In 2003 Mike McDerment ran a small design firm in Toronto. He billed clients in Word, and one day he saved over an old invoice by mistake. That led him to build an online invoicing tool for freelancers and small firms.
FreshBooks launched in 2004 from his parents' basement, with co-founders Levi Cooperman and Joe Sawada. It had no outside money until 2014, when Oak Investment Partners led a $30 million Series A with Georgian Partners and Atlas Venture.
In January 2015 McDerment incorporated a second company, BillSpring, to build a new product without the old code. It was folded back in during 2016 and became the new FreshBooks. The older FreshBooks Classic was retired in 2022.
FreshBooks raised $43 million in 2017. In August 2021 it announced an $80.75 million Series E and $50 million in debt, and Don Epperson became CEO. McDerment moved to executive chair. FreshBooks competes with QuickBooks, Xero and Wave.