FreeAgent has a lot of features. Freelancers use about five of them constantly — and those five are the difference between accounting being a low-grade dread and a non-event. Here are the ones that earn their keep.

1. Invoicing with automatic chasing

Create a professional invoice in a minute, add a pay link, and let FreeAgent send polite reminders automatically before and after the due date. For a freelancer, this is the feature that quietly gets you paid without the awkward follow-up emails — see our post on getting paid.

2. Bank feeds that categorise themselves

Connect your account (a free Mettle account feeds it natively) and transactions arrive already sorted into sensible categories that FreeAgent learns over time. What used to be an evening of data entry becomes a few minutes of tapping "approve".

3. The tax timeline

Arguably the best thing about it for the self-employed: a running estimate of what you'll owe and when — Self Assessment, payments on account, VAT if registered — laid out on a timeline. No more January guessing, no more being ambushed by payments on account. You watch the number build and keep the money aside as you go.

4. Expenses from your pocket

Snap a receipt on your phone and it's filed against an expense — mileage, home office, subscriptions, kit. This is where freelancers stop leaking legitimate claims (which, as our expenses guide shows, adds up to real tax saved). Capture-at-source beats memory every time.

5. Making Tax Digital, built in

FreeAgent keeps the digital records MTD requires as a by-product of normal use, and files VAT returns and the quarterly Income Tax updates that MTD now demands of higher-earning freelancers. The compliance happens in the background.

Why it's included

FreeAgent was literally built for freelancers before it was built for anyone else — which is why it fits the self-employed so well. It normally costs up to £330 a year; it's included free in every one of our packages, set up for you, with a named accountant checking the numbers and answering "quick questions" on WhatsApp. The software does the admin; we catch what it can't. Get started.