Payroll Specialists 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 Payroll Specialist earns $55,000/year, so FreshBooks's annual cost is roughly 0.9% 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.
Payroll Specialists face unique challenges: Hitting payroll-tax deposit deadlines exactly, because the IRS failure-to-deposit penalty escalates fast and is one of the few penalties owners can be held personally liable for. Running multi-state payroll correctly when a client's remote employees create nexus and withholding obligations in states the owner didn't know they had. Year-end W-2 and 1099 reconciliation where every quarter's 941 has to tie out to the annual totals or the IRS sends a mismatch notice. Processing wage garnishments, child support orders, and benefit deductions accurately because an error shorts an employee or violates a court order. On top of all that, FreshBooks charges $43/month ($516/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median Payroll Specialist earns $55,000/year. Software at $516/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Payroll software (Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, or ADP partner access) 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 payroll specialists 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.
Payroll has no grace period. Employees expect the same number in their account on the same day, and the IRS expects its deposit on an exact schedule that doesn't care that I was sick. So my weeks run on a rhythm of cutoffs: collect hours, process the run, fund the direct deposits, and schedule the tax deposit through EFTPS before the deadline, because the failure-to-deposit penalty escalates fast and an owner can be held personally liable for it. The complexity creeps in from the edges. A client hires a remote worker in another state and suddenly I'm registering for withholding in a jurisdiction they didn't know they'd entered. Someone gets a garnishment order and I have to calculate the withholding right, because shorting an employee or ignoring a court order both blow up on me. Benefit deductions, PTO accruals, a mid-cycle raise, every change has to land in the right run. Then come the quarterly 941s, and the real reckoning is year-end, when every quarter has to tie out to the W-2s and 1099s or the IRS sends a mismatch notice that I get to untangle. The reward is invisible and total: everyone paid right, every deposit on time, every form reconciled, and nobody ever has to think about it.
Real payroll specialists near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a payroll specialist? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every payroll specialist 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 $2,592/year on software — and Payroll Specialist face their own version of that math. CA state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Ontario metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Payroll Specialists 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