FreshBooks FAQs

When processing online payments through Stripe and FreshBooks Payments powered by Stripe, there is a transaction fee included. Depending on where you're located and whether the transaction is domestic (same country) or international (different country), different rates apply. The transaction fee is taken out of each payment that is processed before being deposited into your account.

The below transaction fees are for American FreshBooks users:

Payment Type

Transaction Fee

Bank Transfer (ACH)

1%

The below transaction fees are for allFreshBooks users:

Country

Domestic Fee

International Fee

US

2.9% + $0.30

+1% for international cards

UK

1.4% + 20p

2.9% + 20p

Australia

1.75% + $0.30

2.9% + $0.30

Austria

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Belgium

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Brazil

3.99% + R$0.50

-

Canada

2.9% + $0.30

+0.6% for international cards

Denmark

1.4% + 1.80kr

2.9%+ 1.80kr

Estonia

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Finland

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

France

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Germany

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Greece

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Hong Kong

3.4% + HK$2.35

+1% for international cards (USD settlement only)

Ireland

1.4% + 0.25 exl. VAT

2.9% + 0.25exl. VAT

Italy

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Japan

3.60%

-

Latvia

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Lithuania

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Luxembourg

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Malaysia

3.4% + RM2.00

-

Mexico

3.6% + $3.00

-

Netherlands

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

New Zealand

2.9% + NZ$0.30

Same as domestic

Norway

2.4% + 2kr

2.9% + 2kr

Poland

1.4% + 1PLN

2.9% + 1PLN

Portugal

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Singapore

3.4% + $0.50

+1% for international cards(USD settlement only)

Slovakia

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Slovenia

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Spain

1.4% + 0.25

2.9% + 0.25

Sweden

1.4% + 1.80kr

2.9% + 1.80kr

Switzerland

2.9% + 0.30fr

-

* The pricing listed above is accurate as of October 14, 2019.

All transaction fees are automatically logged as Expenses in yourFreshBooks account. You can also log into your Stripe dashboard to see your account-specific pricing and fees deducted from your transactions. For more information on processing fees, visit Stripe.

Bank Reconciliation allows you to account for all your funds by matching transactions from your bank statement to entries inside FreshBooks. If you havent set up Bank Reconciliation yet, you can get started with the steps here.

Accounting features like Bank Reconciliation are available on trials as well as Plus and Premium plans. We also recommend inviting an accountant (if you havent already) to help you learn more about Bank Reconciliation.

Accept Online Payments Deposits and Fees

Loans and Line of Credit Accounts

FAQs

Accept Online Payments Deposits and Fees

If you use FreshBooks Payments (WePay) and/or Stripe, payments are deposited into your bank account in batches. These deposits, along with your transaction fees, add up together to represent the total paid on your Invoices.

Therefore, you can match each deposit Bank Transaction with the Invoice payments and transaction fee Expenses under FreshBooks Transactions together.

To find out which Invoice payments are in your deposit, use the below steps to download a report from your payment gateway:

WePay

Log into your WePay account

Click on Reporting

Then select Settlements

Choose the settlement you want the report for

Click on theDownload CSV button, and youll receive an email within 5 minutes with a link to download the report.

Stripe

Log into your Stripe dashboard

Click on Balance

Then click on Transactions

Next, click on Export in the top left corner

Choose the date range as needed and click Export.

Loans and Lines of Credit Accounts

Currently Line of Credit and Loan bank accounts will not be displayed in Bank Reconciliation. If you have loans or line of credit transactions to match, you can mark those as Bank Transfers instead.

Then have your invited Accountant create a Journal Entry to record it in your books.

FAQs

I put in the wrong opening balance, how do I fix this?

You can reset your opening balance with these steps:

Click on the Accounting section

Then click on the x left to matchlink for the account you want to fix the opening balance for

Next, click on theMore Actions button

SelectReset Your Opening Balance

Choose a newReconciliation Start Date

Then enter in the newAccount Balance as of Start Date

Click onContinue

Confirm the details and clickReset to finish

You can now match up transactions with the new opening balance.

Why is my Bank Account Balance and my FreshBooks Balance not matching?

At the top right of your Bank Reconciliation, you'll see two balances which represent different amounts:

Bank Account Balance - This is your Bank Account's balance in real-time (as of the most recent sync)

FreshBooks Balance - This is your Opening Balance +/- what you have reconciled in your FreshBooks account (Payments will increase the balance, Expenses decreases it)

If the two numbers don't match, either:

Something is missing in FreshBooks (like an Expense, Invoice or Other Income entry) - youll need to add it in

The Opening Balance was set incorrectly - you can change it with the steps above

What happens if I reset my Opening Balance?

If the Opening Balance that you set in your bank account is incorrect, you can reset it to the new correct amount. This will not affect any previously matched transactions - those will remain. Your FreshBooks Balance will now update to reflect the new Opening Balance.

What happens if I disconnect my bank account in Bank Connections?

We strongly recommend avoiding disconnecting your bank account to troubleshoot a Bank Connection issue, to help avoid any duplicate transactions from coming in. If you have disconnected a bank account, your transactions will stop importing into both Bank Reconciliation and into your Expenses.

Any matched transactions from this disconnected bank account will still remain. You can clear this out so that if you reconnect this bank account again, these transactions come into the active connection instead. Use the below steps:

Click on the Accounting section

In the Bank Reconciliation widget, if you have your disconnected accounts hidden, click on the filter next to Bank Reconciliation Chart of Accounts FAQ here

Then check off the Show disconnected accounts box

If your disconnected accounts aren't hidden, click on thex left to match link next to the Bank Account that'sdisconnectedin the Bank Reconciliation widget

Inside the bank account you're reconciling, in the top right corner, click on theMore Actions button

Click onClear Disconnected Account

Then clickContinue

Next, clickClear Account to finish. You'll be taken back to the Accounting section and this disconnected bank account should now display aSet your opening balance link instead ofx left to match. This means there are no longer any transactions available inside that account.

How do I close my books? How do I do my month end closing?

Were currently still working on this, but in the meantime, you can use the below steps:

Ensure all your transactions have been matched in Bank Reconciliation up to end of month period

Run your Reports and export in the format of your preference

Keep these Reports somewhere safe

Repeat steps 1-3 at the end of each month.

Use the saved reports to compare as you re-run the reports every month. If the balances are off, you have recorded transactions in an incorrect period.

A personal transaction from my bank account ended up being imported into Bank Reconciliation. How do I remove this?

Mark the personal transaction as a Bank Transfer and it will be removed without affecting your books.

If it is an Owners Draw or a disbursement that needs to be recorded, please follow the steps in the .

Accepting online payments with credit cards isfast, safe and easy.

You can connect yourFreshBooks account to either one of our payment gatewayoptions, FreshBooks Payments Powered by Stripe (International) or FreshBooks Payments powered by WePay (US & Canada click here ).

Are you based in the US or Canada? You'll see Stripe instead. Click here for more info.

Looking for Authorize.Net, Braintree or PayPal? These gateways are currently not supported in FreshBooks.

With Stripe,your Clients will have the ability to pay their Invoices with acredit card, and you can sit back and watch the money get added to your bank account automatically.Connecting Stripe toFreshBooks takes less than 10 minutes and will require you to create a free Stripe account (or log into an existing Stripe account).

Benefits

Set Up

FAQs

Benefits of FreshBooks Payments Powered by Stripe

No setup, monthly, or hidden fees

See credit card transaction fees by country here

Great for Internationalclients!Accept payments fromVisa, MasterCard and AMEX credit cards around the world

Set UpFreshBooks Payments Powered by Stripe

There are two ways to connect your FreshBooks account to Stripe:

From Accept Online Payments

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Accept Online Payments

Click onConnectunder Stripe

If you already have an existing Stripe account, click onSign in in the top corner

Otherwise, if you don't have a Stripe account yet, continue to fill out the form and clickAuthorize access to this account to finish

You'll also want to follow the steps in the From An Invoice section below to enable it on an Invoice as well.

From An Invoice

When creating an Invoice, click on theAccept Online Paymentsoption in the Settings panel to the right of the invoice

FreshBooks Payments Powered by Stripe should now appear. Click onConnect Stripeto finish the credit card payment set up.

Your invoice is now ready to be paid with a credit card! All your client has to do is click thePay Nowbutton when they receive your invoice. To see what your client will experience, click here.

FAQs

Can I use ACH/Bank Transfers with FreshBooks Payments Powered by Stripe?

At this time, Bank Transfers are only available for US users on Stripe.

How do I turn Accept Online Payments on or off on an Invoice?

You can turn the ability to accept online payments on or off on an Invoice by using these steps:

Open the Invoice you want to turn online payments on or off for

Click on theEditbutton

UnderSettings, click onAccept Online Payments

Check off or uncheck the box and clickDone

Accept Online Paymentswill now be set toYESorNO(Invoice will or will not accept online payments by credit card).

What does it mean if an Invoice is "Processing"?

This means that your Client submitted a payment throughStripe andStripe's team is reviewing the transaction to ensure it's safely processed. This can take up to several business days depending on the transaction. Once it's reviewed and is successful, the Invoice will be updated to Paid status and the funds will be on its way to yourStripe dashboard.

Where can I see all transactions processed by FreshBooks Payments Powered by Stripe?

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on ManageOnline Payments

If needed, click on the slider icon next to All transactionsto filter the list of transactions by either Start Date, End Date, Status, Payment Type, Gateway and/or Currency

Click Apply to save any filters and your list of transactions will update.

Accepting online payments with credit cards and bank transfers isfast, safe and easy.

You can connect yourFreshBooks account to either one of our payment gatewayoptions, Stripe (US, Canada & International) or FreshBooks Payments powered by WePay (US & Canada click here ).

Are you based outside of US and Canada? You'll see FreshBooks Payments Powered by Stripe instead. Click here for more info.

Looking for Authorize.Net, Braintree or PayPal? These gateways are currently not supported in FreshBooks.

With Stripe,your Clients will have the ability to pay their Invoices with acredit card, and you can sit back and watch the money get added to your bank account automatically.Connecting Stripe toFreshBooks takes less than 10 minutes and will require you to create a free Stripe account (or log into an existing Stripe account).

Benefits

Set Up

FAQs

Benefits of Stripe

No setup, monthly, or hidden fees

See credit card transaction fees by country here, 1% for Bank Transfers (US only)

Great for Internationalclients!Accept payments fromVisa, MasterCard and AMEX credit cards around the world

Set Up Stripe

There are two ways to connect your FreshBooks account to Stripe:

From Accept Online Payments

Click on your company name/initials in the top left

Click on Accept Online Payments

Click onConnectnext to Stripe

If you already have an existing Stripe account, click onSign in in the top corner

Otherwise, if you don't have a Stripe account yet, continue to fill out the form and clickAuthorize access to this account to finish

If you are based in the US and would like to enable Bank Transfers (ACH) as well,slide the toggle greennext toAccept ACH Bank Transfersto turn it on your Invoices

You'll also want to follow the steps in the From An Invoice section below to enable it on an Invoice as well.

From An Invoice

When creating an Invoice, click on theAccept Online Paymentsoption in the Settings panel to the right of the invoice

Stripe should now appear. Click onConnect Stripeto finish the credit card payment set up.

Your invoice is now ready to be paid with a credit card or by bank transfer (available for US businesses). All your client has to do is click thePay Nowbutton when they receive your invoice. To see what your client will experience, click here.

Note:Your online payment settings are remembered based on your most recent invoice created, go to invoice customization here for more details.

FAQs

How do I turn Accept Online Payments on or off on an Invoice?

You can turn the ability to accept online payments with credit cards on or off on an Invoice by using these steps:

Open the Invoice you want to turn online payments on or off for

Click on theEditbutton

UnderSettings, click onAccept Online Payments

Check off or uncheck the box and clickDone

Accept Online Paymentswill now be set toYESorNO(Invoice will or will not accept online payments by credit card).

What does it mean if an Invoice is "Processing"?

This means that your Client submitted a payment throughStripe andStripe's team is reviewing the transaction to ensure it's safely processed. This can take up to several business days depending on the transaction. Once it's reviewed and is successful, the Invoice will be updated to Paid status and the funds will be on its way to yourStripe dashboard.

Where can I see all transactions processed by FreshBooks Payments Powered by Stripe?

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on ManageOnline Payments

If needed, click on the slider icon next to All transactionsto filter the list of transactions by either Start Date, End Date, Status, Payment Type, Gateway and/or Currency

Click Apply to save any filters and your list of transactions will update.

To start receiving online payments by Credit Card and Bank Transfer (ACH) on your Invoices, you can enableFreshBooks Payments powered by WePay.

From Accept Online Payments

From an Invoice

FAQs

There are two ways to connect your FreshBooks account to FreshBooks Payments:

From Accept Online Payments

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Accept Online Payments here

Click on Get Started with Online PaymentsunderFreshBooks Payments

Click Continue

Next, you can either:

Click on Continue Step to verify your email and business information as well as add a bank account to complete the setup ( make sure you're using one of the supported browsers )

Or click on Not Now to do it later (you can still collect payments in the meantime)

Ifyou'veclicked Continue Step, youll be sent an email to verify your account

Next, to finish your setup, use the steps here to verify your business and add a bank account

When you see your Setup Progress is 100% complete,you'vefinished enabling FreshBooks Payments

If you are based in Canada and would like to accept VISA debit cards, slide the toggle green next toAccept VISA debit cards to allow Clients to pay with this additional card type (this is automatically enabled for US users)

If you are based in the US and would like to enable Bank Transfers (ACH) as well,slide the toggle greennext to Accept ACH Bank Transfersto turn it on your Invoices

You'll also want to follow the steps in the From An Invoice section below to enable it on an Invoice as well.

From An Invoice

When creating an Invoice, click on theAccept Online Paymentsoption in the Settings panel to the right of the invoice

FreshBooks Payments should now appear. Click on Get Startedto finish the Credit Card and Bank Transfer payment set up.

Your invoice is now ready to be paid with a credit card or by Bank Transfer (available for US businesses). All your client has to do is click thePay Nowbutton when they receive your invoice. To see what your client will experience, click here.

Note:Your online payment settings are remembered based on your most recent invoice created, go to invoice customization here for more details.

FAQs

Is my business or industry safe to use with WePay?

Please check theProhibited Activities section of WePay's Terms of Service to ensure you can safely process payments with WePay.

How do I turn Accept Online Payments on or off on an Invoice?

You can turn the ability to accept online payments with credit cards on or off on an Invoice by using these steps:

Open the Invoice you want to turn online payments on or off for

Click on theEdit button

UnderSettings, click onAccept Online Payments

Check off or uncheck the box and click Done

Accept Online Paymentswill now be set toYES orNO(Invoice will or will not accept online payments by credit card).

Can I only use Bank Transfers (ACH)? Bank Transfers (ACH) can be turned on or off in your account, but credit card payments will always remain enabled. You can disable Accept Online Payments as a whole on individual Invoices as needed with the steps above. What will my Clients see on their bank statement?

Once your client makes a payment through FreshBooks Payments, the transaction will appear as "WPY*yourcompanyname" on their credit card statement.

It is important that your Client is familiar with how the transaction will appear on their credit card statement, as to reduce the rate of chargebacks due to unrecognized charges.

Can I use the same WePay account with multiple businesses?

Yes you can! As long as the Company Profile is in the same country as your WePay account, you can keep using the same WePay account in any additional business you add.

The email on my WePay account is wrong. How can I update it so I can finish setting up?

When you set up your FreshBooks account, we automatically provision a WePay account for you using the same email as your account (for US or Canadian customers).

If the email set up is incorrect (because of a typo or you were using a test email), we can change the email for you. Just give our Support a quick call or email with the correct email address to use!

Looking for more information onFreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles.

Bank Connections allow you to add bank accounts to import Expenses automatically into your FreshBooks account. Once you have bank accounts connected, maintaining them is important to ensure your Expenses continue to import smoothly. You can find useful steps for checking on your connections below.

Looking to connect a bank first? Check out the steps here.

Bank Not Found

Browser & Captcha Issues

Login Credentials

Refresh & Edit

Renaming Accounts (Nicknames)

Security & Verification Methods

FAQs

Bank Not Found

If your bank is not listed on the list of available banks to connect, it may not be available for connecting. You can submit a request to have your bank added by filling out this survey below. The more people request the same bank to be added, the greater the chance of the bank being added.

powered by Typeform

In the meantime, you can always use the Import from a file option to manually add in your bank accounts Expenses with a CSV file.

Browser & Captcha Issues

If youre being taken back to the beginning of the captcha test/I am not a robot test, or youre unable to edit your connected banks settings, you may need to clear your browsers cookies and cache. You can use the steps below for your browser:

Chrome

Firefox

Safari

We also recommend trying in Incognito Mode (or a similar private browsing mode).

Login Credentials

Ifyou'veupdated your online banking login, youll also need to update it inside the Bank Connections area as well. Use these steps:

Click on thegear iconin the top left corner

Click on Bank Connections

Click on the Edit link next to your bank account. Go here instead

Youll then be taken to the login page for your online bank account, where you can re-enter your new credentials. Make sure you ensure all your accounts have finished loading before you clickSave Changes to finish.

Refresh & Edit

Depending on your bank, most Bank Connections refresh every 24 hours (through a queue). If you find that Expenses are missing, security questions were added or changed, or youd like to force a new refresh, you can use these steps:

Click on thegear iconin the top left corner

Click on Bank Connections

Click on the Refresh link next to your bank account, and it will start refreshing

If no new Expenses come in, you can click on theEdit link instead

If your login credentials havent changed, click Update

Answer any security/verification questions until all have been answered correctly and press Next

Wait for all your accounts to finish loading (all spinning icons disappear)

Once all accounts have finished loading, click on Save Changes.

Renaming Accounts (Nicknames)

Nicknames can be set up to help you distinguish between bank accounts, so you know which transaction came from which account. The option to rename accounts can be done during the initial set up process, or afterwards. Steps to edit your account names are as follows:

Click on thegear iconin the top left corner

Click on Bank Connections

Click on the Edit link next to your bank account

If your login credentials havent changed, click Update

Answer any security/verification questions until all have been answered correctly and press Next

Wait for all your accounts to finish loading (all spinning icons disappear)

Once all accounts have finished loading, click on the Remove or rename account link next to the account you want to rename

In the Nickname field, enter the new name of the account

Click on Save Changes

Your accounts new nickname will appear in (brackets) next to the name. When youre done, click on the X in the top corner to exit and finish. The nickname will now replace the original name of the account in your Bank Connections.

Note:Any renamed accounts with Nicknames will only apply to future imported Expenses, and not to Expenses previously imported.

Security & Verification Methods

Some banks have stricter security than others by employing stronger verification methods to set up Bank Connections with third-party software like FreshBooks. If your bank is currently employing these verification methods, we recommend working with your bank to use a different method if possible:

One Time Passwords (OTP) or Two Factor Authentication (2FA) - this will require you to re-enter the OTP or 2FA to bring in new Expenses every time

Image Verification - we recommend using a different verification if this is currently in use

Repeated Verification - some banks may require you to input your security/verification details regularly until all questions and answers have been stored

FAQs

I tried to add a new bank, but I didnt see the option to choose how far back to pull expenses?

This can happen if youdon'tstay on the Bank Connections page for 10+ minutes after connecting a bank. This will automatically bring in all Expenses as far back as the integration can go with your bank (30-90 days).

If Expenses have already been imported, you can go to the Expenses section and delete the unwanted imported Expenses.

How do I disconnect my bank?

Note that disconnecting a bank will not remove expenses that have already been imported in for that account. To disconnect, follow these steps:

Click on thegear iconin the top left corner

Click on Bank Connections

Click on the bank itself to show the connected accounts

Next to the account you want to remove, click on the Disconnect link.

If you're trying to re-add this bank, there is a chance of duplicate Expenses being imported in again upon connection. We recommend checking your Expenses section afterwards to delete any duplicates that appear.

Looking for more information on your Bank Connections? .

Projects are a great way to collaborate with Clients, Employees and Contractors inside yourFreshBooks account. It's also helpfulfor communicating with your Clients beyond Invoices. You're also able to review all time tracked on a Project, including your Contractors' and Employees' time.

Creating Projects

Project Budgets

Reviewing Time on Projects

Discussing & Collaborating on Projects

FAQs

Creating Projects

To create a Project, follow these steps:

Go to the Projects section on the left side

Click on the Create New...button

Select Flat Rate ProjectorHourly Project ( see here if you're not sure which Project Type to choose )

You'll be taken to the New Project screen: Time Entry Details report

Here's what you can customize in your Project:

Team Members - In the top left corner, click on the + symbol to add Team Members (Employees and Contractors). You can also invite new Employees and Contractors as well

Assign a Client - In the top right corner, click to assign a Client to the Project

Project Name - Enter a name for your Project

Project Services - Add or remove Services you'd like to use for tracking time

Hourly Budget - In the bottom leftcorner, you can set up a budget for the amount of time to allocate to a Project

End Date - In the bottom right corner, you can put in an end date (or deadline) for your Project

Flat Rate - If you select Flat Rate Project as your Project Type, this appears so you can indicate the Rate here

Project Settings

Project Type - You can chooseFlat Rate Project so regardless of how many time entries you and your team track, you can bill it with a flat rate. Or chooseHourly Project if you want to charge by the hour for youand your team'stime entries

Set Hourly Rates - You can chooseSingle Hourly Ratesoall time tracked by you and your teamonthis Project arethe same rate, orTeam Member Rateso you can apply a rate unique to each Team Member on all their time entries. Read more about Billing Rates here.

Project Budgets

You can easily set up an Hourly Budget so you and your team can keep everything on schedule. This gives you greater visibility into how much time has been tracked and whether you are on budget or not.

To add or modify a Hourly Budget, use the below steps:

Go to the Projects section

Click on the Project you want to edit and then the Edit button

Or create a new one with the Create New... button

In the bottom left corner, under Hourly Budget, type in the amount you want to budget for (or increase it if you are editing it)

ClickSave to finish.

The Hours Logged column is also useful for visually tracking this progress:

Reviewing Time on Projects

Reviewing time allows you to see a total breakdown of who's tracked time on a particular Project, and what those time entries look like.

Go theProjects section

Click on aProject

Then click on thereview button at the top.

For more details on how to reviewspecific team members' time entries, or by calendar view, check out this article here.

Discussing & Collaborating on Projects

You can collaborate on any Project by sharing files, attachments or comments with your Client and team. Everything is stored inside the project for easy reference anytime you need it. Just do the following:

Go theProjects section

Click on aProject

Then click on thediscussbutton at the top.

Here you can post files, comments, and collaborate with your team and Client. Here's what you can share inside a Project:

Comments

Files (images, gifs, PDFs, documents, spreadsheets)

Links

The size limit for files is 50 MB per file, and a maximum of 40 files per post.

FAQs

How do I add people to my Project?

To add people to your Project, follow these steps:

Go to the Projects section on the left side

For existing Projects, click on it, then click on the Edit button

For a new Project, click on the New Project button

Click on the + symbol under Team Members in the top left

Select your Team Members by using either:

TheSelect Allcheckbox

Individually checking off boxes next to the Team Member(s)

TheSearchfield and/orFilter by Roleoption to check off specific boxes

Then click on theSaveorUpdate Team Membersbutton to send the invites.

Or use the Invite an Employee/Invite a Contractor button to invite a new one

Type in the person's email address in the To: field

Feel free to write a personal message or leave it blank, then click on the Send Invitation button

The invitation will then be emailed, and the recipient can accept it to have access to the Project.

Note: If you add a Client to a Project, they will only be able to see the Discuss tab. If a Client needs to see time tracked so far, you can either send them an Invoice with the time entries, or run a filtered to that Client/Project. How do I remove people from my Project? You can remove team members from your Project with the below steps:

Go to the Projects section on the left side

Click on the Project you want to edit

Then click on the Edit button

Click on the + symbol under Team Members in the top left

Uncheck the box next to any existing Team Member

Click Done and any unselected Team Members will be removed from the Project.

How do I change the Client on a Project?

Go to the Projects section on the left side

Click on the Project you want to change the Client for

Then click on the Edit button

Click over the Client's name and selectChange Client

Choose the new Client

Click Save.

Note: If you have time entries already billed on an Invoice belonging to the original Client, the Invoice will not change Clients and remain as is. Both billed and unbilled time entries will be reassigned to the new Client. If the original Client has a Retainer, time entries will be removed from the retainer and reassigned to the new Client instead. If the new Client has a Retainer as well, the time entries from the old Client's Retainer will move to the new Client's Retainer.

How do I edit my Project settings?

Go to theProjectssection

Click on the Project you wish to edit

Click on theEdit button.

If you have a new address, or a new credit card, you can update it inside yourFreshBooks account. This ensures there's no disruption to your account when your next payment is due (or renewed) so you always have access.

You can update your credit card with this link or your address with these steps:

On a web browser in your account, click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click onBilling and Upgrade

Click onUpdate Payment Detailsunder Payment Details on the right, or click directly here

Enter your new credit card if needed (note that expiration date is MM/YY only)

ClickChange next to Billing Address to update if needed update your browser to the latest versions here

ClickSave to finish.

FAQs

Why are my updated credit card details not saving?

Below are some common issues with new credit card details not saving:

The expiration date should be written as MM/YY

The credit card must be one of the accepted types (Visa, MasterCard, Amex or Discover) and is not a prepaid or debit credit card

Make sure the address matches your credit card's billing address(no spelling errors)

Ensure there are no unsupported characters in your address (like / and - )

Your browser may not be supported - for best results use Chrome or

If all the above isn't working, check with your bank, particularly if you are located outside of Canada. Some banks may require you to authorizeFreshBooks to charge your credit card on a recurring basis sinceFreshBooks is located in Canada.

How do I reactivate my account with my updated credit card?

If your account was cancelled and you're looking to reactivate it, just log into your account at my.freshbooks.com, and you'll be asked to fill in your credit card details. ClickSave and your account will be reactivated once all outstanding payments are processed.

FreshBooks is constantly being updated and improved to make running your business even easier and give you more time to focus on what you love. Here are some of the new features and improvements that have recently been released.

Want to see what we've done last year? Check out the 2018 updates here.

Last Updated: December 6, 2019

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December

Updates to Existing Features

Update Payment Details

From your Billing & Upgrade page, you can now quickly update your credit card details and see when your next payment is due.

November

Updates to ExistingFeatures

Bulk Add Teams to Projects

Search for specific Team Members by name or by Role, or add all of them in one go on any Project as needed.

October

New Features

Add-Ons Page

Find our ever-growing collection of apps, integrations and services in the Add-Ons section in your navigation menu on the left.

September

New Features

Keyboard Shortcuts

Move through your account faster with keyboard shortcuts, or press SHIFT + ? in your account.

Bank Connections with Plaid

Users in the United Kingdom and Ireland can now connect to their banks via Plaid, which is PSD2 Compliant.

Updates to Existing Features

Sort by Date, Project, Service, Note, Time or Status on Time Tracking list

When on the Review tab in the Time Tracking section, you can now sort your list of time entries byDate, Project, Service, Note, Time and Status.

Monthly Breakdown on P&L Report

See the breakdown for each month on the Profit & Loss Report by clicking on the Enlarge button instead of exporting it.

August

New Features

Manager Team Member Role

Assign your Team Member as a Manager to have them help you manage Invoices, Retainers, Estimates, track time and more without seeing your financial information.

Updates to Existing Features

Sort by Organization, Primary Contact or Total on Revenue by Client Report

Sort by Organization, Primary Contact or the Total of any Client on the Revenue by Client Report.

July

New Features

Message Center

Read about new updates to FreshBooks, announcements and more inside the Message Center. This can be accessed anytime from the blue button in the bottom right corner of your account.

Updates to Existing Features

Client Profile Hub

See all of your Client's Invoices, Retainers, Expenses, Estimates, Time Tracking, Projects and Reports inside their Client Profile.

Mark As Transfer, Owner's Draw or Expense Refund

You can now automatically mark transactions as a Transfer, Owner's Equity, or Expense Refund with the Mark As button inside your Bank Reconciliation.

Grand Total on Expense Report

The Expense Report now displays the grand total of all Expenses at the top in the Summary section.

Sort by Client or by Total on Accounts Aging Report

Now sort in ascending or descending order by Client or by Total on the Accounts Aging Report, so you can quickly see who owes you the most or least.

June

Updates to Existing Features

New Invoices from Last Created

Whenever a new Invoice is created, Terms, Online Payment details and Due Dates will default to copy the same settings from the last invoice created instead.

Pagination

If you have 11+ pages on any list, you can jump to the next page before or after, jump to the first or last page, as well as click on the page number to jump to a specific page.

May

New Features

Bank Reconciliation Summary Report

Find all your unmatched transactions in one place with the Bank Reconciliation Summary report.

Retainers

Budget and reserve blocks of time for service-based work with your Clients by billing them with Retainers.

Online Payments All Transactions List

See all your online payments in one place with the All Transactions list, including transaction fees for both FreshBooks Payments (WePay) and Stripe.

Updates to Existing Features

Quick Expense Creation

Click on the + New Expense button at the top of your list of Expenses to quickly create a new in-line expense or edit any existing expenses.

Change Client on Project

You can now change the Client on a Project which will reassign all time entries to the new Client.

April

New Features

My Team in Main Navigation

My Team can now be found near the bottom of the main navigation menu for easy access in managing your team members.

Updates to Existing Features

Apply Taxes to All Line Items

When your Invoice has two or more line items, you can now check a box off to apply taxes to all line items on your invoice in one go.

March

New Features

Bank Transfers (ACH) Payments

Use FreshBooks Payments to start accepting Bank Transfers (ACH) from your Clients with USD payments.

Updates to Existing Features

Add Partial Payments in Bulk

You can now add multiple partial payments in bulk by checking off several invoices and selecting the Actions button to add a payment.

Edit Team Time Entries

Edit your Business Partners' and Basic Employees' time entries along with yours in the Review tab of the Time Tracking section.

Client Names Clickable on Invoice List

Quickly access your Client's information by clicking on their name from the Invoice list view.

February

New Features

Item Sales Report

The Item Sales Report shows you how many of each Item you've sold as well as how much you've made on each Item.

Client Account Statement

Share with your Clients their outstanding balances and history by sending them a Client Account Statement from within their profile.

Updates to Existing Features

Add Taxes to Expenses in Bulk

Check off multiple Expenses and use the Actions button to add or change the tax to them in one go.

Select Multiple Clients on Reports

You're now able to select multiple Clients on the Item Sales, Invoice Details, Payments Collected and Revenue by Client Reports.

Select Multiple Invoice Statuses on Reports

You can now select multiple Invoice statuses on the Item Sales and Invoice Details Reports.

Select Multiple Payment Methods on the Payments Collected Report

When using the Payments Collected Report, you can now choose multiple Payment methods to filter by.

Select Multiple Items on Item Sales Report

Select one or multiple Items on the Item Sales Report to filter by.

Export Clients CSV

You can now export a list of all your clients and their information out as a CSV file.

January

New Features

Import Items from CSV

You can now add new Items in bulk by importing them in with a CSV file.

Time Tracking

Tracking time is now easier with a redesigned experience for logging and tracking time.

Revenue by Client Report

Use the Revenue by Client Report to see a breakdown of revenue for each client you've invoiced.

Updates to Existing Features

Change Clients on Expenses in Bulk

You can now select multiple Expenses and use the Actions button to change the Client in bulk.

Back-Calculate Expense Taxes

Select up to two taxes, and it will automatically calculate the tax totals for you based off the grand total of your Expense.

Category & Vendor Added to Expense CSV Import

The CSV import for Expenses now includes fields for the Category and Vendor for each expense you'd like to create.

Favourite Reports

Click on the star next to any Report in the Reports section to favourite it for quicker access.

Reset Opening Balance for Bank Reconciliation

If the Opening Balance was entered in incorrectly, you can now reset it and start reconciling correctly.

In FreshBooks you will find that your lists are divided into three sections: active, archived and deleted. These have different functions in FreshBooks according to each status, and you can switch between these statuses by unarchiving or undeleting most things in your account.

Active

Fully functional

Active data appears in all of your lists and Reports

Counts towards your Client limit on all plans

If you ever need to return to your active view, you can click on the All [Section] link (e.g., All Invoices, All Expenses, All Projects, etc).

Archived

Archiving things is a great way to shorten your lists (e.g., paid Invoices can be archived and all other invoices can remain in the active view)

Archived projects will be viewable but you'll no longer be able to track time to it

Anything archived willnotappear in lists (like Invoices, Expenses, Projects, etc), but will appear in Reports

Can be unarchived for later use

Counts towards your Client limit on all plans

To archive something:

Go to thesection (e.g., Invoices or Expenses)

Check the box(es) off next to the content you want toarchive

Click on theActionsbutton

SelectArchive.

To access your archived content:

Go to thesection (e.g., Invoices or Expenses)

At the bottom of the list, click on theView Archived [Section]button (e.g., View Archived Invoices)

Check off the box(es) next to any archived content

Click on theBulk Actionsbutton

SelectUnarchiveto restore itback to the main list.

Deleted

Will not appear in any lists

Completely inactive, but can be undeleted for later use

Deleting Clients will not delete their past Invoices or payments associated with them

Deleted Clients do not count towards your Client limit on all plans

Deleted Team Members's time entries will remain associated to to them, and you can still bill for their entries later

You can also run Reports on deleted Clients if All Clientsare selected, but you will not be able to run any filtered reports on a deleted Client specifically

To delete something:

Go to thesection (e.g., Invoices or Expenses)

Check the box(es) off next to the content you want todelete

Click on the BulkActionsbutton

SelectDelete.

To access your deleted content:

Go to thesection (e.g., Invoices or Expenses)

At the bottom of the list, click on thedeletedlink

Check off the box(es) next to any deleted content

Click on theActionsbutton

SelectUndeleteto restore itback to the main list.

If you are usingFreshBooks Payments with WePay,you can track your payment details inside your FreshBooks account with the Payments in Transit widget here, or in the list of All Transactions here.

Below are some common reasons that could be delaying the funds from reaching your bank account:

Is it your first payment through FreshBooks Payments? WePay's Trust and Safety team must verify all information about the transaction and the involved parties first.

Is it still within the processing time for FreshBooks Payments/WePay? It takes approximately 1-2 business days to process a transaction.

Is it still within the processing time for your bank to deposit the funds? It takes approximately 1-3 business days to send the funds to your bank.

Is there a bank account connected? You can update it in your WePay dashboard.

Is the bank information accurate ? Are the transit and routing numbers correctly entered?

Is there a name on the bank account?

Is there a proper number of digits for the bank account entered?

When did the last withdrawal get sent? When is the next one scheduled ?

Did you reach your transaction reserve limit? If you processed more than your account's limit in one week, your account might have hit its reserve limit. Any transaction over the limit will be paid out 7 days later. For more information on reserve limits, click here.

When did the transaction occur? When did it clear Processing status?

Did the transaction occur over a weekend/holiday?

Looking for more information onFreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles here.

As a business, you cantrack time to document your business' and team's productivity, or to bill back to the Client for your services worked. All time you track will be saved until you're ready to bill for it later.

You can track time with the timer, or by logging time manually. Time entries can also be marked as billable, edited or deleted afterwards.

Start Timer

Add Time Entry

Tracking Format

Day view

Week View

FAQs

Start Timer

Using the Timer allows you to start and have the timer immediately start tracking time while youre working. Below are steps for using the timer inside your account, but if you'd like to track time while on other websites, check out our Chrome Extension here.

Click on the Time Tracking section

From the Day sub-tab, click on the stopwatch icon next to New Entry pulled onto an Invoice

While the timer is running, you can fill out the entry with more details:

Select a Client

Next, enter text in the Type to add a project and Type to add a service fields

For notes, enter them in the What are you working on? field

To bill the time entry on an Invoice, ensure Billable is checked off

To pause, click on the Pause button, then click on Play to resume

When youre done, click Log Time next to the pause button to finish.

Notes:

Change the started at time if youd like to have it start earlier

The Timer will continue running until you Pause it, click Log Time or Discard, even if you close your FreshBooks account

The Timer will follow you around as you move to other areas of your account, so theres no need to stay on the Time Tracking page

Add Time Entry

Tracking Format

Before you start adding time, you can choose whether you'd like to track your time by duration in hours and minutes, or by start and end time. This can be adjusted anytime you like before you track time, with the below steps:

In the Time Tracking section, click on the gear icon next to Time Tracking

Click onTracking Format

Choose betweenTrack time entries by duration for hours and minutes, orTrack time entries by start and end time

ClickSave to finish.

Day View

If you have time entries youd like to log manually, you can log time with the Day or Week sub-tabs.

The Day sub-tab is useful for logging time on a day by day basis. All time entries logged on that particular day will appear in a list below the New Entry button. To log time on the Day sub-tab, use these steps:

In the Time Tracking section, you'll be on the Day sub-tab

Click on the day you want to log time on (or use the calendar icon to jump back or forward weeks)

Click on the New Entry button

Click on the Add a project or client field, and select a Client, or the specific project to assign it to

Next, click on Add a service and choose a Service if needed

Depending on what tracking format you've chosen, you can either:

In the HH:MM field, enter your time as a decimal (1.5), as #h #m (1h30m), or with a colon (1:5)

Or in theStart field, add the start time and in theEnd field, add the end time

Feel free to click on Add notes and include any details

When youre done, click on the green checkmark button to save your entry.

Week View

The Week sub-tab is ideal if you log time in bulk, especially if those daily time entries are similar. You also have the option to copy the previous weeks entries over to a new week, making timesheet entry quick. Use the below steps:

In the Time Tracking section, click on the Week sub-tab

Click on the week you want to log time on (or use the calendar icon to jump back or forward weeks)

Click on the New Row button

Click on the Add a project or client field, and select a Client, or the specific project to assign it to

Next, click on Add a service and choose a Service if needed

Click on the green checkmark button to proceed

Enter the time as a decimal (1.5), as #h #m (1h30m), or with a colon (1:5) into any box for each day of the week you see

Repeat steps 3-7 for any additional Client, Project and Service as needed

When youre done, click on Save to finish logging time for the week.

Ifyou'vealready logged time the previous week and want to copy it over instead, click on the copy over all rows from most recent timesheet link under the New Row button. Then you can jump to step 8 above and proceed.

FAQs

How do I manually mark time entries as billed?

Time entries are automatically marked as billed when they are . If you prefer to Invoice without displaying time entries to your Client, you can still mark them as billed manually to keep track of time that's been recouped so far.

Follow these steps:

Go to the Time Tracking section

Click on theReview sub-tab at the top

Check off the box(es) next to the entries you want to mark as billed

Click on the BulkActions button above the list

Click on Mark as Billed

Click OK in the confirmation pop-up and your time is now marked as billed.

You can also mark your time entries as unbilled. This is useful if you'd like to bill for them again, or if you've accidentally marked the wrong entry as billed. This will not stop you from billing time entries that have already been billed on previous Invoices as well. Use these steps:

Go to the Time Tracking section

Click on the Review tab

Check off the box(es) next to the entries you want to mark as billed

Click on the BulkActions button above the list

Click on Mark as Unbilled

Click OK in the confirmation pop-up and your time entry will now be unbilled.

How do I edit my time entries or my team's time entries?

Note that you can edit your Admins' and Employees' time entries, but not your Contractors' time entries.To edit a time entry, use these steps:

Go to the Time Tracking section

Click on the Review sub-tab

Find the entry you want to edit and click on it, aa pop-up will open

Click on the date itself to change the date if needed, and edit any other details as well

ClickSavewhen you're done.

How do I delete my time entries?

Sometimes we make mistakes, like adding a time entry when we didn't need to. It's easy to delete time entries with these steps:

Go to theTime Trackingsection

Click on the Reviewsub-tab

Check the box off next to any entry (or more than one) that you want to delete

Click on the BulkActions button above the list

Click on Delete.

You can also delete any individual time entry in the Day sub-tab or Week sub-tab by clicking on the trash can icon to the right of any entry:

A Retainer is one of several ways to bill your Clients. With a Retainer, you and your Client can establish a budget and reserve a block of time for service-based work performed on a recurring basis. All time is tracked towards the Clients Retainer balance, and Invoices are automatically generated by the Retainers settings for easy billing. If you track more time beyond the balance, those hours are automatically flagged as excess hours. You can then bill this excess time into a one-off Invoice. Retainers allow you to set clear expectations on the terms for the ongoing arrangement, including the Retainer amount, excess hour charges, and more details into services. You can also send a Retainer Summary report which specifies the time tracked towards the Clients Retainer balance.

Retainers are available on Plus and Premium plans only.

Create Retainers

Track Retainers

Excess Hours

FAQs

Create Retainers

Retainers can be created in one of three ways:

Click on either:

The Invoices section, then click on theRetainerssub-section and selectNew Retainer

The Dashboard section, then click Create New, and select Retainer

The Clients section, then click on your Client, and select the + button under the Retainers tab

In the form, select a Client if thereisn'tone already selected edit the time entry

Next, indicate how much youll charge for in the Fees Per Period

Then write in the Hours Per Period that youll be working for

Next, choose a Retainer Start Date

Enter a Rate for Excess Hours, which will be used on any extra hours tracked beyond the Retainer period

Choose a frequency in the Retainer Perioddropdown

The Invoice Issue date is automatically populated to today, or click on thecalendar iconif youd like to choose a different Issue Date

In the Number of Invoices area, select either Infinite (to never stop creating Invoices) or Periods Remaining with the number of Invoices to create

Click on the Set and Continue button.

Your Retainer will be generated and you can now customize it like any other Invoice or Recurring Template. Once youre done, click on the Save button to review the email and finish.The Retainer will generate an Invoice on the Retainer Start Dateyou'vechosen, and keep generating new Invoices at the frequency you specify until it ends.

Track Retainers

Once the Retainer is set up, you and your team can track time towards it. Youll also be able to monitor the amount of time tracked so you can stay profitable and revise the Retainer terms as needed.

To track your Retainers, use these steps:

Go to the Invoices section

Click on theRetainerssub-section

Click on the Retainer you want toview details for.

Each section of the Retainers area is broken down into detail below:

Retainer for (Client Name) - This displays details of your Retainer - the number of hours per frequency, the fee and the next Invoice to be generated

Hours Logged- Displays hours tracked towards your Retainer budget over the duration of your Period. Your total time tracked is shown in blue, and if its approaching or surpassing the budget line in red, you may want to revisit the Retainer with your Client before excess hours are logged

Remaining in Budget, Period Revenue, Remaining in Period - See how your Retainer is performing over time with total time tracked, total revenue earned, and any outstanding time entries, making it easy to see if youre often under, on, or over budget

There are also three tabs for you to toggle between on any Retainer:

Invoices - This tab shows you all Invoices generated by the Retainer, including any excess hoursyou'velogged

Time Entries - Use this tab to see all time entries tracked towards the Retainer, as well as another way to add or edit time entries if needed

Projects- From this tab, you can add Flat Rate or Hourly Projects that will automatically have all time entries in them associated with this Retainer

Report- A shortcut to the Retainer Summary Report,where you can get a detailed breakdown of all time tracked by you and your team for any particular Retainer that can be sent to the Client

Excess Hours

Any time you track beyond the terms of your Retainer will automatically be logged as Excess Hours. You have the option to charge any Excess Hours back to your Client after the end of your Retainer period.

Once your Retainer period has expired, youll be able to create an Invoice for Excess Hours with these steps:

Go to the Invoices section

Click on theRetainerssub-section

Click on the Retainer you want toview details for

Above the Retainer details, click on the Generate an invoice link in the banner for excess time

Continue with editing your Invoice as needed and click Save or Send when youre done.

FAQs

How do I edit my Retainer Terms?

If you need to change the Retainer Terms and Billing Schedule, use the below steps:

Go to theInvoices section

Click on theRetainers sub-section

Next, click on theRetaineryou want to edit

Click on theEdit button

Then on the preview of the Retainer Invoice, hover next to the Retainer line item and click on theEdit Termslink

Edit your terms as needed, and clickSet and Continue to finish

Then clickSave...to apply your changes.

How many Retainers can each Client have?

Clients can have one Retainer each.

How do I track time towards a Clients Retainer?

By Project - If you're tracking time towards a Project, you can automatically enable all time entries associated to that Project to also apply to the Retainer with these steps:

Go to the Projects section

Click on the Project you want to associate to the Retainer (or make a new Project)

If the Client selected on the Project has an active Retainer, you'll see the optionApply Time to Retainer appear underFor (Client Name), click on this

Check the box off next toApply time from this project to (Client Name)'s retainer and clickDone.

This will apply to any new time entries moving forward.

By Individual Time Entry-Otherwise, you can also assign individual time entries outside of projects to a Retainer with the below steps:

Go to the Time Tracking section

Use the Start Timer button, Recent Timers section, or click on the + button

Fill out your time entry details

Ensure the box next to Apply to Retainer is checked off

Hit Log Time or Save when youre done. The time entry will now be associated with the Retainer.

How do I delete my Retainer?

Deleting a Retainer is permanent - once deleted, the Retainer can't be undeleted. Use the below steps:

Go to the Invoices section

Click on theRetainerssub-section

Check off the box next to the Retainer you want todelete

Click on theMore Actions button

Click onDelete

ClickOK to confirm.

Any time tracked to this Retainer will remain. You can to mark it as billable and uncheckApply to Retainer if you need to remove it from the Retainer.

Whats the difference between Retainers & Recurring Templates?

Recurring Templates are used to bill for products or services on a recurring basis for repeat clients.

Retainers are used for reserving blocks of time or a specific budget for service-based work on a recurring basis. Excess time, if tracked, can be billed at a separate rate at the end of the Retainer period.

Welcome to FreshBooks! If you're currently running a business or just getting started while pursuing your passion, we're here to help you make accounting painless and easy.

Here's a quick guide to help you sign up, as well as get up and running in FreshBooks. Feel free to jump to the relevant section, or scroll through:

Sign up for an Account

Watch Our Webinar

Make Your First Invoice

Accept Credit Cards

Track Time

30 Day Trial &Pricing

Sign up for an Account

When you sign up for FreshBooks, you'll be put on a 30 day trial so you can try out all of our features. To sign up, use the below steps:

With FreshBooks

Go to the signup page here

Enter in an Email

Next, add a Password (minimum of 8 characters or more)

Click onGet Started and you'll be asked a few questions about your business before you can start exploring your account.

With Google Sign In

Go to the signup page here

Click on the Sign up with Google button

Enter in your Google email and click on Next

Enter in your Google password, then selectNext

Youll be taken to your FreshBooks account to finish setting up.

Watch Our Webinar

Got a question? We've got answers!

All our tutorials are moderated by our expert support specialistsand include live chat throughout the entire 1 hour session. Learn best practices that will save you time and help you get paid faster. Find out how to:

Set up and brand your FreshBooks account to look professional

Create Clients and Invoicethem in minutes

Accept Credit Card Payments to get paid even faster

Sign UpHere: https://www.freshbooks.com/webinars

Or if you can't make the live webinar session, you can always watch our most recent recorded version here.

Make Your First Invoice

If you're ready to bill your Clients, you can start making your Invoice with plenty of options to create and customize. You can begin with the steps here. You can also watch the below video on how to get started with FreshBooks:

Accept Credit Cards

You can get paid faster by accepting online payments with credit cards. InFreshBooks, you have two options to choose from -FreshBooks Payments or Stripe. Click here for all the details.

Track Time

Ready to log some hours you've worked? You can track your time right away with the steps here.

30 Day Trial & Pricing

While youre on your trial, you can view our pricing anytime with these steps below, or at our pricing page here :

Click on your picture/initials in the top left corner

Click on Billing & Upgrade

From here, you'll be presented with our plans and the features available on each.

You can upgrade anytime during your trial with these steps above - just enter your credit card details and save.

Wewon'tcharge you or move you to the new plan until after your trial ends 30 days later. This allows you to get all 30 days for free and continue uninterrupted after your trial ends.

If youre not a fan of manual entry, or youd like to bring in older Expenses than the ones brought in by your bank account, you can upload Expenses in bulk with a CSV file.

With the CSV import, you can specify the amount, category,date,description andvendoryou would like each Expense to be created under. Import your file with the steps below:

Go to the Expenses section

Click on the More Actions button

Select Import Expenses from a File

Click on Choose File

Select your CSV

Match the fields to the columns from your file using the dropdown (e.g., Date should match to the column in your file that is also labelled as Date)

Once youre done matching and specifying your Currency, click on Import Expenses

New Expenses will be added and you can start reviewing them in your list of Expenses.

FAQs

How are duplicate Expenses handled?

All Expenses will be imported in, regardless if they are duplicates or transfers to pay off a balance. We recommend checking the CSV before import to ensure only unique transactions are brought in.

Which types of transactions can be imported in?

Currently, only negative amounts as -x.xx (withdrawals, payments, or debits) can be imported in. If your file has both positive and negative amounts, the negative amounts will only come in. If your file only has all positives or all negatives, they will still be imported in. Currently, only payments and debits can be tracked. If you've accidentally imported in credits or reimbursements, you can delete the expenses afterwards to keep your reporting accurate.

Why did I get an error uploading my file?

The CSV file may be invalid depending on the error:

The CSV file itself is corrupt - copy the information to a new workbook and re-save as a .csv format

There are no header columns in the file - at the top of each column should be a header (e.g., Date)

There are missing columns - Amount, Category, Date, Description and Vendor are the only columns that should be in the file

There are unsupported characters like commas and other UTF-8 characters in the file

There are empty cells in the file (right click and select Delete to clear out empty cells)

The specified date format does not match the format in the file

The file is larger than 2MB - try splitting it into two or more CSVs instead

FreshBooks makes it easy to keep track of your spending with Expenses. This is helpful if you are requiredto document business-related purchases already made for your business and fortax deductions.

You can create Expenses, as well as Recurring Expenses that can generate automaticallyon a frequent basis (perfect for subscription-related costs). You're also able toupload receipts, and mark an Expense up for rebilling to your Clients.

Create an Expense

Create a Quick Expense

Create a Recurring Expense

Upload Receipt Images

Rebill an Expense to a Client

FAQs

Create an Expense

There are three ways to create a new Expense:

On the Dashboard, click on the Create New button, then select Expense

Go to the Expenses section (from the left menu) and click on the New Expense button

Go to the Expenses section (from the left menu) and at the top of the list, click on the + New Expense button (quick entry)

From the first two ways above, you'll be taken to the New Expense page:

follow the steps outlined here

A category is required for each Expense. Click on theChoose a category to select one of the tax-friendly categories to make tax time a breeze

Everything else is optional, but you're able to add aDate,Vendor, andDescription to give more details on the expense

Add an amount in the Grand Total box which is the full amount of the expense

To add taxes, click on the Add Taxes link below Subtotal

Check off up to two boxes next to Taxes you want to add (or you can use the Add another Tax button to make a new Tax instead)

Then click Apply Taxes

If you need to override the tax amount with a different total, you can click inside the tax amount and update it

When you are done with your Expense, make sure to click on theSave button to finish.

For more information on categories and creating your own subcategory, check out our article here.

Create a Quick Expense

If youre looking to quickly create or edit an Expense, use these steps:

From the Expenses section click on the + New Expense button above the list

Click on Add vendor and search for an existing Vendor, or type to create a new vendor

Click on Add category to select one of the tax-friendly categories, or type to make a new subcategory instead

If needed, choose a date with the calendar picker

Next, you can click Assign to client to add it to a Client, as well as enter a Tax Amount and Grand Total

You can also click and type in the Add description field to add more details as needed

To attach a receipt, click on the attach receipt link

When youre done, click on the checkmark button to save the Expense. If youre looking for more settings like Mark as billable, Mark as COGS or change the currency, click on advanced expense settings instead and follow the steps from Create an Expense above.

Create a Recurring Expense

If you have Expenses that are identical and repeat on a frequency, use the below steps to set up a Recurring Expense to take care of creating Expenses automatically ( or watch this video instead ):

Go to the Expenses section

Click on the New Expense button

On the New Expense screen, under Expense Settings, click on Make Recurring (this has to be done first before adding in the Expense details)

Click on the Make Recurring button

In the New Recurring Expense screen, you'llbe presented with theNext Issue date,where you're able to select aStart Date,How Often the Expensesare to be generated andHow ManyExpensesare to becreated

Add in your Expense details (Category and Grand Total, along with anything else like Notes or Taxes)

Click Save to finish.

New and existing Recurring Expenses will appear in the Recurring Expenses sub-sectionnext to All Expenses insidethe Expenses section: To stop a Recurring Expense, you can delete it with the below steps:

In the Recurring Expenses sub-section, check off the box next to the expense

Click on the Bulk Actions button

Click on Delete.

Upload Receipt Images

While adding your Expense details, click onselect a file or drag a receipt to the top corner of the expense. You can read more about uploading receipts here.

Rebill an Expense to a Client

While making your Expense, under Expense Settings on the right, you can click on Mark as billable. You can read more about rebilling expenses here, including adding a markup.

FAQs

I received a credit, refund or reimbursement on an Expense. How do I record this?

Currently any Expenses recorded counts as money leaving your account (payments for your business). Note:If you are using the Accounting features including Bank Reconciliation, .

Otherwise, if you are not using the Accounting features, you can use the below steps for eithera full or partial refund:

Partial

Click on the Expense you want to modify

Click on the Edit button

Change the Grand Total to reflect the remaining balance paid

Adjust the taxes if applicable

Leave details in the Description about the refund (like the original total and amount refunded)

Click Save to finish.

Full

Click on the Expense you want to modify

Click on the Edit button

Change the Grand Total to $0

Leave details in the Description about the refund (like the original total and reason for refund)

Click Save to finish.

Alternatively, you can delete the Expense entirely. We recommend checking with your accountant on which would be best for your business.

How do I edit or delete a Vendor? Vendors are populated from existing Expenses where that Vendor is listed.When a particular Vendor is no longer saved on any Expense, it will then disappear from the list of Vendors. To make changes to a Vendor, whether individually or in bulk, you can use these steps:

Use the Search, or check off the boxes next to the Expenses you want to edit

Click on theBulk Actions button

Select Change Vendor

Type in a new Vendor, choose from the list, or leave it blank

Click Save to finish. The old Vendor name will no longer appear on the Expense.

How do I edit or delete taxes on my Expenses? If you have several expenses where the taxes need to be added, edited or removed simultaneously, use the below steps:

Use the Search, or check off the boxes next to the Expenses you want to edit

Click on theBulk Actions button

Select Change Taxes

Select the taxes you want to apply to all the selected Expenses, or unselect to remove all taxes

Click Apply Taxes to finish.

Whether you have a team or youre looking to grow a team, working together in FreshBooks on Projects is simple and easy. Anyone invited to a Project can share files and collaborate so that everyone stays on track.

To get started, read below, or jump to a specific section:

Invite Your Team Members

Add Team Members to Projects

Assign Billing Rates

Invite Your Team Members

There are a few roles in FreshBooks that you can assign to your team members. Each role comes with different sets of permissions depending on what youd like them to work on.

Business Partners - Most access to your business account

Basic Employees - Some access to your business account

Contractors - Have their own account and some shared information to yours

Learn more about the differences here, and use the steps to invite them in this article.

Add Team Members to Projects

Onceyou'veinvited your team members, you can start assigning them to Projects. read more here

Go to the Projects section on the left side

For existing Projects, click on it, then click on the Edit button

For a new Project, click on the New Project button

Click on the + symbol under Team Members in the top left

Select your Team Members by using either:

The Select All checkbox

Individually checking off boxes next to the Team Member(s)

The Search field and/or Filter by Role option to check off specific boxes

Then click on the Save or Update Team Members button to send the invites.

Any added team members will receive an email informing them of their invitation to the Project. Once invited, team members can collaborate in the Discuss tab.

Everyone thats invited can share files, leave comments, and see others files and comments as well. With everyone working together in Projects, its easy to stay on the same page and keep productivity up.

You can learn more about Projects and what can be shared here.

Assign Billing Rates

If you're creating Projects with Team Member Rates as the Billing Method, the rates are pulled from Billable Rates. This allows you to bill different amounts for time tracked depending on your team members hourly rate.

You can set up rates for each team member with the below steps:

Click on thegear iconin the top left corner

Select My Team

Click on a team member

Add or edit in the Billable Rate box as needed

When youre done, click Save to apply the new rate.

To learn more about Billing Methods, and the other options available, you can .

In FreshBooks, income is tracked when you mark an Invoice as paid. This is done by entering in a Client's payment manually (if you have the payment on hand like cash and checks/cheques) or through one of the available payment gateways here. You're also able to modify payments if you've done a partial or full refund. Read more on how to add, edit or delete payments:

Add a Payment

Edit a Payment

Delete a Payment

FAQs

Add a Payment

If you've received a payment outside of FreshBooks, you'll want to add that payment to the Invoice in your account so FreshBooks recognizes you've received that money.

To add a payment, you can either do individual payments on each Invoice or mark a group of Invoices as paid in one bulk action.

Bulk Add a Payment

Go to the Invoices section

Check off the boxes next to the Invoices you want to mark as paid (must be in the same currency)

Click on the Actions button that appears above the list

Click on Add a Payment

Enter your payment details for each payment, including the Amount, Payment Method and Payment Notes

If you'd like to apply the same payment method, date or notes to all payments, check off the Apply payment method/date/notes to allbox underneath

Once you're done, clickSave.

If you're looking to apply a Credit as a payment instead, you'll need to use the individual payment steps below.

Add a Payment to an Invoice Individually

The below steps can also be used to apply a credit as a payment on an Invoice too.

Goto theInvoices section

Click on the Invoice you've received payment for

ClickMore Actions thenAdd a Payment:

You'll be taken to this screen:

Here you can enter your payment information. ClickAdd Paymentonce you've entered the information correctly, and the payment will be applied to your Invoice.

Edit a Payment

To edit a payment, follow these steps:

Go to theInvoices section

Click on the Invoice you would like to edit the payment on

Scroll to the bottom of the Invoice to see the payments associated

Check the box next to the payment, clickActions and thenEdit:

From here you can edit all the payment information. ClickSave once you're done.

Delete a Payment

Deleting a payment is very similar to editing a payment. If you've ever accidentally marked an Invoice as paid and want to make it unpaid again (or undo the payment), you can use these steps. If you're looking to do a refund, check out this article.

Head to yourInvoices section

Click on the Invoice you would like to delete the payment from

Scroll to the bottom of the Invoice to see the payments associated

Check the box to the left of the payment then click on theActions button

Click Delete

You'll then be asked if you're sure you want to delete the payment

ClickOKand the payment will be deleted.

FAQs

How can I let my Client know their Invoice is Paid? Can I send a thank you note or issue a payment receipt?

When you manually add a payment to an Invoice, this does not notify the Client. However, you can acknowledge payment from your Client by writing a comment on the paid Invoice which sends them an email. Just click on the header above the Invoice, type in a comment, and hitSend.

This automatically sends a payment notification email to the Client with a link to the Invoice as well (which will now be updated to reflect a $0 balance, or a lesser amount after a partial payment).

FreshBooks Payments, powered by WePay, allows you to accept credit card payments and Bank Transfers (ACH) online so you can get paid instantly.The process of receiving your clients payments can take an average of 1-3 business days. The breakdown of those days are as follows:

WePay will process the transaction instantly and deposit it in your WePay account. For transactions that have not been approved instantly, they will go to manual review (Processing) or Declined

If the transaction is in manual review, this will show as Processing on your FreshBooks Invoice and will take an extra 1-2 business days to finish here

Once approved, it takes 1-3 days for both credit card and ACH payments to appear in your bank account depending on the account you're depositing your funds to.

If this is your first, or an unusually larger deposit, this can take an extra 1-2 business days for WePays Trust and Safety team to review. Once cleared, the deposit will follow the schedule as outlined below.

If your WePay account is connected to a Chase Bank Account:

All transactions received and approved up to 5 pm PST will be in your bank account that night (e.g., approved by Monday at 5 pm PST will appear in your account the same day on Monday night)

Any transactions accepted and approved after the 5 pm PST cutoff time will be included in the next days deposit instead

If your WePay account is connected to a non-Chase Bank Account:

All transactions received and approved up to 5 pm PST will be deposited into your bank account the following day (e.g., approved by Monday at 5 pm PST will appear in your account on Tuesday, the following day)

Depending on your bank institution, that accounts financial institution will complete the transaction according to its standard processing times. This may take between 1-3 days based on the financial institution, and will not deposit on weekends or holidays

Transactions that are accepted and approved on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and holidays will be deposited on the next available business day (Monday for weekend deposits, or if Monday is a holiday, Tuesday instead)

Any transactions accepted and approved after the 5 pm PST cutoff time will be included in the next days deposit instead

If your payments aren't following the above timelines, check out other tips here.

FAQs

Where can I see if a payment has been sent to my WePay account or to my bank?

You can track your payment details inside your FreshBooks account with the Payments in Transit widget here, or in the list of All Transactions here.

Payments can be tracked with the CC payment ID (an unique set of numbers that identifies a particular transaction) inside your WePay dashboard:

Go to the Invoices section in your FreshBooks account

Click on an Invoice that was paid with FreshBooks Payments

Scroll down to the All Payments For section at the bottom

Copy the CC payment ID number

Log into your WePay dashboard here

Search that number in your dashboard, and if the transaction appears, it has been received by WePay.

To determine if that transaction was in a recent withdrawal to your bank account, go to the Reporting section in your WePay dashboard, click on Settlements, then download the CSV file. From there, you can search for your CC payment ID to see when it was sent to your bank.

What is my reserve limit? How can I raise it?

Reserves are portions of payments that WePay holds in reserve. Reserves are held to protect your business against chargebacks or unexpected disputes, which could lead to going into overdraft. Any transactions that go over your reserve limit will be held in reserve and paid out 7 days later.

If part of a payment goes over the threshold of your reserve limit, the entire payment will be held for the standard 7 days before clearing.

You can reach out to our Support if youd like to see your account's weekly reserve limit raised. Your business' eligibility will then be evaluated by WePay.

Looking for more information onFreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles.

Invoices allow you to bill a Client for your products and/or services, and help you keep track of your income in FreshBooks. You can also check out our blog post here for making the best possible Invoices to ensure you get paid for your hard work on time.

Create an Invoice

Settings

Customize Invoice Style

Fill out your Invoice

Due Date

Notes

Terms

Send Late Reminders

Charge Late Fees

Currency & Language

Taxes

FAQs

Bad Debt/Voided Invoices

Create an Invoice

There are two ways to start a new Invoice: If you're on yourDashboard:

Click on the Create New button

Then select Invoice. This will take you to the New Invoice screen.

Alternatively, you can click on the Invoices section, then the New Invoice button in the top right. You'll be taken to the New Invoice screen:

Each section of the Invoiceis broken down into detail below ( or you can watch this video here ):

Settings

Accept Credit Cards

You can read more about accepting credit cards in this article. Your settings for online payments will be remembered based on the last invoice created.

Customize Invoice Style

Template- You can choose between Simple or Modern, for the option of having a logo in a corner, or a wide banner across the top of your Invoice.

Theme Colour - This will change the colour of your headings (e.g., Description, Rate, Invoice Number). It will also change the banner colour at the top of your Invoice on the Modern template.

Font - You can choose between Helvetica (Modern) and Garamond (Classic).

Make Recurring- You can read more about making your Invoice into a recurring invoice here.

Fill out your Invoice

Company Name, Phone, Address - This is pre-populated by your Company Profile but you can also edit it here.

Logo- You can add a logo to make your Invoice look professional. Learn more here.

Billed To - Hover your mouse over this area and click to add a Client. You can add a new Client or choose an existing one. If you select an existing Client, any changes you make to the Client's information will update the Client's profile too.

Date of Issue - Chances are this won't need to be changed, but if you need to change the issue date, you can do so here.

Due Date - Include the date your Invoice should be paid by. Late Reminders and Fees are based off the Due Date. Due Dates are remembered from the last Invoice you created, including custom Due Dates.

Invoice Number - This can be changed to include both numbers or letters if necessary.

Reference Field - You can enter up to 25 characters for any additional information you need to include, like purchase orders/PO numbers. Learn more here.

Description, Rate, Qty, Line Total - This is what you're Invoicing for. Add the Items or Time you're billing your Client for here.

Notes - Add a summary or details to the Invoice. Notes are unique to each Invoice and will not be remembered for next time.

Terms - Include any Tax numbers here (like HST, GST, VAT, ABN), standard payment terms (bank transfer details), or a PayPal.me link so your Clients know when and how they can pay! Terms are remembered from the last invoice you created.

Use Terms if you want to enter details that are remembered for future Invoices. Notes are best for comments, shipping details, and any other temporary information.

Once you've selected a Client on your Invoice, you'll see some additional settings appear:

Send Late Reminders - You're able to send up to three late payment reminders to your Clients, adding a personal message to each reminder if necessary.

Charge Late Fees - You can add late fees x-number of days after the Invoice Due Date. These can either be a percentage of the Invoice value, or a flat fee.

Currency & Language - Here you're able to change the currency or language (either English or French) of the Invoice.

Taxes - To add Tax to your Invoice on the items, refer to this article.

Once the Invoice looks the way you want it, you can either click on:

Save - if you're not quite finished working on it.

Send - An email preview comes up with the primary Client's email already populated, along with any secondary contacts' emails (if any are added to the Client profile). You can easily change or add more email addresses and personalize the email for your Client. Whoever sends the Invoice will receive any email replies from the Client.

Once saved/sent, you'll be taken back to the Invoices section.

FAQs

How do I know when my Client has viewed the Invoice?

At the top of all Invoices is a View History bar. Click on this to reveal the full timeline of all events that occurred with your Invoice. Whenever your Client clicks on the link to open the Invoice, the status of the Invoice updates from Sent to Viewed. This is also automatically logged in the Invoice History as "(Client Name) viewed this Invoice on (date)".

How do I unsend an Invoice or revert it back to Draft status?

If you've mistakenly sent an Invoice that you didn't want to send, you can use these steps:

In the Invoices section, check off the box next to the Invoice you accidentally sent

Click on the Bulk Actions button

Select Duplicate

Click on the Save button to save the copy as a draft

Return to the Invoices section, and check off the box next to the old Invoice that was sent by mistake

Click on the Bulk Actions button

Then select Delete. If the Invoice was sent by email, you can let your Client know that the link to the Invoice will no longer work.

How do I edit or change my Terms?

This can be done by editing your most recent Invoice or creating a new Invoice. At the bottom in the Terms section, you can make any changes as needed and it will be remembered for the next future Invoice.

How do I record bad debt or void an Invoice?

Bad debt is when you have done work and created an Invoice for a Client, but that Invoice will never be paid. You can mark an Invoice as bad debt with these steps:

Go to the Invoices section

Next to the the Invoice you want to mark as bad debt, click on the pencil icon on the right

Add a line item (you can call it "Bad Debt" or something similar), with the total as a negative value

Click Save to finish and the total should now be $0 and no longer outstanding.

Why is the dropdown on the Invoice not showing all of my Clients or Items?

To ensure working on your Invoice is the best experience possible, the dropdown for Clients or Items will only display up to a certain number of results. You can still use the keyboard to type and quickly find your Client or Item if it's not immediately visible in the dropdown.

As an Owner, working with others in FreshBooks is as easy as inviting them to join your account. Keep productivity and collaboration going by inviting your team member as either an Admin, Employee, Contractor or an Accountant.

Heres how each set of permissions can be used:

AdminAdmins get full access to your account. Admins are those you consider key decision makers that need access to information inside your account. They can be co-owners, partners, or even secondary administrators. Adminswon'tbe able to cancel your account or manage Add-ons or Integrations but they can access everything else.

Manager Managers have most access to your account. They can help manage your Invoices, Retainers, Estimates, track time and review time by the rest of the team, as well as create their own Expenses. Managerswon'tbe able to view financial reports or your Dashboard, modify any online payment methods or Bank Connections, and manage Add-ons or Integrations.

EmployeeEmployees have limited access to your account. Employees are useful if you have team members who only need to track their time and Expenses towards assigned projects. Theyll only be able to see their own entries andwon'tbe able to create or send Invoices, Retainers, or Estimates to your Clients, or view your reports and financial information.

ContractorContractors have their own separate FreshBooks account. Any Projects you invite them to will appear in their account as well, so they can track time towards it and invoice you for it afterwards. Contractorscan'tsee any other information from your account.

AccountantAccountants get limited access to your account. This is ideal for your bookkeeper or accountant in helping you monitor your business' health. Accountants can see your financial reports as well as add Journal Entries, manage the Chart of Accounts, review Invoices, add Expenses, Payments and Other Income as needed. You can invite up to 10 Accountants per business at no extra cost, on Plus and Premium plans.

If you need to know what each set of permissions can orcan'taccess, check out this handy table here.

Send an Invite

There are three ways you can invite a team member to join your account:

Dashboard

Click on the Dashboard section

Click on the Invite button

Select either Admin, Manager, Employee, Contractor or Accountant

Enter the email address in the To: field, and add a personal message if needed

Then click Send Invitation. Your team member will receive an email with instructions to log in.

My Team

Click on theMy Team section

Click on the Invite button

Select eitherAdmin, Manager, Employee, Contractoror Accountant

Enter the email address in the To: field, and add a personal message if needed

Then click Send Invitation. Your team member will receive an email with instructions to log in.

Projects

Note that this method does not allow you to add a custom message to the email before the invite is sent:

Click on the Projects section

Click on an existing Project, then the Edit button (or the + New Project button for a new

Project instead)

Click on the Invite an Employee button, or the Invite a Contractor button

Enter the email address

If you selected Invite an Employee earlier, next to the email field, select Admin, Manager,orEmployee from the dropdown

Click Done

Then click Save to finish your changes to the Project. An email will automatically be sent.

Once you've invited your team member, feel free to send them a link to their Getting Started guide here.

If you as a Client are being billed for subscription-based services or products by a FreshBooks user, you can easily save your payment details so that you are automatically billed each time you are invoiced.

This is done via Recurring Payments in FreshBooks, and works together with Recurring Invoices to automatically bill you every time an Invoice is generated and sent to you, the Client.

You're also able to remove your saved payment information if you want to opt out of Recurring Payments at any time. Read below on how to save, update and remove your payment information.

Note: If the Business Owner entered the credit card details on your behalf, or if their business requires automatic payments, only they can update or remove the credit card details themselves.

Saving Your Payment Information

Updating Your Payment Information

Removing Your Payment Information

Saving Your Payment Information

Open the Invoice from the email that was sent to you and click on theView and Pay Invoicebutton Security and Reliability Safeguards here

Enter your credit card details under theRecurring Payment section

Check off the box next to Save this card for future payments to (Business Name) to save your credit card for re-use on any future Invoices

Click on the Pay $xx.xxbutton

A confirmation page will appear and the payment will start processing.

Updating Your Payment Information

Open any invoice that you received in the past from your email, or log into your Client account if you've been saving your Invoices inFreshBooks

You should be viewing the invoice that is automatically billing you.Any saved credit cards will appear here (or you can click on Manage Payments)

Click on theUpdate Credit Card link

Re-enter your new credit card information and clickSave Card

Your new details will be saved for re-use on future Invoices.

Removing Your Payment Information

Open any invoice that you received in the past from your email, or log into your Client account if you've been saving your Invoices inFreshBooks

You should be viewing the invoice that is automatically billing you.Any saved credit cards will appear here (or you can click on Manage Payments)

Hover over the credit card until you see a trash can icon appear next to it

Click on the trash can icon

Click on Remove Credit Card to confirm

The Recurring Invoice will no longer automatically bill you again andwill need to be paid manually each time by you now.

If you ever have any concerns about the safety of your payment information, you can reviewFreshBooks' .

The Company Profile contains important details about your business that is displayed on all your Invoices, Estimates and Proposals. This is also where you can choose your Base Currency, Standard Rate and date format as needed.

To access your Company Profile, use these steps:

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Company Profile

Each section is explained in detail below: read more about here

Company Name - This is the name of your business, and is displayed on Invoices, Estimates, Proposals and in emails to your Clients

Address - This is your business address and appears on all Invoices, Estimates and Proposals

Base Currency - This is the default currency for your account (you can still change currency on any Client profile or Invoice/Estimate/Proposal with the steps here )

Date Format - This determines the date formatting of your Invoices, Estimates and Proposals dates

Business & Mobile Phone - Use this to display your phone number as needed

Tax Name & Number - These fields appear depending on the country you've chosen, and you can put in your VAT, ABN or any other Tax Name and Number that you're required to have on all Invoices, Estimates and Proposals

Standard Rate - Specify a rate here to apply to all unbilled time entries (especially if no other Billing Method is selected, which you can )

Invoices allow you to bill for products and/or servicesto your clients, but they are also a reflection of your business. FreshBooks has some great Invoice customization options available to you, so you're able to create Invoices both you and your Clients love. The two main sections you can customize areInvoice Style and Currency & Language.

Both the Invoice Style (templates) and Currency & Language are remembered by default on a per-Invoice basis, as well as any online payment settings. This means your most recently created Invoice will be remembered the next time you make an Invoice again.

Invoice Style

Currency & Language

Reference Field (Purchase Order Number)

FAQs

Invoice Style

To customize your Invoice Style, use these steps:

Go to theInvoicessection

Click onNew Invoicein the top right

Select a Client

On the right of your Invoice you'll seeSettings, click on Customize Invoice Style.

There area few things you're able to customize:

Template - We have two default templates to choose from,Simple andModern. This allows you to choose the layout of your Invoice. TheSimple template looks more like the standard Invoices you're familiar with (albeit much more beautiful!), while theModern template includes a colored banner at the top of the Invoice and space for a large image or logo. For more information on how to upload a logo or what the size limits are, check this article here. Here's a comparison (Simple on the left,Modern on the right):

Theme Color - This will change the color of the headings on the Invoice (such asBilled To,Date of Issue,Description etc), as well as the top banner on theModern template.

Font - We currently haveHelvetica (Modern) andGaramond (Classic) available to choose from.

Once you've customized your Invoice the way you want it to look, remember to click the greenDone button to confirm the changes. This will save the Invoice style.

Currency & Language

FreshBooks supports a variety of currencies and the following languages:

English

Danish

Dutch

Estonian

French

German

Greek

Italian

Norwegian

Portuguese

Romanian

Spanish

Spanish (Latin America)

Swedish

To customize yourCurrency & Language, use these steps:

Head to theInvoicessection

Click onNew Invoicein the top right

Select a Client

On the right of your Invoice you'll seeSettings, click onCurrency & Language.

When you've selected a client, you will see Currency & Language appear on the right side. Click on it and you have the option to change the language and choose one of many currencies (like USD or CAD):

Once you've changedyour language and currency, remember to click the greenDone button to confirm the changes.

Reference Field (Purchase Order Number)

The Reference field allow you to record up to 25 characters like Purchase Order (PO) numbers, project codes, or work order numbers on the Invoice.

FAQs

How do I add, edit or change the Terms on an Invoice?

You can edit an existing Invoice or create a brand new Invoice and use the Terms field at the bottom of the Invoice. This is a useful place to put your default payment information, bank transfer details, PayPal email and more.

Terms are remembered bydefault on a per-Invoice basis. This means the Terms on your most recently created Invoice will be remembered the next time you make an Invoice again.

Can I customize my Invoices further? Can I rename the headings?

Currently you're only able to upload a logo/banner, choose your template, change the language and currency. If there are any further customization options that you're looking for, please reach out to us to submit a suggestion!

If you've sent an Invoice to your Client or yourself, or your Client opens a link to one of their Invoices, and they encounter an error message like the one below: follow the steps here

This can be a result of changes or settings that are disabled. Below are the common issues and their solutions:

Deleted Client

Ifyou'vedeleted the Client, they can no longer view any Invoices to them. To un-delete a Client, use the below steps:

Go to theClientssection

Click on the deleted link at the bottom of the list

Click on the Client you'd like to undelete

A pop-up will ask you if you'd like to undelete it. ClickOKand the Client will be restored. The link will then work again.

Deleted Invoice

Ifyou'vedeleted the Invoice, the Client can no longer view any Invoices to them. To un-delete an Invoice, use the below steps:

Go to theInvoicessection

Click on the deleted link at the bottom of the list

Click on the Invoice you'd like to undelete

A pop-up will ask you if you'd like to undelete it. ClickOKand the Invoice will be restored. The link will then work again.

Client Profile Updates

Ifyou'vemade updates to the Clients profile, such as changing the primary contacts name or email, this can break all old links sent to that Client for security purposes. Youll need to re-send the Invoice to the Client so that they have a brand new link to work with. You can resend with these steps:

Go to the Invoices section

Check off the box next to the Invoice you want to resend

Click on the Bulk Actions button

Click on Send by Email, and the new emailed link will allow your Client to see the Invoice now.

Emailing to Yourself

If you've emailed the Invoice to yourself, and you're still not able to preview it, you'll need to either:

Mark the Invoice as sent by returning to your administrator account and

Or use a different email to send the Invoice to yourself (like a temporary email or an alternate email you own)

When you first sign up for FreshBooks, your first business becomes your primary business. You can add more businesses under the same login and quickly switch between any of them. Each business you set up will run independently from each other; no financial information or any team members you have will be shared between your businesses.The only thing shared between businesses is the same login information.

You can set up as many Businesses as you need, as well as be invited to as many other Businesses run by other FreshBooks users.

Setting up MultipleBusinesses

To set up a secondary business (or additional business), use these steps:

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Manage Businesses

Then click on Add Business with the steps here

You'll then see a pop-up explaining the feature.Note: Each new business will get afree 30-day trial

You'll then need to add the business name, your country, and your industry

Click onCreate My Business and you'll be taken into your brand new account

Once you've clickedOk, got it, you'll be in your new business account and ready to start using FreshBooks for your additional company. Clicking on your avatar in the top left will give you the opportunity to change your logo, business name, and all of the administrative stuff you may wish to adjust.

FAQs

How do I switch between businesses?Click on your logo/picture/initialsin the top left and you'll see your businesses listed. Simply click on the business you wish to switch to and that will take you to the relevant account.

Do I need to pay for each business?Your businesses will run independently from each other - billing included. You'll receive a free 30-day trial for every new business you set up. After that, you will need to upgrade to the most applicable plan.

Can I run Reports across multiple businesses?No, each business will have separate reports.

Do I need to set up Accept Online Payments on each business?You can use the same WePay or Stripe accounts on each business; just complete the set up and log into your WePay and/or Stripe account to finish.

How can I delete a business?

If you need to remove a business, ensure the business is cancelled first, then use these steps:

Log into your account and select any business that you are not going to delete

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click onManage Businesses

Click on thetrash can icon next to the cancelled business

Type in the Business Name to confirm

Press Delete and the business is now deleted.

Payment Schedules in FreshBooks allow you to create a payment plan for your Clients, so they can pay Invoices in multiple and partial instalments on dates of your choosing.This saves you from having to create multiple Invoices, or continually editing an existing Invoice whenever a new payment is due.You can also check out other ways to get paid faster here.

To set up a Payment Schedule, follow these steps:

Go to theInvoices section

Click on theNew Invoice button

Add theClient, and fill out your Invoice details with whatever you're billing for

You'll now see anAdd a Payment Schedule link towards the bottom of the Invoice: get started here

Choose between Percentage or Flat Amount

You can add up to 12 payments, and choose the percentage or amount as well as the date of each payment

When you're all done, clickAdd Schedule

The Payment Schedule will then be reflected at the bottom of the Invoice.

Notes

The total on the Payment Schedule must equal the full total on the Invoice (including any previous payments on it) - so if a Deposit was already added to the Invoice, you must include the Deposit payment in your Payment Schedule too

Payment Schedules do not affect the status of the Invoice; if you do not want the Invoice to become Overdue while using a Payment Schedule, you can change the Due Date to the same date as the last payment on the schedule

You can adjust the date of each payment as needed (e.g., when a portion of a job is completed)

Client View

When your Client views an Invoice with a Payment Schedule on it, they will have the option to pay for one scheduled payment, or they can check off the box to pay multiple payments at once:

FAQs

How do Late Payment Reminders work with Payment Schedules?

If you have enabled Late Payment Reminders, these will be sent out according to the Payment Schedule's Due Dates, so you can easily notify your Client if they accidentally miss a scheduled payment.

If no Late Payment Reminders are set up, it is still up to your Client to pay on time, as no emails will be sent. To enable Reminders, .

Creating Recurring Invoices is easy in FreshBooks. These Invoices will be generated automatically based on the schedule you choose, giving you more time to focus on doing what you love. Perfect for those subscription-based Clients with whom you provide ongoing work on a recurring basis - check out our blog post on recurring invoices here.

Creating a Recurring Template

Adding Unbilled Time

Dynamic Variables

Viewing Recurring Templates

Deactivating Recurring Templates

FAQs

If your Recurring Template is set to generate Invoices on the first of every month, it may take longer to generate as there is a larger queue. Changing the generation date to the second of the month or near the end of the month is a good way to avoid this.

Creating aRecurring Template:

You'll need to create an Invoice first, which will then give you the option to convert it to a Recurring Template with the below steps:

Go to the Invoicessection

Click on theNew Invoicebutton

UnderSettings on the right, click onMake Recurring Recurring Payments

UnderRecurring Schedule, choose aNext Issue Date for when to generate the first Invoice

In theHow Often? field, choose between Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, or Custom (Every x Week, Month, or Year)

In theHow Many? field, choose betweenInfinite (don't stop generating Invoices)orx Remaining (indicate how many Invoices to generate)

UnderDelivery Options, choose between Send invoices automatically orCreate Draft invoices and send manually

If you want to accept online payments, then in theAccept Online Payments field, check off thebox next toAllow clients to save credit cards to make automatic payments

ClickDone

Next, fill out the Invoice details - add a Client, add line items, and feel free to add any Notes, Terms or other information the Client may need like Reminders or Late Fees as needed

When you're done, click on theSave... button to finish.If you've set theStart Date to today, the first Invoice will be created once everything has been saved.

Adding Unbilled Time

If you'd like to Invoice for your time tracked on a recurring basis, you can set up your Recurring Template to automatically add any unbilled time for you. This will generate future Invoices with any time tracked during that period for you, automatically.

When setting up your Recurring Template, use these extra steps:

Ensure a Client is selected

Click on theAdd a Linebutton

Click on Import unbilled time entries

Choose how you'd like these time entries to be formatted (Detailed, Grouped, or Simple)

Once you're happy with the settings, click onLooks Good to finish

You will now have any future time entries automatically imported onto this Recurring Template.

Dynamic Variables

Dynamic variables allow you to substitute placeholder text with the appropriate date or time value when the Invoice is generated from your Recurring Template.

The following variables work in the Item Description, the Notes and the Terms fields only:

::month::(month when invoice is generated)

::year::(year when invoice is generated)

::quarter::(quarter when invoice is generated)

Examples:

Hosting for the month of ::month:: = Hosting for the month of June

::year+1:: yearly subscription = 2018 Yearly Subscription

Fees for ::quarter+1:: = Fees payment for Q3

Be sure your variables are correctly formatted with no spaces.

ViewingRecurring Templates

You can view Recurring Templates by going to the Invoices section and clicking on the Recurring Templates text above the list. All Recurring Templates willdisplay the frequency and the number of Invoices left to generate (if applicable).

Clicking on the Recurring Template will bring you to a preview of thegenerated Invoice. The green banner at the top of the Invoice shows that the Template is Automatically Created or Automatically Sent:

Deactivating RecurringTemplates

To stopRecurring Invoices from generating, use these steps:

Go to the Invoices section

Click on the Recurring Templates tab

Click on the Recurring Template you want to stop

Select the More Actions button

Click on Pause Recurring and the template will no longer generate new Invoices.

To restart it, simply repeat the above steps until you get to the last step - select the Restart Recurring button instead.

FAQs

How come I don't see the option to make my Invoice Recurring?

Recurring Invoices can only be made from brand new Invoices. If you have saved the Invoice at all, the Make Recurring option is no longer available. You can copy the Invoice and make it Recurring, then delete the original one with these steps:

Go to theInvoices section

Check the box off next to the Invoice you want to copy

Click on theMore Actions button

Select Duplicate

Click on Make Recurring under Settings and continue with making your Recurring Invoice. Don't forget to delete the original Invoice after when you're done!

What do each of the statuses on my Recurring Templates mean?

Auto-Draft- the template will automatically generate Draft Invoices only for you (if you have a card saved, the Client's card will also still be billed automatically)

Auto-Sent - the template will automatically generate Invoices and send them for you

Auto-Paid - the template will automatically generate Invoices, send them for you, and bill the Client's saved credit card information (if Recurring Payments is enabled)

Card Saved - the template will automatically generate Draft Invoices only and billthe Client's saved credit card information (if is enabled)

Inactive - the template is no longer generating any Invoices

FreshBooks makes it easy to collaborate with your team members and improve your productivity. You can set your team members up as either an Admin, Employee or Contractor. Each role has a fixed set of permissions, which are explained below:

Overview of Permissions

Admin

Manager

Employee

Contractor

Accountant

FAQs

Overview of Permissions

Role

Type of Access

They Can

They Can't

Admin

Uses your business' account

See Dashboard and financial reports

See, create and edit all Invoices, Retainers, Other Income, Estimates/Proposals, Projects

Manage Clients and your team

Track time and expenses, review and edit time tracked by the rest of the team

Manage account settings and Bank Connections

Pay Invoices with Charge Card by Advanced Payments

Cant cancel your FreshBooks account

Cant manage Add-ons or Integrations

Manager

Uses your business' account

See, create and edit all Invoices, Retainers, Other Income, Estimates/Proposals, Projects

Manage Clients

Track time, and review time tracked by the rest of the team

Create and view only their own expenses

View non-financial reports (Accounts Aging, Time Entry Details and Retainer Summary Report)

Pay Invoices with Charge Card by Advanced Payments

Cant view financial reports or the Dashboard

Cant modify accepted payment methods (credit card details) or Bank Connections

Cant manage Add-ons or Integrations

Employee

Uses your business' account

Track their own time and expenses

Cant create or send Invoices, Retainers, Estimates or Proposals to Clients

Cant view Reports or financial information for your business

Contractor

Has their own separate account

Track time towards projects assigned by you

Send you invoices from their own account

Cant view any information from your business, other than the projects you invite them to

Accountant

Uses your business' account

See accounting reports like General Ledger, Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss

Add Journal Entries

Manage Chart of Accounts

View Invoices

Add, edit and delete Invoice payments

Create and edit Other Income

Create and edit all Expenses

Can't upload CSV files for Expenses

Cant manage Clients

Cant track time or view Projects

Cant send Invoices or Estimates

Note:You can find steps to invite Admins, Managers, Employees, Contractors and Accountants here.

Admin

When an Admin logs into your account, they have access to the following:

Settings

Company Profile

Item & Services

Bank Connections

Billing & Upgrade

Dashboard

Clients

Invoices (Retainers, Other Income)

Expenses

Estimates

Time Tracking

Projects

My Team

Reports

Accounting (Chart of Accounts)

Add-ons

Manager

When a Manager logs into your account, they have access to the following:

Settings

Item & Services

Clients

Invoices (Retainers, Other Income)

Expenses

Estimates

Time Tracking

Projects

Reports

Employee

When a Employee logs into your account, they have access to the following:

Time Tracking (only their own)

Projects

Expenses (only their own)

Contractor

A Contractor has their own separate FreshBooks account, and you can share specific access with them:

The navigation is the same as any other FreshBooks Business Owner

They can see any Projects you've invited them to

Accountant

When an Accountant logs into your account, they have access to the following:

Dashboard

Invoices (Other Income)

Expenses

Reports

Accounting (Chart of Accounts)

FAQs

Can I switch my team members role after theyve been assigned one?

Switching is possible between the Admin, Manager and Employee roles only. If you have a team member in one of those three roles, switching them only requires a few steps:

Click on My Team

In the Employees section, click on the member you want to change roles for

An Edit Team Member pop-up will appear, change the role in the dropdown

Click Save to finish, and the team member will receive an email about the role changes.

Ensuring payment for work is one of the biggest challenges many small business owners face. Waiting for your clients to pay you can be a stressful exercise in patience you think theyll be good for the money but if they arent, it can be exhausting chasing them to finally pay up.

Thats why people ask for a portion of their invoice to be paid upfront as a deposit (or as a prepayment). Once the Deposit is paid first, the Client can pay the remaining balance after.

You can read more about the benefits of Deposits along with other ways to get paid faster here, or read below for steps to enable this on an Invoice:

Requesting a Deposit

Head to theInvoices section and create aNew Invoice

You'll now see the Invoice creation screen. When you hover your mouse over the Invoice, a number of options will appear. Towards the bottom of the Invoice, underAmount Due, you'll seeRequest a Deposit: manually adding Payments

Once clicked, you'll have the option to request aPercentage of the Invoice of value, or aFlat Amount depending on your preference. Click onAdd Deposit to confirm

Once added, your Invoice will reflect theDeposit Due:

Save orSend the Invoice to finish.

Note: Once the Deposit is paid, no new line items can be added. If you need to make further changes, you can either update the Deposit Requested amount, or delete it (any payment made will remain). Deposits can be deleted by hovering over the right side of the Deposit amount and clicking on the trash can icon.

How does the Deposit appearto my Clients?

When you look at the Invoice, you'll see the status isSent, but you can also clearly see that a deposit has been requested:

When yourClient looks at the Invoice, they'll also see a banner at the top of their Invoice clearly showing that there is aDeposit Due:

If a Client is paying their Invoice online, they'll be required to pay the full deposit amount. As the Owner, you are able to manually add partial payments if necessary. Check out our article onif you need a hand with this.

When the deposit has been paid, you'll now see the Invoice status change fromSent toDeposit Paid:

FreshBooks Payments is powered by WePay.All your transactional details can be found inside your WePay account, and you can see details from your WePay account in your Online Payment Settings or in your WePay account directly here.

FreshBooks Payments in Transit

Account Settings

All Transactions

Account Details

FAQs

To access your Online Payment Settings, use these steps:

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Manage Online Payments.

FreshBooks Payments In Transit

here

Total Payments in Transit - This shows the total of your payments that have been processed by WePay and is being sent to your bank account

Next Estimated Deposit - When the payments will be deposited into your bank account, which is determined by your payout schedule

Last Deposit - When your most recent payments were deposited into your bank account

Account Settings

Click on theAccount Settings tab to get an overview of your FreshBooks Payments account:

Accept ACH Bank Transfer - For American users, you can choose to accept ACH (Automated Clearing House) Bank Transfers as another payment type from your Clients

Accept VISA Debit Cards - For Canadian users, you can choose to accept VISA Debit as another card type from your Clients

Advanced Payments - For both American and Canadian users, you can upgrade to add Advanced Payments to charge your Clients credit cards yourself

All Transactions

Click on theAll Transactionstab to see all your transactions in one place, including the following:

Client / Invoice Number - The Client and Invoice number the transaction was processed on

Transaction Date - The date the online payment was submitted by the Client

Type /Gateway- The type of credit card used (AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa) and the payment gateway the payment was processed on (FreshBooks Payments)

Fees Paid- The transaction fee paid on that particular transaction

Amount / Status - The total amount processed on the transaction as well as the status of the payment (Declined, Processing, or Succeeded)

Use the slider icon next to All Transactions to filter the list of transactions by either Start Date, End Date, Status, Payment Type, Gateway and/or Currency as needed.

Account Details

Email - This is the email associated with your FreshBooks Payments account. To update it, use these steps:

Log into your WePay account here

Click on Security

You'll automatically be on the Identitysub-tab, click on Edit next to your email

Enter the new email

Click Update to save.

Edit Payout Schedule - The payout frequency that determines how often a withdrawal is made from your WePay balance to your bank account. The shorter the transfer period, the quicker you receive your funds. You can choose from daily, weekly, or monthly. Use these below steps to change the frequency:

Log into your WePay account here

Click on Settings

Click on the Settlement Details sub-tab

Click on the Change button next to Transfer Period

Choose your new Transfer Period and click Submit to finish.

Manage My Account - This link takes you to your WePay account

Account ending in xxxx / Update My Bank - The last 4 digits of your connected bank account is displayed here. Only one bank account can be added in a WePay account (and it must be in the same currency as your account type USD or CAD). To update your bank account, use these steps:

Log into your WePay account here

Click on Settings

Click on the Settlement Details sub-tab

Click on the Change button next to Bank & Account

Update with your new bank details and click Add Bank to finish.

FAQs

Where can I find reports on my transactions and settlements to reconcile?

You can download either of these two reports directly from your WePay dashboard under the Reporting tab. Click on the Download CSVbuttonin either of these Reports to download them:

Payments Report This shows all transactions that enters or exits your WePay account (payments, refunds, credits). This also includes all transaction fees if you want to see the total fees processed in any given period.

Settlements Report This report lists all transactions that are grouped together in each settlement. These settlements also include information on when the total settlement amount was sent to your bank.

Where can I switch between my businesses inside my WePay account?

Like our multiple businesses, your WePay account can have several accounts under the same email. You can switch between any of them by clicking on the account in the top right corner of your WePay account:

Looking for more information onFreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles.

To get expenses automatically imported from your banking, you can connect your credit cards, bank accounts and PayPal accounts in the Bank Connections area on the web version of your account.

The below steps are for users based in theUnited Kingdom, France, Ireland and Spain. If youre based elsewhere, you can follow the steps here instead.

Add a Bank

Automatically Categorize Imported Expenses

Add a Bank

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Bank Connections

Click on the Connect My Bank button

A pop-up will appear letting you know about Plaid linking to your bank, click Continue to confirm

Select your bank or type in your banks name in the search bar

Make sure the result matches the URL you normally log into your bank with online, and click on the result

Enter your banks login credentials and click on Submit

Plaid will send your credentials to the bank and authorize with their servers, this can take a few minutes

Verify your identity if prompted to by answering any security questions - click on the Next or the Answer button as needed

Once all verification is complete, Plaid will send this over to your bank, this can take a few minutes

Next, scroll and click on the account(s) to highlight which ones to import into your Expenses

Click Continue

Your account(s) will now be connected and import any new transactions from September 13, 2019 onwards into your Expenses section. The connection(s) will refresh every 10 minutes or so for new expenses.

To look for Expenses that have not been assigned a Category, you can click on the filter icon next to the search box, check offbothImported expenses andUncategorized expensesboxes, and click onApply.We recommend checking your Bank Connections on a regular basis to ensure your Expenses are consistently importing with no errors or actions required by you.

Automatically Categorize Imported Expenses

To save you time, you can have Categories remembered for future Expenses that are imported in. To utilize this feature, simply edit one of your imported Expenses, and check off the box next toApply to future imported expenses: Once you enable this, FreshBooks will recognize imported Expenses from the same Vendor and will categorize them with the remembered Category moving forward. The Vendor field must be filled out in order for the auto-categorization to work.

Bank Reconciliation is the process of matching transactions from your bank statement to entries in FreshBooks. This allows you to ensure your books accurately represent your bank accounts and that your funds are all accounted for.

Bank reconciliation should be completed at regular intervals for all your bank accounts, to ensure your business records are correct.

Accounting features like Bank Reconciliation are available on trials as well as Plus and Premium plans. We also recommend inviting an accountant (if you havent already) to help you learn more about Bank Reconciliation.

Setting Up Your Bank Account

Set an Opening Balance

Reconciling Transactions

Match an Entry

Change the Date Range

Create a New Entry

Mark as Transfer

Mark as Owner's Equity

Mark as an Expense Refund

Viewing Matched Transactions

FAQs

To begin the bank reconciliation workflow, start with Setting Up Your Bank Account first, then Set An Opening Balance, before you start on Reconciling Transactions.

Setting Up Your Bank Account

Click on the Accounting section

Click on the Connect My Bank inside the Bank Reconciliation widget (ifyou'vealready connected any bank accounts previously, theyll appear here)

If you see your bank in the top 12 popular banks, click on it

Otherwise, if youdon'tsee your bank, click on the Find your bank link below the top 12 Edit the payment on the Invoice

Then search for your bank using the name of the bank (at least 3 letters long), or the banks website link

If the name of the bank and the banks website link matches what you normally log into online, click on the link

If your bank is not listed or available, please submit a request to have your bank added here

Onceyou'veselected your bank, enter in your banks login credentials and press Submit

Answer any security/verification questions until all have been answered correctly and press Next

Wait for all your accounts to finish loading (all spinning icons disappear)

Once all accounts have finished loading, you can remove any unwanted accounts as well as rename any accounts (to help remember which account is which) using the Remove or renameaccount links

When youre done, click on Import

A pop-up will ask you to how far back to import Expenses from - choose between Today, 7 Days ago, 30 Days ago, 90 Days ago, or custom (up to 90 days maximum)

Click Done

Once connected, click Okay, Got It

Youll see a pop-up letting you know when you have expenses to start matching

If you want to connect other accounts, repeat steps 1-2 above with the Connect Another Bank Account button instead.

If youre experiencing issues connecting your bank account, check out our troubleshooting article here.

Set an Opening Balance

Once you have a bank account (or several) connected, youre ready to set the opening balance which will determine the amount youll start reconciling with moving forward. Your invited Accountant can also help you with this set up:

Click on the Accounting section

Youll now see your bank account(s) listed in the Bank Reconciliation widget, click on theSet your opening balancelink

In the field provided, enter a date to start reconciling from (we recommend the first day of a recent bank statement or the start of a period on your credit card statement)

Click Continue

Enter your Opening Balance from the day you chose to start reconciling in the field

If youre setting up a credit card account, this is your Previous Statement Balance (ifyou'vepaid off your credit card balance, this would be $0)

Choose the Currency of your bank account youre reconciling

Then click Continue again

Youre now ready to start reconciling this account. Click Get Started to begin.

Note: If you have questions or youre experiencing issues with Bank Reconciliation, check out our troubleshooting article here.

Reconciling Transactions

Once a bank account is set up with an opening balance, you can start matching transactions, which is the reconciliation process.

To get started, begin with the below steps:

Click on the Accounting section

Youll now see your bank account(s) listed in the Bank Reconciliation widget, click on the x left to match link

FreshBooks will automatically match transactions for you

If you see matches that are actually bank transfers or incorrectly matched, click on the checkmark to deselect it

If you see matches that are correctly matched and there is nothing to change, keep it checked off

Click Confirm and Continue to proceed.

Any remaining unmatched transactions will need to be matched by you next. Depending on what kind of transaction you need to match, choose from the below options and follow the specified steps:

Match an Entry

Change the Date Range

Create a New Entry

Mark as Bank Transfer

Match an Entry

If you see the corresponding entry (or multiple entries) in the FreshBooks Entries section, use these steps:

In the Bank Account Transactions section on the left, check off a transaction

Then in the FreshBooks Entries section on the right, use the search bar if you need to find your entries, andcheck off one or several entries that match

Click on the Match button.

Change the Date Range

This is useful if the ones youre looking for are not listed because they fall outside of the date range.

Click on the settings icon on the right side of the search bar under FreshBooks entries

Choose a new Start and End date

If needed, you can specify theEntry Type (Payments & Other Income only, Check payments only, Expenses only)

ClickApply to save and new entries should appear on the right

In the Bank Account Transactions section on the left, check off a transaction

Then in the FreshBooks Entries section on the right, check off one or several entries that match

Click on the Match button.

Create a New Entry

If the FreshBooks entry doesnt exist yet, you can create it with these steps:

Under FreshBooks Entries, click on theCreate a New Entry link

Then choose fromExpense, Other Income, or Payment depending on what kind of matching entry you need to create

Once saved, this entry will now appear in the list of FreshBooks Entries

Check off the entry or entries thatyou'vejust created

Click on the Match button.

Mark as Transfer

If the transaction is a transfer to pay off a balance in another account (e.g., bank transfer for credit card debt), you can mark it as a transfer without needing to match it to a FreshBooks Entry:

Check off the box next to theBank Account Transaction

Click on theMark As button at the top

SelectTransfer

Enter details on the transfer as needed in the Note box

Click Submit to finishand the Bank Account Transaction will no longer appear as an option to match.The corresponding imported Expense on the FreshBooks Entries side will also be deleted automatically.

Note: These transactions can be found by going to the Matched tab and going to the very last page.

New transactions will be imported in daily from your bank account(s), so you can continue matching up transactions on your own schedule, whether thats daily, weekly, monthly or at a different frequency.

Mark as Owners Equity

If the transaction is from either:

Withdrawing funds for personal use (Owner's Draw)

Depositing funds from a personal account to a business account to help with cash flow or funding

You can mark these as Owner's Equity with the below steps:

Check off the box next to theBank Account Transaction

Click on theMark As button at the top

Select Owners Equity

Enter details on the equity as needed in the Note box

Click Submit to finish. The Bank Account Transaction will no longer appear as an option to match. The corresponding imported Expense will also be deleted automatically.

Note: Once marked as Owners Equity, these transactions will be located inside the Owners Equity account on the Chart of Accounts.

Mark as an Expense Refund

If the transaction is funds you received from a vendor when returning an Expense, you can use the Mark as an Expense Return option. This will also reduce the amount in your Operating Expenses on your Chart of Accounts. Use the below steps:

Check off the box next to the Bank Account Transaction

Click on the Mark As button at the top

Select Expense Refund

Check the box off if you want toMark refund as Cost of Goods Sold

Next, choose theRefunded Expense Category

Then enter details about the return as needed in the Note box

Click Submit to finish. The Bank Account Transaction will no longer appear as an option to match. The corresponding imported Expense will also be deleted automatically.

Note: Once marked as an Expense Return, these transactions will be located inside the original Operating Expenses account on the Chart of Accounts.

Viewing Matched Transactions

All matched transactions, including those marked as bank transfers, can be viewed with the below steps:

Click on the Accounting section

Click on the x left to match link for the account you want to review in the Bank Reconciliation Widget

Click on the Matched sub-tab.

All "Mark as Bank Transfer" transactions will be grouped together on the last page of your matched transactions.

Ifyou'veaccidentally matched the wrong transactions together, you can unmatch them by checking off the box(es) next to the match(es), and clicking on the Unmatch Transactions button above the list.

The transactions from this match will then appear in the Unmatched sub-tab for you to reconcile correctly.

FAQs

Note: If you have questions or youre experiencing issues with Bank Reconciliation, check out our troubleshooting article here.

I received a partial reimbursement/return on an Expense. How do I match this?

Note:If you are exporting your Reports each month to close your books, we recommend using Journal Entries to accommodate for this reimbursement or return. Otherwise, if you do not export Reports to close your books each month, use the below steps:

Edit the original Expense down to the new total after reimbursement

Find the original matched expense and unmatch it with the steps in Viewing Matched Transactions above

In the Unmatched section, you can now match the reimbursement from your Bank Transaction to the original matched expense.

Bank Transactions

FreshBooks Transactions

Transaction 1: -$500

Expense 1: -$250

Transaction 2: +$250

In this case, both the original Bank Transaction (originally - $500) and the new reimbursement Bank Transaction (+ $250) will now match up with the FreshBooks Transaction of (- $250).

I refunded an Invoice payment partially/in full. How do I match this?

Note:If you are exporting your Reports each month to close your books, we recommend using Journal Entries to accommodate for this reimbursement or return. Otherwise, if you do not export Reports to close your books each month, use the below steps:

Full Invoice Refunds

Find the original matched Invoice payment and unmatch it with the steps in Viewing Matched Transactions above

In the Unmatched section, match the Invoice payment from your Bank Transaction with the refund from your Bank Transaction

Then using the steps in Reconciling Transactions, create a $0 payment to match with the two Bank Transactions.

Bank Transactions

FreshBooks Transactions

Transaction 1: +$800

Payment 1: +$0

Transaction 2: -$800

In this case, both the original Bank Transaction (originally + $800) and the refund Bank Transaction (- $800) will now match up with the FreshBooks Transaction of ($0).

Partial Invoice Refunds

to reflect the partial refund.

Find the original matched Invoice payment and unmatch it with the steps in Viewing Matched Transactions above

In the Unmatched section, you can now match the partial refund from your Bank Transaction to the original matched Invoice payment.

Bank Transactions

FreshBooks Transactions

Transaction 1: +$800

Payment 1: +$500

Transaction 2: -$300

In this case, both the original Bank Transaction (originally + $800) and the partial refund Bank Transaction (- $300) will now match up with the FreshBooks Transaction of ($500).

In 2018, we've added more new features and improvements to FreshBooks so you can focus on running your business successfully.

Looking for 2019 updates? Go here instead.

Jump To: December November October September August July June May April March February January

December

New Features

Bank Reconciliation

Matching up your accounts with FreshBook entries is now possible with Bank Reconciliation.

Updates to Existing Features

Estonian Language

You can now select Estonian as an option for Invoices, Estimates and Proposals.

November

New Features

Accountants

You can now invite up to ten Accountants to your business to help review your financial reports, manage your Invoices, Payments, Expenses and more.

Balance Sheet

View your assets, liabilities and equities in the new Balance Sheet Report.

Updates to Existing Features

New Navigation

Reports have been moved to its own section, Other Income is now under the Invoices section, and Chart of Accounts is now under a new section called Accounting, all to improve the navigation experience.

October

Updates to Existing Features

Add Credit Cards from Client Profiles

You can now add credit cards directly into a Client's profile with Advanced Payments.

September

Updates to Existing Features

Saved Credit Cards Visible in Client Profiles

Any Saved Credit Cards are now visible in the Client's Profile.

Uncategorized Expenses Filter

You can now use the search box in the Expenses section to filter by Uncategorized expenses while organizing your Expenses.

August

Updates to Existing Features

Bulk Add Payment Apply to All

When adding payments in bulk, you can choose to apply the same information to all payments if needed.

Business Deletion

If you've created additional businesses that you no longer need, you can now delete it after cancelling it.

Norwegian Language

You can now select Norwegian as an option for Invoices, Estimates and Proposals.

July

New Features

Advanced Payments

With Advanced Payments, you can now process credit card payments over phone or in person, as well as save credit card information for future Invoices and Recurring Templates.

Client Saved Credit Cards

Clients now have the option to save their credit card information while paying Invoices.

Updates to Existing Features

Rebill Time Entries on Android

Time Entries can now be rebilled onto Invoices in the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android.When making an Invoice and adding items, the option to add unbilled time (if there are any) will appear.

Reference Field on Android and iOS

You can now add and view the Reference field on all Invoices in the FreshBooks Mobile App for both Android and iOS.

Rebill Expenses on iOS

Expenses can now be rebilled onto Invoices on the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS.

June

New Features

Referral Program

Referring FreshBooks to others is now possible by sending an email, a FaceBook Message, a FaceBook post, or by copying your unique referral link.

Updates to Existing Features

View Deleted and Undelete Recurring Templates

A deleted section is now available for any deleted Recurring Templates, and you can also undelete any Recurring Templates.

Bulk Send by Email

You can now send multiple Invoices by Email in one go.

Bulk Download as PDF

Multiple Invoices can now be downloaded as separate PDF files.

Unbilled Time Widget

An Unbilled Time widget has been added to the Dashboard so you can easily see how much unbilled time you have per client, and quickly generate invoices for the time.

Archive Invoices & Add Tax Name & Number on iOS

Invoices can now be archived, and you can add or view the Tax Name & Number in your Company Profile (if applicable) onthe FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS.

May

New Features

Import Clients from CSV

You can now add new clients in bulk by importing in with a CSV file.

Updates to Existing Features

Late Fees & Reminders on iOS

Enabling late fees and late payment reminders is now possible on any Invoice on the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS.

Greek & Romanian Languages

Greek and Romanian are now options for Invoices, Estimates and Proposals.

Mark Time as Unbilled

Now you can mark time as unbilled if you'd like to bill for it again, or if you've accidentally marked the wrong time as billed.

Items & Services Management

Items & Services can now be managed in one place, where you're able to update rates, taxes and more.

Bulk Mark as Sent

You can now select multiple Invoices and use the Actions button to mark them as Sent in one go.

Rebill Expenses on Android

Expenses can now be rebilled onto Invoices in the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android.When making an Invoice and adding items, the option to add unbilled expenses (if there are any) will appear.

April

New Features

Import Expenses from CSV

Expenses can now be imported in bulk with the CSV file import option.

Updates to Existing Features

Danish & Swedish Languages

Danish and Swedish are now options for Invoices, Estimates and Proposals.

Revenue Streams Dashboard Graph

Now you can easily monitor your streams of revenue from both Other Income and your Invoices using the Revenue Streams graph on your Dashboard.

Dashboard on iOS

The FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS now has a Dashboard view, making it easy to get a quick look at your business' outstanding invoices, profit and spending while on the go.

Rebill Time on iOS

You can now rebill your time entries on Invoices using the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS. When making an Invoice and adding items, the option to add unbilled time (if there are any) will appear.

March

New Features

Cost of Goods Sold

Expenses and Expense Categories can now be marked as COGS, whether you rebill them onto an Invoice or not.

E-Signatures

You can now request your Clients' e-Signature before they accept a Proposal before beginning work.

Other Income

Non-invoice income like online sales and ads can now be tracked by logging them as Other Income.

Updates to Existing Features

German, Italian and Portuguese Languages

German, Italian, and Portuguese are now added as options for Invoices, Estimates and Proposals as well.

February

New Features

Spanish and Dutch Languages

Spanish, Spanish (Latin America) and Dutch languages have now been added as options for Invoices, Estimates and Proposals.

Team Permissions

Add new team members as a Business Partner, Basic Employee or Contractor depending on which permissions you want to grant the team member.

Updates to Existing Features

Dashboard on Android

A Dashboard view has been added to the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android, making it easy to get a quick look at your business' outstanding invoices, profit and spending while on the go.

View Proposal Attachments on iOS

You can now see attachments on existing Proposals on the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS.

Payment Schedules on iOS

Payment schedules can now be set up from the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS.

Additional Push Notifications on iOS

TheFreshBooks Mobile App for iOS now has three additional push notifications. Now you can be notified when a Client hasn't viewed an Invoice, Estimate or Proposal in 7 days, when a Client comments, and when an Invoice becomes overdue.

Reference Field

A Reference Field has been added to the Invoices and Estimates templates so that you can include a Purchase Order (PO) number, project code, or any other 25 character reference on your Invoices.

Billable Rates

Team Members' rates can now be managed from the My Team page with the addition of a Billable Rate field.

January

New Features

Push Notifications on iOS

Now you can enable push notifications on the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS to be alerted of important activity in your account. This includes unsuccessful payments, declined payments, Estimate accepted and Proposal accepted.

Updates to Existing Features

Switch Between 4+ Multiple Businesses

Accounts that have 4 or more Businesses now see the Switch Businesses button under My Business. Clicking this will reveal the full list of Businesses to switch to.

When processing online payments through FreshBooks Payments powered by WePay, there is a transaction fee included. Pricing is very simple - it's 2.9% + $0.30 on all credit card transactions, with the exception of American Express, which is3.5% + $0.30. Payments made with Bank Transfers (ACH) are 1%. The transaction fee is taken out of each payment that is processed before being deposited into your account.

There are no monthly or setup fees - you only get charged when you make sales.

The below transaction fees are for American FreshBooks users:

Payment Type

Transaction Fee

Bank Transfer (ACH)

1% (capped at $50 for Select users)

The below transaction fees are for both American and Canadian FreshBooks users:

Payment Card Types*

Transaction Fee

International Transaction Fee**

Advanced Payments Fee***

Visa Credit, Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards

2.9% + $0.30

2.9% + $0.30 + 1%

3.5% + $0.30

Discover Credit and Prepaid Debit Cards

2.9% + $0.30

2.9% + $0.30 + 1%

3.5% + $0.30

MasterCard Credit, Debit and Prepaid Cards

2.9% + $0.30

2.9% + $0.30 + 1%

3.5% + $0.30

American Express Credit and Prepaid Debit Cards

3.5% + $0.30

3.5% + $0.30 + 1%

3.5% + $0.30

* These are the most common domestically issued card types and processing methods. They do not represent all the possible fees and variations that are charged to the merchants.

** International transaction is defined as any payment made with a card that was issued in a different country than your own.

*** These fees are applied when using the Advanced Payments add-on with card not present transactions.

Chargeback Fee$15.00

All transaction fees are automatically logged as Expenses in yourFreshBooks account. You can also log into your WePay dashboard to see the fees deducted from your transactions.

Looking for more information onFreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles here.

FreshBooks Payments is powered by WePay for US and Canadian users. A WePay account is automatically created for you whenever you create aFreshBooks account. You can continue with the rest of the set up of your WePay account with the information below:

Verify your FreshBooks Payments Account

Business Types

Account Verification

Additional Verification

Verify your FreshBooks Payments Account

If you haven't already, get started by enabling FreshBooks Payments with the steps here.Or if you selected Not Now when enabling FreshBooks Payments, you can use the same steps to finish your setup:

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Accept Online Payments

Click on Verify Now next to Verify Your Business

Youll be asked to log into your WePay account with your email and password (ifyou'venever set a password, you can click on Forgot your password? to create one)

Next, choose your entity type (Sole Proprietor, Individual,Business, Nonprofit, Trust or Government) and complete the rest of your business details by clicking Submit

Next, in the same window, youll be asked to add your Settlement Details - enter your Bank Name, Routing Number, Account Number

Next, specify your Account Type (Checking or Savings)

Choose between Daily, Weekly, or Monthly for How Often We Should Send Your Money (your Transfer Period)

Click Add Bank

Youll be taken back to your Accept Online Payments page, which will reflect your connected FreshBooks Payments account. You can find steps to manage it here.

Business Types

Business Choose this ifyou'vefiled official government paperwork, such as articles of incorporation.

Government - If you represent a governmental entity, select this.

Individual Select this if none of the other options apply.

Nonprofit Organization - Choose this ifyou'vefiled official government paperwork, like your status as a Registered Charity.

Sole Proprietor Use this if you have a corporation number and wish to use it for tax reporting purposes.

Trust - Choose this if you are a settlor, trustee, beneficiary or controller of a trust agreement.

Account Verification

The KYC (Know Your Customer) form is the process through which WePay verifies your account with the below:

Details about your business

SSN(Social Security Number for US users) or,

SIN (Social Insurance Number for Canadian users)

EIN (Employee Identification Number) for tax reporting on behalf of a corporation or organization (required for Business, Nonprofit Organization and Sole Proprietor accounts)

US or Canadian bank account information

This is facilitated by WePay's Trust Center to verify your identity and your customers, as well as comply with anti-money laundering laws.It is also required for any tax reporting depending on your business type.This a required step in order to receive your payments.

After you have received a payment, you have 90 days to verify your account through the KYC process. If youdon'tverify your account in time, any payment that you've received will be refunded to your client and any further payments will not go through until verification is done.

If any of the information above is incorrect, WePay will send you an email with a link asking you to update your account information.

Additional Verification

Occasionally WePay may request additional documentation to verify your business by email at any time during your use of FreshBooks Payments. Like with Account Verification (KYC), this is done to ensure each transaction is safe and secure.

Once you've responded to WePay's email with the requested documentation, it can take some time for the verification process to be completed. WePay may also follow up with a request for more documentation or clarification - it is important you respond to these emails so that the process can be completed as quickly as possible.

Note that any payments processed during this time may be paused until verification is complete.

Looking for more information onFreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles here.

A chargeback occurs when a credit card holder (such as a customer of yours) contacts their bank or credit card company to dispute a charge that was made through FreshBooks Payments powered by WePay. Common reasons for chargebacks:

Charge on statement is not recognized

Client did not receive product or service

Client was unsatisfied with product or service

Credit card was stolen or used without permission

The best thing you can do whenyou'vereceived a chargeback is to contact your client immediately. Your client can contact their bank and cancel or reverse the chargeback process. This is by far the fastest and most effective solution.

When a chargeback is issued, the following happens:

The funds are instantly withdrawn from your WePay account

A $15 non-refundable chargeback fee is deducted from your WePay account. This appears as an Expense in your FreshBooks account

If funds are not available in your WePay account, funds are withdrawn from your connected bank account

WePay will send you an email with the details of the chargeback. You can either concede (if you cannot prove the goods or services were not provided) or challenge (payment was wrongfully disputed) and provide supporting documents

You have 2 business days to challenge the chargeback, or it will automatically concede the chargeback and process a refund to your client

Once WePay receives your chargeback challenge and supporting documents, WePay will contest the chargeback on your behalf with the appropriate credit card company or issuing bank. The timing for this process varies and can take up to 90 days

If you win the chargeback, WePay will send you a notification and release the disputed funds back to your account - this can take up to several business daysfor WePay to process.You'll also need to manually mark your invoice as paid again with the steps here.

For more details on chargebacks and what you can do to avoid them, check out WePays page here.

Looking for more information onFreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles here.

There are a few reasons why your clients payment made through FreshBooks Payments by WePay could have failed. When a payment fails, the client will always see one of these error codes below showing the cause of the problem:

2002 The card type is not supported

2003 The credit card issuing bank says this card is not supported

2004 The issuing bank declined the charge but did not give us a reason as to why

2005 Insufficient funds on the card

2006 The card was reported lost or stolen

2007 The card has expired

2008 Some card data is invalid (i.e. name on card doesnt match)

For a detailed list of decline codes, click here.

If a transaction was declined for risk or fraud reasons, you will be contacted by FreshBooks and the WePay team with a notification. WePay helps FreshBooks process the payments in the back end and handles all risk and fraud prevention measures to ensure that online payments happen in a safe and secure way.

Looking for more information onFreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles here.

In 2017, we've added some new features and improvements to FreshBooks to help make running your business even easier.

Looking for 2018? Click here instead.

Jump To: December November October September August July June May April March February January

December

Updates to Existing Features

Pause and Restart Recurring Templates

It's now easy to pause a Recurring Template to stop generating Invoices, or restart a paused template, with the click of a button.

Delete Businesses

If you have multiple Businesses and you need one of them deleted, just ensure it's been cancelled first and then reach out to our Support to get it removed.

November

New Features

Proposals

Now you can create Proposals, which are detailed Estimates with rich text content, images, customizable sections and more. It's now easier to showcase the value you bring to prospective Clients.

Chrome Timer Extension

Tracking time is easier with an extension that lives in your Chrome browser. You can go across the web with the timer running in the background, and minimize or pop-out the timer. Quick start timer buttons have also been added to your favourite project management apps: Asana, Basecamp, Teamwork and Trello.

Payment Schedules

Getting multiple and partial payments on an Invoice is now easier with Payment Schedules. Create a plan of when each payment is due without having to create multiple Invoices or continually editing an existing Invoice.

Updates to Existing Features

Editable Invoice/Estimate Numbers & Line Item Decimal Support on Android

The FreshBooks Mobile App for Android now supports the ability to edit Invoice and Estimate numbers, as well as adding line items with rates up to 4 decimal places.

Due Dates Remembered

Due Dates settings are now automatically remembered from the last Invoice you created, including custom Due Dates.

Expense Section Search Shows Grand Total

When running a search for expenses inside the Expenses tab, a Grand Total is displayed at the bottom of the list so you can quickly see the total.

Tax Numbers Fields

When selecting a country for your Company Profile or for a Client's profile, a Tax Number field will now appear if applicable to that country (e.g., VAT or ABN).

Add Attachments to Proposals

Now you can add supporting documentation to your Proposals by adding attachments like contracts, agreements, floor plans and more. This makes it easier to highlight your value to prospective Clients.

October

Updates to ExistingFeatures

Quick Mobile App Download

When accessing your account on the web browser, there's now a prompt to help you quickly download the FreshBooks Mobile App (for iOS or Android) if you haven't already.

Preserved Search States

You're now able to return back to your filtered list from a search, even after clicking into a search result. Just click on the appropriate link (e.g, < Invoices) or the browser's return button and your filtered search list will still be there

Delete Credits

Credits can now be deleted from within theAvailable Credit area inside a Client's profile.

Add Unbilled Time to Recurring Templates

When creating Recurring Templates, you can now add future unbilled time entries to it. This automatically pulls all available time entries whenever the Recurring Template generates an Invoice for you.

Delete Custom Subcategories

You can now delete a Subcategory that you've created. Expenses assigned to a deleted Subcategory will automatically be reassigned to the parent Category instead.

September

New Features

Sticky Headers

When scrolling up on any page inside FreshBooks, the headers will shrink and stickat the top, making it easier to know right away which pageorcolumns you're looking at.

Invoice Share Links

Whenever you want to share an Invoice without sending it by email, you can Create a Shareable Link instead. This automatically marks an Invoice as Sent and generates a link that you can then share with your Client or team member outside ofFreshBooks.

Updates to Existing Features

Create and Share PDFs on Android

Now you can create and share PDFs while using the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android.

View Line Item Descriptions on Mobile

While viewing an Invoice on mobile, the full description of every line item will now be visible.

Search in Projects

The search bar is now available in the Projects section so you can find specific Projects quickly.

August

New Features

Help Widget

FAQ articles are now just a click away withthe new Help Widget. Just tapon the blue question mark ? icon in the bottom right to start searching.

Updates to Existing Features

Receipt Attachments Visible on iOS

Receipt attachments are now visible on the iOS app when viewing Invoices.

Chronological Time Entries on Invoice

When generating an Invoice from tracked time, Time Entries will be sorted chronologically on the Invoice for you automatically.

Employee Login on iOS

Employees can now log in on the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS, making it easier to manage businesses while onthe go.

Multi Term Search

Now you can search for multiple terms in any search field. For example, type in your Client's name and the word Draft to view all Draft Invoices for that particular Client.

Sorting in Projects

Finding a particular Project is easier now that you can sort by Project Name or End Date. Click on either of these headers to organize the list.

Items Per List

We've now increased the number of items per list from 15 to 30, making it easier to view more content on a single page.

Sync Loading Screen,Notifications and Estimate Conversations on Android

When using the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android, a detailed loading screen is now available, along with the ability to view yourNotifications and correspond with your Clients on Estimates.

July

New Features

Keyboard Shortcut forSupport Key

Whenever you call our Support team, pressCTRL + ALT + K on your keyboard while accessing your account to quickly findyour Support Key.

Updates to Existing Features

Recurring Templates & Recurring Payments

Improvements have been made to easily ensureyour Recurring Templates are enabled for Recurring Payments during creation. You're also able to see the transaction fee information during set up as well.

Service Rates & Assign Services to Projects

Assigning Services to Projects is now possible, as well as designating different Rates for each Service. This will allow you to bill more accurately for your time.

Invoices Viewable in Multiple Tabs

From the Invoices section, you can now open any invoice in a new browser tab on your browser window for those who like to work across several invoices simultaneously.

Discounts on Recurring Templates

You can now add discounts to your Recurring Templates, making it easier to reward prompt clients or encourage loyalty for using your services.

Recurring Template View

Viewing Recurring Templates will now show the Client's Company Name by default instead of the Client's First and Last Name, making it consistent with the view in the Invoices section.

Estimate Conversations on iOS & Estimate Notifications

Corresponding with your Clients on Estimates is now possible on the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS. You'll also be alertedvia our Notifications on the web whenever a Client accepts or sends in a message on any Estimate.

Live Links in Reports

Now you can dig deeper in certain reports by clicking on any link in it, like Clients and Projects on the Time Entry Details report.

Opening Links as Tabs

Right-clicking is now supported so you can open Invoices, Estimates, Expenses and Projects in new browser tabs to easilymulti-task.

New Statuses for Recurring Templates &Recurring Payments

Auto-Paid, Auto-Sent and Auto-Draft statuses have now been added to quickly identify which Recurring Template has saved payment information via Recurring Payments.

Recurring Template + Invoices

Click on any blue date next to any Recurring Template to see all Invoices generated by that Template.

Archiving Status

You can now archive Invoices, Clients and Expenses to keep your lists organized. To view archived data, click on the View Archivedbutton at the bottom of the list.

Easily Switch Between Businesses onAndroid

Easily switch between FreshBooks accounts for your different businesses from your Android usingthe FreshBooks Mobile App for Android. Just tap your avatar in the top-left to switch or read more here.

June

New Features

Create and Send Estimates on your iPhone or iPad

It's never been easier to ensure youre on the same page as your client before work begins. Now you can create and send Estimates to your Clients from the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS.

Secondary Contacts

Now you're able to send Invoices to multiple peoplein an organization or company by adding them as secondary contacts. These contacts'emails will automatically be added along with the primary Client's email every time you send out an Invoice.

Create and Send Estimates on Android

Get approval before work begins. You can now create and send Estimates to your Clients from the Android app.

Rebill Expenses with Receipt Attachments

When rebilling expenses, you're now able to include the receipt attachment on the Invoice.

Updates to Existing Features

Comments on Estimates

Improvements have been made so you can easily chat with your clients on theEstimate itself to make sure you're both aligned on the work, before it's begun.

Easier Searching in Recurring Templates

Now you canquickly search for certainRecurring Templates and filterthe list of Recurring Templates by a specific column header.

Duplicate Estimates

Estimates can now be duplicated easily. Just check the box off, click on the Actions button and select Duplicate.

Live Links on Invoices and Estimates

Sharing websites and links with your Clients is now possible. Live links (URLs) are supported in the Notes and Terms sections on both Invoices and Estimates.

Archive Projects

Any completed Projects can now be marked as Archivedto keep your list of Projects organized. To view ArchivedProjects, click on the View Archived Projectsbutton at the bottom of the list.

May

New Features

Download PDF for Invoices & Estimates

It's now easy to saveyour Invoices and Estimates as PDF files. Just clickon the More Actions button and choosethe Download PDF option.

Change Date Format

For international users or those who go by a different date format, you can now choose one of three options.

Payments Collected Report

It's easier than ever to get a detailed overview of your client's payments on Invoicesthanks to the Payments Collected report. You can filter by time period, clients, payment method and currency to generate the exact report you need.

Updates to Existing Features

SingleHourly Rate & Team Member Rate

Rates have been updated so you can assign a billing rate to each Team Member or to each Project.

Create Recurring Expenses

Now you can create Recurring Expenses for payments that you make on a frequent basis. Just set up the Recurring Expense with the start date, frequency and number of generated Expenses, and watch them generate automatically.

April

Updates to Existing Features

Easier Searching in Estimates

Improvements have been made to make it easier to search for Estimates. Now it's simple to find that one specific estimate you're looking for.

Convert Your Estimate Into an Invoice

Save even more time by converting your Estimate into an Invoice. You no longer need to re-enterdetails from the Estimate onto an Invoice - just convert, send and get paid.

Your Clients Can Accept Your Estimates

Now your client can accept the Estimates you send them. Once they click the Accept button you can begin your work confidently, knowing you and your client are on the same page.

Start a Timer from Your iPhone or iPad

Never miss another billable minute. Now you can start a timer directly from the FreshBooks Mobile App for iOS so you always have an accurate log of the time you worked.

March

New Features

Create and Send Estimates

With Estimates you can make sure youre on the same page as your client before work begins. Its easy to create an overview of your work withthe expected price and send it to your client.

Updates to Existing Features

Start a Timer from Your Android

Never miss another billable minute. Now you can start a timer directly from the FreshBooks Mobile App for Android so you always have an accurate log of the time you worked.

Set Rates for Your Tracked Time

Now, you can set a general default rate or a flat rate for tracked time. Whats more, you can set specific default rates on a project-by-project basis. When youre ready to bill for your time, the correct rate is automatically pulled onto the Invoice, making billing for your time faster than ever.

Select Which Projects and Date to Use When Generating an Invoice From Your Tracked Time

When generating an Invoice, you can now pick exactly which projects you want to bill for as well specify the time frame. So now its even easier to format your Invoice exactly the way youd like.

Add Unbilled Time to Existing Invoices

You can now add unbilled time to an existing Invoice instead of creating a brand new one. Perfect for times when you want to update an unpaid Invoice with newly completed work.

Edit the Timers Start Time

When using the timer to keep track of your hours, you can now edit the start time. Perfect for those times you forgot to start the timer as you began working. You can even set the start time to the future to start a countdown.

Send Invoices to Multiple Recipients on Android

You can rest assured that the right people are receiving your Invoices when youre using the FreshBooks Mobile App on your Android device. Now you can send your Invoices to multiple recipients from the app.

Generate an Invoice for a Project

From the Project page, you can now generate an Invoice for the time tracked towards that project. So, if you bill differently for different projects, its now simpler to create project-specific Invoices.

Expense Subcategories and Costs of Goods Sold Appear on the Profit and Loss Report

The Profitand Lossreport now separates expenses by subcategory, so you can get a detailed breakdown of your spending. Plus you can specify certain subcategories as costs of goods sold, so they are deducted from your profit.

Select a Start Date for Automatic Expense Import

When you connect a bank account or credit card to automatically import expenses, you can now select a specific start date for the initial import. This makes it easier to avoid duplicate expenses.

Create Time Budgets for Projects

Help keep your team on track by setting a time budget. From the Projects page, its now easy to see exactly who has been logging hours towards a specific project, how many hours have been logged and how close to budget you are.

February

New Features

Recurring Invoice Payments

Recurring Payments are the fastest way to get paid. Now, when you set up a recurring Invoice with online payments enabled, your client can save their credit card details to be automatically charged every time an Invoice is generated.

Time Entry Details Report

Its easier than ever to get a detailed overview of the time you and your team have logged thanks to the Time Entry Details report. You can filter by time period, team member, client and status to generate the exact report you need.

Updates to Existing Features

View and Edit Payments on Android

From the FreshBooks Mobile App on your Android device, you can now view a list of all the payments made towards your Invoices and edit them if required.

Mark Time Entries as Billed

Time entries logged by you or your employees can now be manually marked as billed. This will prevent them being pulled onto any future Invoices you create.

Create Custom Expense Subcategories

Create custom subcategories for your expenses. Now, its even easier to keep everything organized just the way you like it.

Weekly View in Time Tracking

Now, you can get a weekly view of your logged hours and log new hours from that view, making it even easier to add a weeks worth of hours at once.

Reports are Now Easier to Access

All of your business reports are now easily accessible from the bottom of your dashboard, without any extra clicks.

January

New Features

Time Tracking on Android

Easily log or edit your hours from your Android device using the FreshBooks Mobile App

Updates to Existing Features

Easily Switch Between Businesses on iOS

Easily switch between FreshBooks accounts for your different businesses from your iPhone or iPad using the FreshBooks Mobile App. Just tap your avatar in the top-left to switch or read more here.

Assign Clients to Projects

Assign your projects to specific clients or mark them as an Internal project.

Easier Searching in Time Tracking

Now you can easilysearch for time entries from either the Track or Review sections.

More Customization When Creating Invoices from Tracked Time

When you generate an Invoice from timeyou'vetracked, you can now customize how that time shows up. You can also adjust which details youd like to include and how youd like the entries to be grouped.

Updated Profit Chart on the Dashboard

The total profit chart on the dashboard has been updated to more clearly represent your business profit. It no longer includes sales tax in the total.

View Contractor Time

You can now see the time your contractors are logging from within your account. Just head to the Review section within Time Tracking.

Advanced Payments is an add-on that you can include with your subscription, allowing you to proactively charge your Clients' credit card details they've provided you. If you're on a Select plan, this add-on is automatically included.

On the iOS app, Advanced Payments allows you to process Clients' cards over the phone or in person on Invoices so you can get paid quickly. If you have repeat Clients, you'll also be able to save the credit card information for use towards future Invoices and Recurring Templates. If you don't have Advanced Payments on your account yet, learn more about how to set it up here.

Advanced Payments on iOS are currently being worked on while we're making changes. Contact Support if you'd like to enable Advanced Payments on your iOS app as well.

Charge Cards

Charge Cards allows you to proactively charge your Clients with their credit card information. You can securely accept credit cards in person, over the phone, or from your computer to get paid quickly.

This can also be used for when you need to charge a Client immediately on an Invoice.

Credit card details are securely saved in FreshBooks. You can read more about our industry-leading PCI compliance security with credit card data here.

Tap on the Invoices section

Next, tap on an Invoice you want to pay

Press on ... in the top corner

Tap on Charge Credit Card

TapScan Card at the top if you want to scan the credit card

Or, enter in the credit card details in the fields provided

Once youre done, tapCharge in the top right corner.

The Invoice will now be paid with the credit card detailsyou'veinputted.

Journal entries are the building blocks of financial accounting and record all transactions in your business. In FreshBooks, all your activities - sending invoices, accepting payments, and creating credits and expenses - are compiled into journal entries.

Only Accountants invited to your account can create Journal Entries to help ensure your financial reporting is accurate. As an Accountant, if you need to create Journal Entries, use the steps outlined here.

Principles Used

Chart of Accounts

Journal Entry Treatment for Transactions

Principles Used

We book all entries to a standard Chart of Accounts

Whenever an amount is updated, we reverse the first entry, and then create new ones. We do not book the difference alone.

If you need to update or correct a Journal Entry, create a new one to reverse the old entry, and then create a second entry with the updated/corrected information instead. See the steps outlined here.

Chart of Accounts

Type

No.

Account

Subcategories

Asset

1000

Cash

Petty Cash

Asset

1200

Accounts Receivable

Accounts Receivable

Customer Deposits

Asset

1500

Property, Plant and Equipment

Office Equipment

Furniture

Asset

1600

Deferred Discount

Deferred Discount

Liability

2000

Accounts Payable

Accrued Payroll

Accrued Rent

Liability

2xxx

Unearned Revenue

Unearned Revenue

Liability

2xxx

Customer Credit

Customer Credit

Liability

2xxx

Credit Card*

Owner's Equity

3000

Owner's Equity

Common Stock

Retained Earnings

Income

4000

Revenue

Sales (includes Other Income) Billed Expenses Ad Revenue Sale of Goods Rental Income Discounts

Expense

5000

Cost of Goods Sold

(Expense Categories will be listed here as Expenses are created and assigned to them)

Expense

6000

Operating Expense

(Expense Categories will be listed here as Expenses are created and assigned to them)

Expense

6xxx

Taxes Paid

Tax Name 1

Tax Name 2

* Additional accounts will be automatically created for connected bank accounts, credit cards.

Journal Entry Treatment for Transactions

Jump to the specific treatment for a transaction type below:

Invoices

Payments

Expenses

Credits

Drafts

Pre March 2018

Invoices

An invoice is created for a billed task or item sale

Account

Debit

Credit

Accounts Receivable (A/R)

$10

Sales

$10

An invoice is created for a billed expense

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$10

Billed Expenses

$10

An invoice with a billed service with the tax "HST" is created

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$10

Sales

$9

HST

$1

An invoice with billed tasks has an amount updated (e.g., from $10 to $12)

The original entry is reversed

Account

Debit

Credit

Sales

$10

A/R

$10

A new entry is booked for the total updated amount

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$12

Sales

$12

An billed service invoice is deleted

The original entry is reversed

Account

Debit

Credit

Sales

$10

A/R

$10

Payments

A payment is made on an invoice

Account

Debit

Credit

Cash

$10

A/R

$10

A payment has an amount updated (e.g. from $10 to $8)

The original entry is reversed

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$10

Cash

$10

A new entry is booked for the total updated amount

Account

Debit

Credit

Cash

$8

A/R

$8

A payment is deleted

The original entry is reversed

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$10

Petty Cash

$10

Expenses

Create a non-Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) travel expense manually

Account

Debit

Credit

Travel*

$10

Petty Cash

$10

* The parent account in this case would be "Operating Expense"

Create a travel expense considered COGS manually

Account

Debit

Credit

Travel*

$10

Petty Cash

$10

* The parent account in this case would be "Costs of Goods Sold"

Create a travel expense manually with $1 tax (tax assumed recoverable, contra-asset)

Account

Debit

Credit

Travel

$9

HST

$1

Petty Cash

$10

Travel Expense created through a connected AMEX credit card

Account

Debit

Credit

Travel

$10

American Express #1234

$10

Expense created through connected RBC bank account

Account

Debit

Credit

Expense Category

$10

RBC Bank Account #123

$10

User updates a travel expense amount (e.g. $10 to $12)

The original entry ($10) is reversed, new entry is booked

Account

Debit

Credit

Travel

$10

Petty Cash

$10

Account

Debit

Credit

Petty Cash

$12

Travel

$12

When a user rebills an expense to the client, with no markup

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$10

Billed Expenses

$10

When a user rebills an expense to the client, with a $1 markup

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$11

Billed Expenses

$11

* Could be bank/credit account, if applicable

Important: Duplicate expense lines if you have a bank account & credit card connected:

Currently, when a FreshBooks user connects both their bank account or credit card to automate expense tracking, only the outflows of money are captured by the system. This can creates duplicate expenses.

Heres a full example:

User A has two $100 expenses on their credit card - FreshBooks has recorded this as an expense.

User A pays the $200 off using their bank account. FreshBooks has now created another expense for $200 because it cannot differentiate between a credit card payment and normal cash outflow.

This means there are $400 of expenses logged when in fact the user should only have $200.

To fix this, we recommend that the users with both accounts connected delete all payments to their credit cards from their bank accounts in the expense section. This preserves the item level expense detail while removing the duplicates.

Credits

A credit is created

Account

Debit

Credit

Petty Cash

$10

Customer Credit

$10

A credit has an amount updated ($10 to $12)

The original entry is reversed

Account

Debit

Credit

Customer Credit

$10

Petty Cash

$10

A new entry is booked for the total updated amount

Account

Debit

Credit

Petty Cash

$12

Customer Credit

$12

A credit is deleted

Account

Debit

Credit

Customer Credit

$10

Petty Cash

$10

A credit is applied to an invoice

Account

Debit

Credit

Customer Credit

$10

A/R

$10

Drafts

A draft invoice is created

No entry is made

A draft invoice with a billed service invoice is partially paid (e.g., $5 payment on a $10 invoice)

When the partial payment is made, both the invoice and the payment are booked

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$10

Sales

$10

Account

Debit

Credit

A/R

$5

Petty Cash

$5

Pre March 2018

Weve made some substantial changes to our Journal Entries as part of a top-to-bottom overhaul of our accounting system. We recommend showing your accountant this article to help clarify any confusion around the treatment of journal entries.

The Trial Balance report is the sum of debits and credits for every account of your business. It allows you to identify discrepancies in your account totals, produce financial statements and ensure that your accounts balance for a given period of time.

The Debits and Credits for each of your accounts are listed and the sum of each listed at the bottom. If the totals are the same, then your accounts balance, there are no mathematical errors in your accounting process and you can trust that FreshBooks is doing its job accurately.

Accounting reports like the Trial Balance Report are available on the Plus and Premium plans only.

The Trial Balance Report also will only be accurate with data from January 1, 2018 onwards.

Access the Trial Balance Report

FAQs

Access the Trial Balance Report

The Trial Balance Report can be accessed using these steps:

Click on the Reportssection

Select Trial BalanceunderAccounting Reports.

There are a few things you're able to change when running the Trial Balance Report. Click on the drop down next to the title of the report, and you'll see some filters: Balance Sheet here

Date Range - Within the dropdown, choose one of the preset ranges (This Year, Last Year, This Quarter or Last Quarter) or choose a Custom date range instead

Currency - Choose between individual currencies

Clicking More Actions in the top right will give you the option to Export your Report to Excel, or Print your Report. The Send button allows you to send the report to your accountant, or anyone else that needs to view it.

FAQs

Whats the difference between a Trial Balance and a Balance Sheet? Where can I find my Balance Sheet?

A Trial Balance Report is used to list the sums of all your Categories and Parent Accounts debit and credits to ensure everything balances, in preparation for producing financial statements the end of an accounting period. This is often used internally in your business.

A Balance Sheet reports a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity at a point in time. It is used as a basis to calculate rates of return for investors, provides a snapshot of what a company owns and owes, and shows the amount invested by shareholders. You can learn more about our .

A Balance Sheet is a snapshot of your business financial position on a given day, usually calculated at the end of the quarter or year. Balance Sheets are also useful in summarizing your business assets, liabilities and owners equity (also known as shareholders equity).

The way your finances balance is as follows: Assets = Liabilities + Owners Equity. When everything balances, all your finances have been accounted for.

Accounting reports like the Balance Sheet Report are available on the Plus and Premium plans only.

The Balance Sheet Report will only be accurate with data from January 1, 2018 onwards.

Access Balance Sheet

Assets

Liabilities

Owner's (Shareholders') Equity

FAQs

Access Balance Sheet

To access your Balance Sheet, use these steps:

Click on the Accountingsection

Select Balance SheetunderAccounting Reports.

There are a few things you're able to change when running the Balance Sheet. Click on the button next to the Report title, and you'll see some filters: General Ledger Report

Balance Date - Within the dropdown, choose one of the preset ranges (Today, End of Last Month, End of Last Quarter) or choose a Custom date instead (Jan 1, 2018 is the earliest date we can retrieve data from currently)

Compare Dates- Check this box off and a new date box will appear, this allows you to compare two different dates to see trends or how the health of your business has changed over time

Currency - Choose between individual currencies

Assets

An asset is anything tangible or intangible that your business owns or controls and produces value in some way. Assets can include anything like:

Accounts Receivable - Any outstanding invoices and payments

Equipment - Any tangible items of value that are business-related purchases

Inventory - Goods and materials that your business holds for purpose of resale (doesnt count any itemsyou'vesold)

Petty Cash - Any funds your business has direct access to (includes cash and funds in bank accounts)

Reimbursable Expenses - Any expenses purchased that will be reimbursed by another party

Liabilities

Liabilities are funds that your business owes. Liabilities can include anything like:

Accounts Payable - Any money that you owe for reasons other than a loan (like an unpaid invoice or bill)

Current Loans Payable - The total value of any loans that you havent paid back yet

Customer Credit - Any available credit remaining for any of your clients

Credit Cards - The amount of your business unpaid credit card debt

Taxes Payable - Taxes that you owe the government

Unearned Revenue - Amount of prepaid revenue, like deposits

Equity

Known as Owners Equity or Shareholders Equity, this is what you put in or take out of a business, and represents assets that remain after deducting liabilities. Equity can include anything like:

Owners Equity - Amount invested into the business by the owner

Common Stock - Value of the business stock

Retained Earnings - Income retained by the business rather than distributed to the owner(s) as dividends

FAQs

Why is my Balance Sheet not balancing?

In other words, Assets Liabilities + Owners Equity.

Double check your numbers and make sure they are accurate

Use the other reports like the Trial Balance Report and to identify discrepancies

The General Ledger Report shows you the details of every transaction going in and out of your accounts. These transactions are generated whenever you issue Invoices, track Expenses, accept Payments, and log Other Income to name a few.

This goes hand in hand with the Trial Balance report, helping you ensure that all your Categories and Parent Accounts balance. You can also use the General Ledger to match your bank statement (after adjusting date range filters).

Accounting reports like the General Ledger Report are available on the Plus and Premium plans only.

The General Ledger Report will only be accurate with data from January 1, 2018 onwards.

Access the General Ledger Report

Account Types

Access the General Ledger Report

The General Ledger Report can be accessed using these steps:

Click on the Reportssection

Select General LedgerunderAccounting Reports.

There are a few things you're able to change when running the General Ledger Report. Click on the drop down next to the title of the report, and you'll see some filters:

Date Range - Within the dropdown, choose one of the preset ranges (This Month, This Year, Last Year, This Quarter or Last Quarter) or choose a Custom date range instead

Currency - Choose between individual currencies

Limit To - Use this to filter to All Accounts, or to a specific one only

If your General Ledger has more than 5000 lines, you'll see the option toChange the filters to reduce the data set, or toExport full Report for Excel instead.

Also, clicking More Actions in the top right will give you the option to Export your Report to Excel, or Print your Report. The Send button allows you to send the report to your accountant, or anyone else that needs to view it.

Account Types

The Accounts displayed are organized in the following order:

Assets

Liabilities

Sales

Expenses

For each account, a list of transactions are displayed which make up the accounts balance. Each transaction has two corresponding entries within two accounts.

Click on any transactions Account Type (highlighted in blue) to drill in to find more details on the transaction.

The Chart of Accounts (CoA) is a unique list of a business accounts, organized by assets (what your business owns), liabilities (what your business owes to others), income (the business revenue) and expenses (purchases made for your business).

CoAs are useful for organizing your accounts so you can work smarter with your accountant, making it easy to see the business financial situation at the present time.

Accounting reports like the Chart of Accounts are available on the Plus and Premium plans only.

The Chart of Accounts is only accurate with data from January 1, 2018 onwards.

Access Chart of Accounts

Parent Accounts

Accountant Access

FAQs

Access Chart of Accounts

The Chart of Accounts can be accessed using these steps:

Click on the Accountingsection

Then click on the Chartof Accountssub-tab.

the steps here There are a few things you're able to change when viewing the Chart of Accounts. Click on the drop down next to All Accounts, and you'll see some filters:

Date Range - Within the dropdown, choose one of the preset ranges (This Year, This Quarter or Last Quarter) or choose a Custom date range instead (Jan 1, 2018 is the earliest date we can retrieve data from currently)

Currency - Choose between individual currencies

Clicking More Actions in the top right will give you easy access to another useful report, the General Ledger.

Parent Accounts

FreshBooks uses Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) friendly Parent Accounts right from the start. These are set up as defaults and cannot be edited or deleted. Each Parent Account in the list is assigned a multi-digit number to help identify the account type.

These Parent Accounts are affected by certain events in your FreshBooks account:

Cash - Other Income, Payments Collected, Bank Accounts

Accounts Receivable - Your unpaid invoices (except Drafts)

Revenue - Sales - Paid invoices

Revenue - Billed Expenses - Expenses that have been rebilled

Operating Expenses - Categories of Expensesyou'vetracked

Note: Only Accountants invited to your account can create custom accounts under Parent Accounts to help organize your financials.

Accountant Access

If you invite an Accountant to your account, they also have extra features to add and edit custom accounts under Parent Accounts, as well as create Journal Entries:

Add or Edit Custom Accounts

Click on the Accountingsection

Then click on the Chartof Accountssub-tab

Click onMore Actions

Then selectAdd New Account

Enter in a Name for the account

Choose the Parent Account to sort this new account under

Enter in the Account Number

Click on Save to finish.

If you need to edit a custom account:

In the Chart of Accounts, click on the custom account you created

Click on More Actions (this only appears on custom accounts)

Click on Edit Account

Make the changes as needed and clickSave to finish.

Note: Once a custom account is created, it can't be deleted.

Create Journal Entries

If there are certain entries that need to be recorded or corrected in your FreshBooks account, the Accountant can create entries manually on your behalf (like Owner's Draw for example). Creating a Journal Entry can be done with the below steps:

Click on the Accountingsection

Then click on the Chartof Accountssub-tab

Click onNew Journal Entry

Fill out the Entry Name, Date and Currency

Enter in a Description for easy reference

Choose theAccounts and enter in the amount in either theDebitorCredit field (one Account should be debited and one Account should be credited)

Use theAdd a line button if you need to add more entries

ClickSave to finish and the Journal Entry will be recorded.

FAQs

How do I add more detail or fix an error to one of my Journal Entries?

Journal Entries are historical and permanent records of transactions occurring inside the account. This ensures your books remain accurate. So to add more detail or correct an error, you would use this workflow:

Create a Journal Entry to reverse the error/incomplete entry (as in, the opposite of whats been inputted in for debits and credits)

Then create your new Journal Entry where you re-enter in the correct entry (to fix the error or add more detail).

If you corrected one entry, this results in three Journal Entries, with the final one being the updated and corrected version. The ending balance will reflect the correct amount as usual.

How can I record disbursements (e.g., Owners Draws)?

Whenever you pay out funds to run a business (like Owners Draw), or pay dividend payments, these are often called disbursements. These can be logged by an Accountant invited to your account.

Using the steps above to create Accounts, create a new Account (like Owners Draw under the Owners Equity Parent Account), then log the disbursement as Journal Entries. In this example, the Accountant would log it as a credit to Cash and a debit to the Owners Draw account.

How do I record assets purchased that are not operating expenses (e.g. depreciation)?

Currently depreciation is not calculated automatically. You can record depreciation in one of two ways:

Accountant: If you have an Accountant invited, they can create a new Account called Depreciation and log any assets as Journal Entries instead.

Can I change where the account is credited when I enter the expense in FreshBooks?

For example, if you pay for your Expenses with a credit card sometimes and with a chequing account other times, they all show up under Cash in your Chart of Accounts.

These Expenses will only be moved from a Cash Asset to a Liability once you complete Bank Reconciliation and match those transactions.

Ifyou'veaccidentally matched to the wrong Expense (e.g., a chequing transaction was matched to an expense that was imported in from your Credit Card account), you can use to un-match and free up the expense. Then you can match the expense in your Credit Card account (via Bank Reconciliation) instead.

The Bank Reconciliation Summary is a report that makes it easy to see how organized your accounts are and if there are any remaining transactions to be matched in your Bank Reconciliation. This report is also useful for seeing all unmatched transactions across all bank accounts, as well as any Expenses and Payments logged in your FreshBooks account that have yet to be matched.

Accounting features like Bank Reconciliation and the Bank Reconciliation Summary Report are available on trials as well as Plus and Premium plans. We also recommend inviting an accountant (if you havent already) to help you learn more about Bank Reconciliation.

You can run a Bank Reconciliation Summary by doing the following:

Go to the Reports section

Select Bank Reconciliation Summary under Accounting Reports.

There are a few things you're able to change when running the Bank Reconciliation Summary. Click on the button next to the Report title, and you'll see some filters:

Date - Choose one of the preset ranges (Today, End of Last Month) or choose Custom instead to add your own range in which will determine which transactions youll see

Bank Account - Choose which Bank Account you want to view transactions from

The report displays the below:

Unmatched FreshBooks Entries - These are displayed first and show all your Payments & Other Income and your Expenses that have yet to be matched to transactions in your Bank Account.

Unmatched Bank Transactions from (Bank Account) - These are entries from your connected Bank Account that have yet to be matched to entries from FreshBooks.

The UK VAT Return Report is a report that allows you to export CSV files in order for you to submit your VAT returns to the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as part of Making Tax Digital (MTD). MTD is an initiative designed to make sure the UK tax system is effective, efficient and simpler for taxpayers. All VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover above 85,000 are required to keep digital financial records and send returns using MTD-compatible software as of April 1, 2019.

The UK VAT Return report is still being worked on. Contact Support if you'd like to have this report enabled in your account.

Once enabled in your account, you can run the UK VAT Return Report by doing the following:

Go to the Reports section

Under Accounting Reports, click on UK VAT Return

Using the filters at the top next to the report title, adjust the Date Range and choose between Issue Date or Payment Date click here

Click Apply to save the filter settings

From here, you can either:

Click on the blue Download VAT Report for (Date) and a CSV file will download

Click on the More Actions button, then select Export for Excel to download the CSV file

Or click on Continue to MTD Portal button to submit your return to the HMRC (you'll need to have your UK VAT Return report ready to submit to the HMRC as well).

For more information on how to access your MTD Account to submit your returns and more, .

TheAccount Statement (also known as a client statement or client summary) allows you to share key details with your Clients like their outstanding balance, Invoices and Payments history, and available Credit.

You can run an Account Statement for a particular Client by doing the following:

Go to theClientssection

Click on the Client you want to run the statement for

Select theMore Actions button

Click onGenerate Statement.

There are a few things you're able to change when running your Client's Account Statement. Click on the button next to the Account Statement title, and you'll see some filters: Payments Collected Report

Date Range- With the date range drop down, you're able to choose one of the preset ranges (This Month, This Year, Last Year, This Quarter, Last Quarter) or choose a Custom date range so you're able to find exactly what you're looking for

Currency- If you've billed in different currencies, you can toggle the currency here

The Summary area shows you the following:

Total Invoiced

Total collected in Payments

Total in Credits

The remaining balance is the Client's outstanding amount, also known as the Account Balance.

Credits are listed in the Summary area and at the bottom of Details only. To find a complete list of Credits (or overpayments) for your Client, run a filtered to that Client instead.

In FreshBooks, you and your team can track time to Projects. Those Projects are assigned to individual Clients, and you can Invoice your Clients easily based on that tracked time.

Generating an Invoice allows you to pull all unbilled time tracked by you, your Contractors and Employees onto an Invoice. This marks those time entries as billed automatically as well.

You can add unbilled time to a new Invoice a few different ways:

Generate From Time Tracking

Generate from Project

Generate From Invoice

FAQs

Generate From Time Tracking

Use the below steps:

Go to the Time Tracking section (left sidemenu)

Click on Generate Invoice at the top (next to the Start Timer button) pulled onto an Invoice

Select your Client (any unbilled hours will show up next to them)

If there are multiple projects for this Client, you can un-select any you don't want to Invoice for yet (this includes Flat Rate Projects as well)

Click Continue

You have the option of showing your time entries in three different ways: DetailedThe drop-down options for Detailed haveIncludes: Service, Project, Team Member, Date and Notes which you can check/uncheck, and aDate Range to help you filter out specific time entries.GroupedThe drop-down options for Groupedhave Grouped By: Service, Team Member and Day, as well asIncludes: Service, Project, Team Member and Datewhich you can check/uncheck. There is also a Date Range to help you filter out specific time entries.Simple The drop-down options for SimplehaveIncludes: Project, Team Member and Datewhich you can check/uncheck, and aDate Range to help you filter out specific time entries. This displays all information as a single line item.

For any of the options above, click on the Add #h #m button to add it to the invoice in the format you've chosen.

The Rate will automatically be populated depending on what you chose as your Billing Rate

Enter any additional details on your Invoice (like Notes, Terms, Due Date, etc)

When you're all done, click Save or Send to finish!

Generate From Project

Go to the Projects section (left sidemenu)

Click on the Project you want to generate an Invoice for

Click on the More Actions button

Click on Generate Invoice

Choose a Date Range, or leave it to All Time

Your project will automatically be checked off. Click on the Continue button

Customize your formatting options for your time entries, and click on the Add #h #m button to finish

Continue editing the rest of your Invoice.

Generate From Invoice

Go to theInvoices section

Click on New Invoice (or edit an existing Invoice)

Select a Client

Click on the Add a Line button, any unbilled time entries for that client will appear in the list of available items to select:

You can continue to edit the Invoice, or save/send it.

Tip: Looking to add unbilled time to a Recurring Template for future Invoices? Check out the steps here instead.

FAQs

How do I manually mark time entries as billed?

Time entries are automatically marked as billed when they are. If you prefer to Invoice without displaying time entries to your Client, you can still mark them as billed manually to keep track of time that's been recouped so far.

Follow these steps:

Go to the Time Tracking section

Click on theReview sub-tab at the top

Check off the box(es) next to the entries you want to mark as billed

Click on the BulkActions button above the list

Click on Mark as Billed

Click OK in the confirmation pop-up and your time is now marked as billed.

You can also mark your time entries as unbilled. This is useful if you'd like to bill for them again, or if you've accidentally marked the wrong entry as billed. This will not stop you from billing time entries that have already been billed on previous Invoices as well. Use these steps:

Go to the Time Tracking section

Check off the box(es) next to the entries you want to mark as billed

Click on the BulkActions button above the list

Click on Mark as Unbilled

Click OK in the confirmation pop-up and your time entry will now be unbilled.

What happens if I delete my generated Invoice with the time entries on it?

When the generated Invoice is deleted, all time entries that were on this Invoice will revert back to unbilled status. This allows you to rebill those time entries on another Invoice (or manually mark them as billed) in the future. Undeleting the Invoice will not change the status of the time entries.

Services (also known as Tasks) are used when tracking time, so you can bill a hourly or flat rate rate for the work you're doing. Different Services can be used while tracking time so your Clients know exactly what you're billing them for. You can also see where your time is going so you can estimate and bill for Projects more accurately.

New Service

Edit Service

FAQs

If youre looking to manage your Items (for goods or products) instead, you can read more here.

New Service

To create a new Service, use these steps:

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Items & Services

Click on the CreateNew... button

Select Service

Enter a Name for your Service

Include a Description if youd like

Add a Rate if youd like (if your Project uses Service Rates, this will be pulled onto the Invoice)

Click on Add Taxes to include up to two taxes every time its invoiced

Check off the box next to Billable if you want to bill for it on future invoices

Click on the Save button.

Your newly created Service will now be visible in the Projects and Time Tracking sections to track time towards.

New Services can also be created from these other places:

Logging time manually or from the timer

While creating or editing a Projects Services

If youd like to add Taxes and a Service Rate afterwards, you can go to the Items & Services section and edit your Service there to include these.

Edit Service

To make changes to a Service, use these steps:

Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

Click on Items & Services

Click on the Services sub-tab

Then click on the Service youd like to edit, and a pop-up will appear

Make any changes as needed and click on the Save button to finish.

To delete a Service, use these steps.

FAQs

I tried to create a new Service but an error says the name is taken?

Service names must be unique. If the name is taken, the Service name already exists elsewhere in your Archived Items & Services section, or in the deleted section. You can use the steps here to access the section and either edit the name to free up the original one, or restore the Service if its been deleted.