Bonsai Review: Helping Agencies Manage Their Business

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Bonsai is a consolidated platform for managing projects, clients, and teams in one place. This US-based company was launched in 2015 and has been helping agencies to manage the entire spectrum of agency operations.

From client relationship management (CRM) and project management to invoicing, payments, and team collaboration, Bonsai consolidates essential tools into one intuitive interface.

Today, if you own an agency, inefficiencies and data silos are your major concerns, caused due to the use of disparate tools for managing operations. This underscores the need for a unified platform that promotes productivity, collaboration, and profitability.

But does Bonsai have what it takes to become the top choice for managing your agency? Find out in my Bonsai review where I explore how Bonsai empowers agencies to optimize their processes, improve team productivity, and deliver exceptional client experiences.

Features

• Task tracking and management across projects.
• Client portal for seamless client management.
• Time tracking for accurate invoicing.
• CRM to manage deals, proposals, and contracts.
• Budgeting and expense tracking for financial management.

Pros

• Professional white-label invoices.
• 7-day free trial of all plans.
• Budget tracking across projects.
• Supports 100+ currencies for receiving payments.
• Dedicated onboarding for higher plans.

Cons

• Phone support is not available.
• Mobile apps are unavailable for basic plan users.

3 Ways Bonsai Helps Business

Companies that choose to use Bonsai will get the following benefits:

1. Client Management

The biggest benefit of using Bonsai is that you can use its client management capabilities to streamline interactions with your clients. Its robust CRM comes with a centralized Contacts list that keeps the stakeholders’ information organized and lets you add multiple contacts per client.

The file sharing feature consolidates all client-related documents in an easily accessible location, and Client tags enable targeted communication and analysis. This comprehensive system ensures that you get a clear view of all leads, clients, and past customers to capitalize on potential deals. Your clients also benefit from a dedicated, branded portal to access shared files, updates, invoices, and contracts for better collaboration.

You can directly share the booking page with your clients or embed it in your website for efficient scheduling. Its calendar integration with Google Calendar and Outlook syncs availability across the platforms, eliminating double-booking. Bonsai’s payment capture feature enables you to accept upfront payment during booking, reducing the chances of no-shows and ensuring compensation for time. You can utilize the White Label option to create multiple events for various client interactions and establish a consistent brand experience. Automated email reminders and rescheduling for leads and clients ensure timely attendance.

Bonsai simplifies proposals with customizable service packages, mandatory deposits, view tracking, and quick client e-approval. Pre-designed templates for proposals, quotes, and scopes of work enable you to swiftly create the documents with flexibility. Bonsai makes client agreements easy with mandatory deposits and legally binding e-signatures. It offers vetted templates, view tracking, and client reminders to automate the onboarding process. Automatic notifications accelerate and help you monitor the onboarding process.

With Bonsai, you can create custom forms with flexible fields and embed them in your website to facilitate efficient data collection. These forms seamlessly integrate with client lists and projects, enabling lead capture on websites or the distribution of surveys via Bonsai.

2. Project Management

Bonsai offers a suite consisting of project management features that you get in popular task management tools. Its Kanban view and Gantt chart enable you to manage tasks with visual progress tracking by letting you see where projects stand at a glance. I could easily add tasks to the projects and sort them based on task name, assignee, priority, and dates.

You can save your valuable time by automating repetitive tasks by creating task templates and recurring tasks. While creating custom workflows, it lets you create custom statuses and custom fields to add specific details to tasks. Assign deadlines, track specific tasks, set priorities, and make tasks recurring to help your team perform the operations efficiently.

For resource management, you can add collaborators to manage tasks and track time. Bonsai offers features like project view, tracking against capacity, and the ability to log days off to get a clear understanding of team availability and workload for balanced resource allocation. It’s a fully integrated, simple timer that captures all the time spent on tasks, differentiating between billable and non-billable hours. 

Its Instant timesheets offer insights into where time is being spent, while features like timesheet locking and billable rates ensure accurate tracking for invoicing and profitability analysis. Bonsai’s Branded Client Portal centralizes all project communications and keeps clients informed with full transparency and without email clutter. It allows clients to gain secure access to the portal for tracking progress, viewing updates, and collaborating on tasks. 

3. Financial Management

Bonsai streamlines financial management with its invoicing and billing features that automate the creation and sending of professional invoices. You can use it for upfront deposits, recurring billing for retainers, and one-time invoices. It supports 100+ global currencies for seamless international transactions. Bonsai automates payment reminders, applies overdue late fees, and provides transparency with seen receipts, all to ensure timely payments.

Bonsai allowed me to tailor my invoice according to my needs. I could enable and disable fields such as shipping address, tax ID, and header images.

Bonsai simplifies accounting by integrating with invoicing software such as QuickBooks Online and Xero, allowing for automatic synchronization of paid invoices. It also facilitates expense tracking by letting you import expenses and automatically categorize them, ultimately helping you with tax write-offs. Features like profit and loss tracking, tax estimates with reminders and due dates, and essential tax document download helps agencies gain valuable financial insights. Hence, they can maintain better control over their cash flow, reduce administrative burdens, and improve overall profitability.

Is Bonsai Only for Agency Business?

No, the suitability of Bonsai goes beyond agencies. Established freelancers, client service businesses, and consultants can also benefit from using this platform. Marketing agencies, design and development companies, consulting firms, and professional services, such as lawyers, accountants, and coaches, can also benefit from Bonsai.

However, Bonsai is not ideal for new freelancers just starting out who may not yet need its full suite of features or want to invest in the platform. Businesses that require a full-fledged CRM or comprehensive accounting software with advanced features should skip Bonsai and look for some alternative specialized software.

Bonsai Integrations

Bonsai’s powerful integrations with Google Workspace applications and other software improve your efficiency. These integrations work together to automate your tasks, eliminate manual data entry, and boost your overall productivity. For example, sync Google Calendar to stay on top of your schedule, connect with Slack for instant team communication, access QuickBooks for streamlined accounting, integrate with Xero for financial management, and engage with HubSpot for enhanced client relationship management.

What are Bonsai Templates?

Bonsai offers a library of 500+ ready-to-use templates designed for your business workflow automation. Whether you need bulletproof contracts, compelling proposals, professional invoices, efficient forms, solid agreements, or concise briefs, Bonsai has you covered. It provides you with templates suitable for various industries such as accounting, agriculture, marketing, operations, IT, software development, project management, small business, and operations.   

All these templates have been vetted by lawyers and legal experts, giving you peace of mind knowing your agreements are legally secure and valid. Find the contract that matches your industry, customize it to your specific needs, sign it digitally, and send it off. Bonsai Templates empower you to handle essential paperwork quickly and effectively, letting you focus on what you do best.

Bonsai Pricing

Bonsai costs $9/user/month if you go for the Basic plan. It offers three more plans with varying feature offerings. Check out the detailed breakdown of features for all subscription plans.

Which Plan Should I Use?

Below, I have listed some scenarios where you can use Bonsai:

Scenario 1: Performing Core Business Operations

If your primary needs include managing customer relationships, keeping track of work hours for projects or billing, and organizing your work into actionable steps, the basic plan is a suitable starting point. Its fundamental tools will streamline your essential business functions.

Scenario 2: Managing Client Work and Expenses

The essential plan will be a better fit for companies that require direct client interaction, bill their services, track expenses, and have the flexibility of accessing their tools on a mobile device.

Scenario 3: Managing Project and Client Lifecycle 

If you want to manage projects with detailed client management, resource allocation, and potentially advanced project planning features, go for the premium plan. It is designed for businesses that need to oversee the projects and client lifecycle from a single platform.

Scenario 4: Advanced Financial Integration and Customization

Businesses that rely on seamless integration with different business tools and require custom reports tailored to specific needs must choose the elite plan. It caters to businesses with more complex operational and reporting requirements.

Regardless of your scenarios, you can always try the free trial offered for each plan. It will let you explore the features firsthand with your actual workflows and determine which plan aligns best with your specific business needs and team size.

Bonsai Alternatives

Bonsai competes with HoneyBook, Dubsado, FreshBooks, and Teamwork. Here’s a detailed comparison of Bonsai with these alternatives to help you decide which software fits your needs:

Bonsai Verdict

Bonsai is a compelling solution with CRM, scheduling, proposals, contracts, and forms that addresses the multifaceted needs of client management for both established freelancers and agencies. It eliminates the inefficiencies associated with juggling multiple applications by consolidating these functions into a single platform. Bonsai receives the Geekflare Value Award.

I highly recommend Bonsai for freelancers and agencies looking for an all-in-one client management solution. It will turn out to be an invaluable asset for businesses aiming to optimize their operations and enhance client satisfaction.