, CEO, FreshBooks

May 7, 2009 – Toronto, Canada – Today, online invoicing leader FreshBooks lifted the covers on its new Contractor platform. Doing so, introduces a radical change from a Software as a Service (SaaS) model to Software as a Network (SaaN).

Since 2004, FreshBooks has helped professionals and small businesses better serve their clients with an online solution to create and manage timely and professional invoices. Instead of just servicing small business customers, FreshBooks now also connects their network of supporting contractors.

When FreshBooks recognizes one FreshBooks user invoicing another, the network asks permission to connect the two accounts. Users can also manually create networks as new projects are forming. Receiving invoices from your contractors in FreshBooks makes it easier and efficient to track projects, hours and neatly re-bill clients. FreshBooks users can even share projects across their contractor network so each person on the project can work from within their respective FreshBooks account. Client details are never shared, and each business can keep track of their own hours.

As Mike McDerment, CEO of FreshBooks, puts it, SaaN is one step beyond a social network. "Small businesses are familiar with social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to communicate with peers and customers and also generate new business. However, FreshBooks is not a social network, it is your invoicing network. The missing piece of SaaS is the recognition of businesses as networks comprised of suppliers and contractors."

Most SaaS applications are designed as silos, not the way businesses work. Each business has their own separate account, even though businesses frequently rely on contractors and vendors to get the job done. Working together means inviting your contractor or vendor into your own business account, exposing your sensitive client information and business practices. Conversely, your vendors and contractors have to track their work both in your account and their own. FreshBooks' new SaaN model better reflects the real world relationships between businesses. Accounts seamlessly link together to form networks that naturally expand and contract to fit the projects at hand.

FreshBooks' New Contractor Platform

FreshBooks adds powerful features to manage your contractors.

FreshBooks users, who have enjoyed years of "painless billing" for their clients, can now network with other contractors that they may need to complete projects, even if they are not an existing FreshBooks user. Through their own FreshBooks accounts, FreshBooks users can now seamlessly track contractor's time on projects and receive all their contractor invoices in one place, then easy re-bill those hours to their clients.

For more on the Contractor feature, please go to www.FreshBooks.com.

Enter the code "SAAN" in the Discount Code box when upgrading to any paid account and your first $20 of service is on us!
Offer is valid until July 31, 2009