Headlight Restoration on FreshBooks pay $43/month — $516/year. Over three years, that's $1,548. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 6.5 months. The median Headlight Restoration Technician earns $48,000/year, so FreshBooks's annual cost is roughly 1.1% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $1,548 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Headlight Restoration face unique challenges: Customers expecting a quick wipe-on miracle when proper restoration means wet-sanding through grits and sealing. Restorations that yellow again in months because a cheap process skipped the UV clear coat, hurting your reputation. Severely hazed or internally fogged lenses that surface cleaning won't fix, requiring an honest you-need-new-headlights talk. Mobile jobs where weather and a power source dictate whether you can wet-sand and cure a sealant in a driveway. On top of all that, FreshBooks charges $43/month ($516/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median Headlight Restoration Technician earns $48,000/year. Software at $516/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Random-orbital sander with a progression of wet-sanding discs (800 to 3000 grit) is yours. You bought it once. Nexa works the same way — $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, and full accounting. All connected. All offline-capable. You own it like you own your tools.
FreshBooks is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
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Your exact FreshBooks cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
| Feature | FreshBooks | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✓ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | — | ✓ |
| Works offline | — | ✓ |
| Price | $43/mo forever | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Cost | $1,548 | $279 |
| Stop paying? | Lose everything | Keep everything forever |
Most headlight restoration are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Settings → Export Data. Download clients, invoices, expenses, and time entries.
15-minute setup. Import your client list and expenses from CSV.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Re-create unpaid and recurring invoices in Nexa; keep the FreshBooks export as your invoice history.
Cancel subscription. Download a final data export for your records.
People see your before-and-after photos and think it's a magic wipe, but real headlight restoration is a wet-sanding progression and a sealed clear coat, and explaining that is half the job. The first car has badly yellowed, cloudy lenses, so you mask off the paint around them, then start wet-sanding with 800 grit to cut through the oxidized layer, stepping up through finer grits, keeping everything wet so you don't burn the plastic. After the sanding you machine-polish with compound until the lens goes clear, and then the step that separates a lasting job from a scam: a UV-cure clear coat so it doesn't yellow again in three months. That last step is what protects your reputation, because a cheap process that skips it looks great for a season and then comes back hazed. Some lenses are beyond surface work, fogged on the inside or crazed in the plastic, and you have to tell that customer honestly that they need new headlights, not a polish. You run mobile too, doing restorations in driveways, but a damp or cold day can ruin a cure, so weather and a power source dictate where you can work. After lunch you do a pair in a parking lot for a fleet customer and pull the masking carefully. You close by confirming tomorrow's mobile stops and following up with last month's customers to make sure the coat is holding.
Real headlight restoration near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a headlight restoration technician? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every headlight restoration technician on Nexa →
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. FreshBooks may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. FreshBooks is $43/month — that's $1,548 over 3 years. Which is more? And if you'd rather split it, Nexa is also available as 3 payments of $99.
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.
30-day money-back guarantee. Full refund. If Nexa doesn't save you $500 in year one, you get every penny back.
Export your data from FreshBooks as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
The average solo operator there spends about $2,448/year on software — and Headlight Restoration Technician face their own version of that math. NC state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Cary metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Headlight Restoration run into with FreshBooks, and what Nexa does instead.
$1,548 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once