Dictate in any app · Finance

Voice typing in FreshBooks

Freelance invoicing lives or dies on line item descriptions the client can understand. Typally puts your words into FreshBooks the moment you release the key, in whichever field you left the cursor.

Yes, we build Typally. That is also why the section on FreshBooks's built-in option is honest: people who switch after trying both are the ones who stay.
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In short

  • FreshBooks's own dictation: None. Invoice fields and notes are typed.
  • What Typally does instead: works above the app rather than inside it — FreshBooks sees ordinary typed text.
  • Best used for: invoice line descriptions

Does FreshBooks have built-in dictation?

None. Invoice fields and notes are typed.

Why dictate in FreshBooks at all?

A line saying 'consulting — 12 hours' invites a query. The line describing what was delivered gets paid without discussion, and it is longer to type, so it rarely gets written.

In practice people use it for: Invoice line descriptions, project notes, client communication, and estimate scope text.

How to dictate in FreshBooks

There is no FreshBooks extension or add-in involved — Typally behaves like a very fast keyboard:

1

Install Typally

Windows or macOS, then sign in. No card for the free tier.

2

In FreshBooks, click the field before you speak

Click first. Typally types into FreshBooks wherever the caret already is, with no idea what that field is for.

3

Press and speak

Hold, talk, release. Long passages are fine.

4

Read it before you move on

Invoice line fields are single-line inputs in places and truncate long text. Draft longer descriptions in the notes section.

What Typally adds in FreshBooks

Typally types into invoice line items, project notes and estimate fields, so describing the outcome rather than the hours becomes the easy option. Longer descriptions reduce the 'can you explain this charge' emails, and speaking is what makes writing them worth the seconds.

What this looks like in practice

A freelancer rewrites their invoice line items to describe outcomes instead of hours, dictated in a few minutes per invoice. The 'can you explain this charge' emails, previously about one invoice in four, mostly stop.

One habit that makes it work better

Describe the outcome, not the activity. 'Rebuilt the checkout flow and cut abandoned carts' reads differently from 'development work', and it is far easier to say than to type.

What to watch out for in FreshBooks

Invoice line fields are single-line inputs in places and truncate long text. Draft longer descriptions in the notes section.

Frequently asked questions

Does FreshBooks have dictation?

No. Invoicing and project fields are typed.

Do longer invoice descriptions help?

They reduce client queries, because the client can see what they are paying for. Whether they change payment speed depends on your clients.

Can I dictate estimates and proposals?

Yes — those fields are ordinary text boxes and are exactly where detail pays.

Try it in FreshBooks

The free plan gives you 100 minutes a month without a card — enough to find out whether talking beats typing for you.

Try Typally free

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