Most self-employed accounting software waits to be told what you earned. ColibriOS is where you earn it: every booking, ticket, course and membership lands in your books the day it is paid, the bank feed sorts itself, receipts are read for you, and year end is a Schedule C report you download. Bookkeeping is included in ColibriOS Pro.
Whatever you choose, these are the things that decide whether the software carries the work or you do. Every one of them is part of ColibriOS Pro.
| Look for | Why it matters | In ColibriOS |
|---|---|---|
| Income recorded at the sale, not re-entered | Re-typing platform payouts into an accounting app is where the books fall behind. | Included |
| Invoices, estimates and recurring invoices | Getting paid should not need a second subscription, and reminders should send themselves. | Included |
| Bank feeds that arrive pre-categorized | A feed you still sort by hand every week is a chore with extra steps. | Included |
| Receipt capture that does the reading for you | The proof your accountant wants should attach itself to the expense. | Included |
| Mileage at the official IRS rate | For anyone who drives to clients or venues, mileage only counts if it is logged. | Included |
| Schedule C and quarterly estimated-tax reminders | Self-employed taxes are quarterly; the card keeps the dates in front of you. | Included |
| Personal books, budgets and net worth | A sole proprietor does not stop being a household; the whole picture matters. | Included |
| A read-only accountant seat and a year-end pack | At tax time, your income and expenses are one report to hand over. | Included |
Invoicing is where most accounting software for freelancers starts, so ColibriOS starts there too: send invoices, estimates and recurring invoices, automate payment reminders on your schedule, and accept online payments by card, Zelle, Venmo or cash on a pay page of your own. Payment processing runs through your own Stripe account at their standard rates; ColibriOS adds nothing per transaction. The difference is what happens before the invoice. The discovery call, the retreat deposit, the workshop ticket, the course and the membership renewal are all sold inside ColibriOS, so each payment lands in your books with the client, the offer and the gathering already attached, the moment the processor confirms it. Nothing to re-enter, nothing to reconcile against a platform report at the end of the month.
Connect your business bank account and transactions arrive already sorted: your own merchant rules first, then the bank's category, then your correction, which becomes a rule. Deposits match themselves to invoices and payments, so reconciliation is a one-click confirm instead of an evening. Snap a receipt on your phone, no separate mobile app needed, and Colibri reads the vendor, date, total and tax, offers the expense pre-filled, and keeps it attached to the expense and the bank line it belongs to. A single charge can be split across categories or between the business and you. Statements import as CSV, OFX or PDF with duplicates skipped, and mileage is tracked at the official IRS rate.
Self-employed taxes are their own subject, and the financial reporting matches it. Profit and loss by month, cash flow, profit by gathering, and a Schedule C report organized by line number. A quarterly estimated-tax card shows the next due date and an estimate based on your profit so far, to check with your tax professional, with an email two weeks before each deadline. Vendors fill themselves in from your expenses, and the contractors report adds up who crossed the 1099 line. Colibri helps you organize your income and expenses. It is not a tax preparer, accountant, or a substitute for professional tax advice.
A freelancer is a household and a small business at once; your money should not need two products. Tag any account or transaction as personal and it moves into a set of books only the workspace owner can open. Budgets run on both sides, business and personal. Net worth updates from your connected accounts, recurring subscriptions are spotted for you, and savings goals track against real balances. Owner draws and contributions show up as what they are instead of as mystery transfers, so the business report stays honest and the household one stays private.
Invite your accountant with a read-only seat: they can open the money reports and the receipts, and they cannot edit or spend. At year end, download the year-end pack: profit and loss, Schedule C by line, expenses by category with receipts noted, mileage and the contractors list, plus a journal in QuickBooks CSV format if their practice lives there. Every report exports to CSV and PDF.
ColibriOS is not double-entry accounting software. There is no balance sheet, no journal entries, no bill pay and no payroll; there is no time tracking for billable hours, and it does not file your taxes. If you carry inventory, employ a team or your books require a general ledger, small business accounting software like QuickBooks Online, Xero or FreshBooks earns its place. For freelancers and sole proprietors who sell sessions, workshops, retreats, courses and memberships, the core accounting features here are the ones you actually need, kept in the same place the money is earned.
Colibri helps you organize your income and expenses. It is not a tax preparer, accountant, or a substitute for professional tax advice.
A spreadsheet works until the bank feed, the receipt pile and the quarterly due dates outgrow it, usually in the first busy year. Software that records income as it is earned and sorts expenses as they arrive helps you stay organized as the business grows, and costs less than the receipts a shoebox loses.
It is a business platform with bookkeeping built in, not double-entry accounting software. Income, expenses, bank feeds, receipts, mileage, invoicing, monthly profit reports, Schedule C and estimated taxes are all here. A balance sheet, journal entries, payroll and bill pay are not.
There is a free plan: your website on a free Colibri address, your contacts, and 1:1 booking for up to 5 booked sessions a month. ColibriOS Pro, at $129 a month, adds the bookkeeping alongside invoicing, CRM, email, unlimited booking, bank connections, receipt reading and the personal side. Published price, month to month. Free until Cyber Monday, November 30, no card. Pay annually and two months are free.
A card in your reports shows the next federal due date and an estimate based on your profit so far, to check with your tax professional, and an email arrives two weeks before each deadline. What you actually pay is between you and your tax professional; the point is that the date and a starting number are never a surprise.
Yes. Tag an account or a single transaction as personal and it moves to books only the workspace owner can see, with its own budgets, net worth and report. One card swipe that covered both can be split down the middle.
Yes, through Plaid, with two-factor sign-in required. Transactions sync on their own and arrive pre-categorized. You can also import CSV, OFX or PDF statements and duplicates are skipped.
Yes. The seat is read-only: reports and exports, no editing and no spending. If they work in QuickBooks, the year-end pack includes a journal in QuickBooks CSV format.
The right accounting software depends on what else you pay for. If you only need books, compare QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, Xero, Wave or Zoho Books on their own sites. If you also pay for a booking tool, a course platform, an email tool and a website builder, compare that stack's total against one subscription that earns the income and keeps the books. We keep row-by-row QuickBooks, FreshBooks and Xero comparisons with sources and checked dates.
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