FreshBooks has an arsenal of features: payment integration with 14 major (and some minor) payment gateways, integration with Basecamp, recurring billing, add your own expenses like food and electrical to see your cost/revenue ratio, and much more.

Customization of your FreshBooks account is almost limitless. You can easily customize your administrator backend, create your own login page, change the colors, logos, etc. on Invoices and timesheets.

They have a customer base of over 400,000 and they saw they’re steadily growing. Reviews from PC World to CNet praises their business approach and customer relationships, turning customers into true fans.

After trying out a free account to write this review, I am strongly considering using FreshBooks for my brother’s and my own business needs. Pricing is very reasonable, but even the free account may be sufficient for your needs. I recommend giving FreshBooks a shot. Sign up for a free account. You’ve got nothing to lose.

Using Collabtive, you have your personal project management app on your own server. You can brand it with your company, track your time spent on each project, set milestones, manage files and submit and process tasks.

Collabtive does not flaunt it’s multiple features on its homepage and I’m not sure why. Only after using and working with the demo do you really start to find a bunch of feature gems. Some of these features includethe ability to attach files to your messages that may be displayed by anyone assigned to that project.

Each project gets its own page, and you can assign employees and clients to individual or multiple projects. A great feature of the project milestone page is a simple calendar where you and your client can clearly see the progress your making on the project.

The only downside is, unlike CollabTrak, there is no way the client can pay through your project page.

With it’s powerful features and decievingly simple interface, Collabtive may well replace your traditional “email-only” contact between the client and you. It’s a great way as a freelancer to give your client their own login information and one-stop check to see how their project is coming.

You can upload and share files, create tags, set deadlines, add notes, time tracking, email reminders, built-in calendar, *takes deep breath* goals, priorities, history, and even more.

ToodleDo’s sign up is quick and simple. After sign up, you can immediately start creating your own to-do list and start sharing it with other freelancers or employees. Its slick Ajax edit-in-place feature allows you to edit task details, add notes, change priorities, and more, all without reloading the page.

ToodleDo is a great online to-do list for the ADD web addict.

Create custom fields for the projects and users. What this means is you can create custom package categories based on what your client is requesting (ie. Website Design, Web Development, Application Development, Consulting, etc.). Additionally, you can create multiple administrators that are able to edit and add to projects currently created.

With CollabTRAK, administrators create their client’s username and password. After that client is created, the administrator creates a project and assigns it to that client. All the while, the client is able to login and view their project(s).

Clients and administrators can add notes to each project and join a Live Chat. Both clients and administrators can upload and share files. After any changes are made, you can request an email be sent to let everyone know.

CollabTRAK’s probably most impressive feature is its Paypal/Credit Card payment integration. Once logged in your client can pay their balance simply and securely through Paypal.

If you want to do even more with your account you have two choices: Professional ($10/month) and Download ($50/one time). Professional gives you the ability to brand your page. And Download lets you download and edit the source code

CollabTRAK is the perfect blend Customer Care and Project Management. Perfect for any developer/designer freelancer/team with multiple clients.

The deceivingly simple to install and maintain web application named Simple Customer allows you to have an unlimited number of contacts. Add their address (which can be viewed in Google Maps), email, phone number, and even additional contact information in case they are unavailable using the first set of contact information.

Along with storing all your customers and contacts in one place, Simple Customer allows you to add and attach notes to any contact. This would be useful for summarizing conversations, tracking progress on a project, questions to ask the next time you speak, or any other additional information.

Simple Customer may be that online rolodex that you were (or maybe you weren’t?) looking for. If the only way you keep track of your contacts is through the use of sticky notes, the back of receipts, or through searching past emails, then I would strongly recommend giving Simple Customer a try.

Curdbee is one of the few free invoicing applications that allows you to create custom invoices to send to clients via email that also allows for PayPal integration (Also includes Google Checkout integration). Send an invoice to anyone in the world using multiply currency compatibility. Have packages/items you find yourself constantly invoicing for? Create preset “items” that will automatically fill in the Quantity, Description, and Price fields with the click of a button. The very simple and sleek admin interface makes it a breeze to navigate through.

Although invoicing reports is currently not a feature, I am seriously considering using Curdbee for all my freelancing projects.

In conclusion, Curdbee is a must have for any frugal, busy-bee freelancer to manage and send invoices to clients.