And Co Review
- PROS
- Aimed at freelancers and creative studios.
- Allows flat fee and hourly billing.
- Moderate customization of invoices.
- Includes timer.
- Can create a detailed contract or proposal.
- CONS
- Free version does not allow custom branding and shows And.co logo on invoices.
- Number of expenses allowed and reduced transaction fees are the major differences between pricing tiers.
- Support is through an app Chat function that does not operate on weekends.
BOTTOM LINE
And Co by Fiverr is a solid invoicing tool aimed primarily at freelancers. It's good for its target market though it'll have some stringent limitations for folks who need more features from their billing system.
And Co by Fiverr is a solid invoicing tool aimed primarily at freelancers. It's good for its target market though it'll have some stringent limitations for folks who need more features from their billing system.
If you look at a lot of billing and invoicing software solutions, then you'll often see that vendors are trying to be as generic as possible in order to attract the widest possible customer audience. And Co's approach is very different as they specifically target freelance workers and creative studios. Once you're inside the tool, you'll see that the nomenclature and workflow clearly reflect this. The application (which starts at $7 per month for the Pro version) is available as an app for Android and iOS or you can access it using your PC's browser, which is how I reviewed it. While it's a solid solution if you're a freelancer or creative design studio, it doesn't quite match up with the feature depth of its most direct competitor Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed even though it's slightly more expensive, and it can't compete with our Editors' Choice winners Wave Accounting and Zoho Invoice on overall polish and the ability to grow with a changing business.
And Co was recently acquired by Fiverr and that's had a positive impact on its pricing model, at least if you're an early-stage freelancer. The tool starts out with a free version, called Flex and offers two paid tiers—Pro at $7 per month and Studio at $19 per month, both billed annually. I tested the Studio version. The free version gives you pretty much everything the paid versions do, but limits the number of expense items you can add to a bill to only 20 items. It also limits the number of invoices you can send to two in the first month then one a month after that, and it restricts the number of contracts to three the first month, then two per month after that.
Transaction Fees Can Add Up
Compared to other free versions, those limitations aren't necessarily a bad thing, though when you move to a paid subscription, they disappear, which is certainly preferable for any ongoing business. The other major differences between the three plans are transaction fees for accepting payments electronically. And Co lets you accept PayPal, ACH (automated clearing house) and credit card payments, which is fairly good though Editors' Choice winner Zoho Invoice lets you integrate any payment processor you need. The free plan charges you 3 percent of the invoice plus merchant fees (usually about 2.9 percent plus 30 cents a transaction). On the paid plans, this drops to 1 percent plus merchant fees for the $7-per-month plan, and just the merchant fee for the $19-per-month plan.
And Co was recently acquired by Fiverr and that's had a positive impact on its pricing model, at least if you're an early-stage freelancer. The tool starts out with a free version, called Flex and offers two paid tiers—Pro at $7 per month and Studio at $19 per month, both billed annually. I tested the Studio version. The free version gives you pretty much everything the paid versions do, but limits the number of expense items you can add to a bill to only 20 items. It also limits the number of invoices you can send to two in the first month then one a month after that, and it restricts the number of contracts to three the first month, then two per month after that.
Transaction Fees Can Add Up
Compared to other free versions, those limitations aren't necessarily a bad thing, though when you move to a paid subscription, they disappear, which is certainly preferable for any ongoing business. The other major differences between the three plans are transaction fees for accepting payments electronically. And Co lets you accept PayPal, ACH (automated clearing house) and credit card payments, which is fairly good though Editors' Choice winner Zoho Invoice lets you integrate any payment processor you need. The free plan charges you 3 percent of the invoice plus merchant fees (usually about 2.9 percent plus 30 cents a transaction). On the paid plans, this drops to 1 percent plus merchant fees for the $7-per-month plan, and just the merchant fee for the $19-per-month plan.
If you anticipate getting paid primarily via electronical means, then the free plan isn't all that free, with almost six percent of every invoice going to And Co. Of course, if your clients still pay you with checks, or you simply don't bill all that much, the "free" plan isn't a bad deal except for one caveat: The "Custom Branding." This is a capability that only the paid accounts offer, and it lets you add a logo to your invoices and emails, and remove the And Co branding that's used if you only have a free account. And Co provides each user with a portal called the PayMe or MyPay page (it's called different things at different places within the application). This is where your clients can send you electronic payments if decide to receive these.
Unlike most of the invoicing applications even other freelance- and small shop-oriented packages like FreshBooks, And Co doesn't have a dashboard as the landing page. Instead, the landing page is named "My Desk" and simply shows the total amount of outstanding invoices, pending contracts, and revenue to date. It also lists tasks under "To Do". The real dashboard is reachable by clicking on the Outstanding Invoice label or In & Out on the vertical menu that runs along the left side of the screen. This brings you to a screen that presents a graph of Income, Expenses, Billable Expenses, or all of these, for all clients or a single client, and for a specific time period or Year-to-Date. Also shown on this page are outstanding and received invoices, and invoices at the draft stage which have yet to be sent.
As you might expect from an application targeted mainly at creative individuals, And Co provides a fair amount of latitude in the design and customization of the invoice, though again only in the paid versions. And that kind of custom branding also applies to using your logo in emails sent from the application and the PayMe page that's provided to all users. Invoices can contain attachments such as receipts for expenses, and can be automatically created from contracts with fees and terms carried over. It's simple to create recurring invoices, and while And Co doesn't actually handle retainer billing, it can bill on milestones. These can be set up to be very similar, especially since the application can accept an up-front deposit.
Fees can be billed on a flat or hourly rate. The application also contains a timer that you can use to record time spent on specific tasks.
As you might expect from an application targeted mainly at creative individuals, And Co provides a fair amount of latitude in the design and customization of the invoice, though again only in the paid versions. And that kind of custom branding also applies to using your logo in emails sent from the application and the PayMe page that's provided to all users. Invoices can contain attachments such as receipts for expenses, and can be automatically created from contracts with fees and terms carried over. It's simple to create recurring invoices, and while And Co doesn't actually handle retainer billing, it can bill on milestones. These can be set up to be very similar, especially since the application can accept an up-front deposit.
Fees can be billed on a flat or hourly rate. The application also contains a timer that you can use to record time spent on specific tasks.
Support Could be Improved
Most of the invoicing applications have some sort of in-application support or help facility, especially those from larger name brands, like Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed or Xero. And Co has a Search key that consistently failed to produce any results regardless of the search term. There is an in-app chat feature on the main menu that takes you to a screen where you can leave a message for a Chief Operator, which appears to be And Co's term for support technician.
However, when testing over the weekend, I received a canned message that my text would be read on Monday. As of 10 a.m. (ET) Monday morning, my questions had still not been answered. It's not unusual for a vendor not to have manned support on the weekends or after hours, but it's also not unusual for a freelancer or creative studio to work after hours and on the weekends. I would have appreciated better in-application support, and I suspect that many users of the application would like an HTML file or other support documentation on line or accessible inside the app as well.
Most of the invoicing applications have some sort of in-application support or help facility, especially those from larger name brands, like Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed or Xero. And Co has a Search key that consistently failed to produce any results regardless of the search term. There is an in-app chat feature on the main menu that takes you to a screen where you can leave a message for a Chief Operator, which appears to be And Co's term for support technician.
However, when testing over the weekend, I received a canned message that my text would be read on Monday. As of 10 a.m. (ET) Monday morning, my questions had still not been answered. It's not unusual for a vendor not to have manned support on the weekends or after hours, but it's also not unusual for a freelancer or creative studio to work after hours and on the weekends. I would have appreciated better in-application support, and I suspect that many users of the application would like an HTML file or other support documentation on line or accessible inside the app as well.
And while using the software is very easy, even with the lack of documentation, one place where And Co really stands out is that it allows you to create a contract, rather than just the estimate that most of the other invoicing applications rely on. This contract was developed in concert with the Freelancers' Union and lets you enter project terms and fees, with a place to sign for you and your client. The sample contract I created ran six pages in length and while I didn't run it past an attorney, contained all of the terms I normally expect in the freelance agreements I've signed in the past. If you tend to use this kind of contract, I would sign up for the free trial, create a sample contract, and run it past a lawyer before using it, just to be on the safe side.
Given the transaction fees and logo limitation, I probably wouldn't go for the free version. A more full-featured accounting application, such as Wave or Xero, will give you much of the same capability for the same (free) price and without the stringent limitations on branding and number of invoices. But at $7 a month, And Co is well positioned for its target user. It has all of the basic features you might want assuming that you don't need a full-blown accounting system. And I really like the ability to create contracts for projects. My guess is that studios, rather than individual freelancers, will be the most likely clients for the $19-per-month subscription. But at $7 per month, And Co will be attractive to many users who work on a freelance basis.
Given the transaction fees and logo limitation, I probably wouldn't go for the free version. A more full-featured accounting application, such as Wave or Xero, will give you much of the same capability for the same (free) price and without the stringent limitations on branding and number of invoices. But at $7 a month, And Co is well positioned for its target user. It has all of the basic features you might want assuming that you don't need a full-blown accounting system. And I really like the ability to create contracts for projects. My guess is that studios, rather than individual freelancers, will be the most likely clients for the $19-per-month subscription. But at $7 per month, And Co will be attractive to many users who work on a freelance basis.
Our Verdict
And Co by Fiverr is a solid invoicing tool aimed primarily at freelancers. It's good for its target market though it'll have some stringent limitations for folks who need more features from their billing system.
And Co by Fiverr is a solid invoicing tool aimed primarily at freelancers. It's good for its target market though it'll have some stringent limitations for folks who need more features from their billing system.