Becoming self-employed or running your own business can be exciting, stimulating, and creative. The associated admin? Not so much. All the unavoidable extra paperwork and accounting can really suck the joy out of your day: chasing invoices, and keeping track of expenses, payroll and tax. It’s a lot to keep on top of, and that’s where egg partner FreeAgent can help.
For small businesses and freelancers, FreeAgent is all the accounting assistance you need, combining cutting-edge bookkeeping and accounting software in an easy to use app, with a stress-busting human helpline.
With FreeAgent you can send invoices and payment reminders, and enable your customers to pay quickly with online payments. You can use the app to get an up to date view of your cash flow and tax liabilities, easily keep track of expenses and mileage, and even use it for payroll.
It's easy to get started: FreeAgent runs bi-weekly webinars, and provides step-by-step guides and videos for every app function, you can take it all at your own pace. There’s also a team of friendly, UK-based support accountants on hand to help if you get stuck: through live chat, email or over the phone.
There won’t be any end of year tax scaries with FreeAgent either. Through FreeAgent you can auto-fill parts of your tax return, check everything is correct and then file directly to HMRC. You can do the same for VAT returns and end of year accounts.
We asked four good eggs why they use FreeAgent and how it benefits their businesses.
Antionette Fionda, co-founder of our sustainable slow fashion favourite Beira finds that FreeAgent helps her feel in control of her finances.
“As a start up business FreeAgent has been absolutely critical. Prior to FreeAgent I really struggled keeping on top of everything and probably made life much harder for my accountant too. FreeAgent makes me feel more in control of my business and cash flow. It is so easy to use and the helpline is brilliant. I highly recommend it to every female founder I meet. FreeAgent takes the stress out of the admin. To me that is invaluable.”
Kylie Reid, our head egg explains how FreeAgent has become increasingly useful to her as her business grows.
“I started using FreeAgent about a year into my business, I knew their head office was in Edinburgh which was a big plus point for me. I'd previously been sending home-crafted invoices that just didn't look professional at all, in fact I came across one the other day and cringed! Sending professional looking invoices was the first big tick for FreeAgent, but I've uncovered so many more in the last 5 years. Accounts can be scary, if you don't know what's coming in and out, which tax bills are due and when, it can all feel really overwhelming. I can now, at a glance, see what's happening with money in and money out, and I can categorise all these transactions really easily. The app is amazing and has a To Do List at the top, reminding me to chase invoices. It shows cashflow, profit, all the top line information is there. FreeAgent has been a game changer for me, I couldn't recommend it highly enough, and it's free if you have a Royal Bank of Scotland business account too!”
Egg community member and marketing consultant Nicole Blyth heard about FreeAgent on a small business accelerator programme. She says FreeAgent enables her to make better business decisions and finds the VAT tax return features the most helpful.
“When I started freelancing, I used FreeAgent to help manage my accounting. I got this for free through my Royal Bank of Scotland business account and set it up myself.
As someone who hates admin and generally procrastinates doing accounts due to fear of getting it wrong, FreeAgent made it very easy to set up and keep on track. I especially liked how it synced up to my account and HMRC so making filing VAT and tax returns so easy. The first time I thought, ‘Is that all?’ ‘What was all the fuss I built up in my head for?’ The weight off your mind when it’s done certainly is a relief!
I think it’s especially important for women to not fear financial things and not keep your head in the sand, or hand everything over to an accountant. Understanding and taking control over your finances can really help you make better decisions for your business and future. If I can do it I’m sure anyone can too!”
Sarah Malone runs K3UK Coaching offering a range of holistic services including life coaching. She loves how easy tracking expenses is with FreeAgent, and also uses FreeAgent for her payroll.
“We’ve used FreeAgent since the beginning as it was important to us to make sure we did things professionally from the start. K3Uk uses FreeAgent as the main accounts system, utilising all the HMRC recognised services. It makes accounts so much more streamlined, the invoicing system and receipts for expenses are so easy to be able to just snap and upload on the go, which means no weekly sit downs and taking up valuable time uploading everything. This service alone has made keeping the accounts up to date easy, which makes things so much easier at the end of the tax year. The payslip system within FreeAgent has been a complete blessing too, within a couple of clicks the payslips are ready to go through to HMRC and the employees. The P&L (profit and loss) tables have been great to ensure we are hitting targets month on month and generating growth in the most sustainable way. Without this software, I dread to think how or where the business would be!”
The more you use FreeAgent, the more benefits you’ll discover: you can access business insights, manage projects and even use it to keep track of your time. Customers love the helpline support that FreeAgent offers, there’s a good reason the company was voted Friendliest Software of the Year at the ICB’s 2022 LUCA Awards (the Oscars of the bookkeeping world).
If FreeAgent sounds like the answer to all your problems, then there’s very good news.
All egg members can now benefit from a free 30 day trial, 50% off your first six months and 10% off for life- an incredible deal! If you sign up, we’d love to hear how our brilliant new partner helps your business grow and thrive.
Freeagent are a strategic paying partner of egg and as such we create content for them.