Freelance groom invoicing software: SaidToPaid, Equigate and FreeAgent compared

*Published by SaidToPaid. Information checked on 20 September 2026, with additional SaidToPaid features confirmed by its founder. This is public-source research, not a hands-on comparison.*

For a freelance horse groom, useful invoicing software should make the customer, completed work, chargeable time and agreed extras clear. SaidToPaid turns spoken or typed job details into invoice drafts. Equigate combines equine client and horse records with appointments and invoicing. FreeAgent connects time tracking and invoices with wider accounting.

The choice depends on the help you need: preparing a bill from your work notes, organising equine appointments and records, or recording hours and keeping your accounts together. This comparison focuses on regular yard work, holiday cover and competition grooming.

Freelance groom invoicing software checklist

Key: ✓ means a capability is documented by the provider or, for SaidToPaid, confirmed by its founder. Not confirmed means the sources reviewed did not establish it; it does not mean it is unavailable.

Sources: SaidToPaid services and plans; Equigate invoicing, animal profiles and features; FreeAgent time tracking, invoicing and accounting. SaidToPaid's diary and horse information are founder-confirmed; their plan coverage was not specified.

Equigate's developer-written UK app listing explicitly includes grooms. It is equine business software, but that does not establish a specialist groom timesheet or overtime system. Its dictated notes and reports should also be distinguished from generating an invoice by speaking.

FreeAgent supports customisable automatic thank-you emails after full payment. Asking for a review in that message is a possible use, although a dedicated Google-review workflow was not verified. Follow-up emails are therefore not exclusive to SaidToPaid. FreeAgent thank-you emails

When is SaidToPaid a useful fit for a freelance groom?

When the details are in your work notes but the invoice is still unwritten. Describe the customer, dates, completed duties, chargeable hours and agreed extras. SaidToPaid prepares an itemised draft that you check before sending. You can type the same information. See how SaidToPaid works.

When an incomplete note needs a question back. Pro includes follow-ups about missing information, such as an unclear rate or customer detail. You still need to confirm which time is chargeable and what the customer agreed to pay. The software cannot identify every omission. SaidToPaid feature details

When invoicing and follow-up should sit in the same routine. SaidToPaid offers payment chasing and Google review requests, subject to plan. Review requests can help you ask customers for feedback after completed work without writing each invitation individually. SaidToPaid's workflow

If you want a timer feeding directly into invoices, test FreeAgent's time tracking. If horse records, client communication and an equine appointment diary matter most, include Equigate. A planned appointment and a record of time actually worked are different things.

What does each option cost?

FreeAgent's annual sole-trader option is £190 + VAT, currently £95 + VAT for the first year. It is free while you retain an eligible NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland or Ulster Bank business current account, or with Mettle when you make at least one transaction per month. Optional add-ons may cost extra. FreeAgent prices and eligibility

Equigate also sells PAYG units at £1 each in blocks of 10 or 20. A unit covers an appointment note or a client report, not an invoice or a grooming shift. PAYG has no free trial. Equigate plan definitions

Count the documents your own billing arrangements require. Three customers invoiced after each of 20 working days would mean 60 invoices. Three customers invoiced once a week over four weeks would mean 12 invoices. Use the schedule agreed with each customer, and include estimates when checking SaidToPaid's allowance.

For SaidToPaid, automatic email payment reminders are explicitly listed on Pro. Confirm the reminder type in your chosen plan because its pricing page also uses broader wording about reminders across plans. Check payment-processing charges separately for each product.

FreeAgent's trial has temporary sending and payment-setup restrictions, including a maximum of ten invoices emailed in 24 hours. Check these if testing a full week's billing. FreeAgent UK trial limits

What should a freelance groom invoice include?

Show the customer, yard or event, dates, work supplied and the agreed charging basis. That might be hours, defined visits, a day rate or a fixed cover booking. Identify horses where it helps explain the charge, particularly for separately priced work such as clipping.

UK invoice essentials include a unique number, supplier and customer names and addresses, supplier contact details, a clear description, supply and invoice dates, charges, applicable VAT and the total. Sole traders also need their own name and any trading name, with an address for legal documents when using a business name. Limited companies must use their full registered name. See GOV.UK's invoice requirements.

Add the agreed payment deadline, payment instructions and any customer reference. The BGA's Certified Freelancer commitments also emphasise agreeing rates in advance and providing written invoices. British Grooms Association

Example: three yard visits on one weekly invoice

Alex Taylor has agreed to pay for three visits to care for Molly and Jasper at Willow Yard. Chargeable work includes the agreed mucking out, feeding, turnout or bringing-in duties at each visit. The recorded hours below exclude any time that the agreement treats as non-chargeable.

These names and rates are fictional examples, not recommended prices. The groom is not VAT registered.

The work totals 7.5 hours × £24 = £180. Travel and the approved purchase bring the total to £216. Travel is separate in this agreement; do not add it again if your service price already includes it.

These are example line items, not a complete invoice. Add the billing details, invoice number, dates and payment instructions listed above, and keep the supporting work log and receipt.

How do you invoice three hours and 45 minutes?

Use 3.75 hours, because 45 minutes is three-quarters of an hour. At £24 per hour, that is £90. Entering 3.45 in a decimal-hours quantity field would mean something different and produce the wrong charge.

Keep the original record in hours and minutes if that is easier, then convert carefully: 15 minutes is 0.25 hours, 30 minutes is 0.5, and 45 minutes is 0.75. Apply any agreed billing increments consistently. Do not substitute the diary's planned duration for the actual chargeable time.

FreeAgent documents recording billable and unbillable time and creating invoices from tracked time. Test how each product handles your own work log, including more than one visit to the same customer. FreeAgent time tracking

Can you create the weekly invoice from a voice note?

Yes. SaidToPaid can start from a spoken account of the work. Using the fictional example, your note could be:

Invoice Alex Taylor for yard duties for Molly and Jasper at Willow Yard: 21 September 2026, three hours and 45 minutes; 23 September, two hours and 30 minutes; 25 September, one hour and 15 minutes. All at £24 per hour. Add three agreed travel charges of £8 each and £12 for the authorised yard consumables. Total £216, due 2 October 2026. My business is not VAT registered.

Check that the draft contains three visits, the correct decimal hours, one charge for the purchase and the right customer. Use your own agreed payment terms; the deadline above is illustrative. SaidToPaid's drafting process

What changes for day rates, competitions and holiday cover?

Keep the invoice consistent with the arrangement accepted by the customer. For a fixed competition day, describe the date, event and agreed service. Make any limits on hours, separate travel days, accommodation and additional work clear when booking. Do not turn a fixed day fee into an hourly bill afterwards without an agreed change.

For holiday cover, identify the first and last attendance, not just the owner's travel dates. Keep a list of completed visits and authorised additions. If an extra evening is already included in the fixed booking, it should not become a new charge simply because it appears as another diary entry.

For help setting the original scope and price, see our guide to pricing equestrian yard services.

Who should receive the invoice, and how do expenses fit?

Bill the customer who agreed to pay. A yard business hiring you for cover may be the customer even though you work with several owners' horses. An owner commissioning a separate service may need their own invoice. Do not charge both for the same work.

Keep customer-approved purchases and agreed travel charges identifiable. A receipt records what you spent; the customer agreement establishes what you can charge them. An app tracking mileage does not automatically decide the customer's mileage rate or whether travel was included in your price. FreeAgent documents business expense and mileage recording, while Equigate's app notes include travel-cost features. FreeAgent accounting features, Equigate app information

The example assumes no VAT registration. Where VAT applies, use the appropriate treatment for the service and any recharged costs; do not assume a receipt-backed charge is automatically VAT-free. GOV.UK guidance on costs passed to customers

What works without a signal at the yard?

For SaidToPaid, you can save a recording using your phone's recorder and upload it when connected. This captures details offline; it does not establish offline invoice generation inside SaidToPaid.

Equigate documents offline reports for appointments booked before losing signal. Confirm the exact invoicing and payment actions available offline rather than assuming every feature works. FreeAgent states that its mobile app requires an internet connection. Equigate FAQ, FreeAgent mobile requirements

What do customer reviews help you check?

An Equigate app reviewer in June 2025 praised sending invoices before leaving the yard. An August 2026 Trustpilot reviewer reported difficulty with refreshing and chat on weak reception. The latter was a client's experience, not a test of practitioner offline invoicing. Neither review identifies the writer as a freelance groom. Equigate app reviews, Equigate Trustpilot reviews

FreeAgent's March 2026 reviews include a freelancer praising usability and documentation, and a four-star reviewer praising support while finding parts of the software less straightforward. FreeAgent replied offering further help. These individual experiences are not groom-specific and do not establish that SaidToPaid is faster or easier. FreeAgent reviews and responses

No independent SaidToPaid review sample suitable for a comparative rating was verified. Its relevant proposition here is the way it prepares drafts from your description of the work; that still needs to fit your own routine.

What should a freelance groom test before choosing?

Use the same fictional week in each trial:

1. 1Create one invoice containing the three visits, travel and approved purchase above.
2. 2Check that three hours and 45 minutes becomes 3.75 hours and that the total is £216.
3. 3Try a separate fixed competition day without adding hourly charges for the same work.
4. 4Check who receives each invoice when an owner and yard manager are different contacts.
5. 5Record payment and check that further reminders stop.
6. 6Confirm the weak-signal workflow and how invoices reach your bookkeeping records.

No direct integration between SaidToPaid and either comparator is established here. If you keep separate invoicing and accounting tools, decide how records will be transferred and avoid recording the same sale twice.

Try a freelance groom invoice draft

Create a free SaidToPaid draft preview using the weekly example or your own completed work. No card is needed to create and view the draft. Sending requires a separate 14-day trial with a card; the chosen monthly plan bills afterwards unless cancelled. See the current offer.