Bonsai sells business software to freelancers, agencies and consultancies, and it has a page for accounting firms that lists a CRM, agreements with e-signature, time tracking, resourcing, invoices and a client portal. It prices by the user. Briefi prices by the plan, has no time tracking, and does not take payments from your clients today. What Briefi adds is the client meeting: a brief beforehand, a recap with an owner for every action, and an engagement letter that carries its fee schedule inside the signed document. If you bill by the hour and want the timesheet, the invoice and the payment in one product, Bonsai is the closer match. If you want the meetings and the letter held together, start with Briefi.
What each does today. Bonsai’s side comes only from the pages linked beside each line, and anything those pages do not mention is left out rather than guessed.
| Briefi AdvisorPlans from A$89 a month | Bonsai | |
|---|---|---|
| Paperwork and payment | ||
| Engagement letters and contracts signed online | Briefi AdvisorYesYour own wording or an imported Word or PDF file, with each co-signer on their own link and a certificate page on the signed copy | BonsaiYesIt lists electronic signatures, deposit capture on approval and seen receipts, and publishes an accounting engagement letter template45 |
| Invoices and online payments | Briefi AdvisorNot todayNo invoice can be paid inside Briefi yet | BonsaiFrom EssentialsInvoices and payments are listed on Essentials, and the page says it charges processing fees on online payments1 |
| Time tracking and timesheets | Briefi AdvisorNoBriefi has no time tracking or timesheets | BonsaiOn every planIts accounting page lists one-click timers and daily and weekly timesheets, and its Basic plan lists time tracking21 |
| Working with the client | ||
| A portal that opens without a client account | Briefi AdvisorOn the Advisor plansOff until you switch it on for a workspace, with the goals and actions you choose to share | BonsaiFrom EssentialsIts portal page says clients open it through secure links with no account to create, and the plan table lists the portal from Essentials31 |
| Online forms and questionnaires | Briefi AdvisorYesA form opens in the browser on a phone, and one send reaches up to fifty named people | BonsaiFrom EssentialsForms and questionnaires are listed from the Essentials plan1 |
| Staff capacity and workload planning | Briefi AdvisorNoBriefi does not plan staff capacity or workloads | BonsaiYesIts accounting page lists resourcing, to see capacity at a glance and balance workloads2 |
| Connections | ||
| Accounting software connected | Briefi AdvisorNo built-in connectionBriefi has no Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB connector | BonsaiOn PremiumPremium lists integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, Zapier, Calendly and Google1 |
Bonsai handles the hours, the invoice and the payment. Briefi handles the meeting and the signed letter. Bonsai’s pages do not describe recording or writing up a client meeting, but a silent page proves nothing, so that row is not scored.
An accounting firm takes on a new client for monthly bookkeeping and annual tax. This follows what each product does from the engagement letter to next year’s review. Bonsai’s cells report what its pricing, accounting, portal, contracts and letter-template pages say, as read on 16 October 2026.
Agreements generate a branded quote, send it for e-signature and convert accepted offers into projects or invoices. A sample accounting engagement letter is published with a fee table and a governing-law clause written by state.25
The letter is your own wording, with the fee schedule inside the signed document. Each signatory signs on their own link, and a later change goes out as an amendment.
Scheduling is listed from Essentials. Recording or summarising the meeting is not described.1
A brief is ready before the meeting. The meeting is captured or recorded face to face, the recap names each action with its owner, and a follow-up draft is ready to send from your own mailbox.
Forms and questionnaires are listed from Essentials, and the portal shares contracts, proposals, invoices and project files in one place.13
A request for the year’s records goes out, and your team accepts or waives each file that returns, so what is still missing is visible on the client’s record.
One-click timers and timesheets capture billable hours, with tasks, resourcing and a Gantt view on higher plans.21
Not something Briefi does. It has no time tracking, so hours live in your timesheet tool, and Briefi holds the actions each side owes.
Invoices are branded, reminders are automated and online payments are accepted, with processing fees that vary by payment method.21
Not today. Briefi does not take payments from your clients, so invoicing stays in the tool you already use.
Reports compare actuals with forecasts and surface profitability, utilisation and sales metrics in dashboards.2
The review meeting is briefed from the year’s recaps and open actions, and the entity register shows what each company, trust or fund still owes.
If one of these decides it for your firm, Bonsai is probably the better pick today.
Bonsai’s accounting page describes timers and timesheets feeding invoicing and utilisation reports, with online payments accepted. Briefi has no time tracking and does not take payments from your clients today.21
On the page we read, its Basic plan is nine dollars per user per month billed annually, and fifteen billed monthly, in a currency the page does not name, with a seven day trial.1
Its accounting page lists resourcing, to see capacity at a glance and balance workloads, and its Premium plan adds workload management and a Gantt view.21
Its contracts page lists deposit capture on approval, so the first payment can be collected as the agreement is accepted.4
Bonsai keeps score of the hours. Briefi keeps hold of what was said and what was agreed.
Before a meeting, the brief is built from the client’s record and every action still open, so a partner can walk in prepared without reading the whole email trail.
Briefi is priced by plan and never by user. A seat limit applies on some plans, and a practice can add support seats for free that cannot see transcripts or audio.
Your own wording sits in the letter and the fee schedule is inside the signed digest, so a later change in fee goes out as an amendment for the client to sign.
Briefi has no time tracking and does not take payments from your clients today. A firm that bills hourly keeps a time and billing tool for that.
How the whole record fits together is on the Advisor page.
Bonsai prices by the user, so the cost grows with the size of the team. Its figures here are as shown on its pricing page, with the annual and monthly rates it gives, and the page names no currency. Briefi charges per plan rather than per head, and its pricing page lists what each plan holds.
Briefi prices are in AUD and are read from the same price list as the pricing page, so they change when it does.
No. Briefi has no time tracking or timesheets. A firm that bills hourly keeps a time and billing tool for that.
Yes. Bonsai can hold the timesheets, invoices and payments while Briefi holds the meetings, the recaps and the signed engagement letters. They are not connected, so neither sees the other’s records.
No. Briefi is priced by plan, and its pricing page lists the seats, clients and allowances inside each one. Bonsai’s pricing page shows a rate for each user.
No. A recap is written in the language the meeting was held in. Only the app’s own screens and its built-in forms and PDFs are in English.
No. There is no built-in connection to either. On plans that include the API, Briefi’s contacts and meetings can be read from it by another tool.
Last reviewed 16 October 2026. Facts about Bonsai come from its own published pages on the dates shown. Each product named here is a trademark of its owner, and Briefi is not affiliated with them.
9 sources cited, and 5 competitor pages read. Next review due 15 January 2027.
Seen something out of date? Write to support@briefi.sh and we will check it.
Briefi’s own pages