How do I use my Dashboard?

The dashboard in your account gives you a quick snapshot of your business' finances so you can see
your outstanding invoices, profit, and where your spending is going. The dashboard also allows you
to access your Reports so you can take a deeper look at your finances.

 Outstanding Revenue
 Total Profit
 Revenue Streams
 Spending
 Unbilled Time

Outstanding Revenue

This invoices dashboard shows you which Invoices are:

 Overdue (has passed the Due Date of an Invoice)

 Outstanding (unpaid and not yet passed the Due Date of an Invoice)

Together, these produce the Total Outstanding amount.

You can hover over each section of the graph which will show you specific Invoices populating that
amount.

Click on the View Invoices link if you'd like to be taken to the list of Invoices populating this
total. Note: The Total Overdue on the list includes both Active and Archived overdue Invoices, and
you'll only see the list of Active invoices if you click on the View Invoices link.

If you invoice in multiple currencies, you can switch by clicking on the currency button next to the
Outstanding Revenue title:
Total Profit

This graph shows you a visual picture of your profit and expenses over a period so you can get a
sense of how healthy your business is. Payments you've received from an Invoice are recorded as
income (green), and Expenses you've spent are recorded as loss (red) with the Total Profit in the
corner.

This graph is run in Collected format, meaning it looks at the date payments were received for any
Invoice.

Hover over any point to see which Invoices or Expenses were recorded for that month/quarter.

You can customize this view by clicking on the button next to Total Profit. You're able to change the
date range, whether you want it grouped by month or quarter, and the currency if you're billing in
multiple currencies.
Revenue Streams

This graphs illustrates what areas your revenue is coming from, both from your Other Income and
from your paid Invoices (Taxes are excluded). Categories you log Other Income as will show up here
as separate streams.

You can customize your Revenue Streams view by clicking on the button next to Revenue Streams.
You're able to change the date range and toggle between currencies. 

Hover over any of the sections in the graph to get a breakdown of the totals and a quick link to the
entries making up the total for that particular revenue stream. 

Spending

This shows you a pie chart of where your money is going in Expenses in each parent category (from
the Expenses section of your account).

You can customize your Spending view by clicking on the button next to Spending. You're able to
change the date range and toggle between currencies.
Unbilled Time

This shows you all unbilled time in your Time Tracking section. You can customize the date range by
clicking on the button next to Unbilled Time.

Hover over any block of tracked time for a Client and click on the Generate Invoice link to quickly
bill for the block of time.
How do I add a Logo?
Logos help communicate your business brand to your Clients, and are a great way to make your
Invoices and Estimates stand out from the rest!

You can easily add logos to your Invoices and Estimates in FreshBooks. There are two different
templates for both Invoices and Estimates, which give you two different logo options (a small one or
a banner).

All you have to do is create an Invoice/Estimate and upload the logo once (on each template). Then
every Invoice or Estimate you create will automatically re-use your saved logo moving forward.

Start off by creating an Invoice/Estimate, or by editing an existing one:

 New Invoice: Go to Dashboard, click on Create New button and select Invoice or Estimate
 Edit Invoice: Go to Invoices or Estimates, click on the pencil icon on the right side of the
invoice you want to edit

To change the template, you can click on Customize Invoice/Estimate Style under Settings on the
right.

 
Simple Template

1. If you select Simple, the logo appears in the top left corner

2. Hover your mouse over the top left corner of the Invoice/Estimate until you see Drag your
logo here, or select a file
3. Click on the select a file link to upload a file, or you can drag your logo into this space.

Accepted logo formats include JPEG/JPG, PNG or GIF.

The logo will be the actual size of the file if it is less than 266 by 200 px, or image will be scaled
proportionately to fit this.

 
Modern Template

1. If you select Modern, the banner logo is the full width of the Invoice/Estimate
2. Hover your mouse over the empty space under the company information on the
Invoice/Estimate until you see Drag an image here, or select a file to jazz up your
invoice/Estimate
3. Click on the select a file link to upload a file, or you can drag your image/logo into this
space.

Accepted logo formats include JPEG/JPG, PNG or GIF.

The banner space for a wider logo is 778 x 200 px. If the image width is different than the full width
of the Invoice/Estimate, it will be scaled up/down until it fits the width. You can reposition it vertically
within the frame by dragging the image.

Can I copy/duplicate Invoices?

If you're sending your Clients Invoices which are the same or similar to Invoices you've previously
created, you may just want to duplicate an Invoice to save time. This way, there is no need to
recreate the entire Invoice, including the Invoice Style and Items again! To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Invoices section
2. Find the Invoice you want to duplicate from the list, and check the box next to it
3. Click on the Bulk Actions button above the list
4. Then click on Duplicate.

You'll then be taken to the New Invoice screen, and the Invoice you'll be editing will contain exactly
the same information (like the Invoice Style and Items) as the Invoice you chose to duplicate. You can
then change the Client, or any of the Invoice information before sending.

As this is a new Invoice, it will also have a brand new Invoice Number.

How do Recurring Payments work?

Recurring Payments allows you to automatically charge a Client's credit card on a regular basis
through a Recurring Invoice. This is perfect for those subscription-based Clients you're billing on a
recurring basis with the same cost each month - there's no fuss with collecting payment as it's all
done automatically!

To enable Recurring Payments, follow these steps:

 1. Set up a Recurring Invoice which you can read more about here
2. Enable one of our Payment Gateways (FreshBooks Payments or Stripe) on the Recurring
Invoice
3. Send the Recurring Invoice to your Client. 

In the end the Recurring Invoice should have Yes shown for Accept Credit Cards and a Recurring
Schedule:

This will then enable Recurring Payments as an option to your Clients.

It is up to your Clients to enable Recurring Payments on the Invoice received. They also have the
ability to update their credit card information and remove the stored credit card information if they
wish.

To see what your Clients have to do to enable, update or remove Recurring Payments, check out this
article here.

Disabling Recurring Payments

If you no longer want the Recurring Template to charge your Client automatically after they've opted
into Recurring Payments, you can disable this with the below steps: 

1. Go to the Invoices section

2. Click on the Recurring Templates sub-tab
3. Find the Recurring Template that is set to auto-paid and click on it
4. Click on the Edit button
5. Turn Accept Online Payments to NO and click on Done
6. Click Save to finish. The Recurring Template will continue to generate Invoices (if there are
any remaining or it's set to infinite), but your Client will not be able to pay via Online
Payments. 

 
Advanced Payments

If you're looking to directly process Clients' cards over the phone or in person on Invoices and
Recurring Templates (with Recurring Payments) yourself, you can use Advanced Payments instead.
This is ideal if you have repeat Clients too, since you'll also be able to save the credit card
information for use towards future Invoices and Recurring Templates.

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. Learn more about Advanced Payments here.

How do I change the date format in my account?

Date formats allow you to display the calendar date in FreshBooks according to your geographic
location or preference. If you go by a different date format than the default in FreshBooks, not a
problem! Here’s how to change your date format:

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Company Profile
3. Next to Date Format, change the dropdown from the default to your preferred option
(mm/dd/yyyy, dd/mm/yyyy, or yyyy-mm-dd)
4. Click Save to finish.

How do I save or share Invoices?

Saving and sharing your Invoices is easy if you need to keep offline copies or share them with a
Client or a team member outside of FreshBooks. Use the steps below if you want to save the Invoice
as a PDF, or create a Shareable Link instead of emailing the Invoice to your Client or team member.

 Download PDF
 Shareable Link

Download PDF

Steps to download an Invoice into a PDF are below: 

1. Open up any Invoice (from the Invoices section, click on it)

2. Click on the More Actions button
 3. Click on Download PDF

4. In a few seconds, a new PDF file will be downloaded to your computer.

If you'd like to download multiple Invoices as PDFs, use these steps instead:

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Check off the box(es) next to the Invoices you want to save
3. Click on the Bulk Actions button
4. Select Download PDF.

The selected Invoices will save as separate PDF files on your computer.

Shareable Link

This will automatically mark the Invoice as Sent and generate a link that you can share with your
team member and/or Client. The steps are below:

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Click on the Invoice you want to create a link for
3. Click on the More Actions button
4. Then select Create a Shareable Link

5. You'll be asked to confirm updating the status of the invoice to sent - click on the Got it -
Mark as Sent button

6. A confirmation appears with the link - you can copy it yourself or click on the Copy to
Clipboard link
 7. Click Done to finish.

Note: The Share Link will not include the option to create a Client account (to comment or save the
Invoice). The Invoice will need to be emailed to the Client directly for them to create a Client account
with the steps here.

Why is my Invoice no longer available?

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: 

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

Deleted Client

If you’ve deleted the Client, they can no longer view any Invoices to them. To un-delete a Client, use
the below steps:

1. Go to the Clients section
2. Click on the deleted link at the bottom of the list
3. Click on the Client you'd like to undelete
4. A pop-up will ask you if you'd like to undelete it. Click OK and the Client will be restored. The
link will then work again.

 
Deleted Invoice

If you’ve deleted the Invoice, the Client can no longer view any Invoices to them. To un-delete an
Invoice, use the below steps:

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Click on the deleted link at the bottom of the list
3. Click on the Invoice you'd like to undelete
4. A pop-up will ask you if you'd like to undelete it. Click OK and the Invoice will be restored.
The link will then work again.

Client Profile Updates

If you’ve made updates to the Client’s profile, such as changing the primary contact’s name or email,
this can break all old links sent to that Client for security purposes. You’ll 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:

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Check off the box next to the Invoice you want to resend
3. Click on the Bulk Actions button
4. 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 follow the steps
here
 Or use a different email to send the Invoice to yourself (like a temporary email or an alternate
email you own)

How do I resend an Invoice?

Sometimes an Invoice may get lost, or your Client wants an updated link. Whatever the reason,
resending an Invoice is easy with these steps:

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Click on the Invoice you want to resend
3. Click on the More Actions button
 4. Then select Send by Email

5. The primary Client's email will populate, along with any secondary contacts' emails (if any are
added to the Client Profile) - feel free to add any extra email addresses, or enter a personal
message
6. When you're done, click on Send Invoice.

Whoever sends the Invoice will receive any email replies from the Client.

If you'd like to save some time in the future, check out Late Payment Reminders, which automatically
send email reminders to your Clients (including a link to the Invoice).

To send multiple Invoices in one go, use these steps instead:

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Check off the boxes next to the Invoices you want to resend
3. Click on the Bulk Actions button
4. Click on Send by Email
5. Click OK to confirm and the Invoices will be resent.
How do I add a Discount to an Invoice?
Discounts are a great way to reward your prompt Clients, or encourage Client loyalty with your
work by giving them a deduction from the usual cost of your Items or Services.

In FreshBooks, there are two ways you're able to apply a discount to your Invoice. You can add it
with a percentage-based discount to the entire Invoice, or as a specific line item:

Percentage-Based Discount

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Click on New Invoice
3. Add your Client, Items, and any other information you wish to include on your Invoice
4. Towards the bottom of your Invoice, you'll see an Add a Discount link:
 5. Click on this, and you'll be able to enter in a percentage discount. Click Add Discount when
you're done

6. Now when you save your Invoice, the discount will be displayed at the bottom:

Line Item Discount

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Click on New Invoice
3. Add your Client, Items, and any other information you wish to include on your Invoice
 4. Add another Line Item. This will be your discount. Name the Item something like 'Discount',
then in the Rate field, enter the discount amount with a - (minus sign) in front:

You can see the discount reflected in the subtotal, and it'll be really clear to your Client where that
discount is applied to.

What are Items?

Items are used when you’re billing for goods or products sold to your Client. These Items can be
tangible (like parts) or intangible (like a hosting package). You’re also able to add Taxes to your Items
so that they’re automatically added whenever the Item is added to an Invoice.

If you’re looking to manage your Services (for tracking time) instead, you can read more here.

 New Item
 Edit Item
 FAQs

New Item

To create a new Item, use these steps:

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner
2. Click on Items & Services

3. Click on the Create New... button
4. Select Item
 5. Enter a Name for your Item
6. Include a Description if you’d like (otherwise, leave blank if it’s different every time)
7. Add a Rate (if the price differs every time, you can leave this blank)
8. Click on Add Taxes to include up to two taxes every time it’s invoiced
9. Click on the Save button.

Your newly created Item will now be visible in your Invoices and Estimates for billing.

New Items can also be created while creating or editing an Invoice, Estimate or Proposal.

Edit Item

To make changes to an Item, use these steps:

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Items & Services
3. Click on the Items sub-tab
4. Then click on the Item you’d like to edit, and a pop-up will appear
5. Make any changes as needed and click on the Save button to finish.

To delete an Item, from within the Items & Services section, use these steps.

To make changes to the original Item, use the steps above to edit it directly in the Items & Services
Management section. Making changes while on an Invoice will not apply over the original Item’s
details.

FAQs

I tried to create a new Item but an error says the name is taken?

Item names must be unique. If the name is taken, the Item 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 Item if it’s been deleted.
 Expenses

How do I set up a Bank Connection with Yodlee?

Yodlee, our third party connector, can help you get your expenses automatically imported from your
bank accounts, credit cards, and PayPal accounts. All accounts you set up will appear in the Bank
Connections section, and any newly imported expenses will appear in the Expenses section for you.

The below steps are for worldwide users except for United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Spain. If you
are based in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Netherlands, and Spain, you can follow the
steps here instead.

 Add a Bank
 Automatically Categorize Imported Expenses

Add a Bank

Note: These steps must be completed on a web browser.

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Bank Connections
3. If you see your bank in the top 12 popular banks, click on it
4. Otherwise, if you don’t see your bank, click on the Find your bank link below the top 12

1. Then search for your bank using the name of the bank (at least 3 letters long), or the
bank’s website link
2. If the name of the bank and the bank’s website link matches what you normally log
into online, click on it
5. If your bank is not listed or available, please submit a request to have your bank added here
6. Once you’ve selected your bank, enter in your bank’s login credentials and press Submit

7. Answer any security/verification questions until all have been answered correctly and
press Next
8. Stay on this page and wait for all your accounts to finish loading (all spinning icons
disappear)

9. 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
 rename account links

10. When you’re done, click on Import

 11. 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

12. Click Done
13. You’ll now be taken back to the Bank Connections page, leave this page open for at least 10
minutes (you can use your account in another browser tab)
14. After 10+ minutes, you’ll see a confirmation pop-up, and the status next to your bank
account will display as Updated <1 minute ago
15. From here, you can go to the Expenses section and start organizing your newly imported
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 off both Imported expenses and Uncategorized expenses boxes, and click
on Apply.
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.

If you’re experiencing issues connecting your bank account, check out our troubleshooting article
here.

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 to Apply
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.

Looking for more information on your Bank Connections? Go here instead.

How do COGS work?

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) allow you to classify Expenses that are incurred on behalf of your
Client(s) as well as Expense Categories. Or, if you just want to log Expenses for your business, you can
use the steps here instead.

Marking Expenses as COGS also ensures the Expense is allocated correctly on the Profit & Loss
report in the Cost of Goods Sold section under Income, even if the Expense is never billed onto an
Invoice.

If you're looking to assign and rebill Expenses so you can Invoice them to your Clients, you can
find the steps here.

Mark an Expense as COGS

1. Go to the Expenses section
2. Click on an existing Expense, or the New Expense button
3. If editing an existing Expense, click the Edit button
4. Under Expense Settings (on the right), click on Cost of Goods Sold

5. Check the box off to mark it as COGS

 6. A new option will appear, asking if you'd like to remember the Expense Category selected as
COGS for all future Expenses - this is optional

7. Click Done to finish.

The Expense will now be marked as COGS. It will also automatically reflect this in the COGS section
on your Profit & Loss report.

If you've chosen to mark Expenses in this Category as COGS, all future Expenses assigned to this
Category will automatically be marked as COGS for you.

Note: If you have Recurring Expenses, you'll need to edit them and follow the steps above to mark
future generated Expenses as COGS automatically.

What are Expense Categories?

FreshBooks makes it easy to keep track of your spending by organizing your business’ Expenses into
Categories and Subcategories. These Categories and Subcategories follow Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles (GAAP), which are commonly found on tax forms for claiming your business’
Expenses. You can also create Custom Subcategories for your business’ unique reporting needs.

 Categories & Subcategories

 Custom Subcategories

 Default Categories & Subcategories

 FAQs

 
Categories & Subcategories

FreshBooks’ default Expense Categories are equal to the default Accounts in the Chart of
Accounts (available on Plus or Premium plans). Default Subcategories are included to provide even
more granularity in your reporting.

For details on how Categories and Subcategories behave in your Chart of Accounts, read more
about Parent Accounts and Accounts on the CoA here.

 Categories are listed with an icon next to them, and Subcategories are listed underneath a
Category
 Both Categories and Subcategories cannot be edited or deleted
 Subcategories are listed under their default Category on the Profit & Loss Report and appear
when an Expense is categorized to that Subcategory
 If you have a bank account connected, you can have your Expenses automatically categorized
for you - depending on which Bank Connection partner you're using (you can compare here),
you can find steps for Plaid here or steps for Yodlee here
 Any Expenses that are not automatically categorized will be labelled Uncategorized until you
can assign them a Category to remember for the future. Search for all Uncategorized
Expenses by using the Advanced Search and selecting Uncategorized as the Category to
search by
 

Custom Subcategories

You can create a Custom Subcategory to organize and report on Expenses specific to your business’
unique needs. Custom Subcategories are similar to default Subcategories:

 Expenses can be assigned directly to a custom Subcategory

 Custom Subcategories are listed under their default Category on the Profit & Loss Report
 Expenses assigned to Custom Subcategories will be included within the default
Expense Category/Account in the CoA
 Custom Subcategories can be edited or deleted

Create a Custom Subcategory

1. While editing an Expense, click on the Choose a category and enter the Custom

Subcategory
2. Click on the + Create (Subcategory name) button

3. In the Under dropdown, choose one of the default Categories to assign this Subcategory

under

4. Click Done to finish
5. It will now appear on the drop-down list as an option. You can click Edit... next to it if you
want to update it again after it's already been created.
 

Delete a Custom Subcategory

1. While creating or editing an Expense’s Category, click on the Edit.. link next to it

2. Then click on the Delete link.

Any expenses assigned to this deleted Custom Subcategory will be automatically reassigned to the
default Category that the Custom Subcategory was previously under.

Default Categories and Subcategories

Below is the list of default Categories and Subcategories:

The Expense Categories listed in the table below also appear as Accounts in your Chart of Accounts
under the Operating Expenses Parent Account. Expense Subcategories do not map to unique
accounts in the CoA. Expenses that you have assigned to a Subcategory will be included within
the Expense Category/Account in the CoA instead.

Expense Category Expense Subcategory

Advertising None

Car & Truck Expenses  Gas

  Mileage
 Repairs
 Vehicle Insurance
 Vehicle Licensing

Contractors None

 Accident Insurance
Education and Training  Health Insurance
 Life Insurance

Employee Benefits None

 Hardware
 Office Supplies
 Packaging
 Postage
Office Expenses & Postage  Printing
 Shipping & Couriers
 Software
 Stationery

 Bank Fees
 Business Insurance
 Commissions
Other Expenses  Depreciation
 Interest - Mortgage
 Interest - Other

Personal None

 Accounting
Professional Services  Legal Fees

 Equipment
 Machinery
Rent or Lease  Office Space
 Vehicles

Supplies None

 Airfare
Travel  Hotel/Lodging/Accommodation
 Taxi & Parking

 Gas & Electrical

Utilities  Phone
 
FAQs

How do I change or update the Category on multiple Expenses?

You can reassign Expense Categories using these steps below:

1. Use the Search, or check off the boxes next to the Expenses you want to edit
2. Click on the Bulk Actions button
3. Select Change Category
4. In the dropdown, type to find the category, create a new Subcategory or choose from the list
5. Click Save to finish. Your Expenses will now be reassigned to this new Category.

How do I troubleshoot a Bank Connection with Yodlee?

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.

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 you’re being taken back to the beginning of the captcha test/I am not a robot test, or you’re
unable to edit your connected banks’ settings, you may need to clear your browser’s 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

If you’ve updated your online banking login, you’ll also need to update it inside the Bank
Connections area as well. Use these steps:

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Bank Connections
3. Click on the Edit link next to your bank account.

You’ll 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 click Save
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 you’d like to force a
new refresh, you can use these steps:

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Bank Connections
 3. Click on the Refresh link next to your bank account, and it will start refreshing

4. If no new Expenses come in, you can click on the Edit link instead

5. If your login credentials haven’t changed, click Update
6. Answer any security/verification questions until all have been answered correctly and
press Next
7. Wait for all your accounts to finish loading (all spinning icons disappear)
8. 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:

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Bank Connections
3. Click on the Edit link next to your bank account
4. If your login credentials haven’t changed, click Update
5. Answer any security/verification questions until all have been answered correctly and
press Next
6. Wait for all your accounts to finish loading (all spinning icons disappear)
7. Once all accounts have finished loading, click on the Remove or rename account link next
to the account you want to rename
8. In the Nickname field, enter the new name of the account
9. Click on Save Changes
10. Your account’s new nickname will appear in (brackets) next to the name. When you’re 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 didn’t see the option to choose how far back to pull expenses?

This can happen if you don’t stay 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:

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Bank Connections
3. Click on the bank itself to show the connected accounts
4. 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? Go here instead.

How do I rebill Expenses?
Sometimes as a business owner, you may incur Expenses on behalf a Client that you'd like to bill
back to them. Rebilling Expenses in FreshBooks is as simple as assigning it to a Client, optionally
adding a markup and including the receipt image, and then adding it to an Invoice.

 Assign an Expense to a Client

 Rebill the Expense to an Invoice
 FAQs

Assign an Expense to a Client

1. Go to the Expenses section
2. Click on an existing Expense, or the New Expense button
3. If editing an existing Expense, click the Edit button
4. Under Expense Settings (on the right), click on Mark as billable (this allows the Expense to
appear on an Invoice)
 5. Check the box off, and new fields will appear:

6. Add your Client, and add a markup if needed (optional)

7. Click Done, then click on Save to finish.

Rebill the Expense to an Invoice

1. Go to the Invoices section
2. Click on an existing Invoice, or the New Invoice button
3. If editing an existing Invoice, click the Edit button
4. Click on the Add a Line button
5. All unbilled Expenses for this Client will appear as "x unbilled expenses for (Client)". Click
on it to add it to the Invoice
 6. Your Expense(s) will display on the Invoice with their dates and any descriptions, and the final
price (after markups, if any were applied)

7. Any included Expense Receipts appear at the bottom of the Invoice in

the Attachments section. You can delete any specific receipts you don't want to share by
clicking on the X in the top corner of the receipt

8. From here, you can continue putting together the rest of your Invoice. You can
click Save or Send to finish.

FAQs:

I assigned the Expense to a Client, but it's not appearing on the Invoice for rebilling. Why? 

The Expense should be marked as billable, and both the Expense and Invoice have to be in the same
currency. If it is not appearing, you can change the currency on the Invoice with the steps here.

Can I mark the Expense up on the Invoice?

You can only mark up the Expense while editing it. Follow the steps above to reach the Mark as
Billable section, and then you can add the markup to it. When the markup is saved, you can then re-
add it to the Invoice with the new cost.
Why are my Expense receipt images not showing up on the Invoice?

The Expense itself may not be enabled to include the receipt image on the Invoice.

1. Remove the Expenses from the Invoice first (trash can icon)

2. Go to the Expenses section
3. Click on the Expense, then the Edit button
4. Click on Mark as Billable in the top right under Expense Settings
5. Ensure Include receipt image on Invoice is checked off and saved.

Where do my rebilled Expenses go in my Reports? 

Expenses that you've marked as Cost Of Goods Sold (COGS)while rebilling will appear in the Cost of
Goods Sold section of your Profit & Loss Report. Read here for more details, including how to add
Expense Categories as COGS too.

How do I create Expenses on Android?

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

 Creating Expenses
 Expense Categories and Subcategories

Creating Expenses

You can create Expenses on Android with just a few quick steps:

1. Once logged into your account, tap on the Expenses button at the bottom

2. Tap on the + button at the bottom
3. Add your Expense details - select a Category, date, Vendor, purpose (notes), Taxes, and the
Grand Total
 4. Under the Settings section, you can also add these to your Expense:

1. To mark the Expense as billable, tap on Mark as billable (this allows the Expense to
appear on an Invoice) and swipe to enable
2. If you'd like to change the currency of the Expense, tap on Currency, then select the
new currency
3. To associate the Expense with Client costs, tap on Mark as Cost of Goods Sold and
swipe to enable
5. When you're done with the Expense, click Save at the top.

If you want to attach a receipt to your expense, check out this article.

Expense Categories and Subcategories

The categories available in FreshBooks are the ones commonly found on tax forms for claiming your
business Expenses. FreshBooks also makes it easy for you to create your own custom Subcategories
if a specific one isn't available.

The full list of default Categories and Subcategories can be found here.

If you need to create your own custom Subcategory, you'll need to use a web browser on your
phone to create one with the steps here.

How do I attach receipts to my Expenses?

To help keep track of your spending, you can attach receipts to your Expenses. This is helpful if you
are required to save all receipts for your business-related Expenses and tax deductions.

Attaching receipts to your Expenses is easy in FreshBooks. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to the Expenses section
2. Click on the Expense you want to add a receipt for (or create a new one with the steps here)
3. Click on the Edit button
4. You can either drag the file to the receipt section (top right corner of Expense), or click on
the select a file link

5. If selecting a file, a pop-up appears asking you to choose a file - select one and click
on Open
 6. You will now see a thumbnail preview of your receipt in the corner. You can click on it to
preview it

7. Click Save and that's it.

If you'd like to rebill the expense and the receipt image onto an invoice, check out the steps here.

FAQs

Why can’t I upload my Receipts?

There are several reasons this might be happening:

 Try to upload the file again, in case the issue was a temporary one
 The file size is more than 2 MB
 Try using a different web browser
 Try uploading the receipt while in Incognito/private browsing mode

If either of these last two options work for you, the problem was likely caused by a browser add-on
or extension. You can disable it and see if it works.

If the previous options don’t work, the image/PDF file might be corrupted or have non-standard
formatting applied to it.

Open the image or PDF on your computer, then choose Save As (normally found under the File
menu) and save it somewhere else on your computer. Now try to upload the newly saved file.

How do I attach receipts to Expenses on Android?

To help keep track of your spending, you can attach receipts to your Expenses. This is helpful if you
are required to save all receipts for your business-related Expenses and tax deductions.

Attaching receipts to your Expenses is easy in the Android app. Just follow these steps:

1. Once logged into your account, tap on Expenses at the bottom

2. Click on the Expense you want to add a receipt for (or create a new one with the steps here)
3. Tap on the pencil icon in the top right corner to edit
 4. Tap on Attach Receipt

5. Choose a photo from your library, or use the camera

6. Tap on Save in the top right corner
7. Your Expense now has a receipt attached to it. You can tap on the thumbnail top right corner
to preview the receipt.

How can I import Expenses from my bank account?

FreshBooks provides the ability for you to attach your credit card, bank account, and PayPal account
for automatic expense importing every day. Expenses from your connected accounts are
automatically created for you so you can say goodbye to manual entry work.

Automatic expense importing is done via our third party connectors Plaid and Yodlee which supports
Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States and Australia banks as well as some banks in
other countries. Depending on where you are located and which banks you'd like to connect to, you
may only see Plaid or Yodlee in your account: 

Plaid Yodlee
For United Kingdom, France, For worldwide users (except UK, France,
Ireland, Netherlands, and Spain users only Ireland, Netherlands, and Spain)

 Set Up a Bank Connection with Yodlee

(Worldwide)
 Set Up a Bank Connection with Plaid
 Troubleshoot your Bank Connections
with Yodlee
What are 1099 forms?
The 1099 form is a document that tells the IRS how much you’ve earned, who made that payment to
you and the purpose of the payment. It essentially allows the IRS to ensure the income reported by
the Contractor matches up with the amount the business paid the Contractor.

Both businesses that paid more than $600 to independent Contractors (non-employees) and
Contractors (not employees of the business) need to report this income to the IRS. This includes:

 Contract payments
 Commissions
 Reimbursements
 Awards
 Bonuses

For Contractors

As a Contractor, it’s your responsibility to report your taxable income to the IRS. If you’ve received
more than $600 while working as a Contractor for someone, you’ll need to complete a 1099 form.

You can reach out to your employer to get a 1099 form. It’s important to report your income as
accurately as possible because your employer will also provide a copy to the IRS. It may be helpful to
send them an Invoice Details Report from your FreshBooks account to speed up the process:

Invoice Details Report

1. Go to the Dashboard section
2. Scroll down to the Advanced Reports section
3. Click on Invoice Details
4. Click on the for this Year text next to the report title
5. Choose your Date Range, the Client (your employer), and click Apply to finish
6. Click on the Send... button and email it to your employer.

For Business Owners/Employers

As a business owner / employer, it’s your responsibility to report payments you’ve made to
Contractors (over $600) to the IRS. You’ll need to provide a copy of the 1099 to both the IRS and the
Contractor.
To do this, you’ll need two things – the amount you paid your Contractor and a blank template of
the 1099 form to fill out.

If you haven't been logging Contractor payments as Expenses, you can get started with the steps
here. Then run an Expense Report to find the total paid:

1. Go to the Dashboard section
2. Scroll down to the Advanced Reports section
3. Click on Expense Report
4. Click on the for this Year text next to the report title
5. Choose your Date Range
6. For Group By, choose between Category (e.g., Contractors) or Vendor (name of Contractor)
7. Click Apply to finish
8. From here, you can use the totals to fill in your 1099 form.

Blank Forms & Templates

Blank 1099 Forms for US Businesses:

1. Go to this page
2. Click on “Form 1099-MISC” which takes you to a blank PDF template.

If you're using Gusto: Gusto has a 1099 form that you can fill out for your contractors. The Gusto
support page on the 1099 form can be found here.

Blank T4 Forms for Canadian Businesses:

The 1099 is called a T4 in Canada. You can use the CRA’s template here.

What is an Accounts Aging Report?

The Accounts Aging Report will show you which Clients are taking a long time to pay their Invoices.

You can run an Accounts Aging Report by doing the following:

1. Go to the Reports section
2. Click on Accounts Aging under Payments Reports.

The Report is broken up by intervals: 0-30 Days, 31-60 Days, 61-90 Days, and 90+ Days. This makes it
really easy for you to quickly see who you need to chase down. 
The information on this Report is dependent on the due date on your Invoice(s). If an Invoice was
sent on April 1st, with a due date of May 1st, and today is May 18th, that would be included in the 0-
30 Days column.

Settings

Click on the Client or Total headers at the top of the report to sort your data in ascending or
descending order by that particular header 

To adjust your view of the Accounts Aging Report, click on Filters under Settings. From there, you
can change: 

 Reset all - Click on this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
 As Of - Choose between Today (all links are clickable), End of Last Month, End of Last
Quarter, End of Last Year or Custom to enter a specific date range
 Currency - Toggle between multiple currencies

Note: Links to Invoices are only available when viewing the Accounts Aging Report As Of - Today.
Changing the As Of to a date in the past or future will remove links to invoices.

Clicking More Actions in the top right will give you the option to Export your Report to Excel,
or Print your Report.
What is a Sales Tax Summary Report?
The Tax Summary Report gives you a breakdown of the value of the tax you have collected, along
with how much you have paid taxes on Expenses.

You can run a Sales Tax Summary Report by doing the following:

1. Go to the Reports section
2. Select Sales Tax Summary under Accounting Reports.

In the top left you will have either Total Billed or Total Collected (depending on if you ran the
Report as Billed or Collected). This is the total overall value you either invoiced for or collected
during that time, taxes included.

The Report line has two numerical columns, Taxable Amount and Taxes:

 Taxable Amount - The amount on which tax was applied to

 Taxes - The amount of Tax that was applied

The Less Expenses line has the same two sections:

 Taxable Amount - The total expenses, before tax, that tax was applied to
 The Taxes - The amount of tax you paid on your expenses

Settings

To adjust your view of the Sales Tax Summary Report, click on Filters under Settings. From there,
you can change: 
  Reset all - Click on this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
 Date Range - Choose from This Month, This Year, Last Year, This Quarter, Last
Quarter, or Custom to enter a specific date range
 Sales - Run this by either Billed (Accrual) or Collected (Cash-Based) income:

 Billed - This will pull from any non-draft Invoices and are dated within your date
range (both paid and unpaid)
 Collected - This will pull from Payments you’ve received in the selected date range
 Currency - Toggle between multiple currencies

Watch a Reports-specific webinar that covers some of our common reports including the Sales Tax
Summary Report in more detail here.

FAQs

Shouldn’t my Total Billed be the same as my Taxable Amount plus my Taxes?

If you have applied tax to every single line of every single Invoice, then yes. The total amount
Billed/Collected, plus the amount of tax applied, should equal the gross amount Billed/Collected. If
they don’t add up, it usually means that there is at least one line on one of the Invoices from this
date range that does not have tax applied to it.

The Net line is the Billed/Collected value with the Expenses value subtracted from it.
What is the Chart of Accounts?
The Chart of Accounts (CoA) is a unique list of all the accounts in FreshBooks in which transactions
are recorded. The accounts that appear in the CoA will also appear in the General Ledger Report.
Where the CoA provides a great overview of your business’ accounts, the General Ledger shows you
the details of every transaction going in and out of those accounts.

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

 Accounts
 Parent Accounts
 Accounts
 Add or Edit Custom Accounts
 Default Chart of Accounts
 FAQs

Access Chart of Accounts

The Chart of Accounts can be accessed using these steps:

1. Click on the Accounting section
2. Then click on the Chart of Accounts sub-tab underneath Accounting.

To adjust your view of the CoA, click on the filter icon next to All Accounts. From there, you can
change:
  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

If you need to look at transactions more closely, in the top right corner, click on More Actions, and
then click on General Ledger to be taken to the General Ledger Report.
 

Accounts

The CoA is organized by the industry standard, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP),
and contains the below account types:

Balance Sheet Accounts

 Assets - what your business owns

 Liabilities - what your business owes to others
 Equity - ownership, including investments into and withdrawals from your business
Income Statement Accounts

 Revenue - income your business earns

 Expenses - purchases made for your business

All accounts are organized into these two types - Parent Accounts and Accounts:

Parent Accounts

 Each Parent Account has an icon and has accompanying Accounts underneath, and cannot
be edited or deleted
 A default unique multi-digit Account Number is automatically assigned based on the account
type
 All the balances listed in each Account underneath makes up the grand total of the Parent
Account’s FreshBooks Balance
 Transactions can only be posted to Accounts underneath a Parent Account, not directly to
the Parent Account
 

Accounts

 Also known as Default Accounts, these appear underneath each Parent Account and cannot
be edited or deleted
  A default unique multi-digit Account Number is automatically assigned based on the account
type
 Transactions are recorded in every Account where applicable - common actions like creating
an Invoice and applying a Payment will automatically post transactions to Accounts in your
CoA
 Expenses can be assigned directly to Accounts in the Expenses section (where Accounts are
referred to as Expense Categories)
 When connecting a Bank or Credit Card account in Bank Connections or Bank Reconciliation,
a default Account will automatically be created
 A Bank Account is created under the Cash Parent Account
 A Credit Card Account is created under the Credit Cards Parent Account
 

Add or Edit Custom Accounts 

 Only Accountants invited to your account can create Custom Accounts, including a multi-
digit Account Number for each
 Custom Accounts can be created under any Parent Account
 Once created, Custom Accounts can be edited (Name and Account Number suffix only) but
cannot be deleted
 If creating a Custom Account for a particular type of Expense, create it as a Custom Expense
Subcategory instead - the Business Owner can then assign Expenses to that Subcategory
easily (Accountants cannot write a JE to a Custom Subcategory directly)
 To post transactions to a Custom Account, your Accountant can create Journal Entries
instead

To create a Custom Account, have your Accountant follow these steps:

1. As an Accountant, click on the Accounting section

2. Then click on the Chart of Accounts sub-tab underneath Accounting
3. Click on More Actions
4. Then select Add New Account
5. Enter in a Name for the Custom Account
 6. Choose the Parent Account to sort this new account under
7. Enter in the Account Number
8. Click on Save to finish.

To edit a Custom Account: 

1. As an Accountant, in the Chart of Accounts, click on the Custom Account you created
2. Click on More Actions (this only appears on custom accounts)
3. Click on Edit Account
4. Make the changes as needed and click Save to finish.
 

Default Chart of Accounts 

Below is the list of default Parent Accounts and Accounts that make up your Chart of Accounts. Note
that:

 Bank Accounts & Credit Card Accounts are automatically added when you set an Opening
Balance in your Bank Rec
 Expense Categories will appear as Expense Accounts on your CoA as Expenses are assigned;
any Expenses assigned to Subcategories will appear under the Expense Category/Account in
the CoA instead
 Expenses Marked as Billable are automatically Marked as Costs of Goods Sold (COGS) - a
new COGS Account for that Expense Category will be created in the CoA if one does not exist
  Any Sales Tax rates created are automatically added to Liabilities - Taxes Payable as the tax
rate is applied to a billed Service or Item sale and to Expenses - Tax Paid Accounts as the tax
rate is applied to an Expense

Account Type Parent Account Account

Asset Cash Petty Cash

Bank Account

Accounts Receivable  Accounts Receivable

Customer Deposits

Property, Plant and Equipment  Office Equipment

Furniture

Deferred Discounts Deferred Discounts

Liabilities Accounts Payable Accrued Payroll

Accrued Rent

Taxes Payable Sales Tax Name

Unearned Revenue Unearned Revenue

Customer Credit Customer Credit

Credit Cards Credit Card Account

Equity Owner's Equity Owner's Equity

Common Stock

Retained Earnings

Opening Balance Opening Balance Adjustments

Revenue Revenue Sales

Billed Expenses

Discounts

Sales Credits

Expenses Costs of Goods Sold COGS (Expense Category)

Operating Expenses Advertising

Cars & Truck Expenses

Contractors

Education and Training

Employee Benefits

Meals & Entertainment

Office Expenses & Postage

Other Expenses

Personal

Professional Services

Rent or Lease

Supplies

Travel

Utilities

Taxes Paid Sales Tax Name

FAQs

Why are my Expense Subcategories not appearing in the Chart of Accounts?

Expense Subcategories do not appear as unique accounts in the Chart of Accounts. Instead, these
Expenses will be included in the default Account they belong to (also known as an Expense
Category). The complete list of Expense Categories and Subcategories can be found here.

Can I change the Account that is affected when I enter an Expense or apply a Payment in
FreshBooks?

When you enter common transactions like Expenses or Payments, FreshBooks automatically posts
accounting entries to specific default Accounts in your CoA.

The process of completing Bank Reconciliation (Bank Rec) will assign transactions to the correct
Account in the CoA. Your Accountant can also reassign any transaction entered to other Accounts in
the CoA with Journal Entries.
Can I import an existing Chart of Accounts?

While you cannot import an existing Chart of Accounts from another source, your invited Accountant
can add Custom Accounts under any Parent Account.

Where do I enter the beginning balances in my Chart of Accounts if I’m moving my finances
from a different accounting system?

Account Balances can be added to your CoA by having your Accountant create Journal Entries to the
specific default Accounts. In the notes of the Journal Entries, include the cut-off date of when you
made the transition from the old system to FreshBooks.

What is an Invoice Details Report?

The Invoice Details Report gives you a detailed overview of all Invoices you have created in a given
time period. You're also able to customize this to show you a particular range of Invoices with the
optional filters.

You can run an Invoice Details Report by doing the following:

1. Go to the Reports section
2. Click on Invoice Details under Invoice & Expense Reports.

Settings

To adjust your view of the Invoice Details Report, click on Filters under Settings. From there, you can
change: 
  Reset all - Click on this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
 Date Range - Choose from This Month, This Year, Last Year, This Quarter, Last
Quarter, or Custom to enter a specific date range
 Issue Date/Paid Date - Choose between Issue Date which will only show Invoices with Date
of Issue that falls within your Date Range, or Paid Date which will only show Invoices that
received payment within your Date Range
 Clients - Choose between All Clients or select specific Clients to filter by
 Invoice Status - Choose between All statuses, one, or multiple statuses (such as Disputed,
Paid, Draft, etc)
 Currency - Toggle between multiple currencies

If you're running the Invoice Details Report for all Clients, at the top you'll have a summary which
shows you the total amount invoiced and paid within your date range.

Clicking More Actions in the top right will give you the option to Export your Report to Excel,
or Print your Report.

Watch a Reports-specific webinar that covers some of our common reports including the Invoice
Details Report in more detail here.
What is the Trial Balance Report?
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:

1. Click on the Reports section
2. Select Trial Balance under Accounting Reports.

Settings

To adjust your view of the Trial Balance Report, click on Filters under Settings. From there, you can
change: 
  Reset all - Click on this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
 Date Range - Choose from This Month, This Year, Last Year, This Quarter, Last
Quarter, or Custom to enter a specific date range
 Currency - Toggle between multiple 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

What’s 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 Balance Sheet here.

What is a Payments Collected Report?

The Payments Collected is a Report that breaks down all your payments you have recorded in your
account in detail.

You can run a Payments Collected Report by doing the following:

1. Go to the Reports section
2. Select Payments Collected under Payments Reports.
 

Settings

To adjust your view of the Payments Collected Report, click on Filters under Settings. From there,
you can change: 

 Reset all - Click on this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
 Date Range - Choose from This Month, Last Month, This Quarter, Last Quarter, or
Custom to enter a specific date range
 Clients - Choose between All Clients or select specific Clients to filter by
 Payment Method - Leave it on All Methods of Payment, or choose one or multiple
payment method options
 Currency - Toggle between All Currencies or individual currencies

Clicking More Actions in the top right will give you the option to Export your Report to Excel,
or Print your Report.

Note that sales tax is not broken down in detail in this Report. You can run a Sales Tax Report to find
this instead.

What is the General Ledger Report?

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
 FAQs

Access the General Ledger Report

The General Ledger Report can be accessed using these steps:

1. Click on the Reports section
2. Select General Ledger under Accounting Reports.

Settings

To adjust your view of the General Ledger Report, click on Filters under Settings. From there, you
can change: 
  Reset all - Click on this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
 Date Range - Choose from This Month, This Year, Last Year, This Quarter, Last
Quarter, or Custom to enter a specific date range
 Currency - Toggle between multiple currencies
 Limit To - Choose All Accounts, or select a specific account

If your General Ledger has more than 5000 lines, you'll see the option to Change the filters to
reduce the data set, or to Export 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:

1. Assets
2. Liabilities
3. Sales
4. Expenses

For each account, a list of transactions are displayed which make up the account’s balance. Each
transaction has two corresponding entries within two accounts.

Click on any transaction’s Account Type (highlighted in blue) to drill in to find more details on the
transaction.

FAQs

What are Adjustment transactions on the General Ledger Report?

Adjustments are also known as Journal Entries, and any Adjustments on the General Ledger Report
are Journal Entries that have been created manually by your Accountant.

You can use the below steps to filter the General Ledger Report to show all your Journal Entries in
any given time period:

1. Click on the Reports section
2. Select General Ledger under Accounting Reports
3. Adjust the filters as needed for the Date Range, Currency and/or Accounts you want to see,
then click Apply
4. Search for any transaction with the keyword Adjustments - these are your manually created
Journal Entries
5. To filter even further, click on the More Actions button and select Export to Excel
1. In your spreadsheet app, you can sort by Transaction Type and filter
to Adjustment transactions only. The filtered spreadsheet will now show only
manually created Journal Entries with the Debit and Credit amounts for each
transaction.

How do I export my Reports?

The Reports in FreshBooks put all the data together to present you with a picture of your business'
finances, both generic and specific. Reports are useful for tax reporting as well as helping make
business-related decisions based on your numbers and data. You can also use Reports to export any
data out of your account as needed.
All of the Reports available in FreshBooks can be easily saved or sent by email (like to your
accountant), and you can also invite your Accountant to view them with the steps here. There are
three options available in each Report, in the top right corner:

Export for Excel

1. Click on More Actions

2. Click on Export for Excel
3. A CSV file will download to your computer.

Print

1. Click on More Actions

2. Click on Print
3. You can either print out this Report, or choose to save it as a PDF inside the printer dialog
box.

Send

1. Click on the Send button.
2. An email template will appear. Type in the email address and feel free to specify a personal
message (optional)
 3. When you're done, click on the Send Report button.

What is Bank Reconciliation?

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 haven’t already) to help you learn more about
Bank Reconciliation.

  

Click on any of the below links to get started with Bank Reconciliation:

1. Set Up Bank Reconciliation

2. Reconciling Transactions
3. Bank Reconciliation Summary Report
What is an Accounts Aging Report?
The Accounts Aging Report will show you which Clients are taking a long time to pay their Invoices.

You can run an Accounts Aging Report by doing the following:

1. Go to the Reports section
2. Click on Accounts Aging under Payments Reports.

The Report is broken up by intervals: 0-30 Days, 31-60 Days, 61-90 Days, and 90+ Days. This makes it
really easy for you to quickly see who you need to chase down. 

The information on this Report is dependent on the due date on your Invoice(s). If an Invoice was
sent on April 1st, with a due date of May 1st, and today is May 18th, that would be included in the 0-
30 Days column.

Settings

Click on the Client or Total headers at the top of the report to sort your data in ascending or
descending order by that particular header 

To adjust your view of the Accounts Aging Report, click on Filters under Settings. From there, you
can change: 

 Reset all - Click on this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
 As Of - Choose between Today (all links are clickable), End of Last Month, End of Last
Quarter, End of Last Year or Custom to enter a specific date range
 Currency - Toggle between multiple currencies
Note: Links to Invoices are only available when viewing the Accounts Aging Report As Of - Today.
Changing the As Of to a date in the past or future will remove links to invoices.

Clicking More Actions in the top right will give you the option to Export your Report to Excel,
or Print your Report.

How do Client accounts work?

As a Client, you can always view and print Estimates, Invoices and Proposals with the link provided
(without signing up).

A Client account allows you to save, view and comment on your Invoices, Estimates and Proposals, as
well as collaborate on any Projects you've been invited to. You can also use your Client account to
save your credit card information safely, making it easy to pay future Invoices.

If you create your own Invoice, Estimate, Project or add a new Business, your account will upgrade to
a full FreshBooks account instead.

 Create a Client Account

 Comment on Invoices, Estimates & Proposals
 Save Credit Cards
 Projects

Create a Client Account

To create your Client Account, use the below steps: 

1. Open the Invoice, Estimate, or Proposal that you received, and view it online
2. Click on either:

1. The Save this Invoice/Estimate/Proposal button

2. The Log in to view all invoices/estimates/proposals link
3. Create a password in the pop-up
4. Click on the Save this Invoice/Estimate/Proposal button
5. You'll then be taken to your newly created Client account.

If you received an email inviting you to a Project instead, click on the button inside the email. You'll
then be asked to create a password and fill out a little bit information about yourself. Your Client
account will then be created.
Note: If you're looking to close your client account, you'll need to create an Invoice, Estimate, or
Project first. This will convert your Client Account into a regular FreshBooks account. From there, you
can cancel with the steps here. Keep in mind that you'll lose access to all your saved Invoices,
Estimates, Proposals, and Project discussions once you cancel.

Comment on Invoices, Estimates & Proposals

You can send comments and notes back to the person/business you received. Just use these steps:

1. Open the Invoice, Estimate or Proposal

2. Click on the text bubble at the top of the Invoice, Estimate or Proposal

3. Type in your comment

4. Then when you're done, press the Send button. The person who sent you the
Invoice/Estimate/Proposal will receive an email with your comment automatically.

Note: You do not need to create a Client account to see an Invoice, Estimate or Proposal, to print or
save as a PDF as long as you have the link.

Save Credit Cards

You can use your Client account to save any credit cards for re-use on any new Invoice that comes
in. Click here to read the full steps. Once the payment details are saved, you can re-use it anytime
you pay another Invoice. You'll be prompted to log into your Client Account first in order to use the
saved card to pay the Invoice.
Projects

A Client account allows you to collaborate with others on any Project you've been invited to. You can
access this by clicking on the Project section in your account to view the discuss area anytime.

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.

What are Client Account Statements?

The Account 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:

1. Go to the Clients section
2. Click on the Client you want to run the statement for
3. Select the More Actions button
4. Click on Generate Statement.

Settings

To adjust your view of the Client's Account Statement, click on Filters under Settings. From there,
you can change: 
  Reset all - Click on this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
 Date Range - Choose from This Month, This Year, Last Year, This Quarter, Last
Quarter, or Custom to enter a specific date range
 Currency - If billing in different currencies, 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 Payments Collected Report filtered to that Client
instead.

Do I have to pay Sales Tax for my FreshBooks account?

If you have a FreshBooks account, FreshBooks is required to charge sales tax on your subscription in
certain geographic locations. This is applicable to Canadian and US residents in the following places:

Canada

Canadian users in all provinces are required to pay the applicable provincial sales tax. This sales tax
will vary by province:

 Alberta: 5% GST
 British Columbia: 5% GST
 Manitoba: 5% GST
  New Brunswick: 15% HST
 Newfoundland and Labrador: 15% HST
 Northwest Territories: 5% GST
 Nova Scotia: 15% HST
 Nunavut: 5% GST
 Ontario: 13% HST
 PEI: 15% HST
 Quebec: 14.975% (5% GST + 9.975% QST)
 Saskatchewan: 5% GST
 Yukon: 5% GST

United States

American users in the following states are required to pay the applicable state sales tax and in some
states, the county tax as well. Since the state and county taxes are applicable based on location, click
on the link next to the state listed below that is applicable to you:

 Connecticut - State of Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, and also Section 407
(not exclusively)
 Iowa - Iowa Department of Revenue (as of March 1, 2020)
 Massachusetts - Commonwealth of Massachusetts
 North Carolina - North Carolina General Assembly (primarily section 8)
 New York - New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
 Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
 Tennessee - Tennessee Department of Revenue (as of March 1, 2020)
 Texas - Comptroller Texas Government (as of March 1, 2020)
 Washington State - Department of Revenue Washington State

How do I add more Businesses to my account?

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 Multiple Businesses

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

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Add Another Business or Manage Businesses
3. If you have multiple businesses already, click on Add Business

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

5. You'll then need to add the business name, your country, and your industry
6. Click on Create My Business and you'll be taken into your brand new account

7. Once you've clicked Ok, 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?

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner of your account

2. Click on Manage Businesses
3. Select the new business you want to switch to and you'll be taken to that business.

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 with the steps here, then use
these steps:

1. Log into your account and select any business that you are not going to delete
2. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner
3. Click on Manage Businesses
4. Click on the trash can icon next to the cancelled business
5. Type in the Business Name to confirm
6. Press Delete and the business is now deleted.
What is the Chart of Accounts?
The Chart of Accounts (CoA) is a unique list of all the accounts in FreshBooks in which transactions
are recorded. The accounts that appear in the CoA will also appear in the General Ledger Report.
Where the CoA provides a great overview of your business’ accounts, the General Ledger shows you
the details of every transaction going in and out of those accounts.

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

 Accounts
 Parent Accounts
 Accounts
 Add or Edit Custom Accounts
 Default Chart of Accounts
 FAQs

Access Chart of Accounts

The Chart of Accounts can be accessed using these steps:

1. Click on the Accounting section
2. Then click on the Chart of Accounts sub-tab underneath Accounting.

To adjust your view of the CoA, click on the filter icon next to All Accounts. From there, you can
change:
  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

If you need to look at transactions more closely, in the top right corner, click on More Actions, and
then click on General Ledger to be taken to the General Ledger Report.
 

Accounts

The CoA is organized by the industry standard, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP),
and contains the below account types:

Balance Sheet Accounts

 Assets - what your business owns

 Liabilities - what your business owes to others
 Equity - ownership, including investments into and withdrawals from your business
Income Statement Accounts

 Revenue - income your business earns

 Expenses - purchases made for your business

All accounts are organized into these two types - Parent Accounts and Accounts:

Parent Accounts

 Each Parent Account has an icon and has accompanying Accounts underneath, and cannot
be edited or deleted
 A default unique multi-digit Account Number is automatically assigned based on the account
type
 All the balances listed in each Account underneath makes up the grand total of the Parent
Account’s FreshBooks Balance
 Transactions can only be posted to Accounts underneath a Parent Account, not directly to
the Parent Account
 

Accounts

 Also known as Default Accounts, these appear underneath each Parent Account and cannot
be edited or deleted
  A default unique multi-digit Account Number is automatically assigned based on the account
type
 Transactions are recorded in every Account where applicable - common actions like creating
an Invoice and applying a Payment will automatically post transactions to Accounts in your
CoA
 Expenses can be assigned directly to Accounts in the Expenses section (where Accounts are
referred to as Expense Categories)
 When connecting a Bank or Credit Card account in Bank Connections or Bank Reconciliation,
a default Account will automatically be created
 A Bank Account is created under the Cash Parent Account
 A Credit Card Account is created under the Credit Cards Parent Account
 

Add or Edit Custom Accounts 

 Only Accountants invited to your account can create Custom Accounts, including a multi-
digit Account Number for each
 Custom Accounts can be created under any Parent Account
 Once created, Custom Accounts can be edited (Name and Account Number suffix only) but
cannot be deleted
 If creating a Custom Account for a particular type of Expense, create it as a Custom Expense
Subcategory instead - the Business Owner can then assign Expenses to that Subcategory
easily (Accountants cannot write a JE to a Custom Subcategory directly)
 To post transactions to a Custom Account, your Accountant can create Journal Entries
instead

To create a Custom Account, have your Accountant follow these steps:

1. As an Accountant, click on the Accounting section

2. Then click on the Chart of Accounts sub-tab underneath Accounting
3. Click on More Actions
4. Then select Add New Account
5. Enter in a Name for the Custom Account
 6. Choose the Parent Account to sort this new account under
7. Enter in the Account Number
8. Click on Save to finish.

To edit a Custom Account: 

1. As an Accountant, in the Chart of Accounts, click on the Custom Account you created
2. Click on More Actions (this only appears on custom accounts)
3. Click on Edit Account
4. Make the changes as needed and click Save to finish.
 

Default Chart of Accounts 

Below is the list of default Parent Accounts and Accounts that make up your Chart of Accounts. Note
that:

 Bank Accounts & Credit Card Accounts are automatically added when you set an Opening
Balance in your Bank Rec
 Expense Categories will appear as Expense Accounts on your CoA as Expenses are assigned;
any Expenses assigned to Subcategories will appear under the Expense Category/Account in
the CoA instead
 Expenses Marked as Billable are automatically Marked as Costs of Goods Sold (COGS) - a
new COGS Account for that Expense Category will be created in the CoA if one does not exist
  Any Sales Tax rates created are automatically added to Liabilities - Taxes Payable as the tax
rate is applied to a billed Service or Item sale and to Expenses - Tax Paid Accounts as the tax
rate is applied to an Expense

Account Type Parent Account Account

Asset Cash Petty Cash

Bank Account

Accounts Receivable  Accounts Receivable

Customer Deposits

Property, Plant and Equipment  Office Equipment

Furniture

Deferred Discounts Deferred Discounts

Liabilities Accounts Payable Accrued Payroll

Accrued Rent

Taxes Payable Sales Tax Name

Unearned Revenue Unearned Revenue

Customer Credit Customer Credit

Credit Cards Credit Card Account

Equity Owner's Equity Owner's Equity

Common Stock

Retained Earnings

Opening Balance Opening Balance Adjustments

Revenue Revenue Sales

Billed Expenses

Discounts

Sales Credits

Expenses Costs of Goods Sold COGS (Expense Category)

Operating Expenses Advertising

Cars & Truck Expenses

Contractors

Education and Training

Employee Benefits

Meals & Entertainment

Office Expenses & Postage

Other Expenses

Personal

Professional Services

Rent or Lease

Supplies

Travel

Utilities

Taxes Paid Sales Tax Name

FAQs

Why are my Expense Subcategories not appearing in the Chart of Accounts?

Expense Subcategories do not appear as unique accounts in the Chart of Accounts. Instead, these
Expenses will be included in the default Account they belong to (also known as an Expense
Category). The complete list of Expense Categories and Subcategories can be found here.

Can I change the Account that is affected when I enter an Expense or apply a Payment in
FreshBooks?

When you enter common transactions like Expenses or Payments, FreshBooks automatically posts
accounting entries to specific default Accounts in your CoA.

The process of completing Bank Reconciliation (Bank Rec) will assign transactions to the correct
Account in the CoA. Your Accountant can also reassign any transaction entered to other Accounts in
the CoA with Journal Entries.
Can I import an existing Chart of Accounts?

While you cannot import an existing Chart of Accounts from another source, your invited Accountant
can add Custom Accounts under any Parent Account.

Where do I enter the beginning balances in my Chart of Accounts if I’m moving my finances
from a different accounting system?

Account Balances can be added to your CoA by having your Accountant create Journal Entries to the
specific default Accounts. In the notes of the Journal Entries, include the cut-off date of when you
made the transition from the old system to FreshBooks.

How do I verify my FreshBooks Payments account?

FreshBooks Payments is powered by WePay for US and Canadian users. A WePay account is
automatically created for you whenever you create a FreshBooks 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:

1. Click on the gear icon in the top left corner

2. Click on Accept Online Payments
3. Click on Verify Now next to Verify Your Business
4. You’ll be asked to log into your WePay account with your email and password (if you’ve
never set a password, you can click on Forgot your password? to create one)
5. Next, choose your entity type (Sole
Proprietor, Individual, Business, Nonprofit, Trust or Government) and complete the rest
of your business details by clicking Submit
6. Next, in the same window, you’ll be asked to add your Settlement Details - enter your Bank
Name, Routing Number, Account Number
7. Next, specify your Account Type (Checking or Savings)
8. Choose between Daily, Weekly, or Monthly for How Often We Should Send Your
Money (your Transfer Period)
9. Click Add Bank
 10. You’ll 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 if you’ve filed 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 if you’ve filed 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 you don’t verify 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 on FreshBooks Payments by WePay? Check out other articles here.

How do I verify my FreshBooks account?

When you first sign up to create your FreshBooks account, you’ll be asked to verify your email before
completing the rest of your setup. This ensures that the email you’ve registered is an email you have
access to, for important notifications from your FreshBooks account.

To verify your email, once you’ve signed up, you’ll receive an email like this:
Click on the Verify and Continue button. This will take you back to your account
at my.freshbooks.com, where you can complete the rest of your setup and get started.

 
FAQs

I haven’t received the email verification yet, what can I do next? 

 Check if the email was redirected to your junk/spam folder

 Log into your account at my.freshbooks.com and confirm that the email address matches
with no typos or spelling errors
 Log into your account at my.freshbooks.com and click on resend email verification to send
a new email again

If you notice there is a typo in the email, or you still haven’t received the email, please reach out to
our Support so we can help you get your account verified.

I already verified my account but I keep getting told to verify it again, what do I do?

Try opening my.freshbooks.com in a private window or in a different browser. If you're able to log in

successfully, you'll want to clear your original browser's cookies and cache before logging in again.

What permissions can I assign to my team member?

 

FreshBooks makes it easy to collaborate with your team members and improve your productivity. As
a Business Owner, you have full access to your account and all options, but you can also set your
team members up as either an Admin, Employee, Contractor or Accountant. Upgrade your
account to add Team Members at an extra cost (Accountants are free with the Accounting
functionality on Plus and Premium plans).

Each role has a fixed set of permissions (Business Owners always have a full 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

 Create or edit
 Full access to everything
As the creator of the custom Accounts in
Business inside the account,
business' account, you the Chart of
Owner including the ability to
have full access Accounts
cancel the account
 Add Journal Entries

 See Dashboard and

financial reports
 See, create and edit all
Invoices, Retainers, Other
Income,
Estimates/Proposals,
Projects
 Manage Clients and your  Can’t cancel your
team FreshBooks
Uses your business'  Manage Payments account
Admin account  Track time and expenses,  Can’t manage Add-
review and edit time ons or Integrations
tracked by the rest of the
team
 Manage account settings
and Bank Connections
 Pay Invoices with Charge
Card by Advanced
Payments

Manager  Uses your business'  See, create and edit all  

account Invoices, Retainers, Other
Income,  Can’t view financial
Estimates/Proposals, reports, the
Projects Payments section
 Manage Clients or the Dashboard
 Track time, and review time  Can’t modify
tracked by the rest of the accepted payment
team methods (credit
  Create and view only their
own expenses
 View non-financial reports card details) or
(Accounts Aging, Time Bank Connections
Entry Details and Retainer
Summary Report)  Can’t manage Add-
 Pay Invoices with Charge ons or Integrations
Card by Advanced
Payments

 Can’t create or
send Invoices,
  Retainers,
Uses your business' Estimates or
 Employee account  Track their own time and Proposals to Clients
expenses  Can’t view Reports,
the Payment
section or financial
information for
your business

 
 
 Can’t view any
Has their own separate  Track time towards projects information from
 Contractor account  assigned by you your business,
 Send you invoices from other than the
their own account projects you invite
them to

 
 
 See accounting reports like
General Ledger, Balance  Can't upload CSV
Sheet and Profit and Loss files for Expenses
 Add Journal Entries  Can’t manage
 Uses your business'  Manage Chart of Accounts Clients
Accountant account  View Invoices  Can't see Payments
 Add, edit and delete section
Invoice payments  Can’t track time or
 Create and edit Other view Projects
Income  Can’t send Invoices
 Create and edit all or Estimates
Expenses
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
 Comp
any
Profile
 Item &
Servic
es
 Bank
Conne
ctions
 Billing
&
Upgra
de
 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
navigati
on is the
same as
any
other
FreshBo
oks
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 member’s role after they’ve 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:

1. Click on My Team

2. In the Employees section, click on the member you want to change roles for
3. An Edit Team Member pop-up will appear, change the role in the dropdown
4. Click Save to finish, and the team member will receive an email about the role changes.

How do I get started as an Accountant?

Welcome to FreshBooks! As a newly invited Accountant, we know your first priority is getting up and
running quickly, so we've prepared this guide that shows you exactly what you need to know and do.

As an Accountant, you can review your new Client's (the Owner who invited you) financial reports
and help balance their books to ensure their business continues to run smoothly. Each Client that
invites you as an Accountant will appear as a separate business that you can switch between inside
your account.

FreshBooks, if you're not familiar with it already, is an online invoicing service that helps freelancers
and small business owners save time, get paid faster and look professional. You'll be able to access
accounting reports, add Journal Entries, manage Chart of Accounts as well as review and manage
other data in your Client's account.

Set Up

1. You'll have received an invitation email from the Owner of the account, click on the link in
the email
2. You'll be taken to the account, upload a profile photo if you want to
3. Enter a Password for your account
4. When you're done, click on the Get Started button.

Permissions

Your view of the account will be slightly different from the Owner's. Here’s what you can do:

 Can access the Dashboard and Reports of your business’ financials

 Create Journal Entries and custom Sub-Accounts in Chart of Accounts
 Can view Invoices and manage payments
 Can create Other Income 
 Can create and manage Expenses

Useful Resources

 Learn more about our Accounting features here

 Review how all the Reports work
 Familiarize yourself with managing Invoices here and Expenses here

How is the all-new FreshBooks different from

FreshBooks Classic?
If you've recently migrated to the all-new FreshBooks from FreshBooks Classic, the new FreshBooks
has been rebuilt from the ground up, with over 250 new features to help you run your business more
smoothly. Below is more information on what's been improved and what’s newly built. 

 Existing Features
 Brand New Features
 Need Help?

 
Existing Features

Overall Design

The navigation in new FreshBooks is now on the left side (instead of on top like FreshBooks Classic).
We’ve also reorganized the tabs to make it easier to navigate and find what you’re looking for. 

A FreshBooks Classic account (left) compared to the all-new FreshBooks account (right).

Dashboard

Similar to the Home tab in FreshBooks Classic, you can still get a snapshot of your business’ finances
and see your outstanding invoices, profit, and expenses. The Dashboard also allows you to access
your Reports so you can take a deeper look at your finances. For more details on each of our
Dashboards, click here.

Invoices
Invoices in the new FreshBooks have a new look (with two templates), but the information displayed
on the invoice is still the same as it was in Classic. Here are some of the additional changes:

 You can now have different logos, making it easy to change the logo on any Invoice
 Due Dates have been added, so any unpaid Invoice after migrating will automatically have
one (if the date has passed, the Invoice immediately becomes Overdue). Feel free to reach
out to us if you’d like your Due Dates updated in bulk
 Instead of Partial Payments, there’s now the ability to add a Payment Schedule, allowing you
to set a schedule for up to 12 payments on an Invoice (not available on Recurring Templates)
 As well as sharing Invoices via email or downloading them as a PDF, you can also generate a
shareable link and send the URL to your Client

Cost of Goods Sold

In FreshBooks Classic, you would designate an Expense Category as COGS on the Profit & Loss
Report itself. To comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), COGS in the new
FreshBooks are now designated individually as you create or edit any Expense (with the option to
save any particular Expense Categories as COGS for future Expense creation).

You can also export the Expense Report in your new FreshBooks account to see which Expenses have
been marked as COGS or not. Learn more about how COGS behave in the new FreshBooks.

Team Members (Staff)

To make it easier to collaborate, several new roles have been added, along with improvements to
existing roles:

 Business Owner - This is the primary administrator of the account

 Admin - This is essentially a secondary administrator but they do not have full access like the
Business Owner does
 Manager - Similar to the Admin role above, except they do not see financial information or
any team member's time or expense entries
 Employee - Similar to the Staff role in FreshBooks Classic, they can track time and expenses
for all Clients
 Contractor - Similar to the Contractor role in FreshBooks Classic, they also get their own
account and all time entries they track will appear in the Business Owner’s account
 Accountant - Like in FreshBooks Classic, they can access your reports, but they can also
add/edit Expenses, make Journal Entries, add accounts in the Chart of Accounts, and more

For full details on each of these roles and what they can or can’t do, check out these resources:

 Permissions for each Team Member

  Getting Started for each Role

Note: if you have contractors and staff members, you’ll need to migrate your account first before
your team members can join you. From within your new FreshBooks account, you can go to My
Team, then click on the Send Invitation button next to each team member. They’ll receive an email
with instructions on how to migrate over.

Also, If you have an Accountant invited in your Classic account, please reach out to us
at [email protected] or call us at 1-866-819-0852 to speak to one of our Migration
Specialists so we can help your Accountant move over successfully as well.

Reports

The Reports you know and use regularly are still in the new FreshBooks, but are now all on one page
and with new looks. In Classic, all the available filters are at the top of the Report. In the all-new
FreshBooks, you can find any available filters for any report by clicking on the slider icon next to the
Report title instead. Once you’ve chosen your options, click Apply and your Report will update.
A FreshBooks Classic account with report filters at the top (left) compared to the all-new FreshBooks
account with report filters in the slider icon (right).

Brand New Features

With the all-new FreshBooks, we’re able to build new features and implement improvements faster
than before. Below are some brand new features that are only available on the new
FreshBooks that you can now utilize for your business:

Accounting (General Ledger, Bank Reconciliation and more)

We’ve expanded our functionality to offer double-entry accounting (available on our Plus or

Premium plans) with new reports and features like:
  Chart of Accounts - You can now see your Chart of Accounts, and have your Accountant
add custom accounts as needed
 General Ledger - Drill down into each account to see all activity recorded as
transactions/Journal Entries
 Trial Balance Report - Identify discrepancies in your account totals and ensure your
accounts balance
 Journal Entries - Invite your Accountant and they’ll be able to create Journal Entries as
needed
 Balance Sheet - In Classic, the Balance Sheet was a blank template that you had to fill out
yourself; in the all-new FreshBooks, the Balance Sheet is automatically populated for you.
Your Accountant can create Journal Entries to add any additional information to your Chart
of Accounts, which in turn will reflect on the Balance Sheet
 Bank Reconciliation - Connect your bank account(s) and match transactions from your bank
statement to entries in FreshBooks, ensuring your books accurately represent your bank
accounts and that all your funds are accounted for

Advanced Payments

Also known as Virtual Terminal in FreshBooks Classic, you can use both FreshBooks Payments
(WePay) and Stripe to proactively charge your Clients’ credit card details that have been provided to
you. You can also save their card information to use on one-off invoices. Learn more about Advanced
Payments here.

Message Center & Help Widgets

All accounts in the all-new FreshBooks now have a Message Center along with a Help widget, located
in the bottom right corner. You can keep track of what’s newly released or updated, along with
announcements and more inside the Message Center. Use the Help widget to also look up articles
from our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) without leaving your account.

Other Income

In FreshBooks Classic, the only way to track income is to create a paid invoice for it. If you’ve been
collecting income through other means that don’t require an invoice (like Rent), you can log it as
an Other Income entry in the new FreshBooks. This will also reflect correctly in your reporting,
especially with the Accounting reports. Read more about tracking Other Income here.

Proposals

Proposals are similar to Estimates, except you can now go in depth by providing a richer explanation
of the services you’ll be providing. You can add text-based sections like Overview, Scope of Work,
Timeline, and more, along with rich text editing (bold, italicize, bulleted and numbered lists).
Attachments can be included on the Proposal, as well as uploading images to personalize it. You can
also request for your Client to sign the Proposal with a legally binding e-Signature. Learn more about
Proposals here.
Retainers

Retainers are similar to Recurring Templates (known as Recurring Profiles in Classic). The difference
though, is that with Retainers, you can set a budget with your Client and reserve a block of time for
time tracked on a recurring basis. The Retainer will generate invoices for you automatically, and all
time tracked towards the Retainer are marked as billed as the invoice is generated. If you track any
hours beyond the budget, those time entries are automatically flagged as excess hours, which you
can then bill onto a one-off invoice (and at a different Rate too). Learn more about Retainers and
how they work in detail here.

Need Help?

We want to ensure you have a smooth experience moving over to the all-new FreshBooks. If you’re
experiencing any issues or you have further questions, please reach out directly
at [email protected] or call us at 1-866-819-0852 to speak to one of our Migration
Specialists, Monday to Friday, 8 am - 8 pm ET. You can also check out our webinar if you want a
guided demo of the all-new FreshBooks here.
What are Journal Entries?
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. 

 Principles Used
 Create Journal Entries
 Assets
 Loans/Lines of Credit
 Owner's Equity
 Journal Entry Treatment for Transactions

Principles Used

1. All transactions entered in your FreshBooks account will have a corresponding Journal Entry,
that affects at least two accounts in your Chart of Accounts
2. Whenever an amount is updated, the first entry is reversed, and the new ones are created -
the difference is not booked 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 or corrected information instead. Steps can be found here.

Create Journal Entries

Only Accountants invited to your account can create Journal Entries to help ensure your financial
reporting is accurate.

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:

1. As an Accountant, click on the Accounting section

2. Then click on the Chart of Accounts sub-tab
 3. Click on New Journal Entry

4. Fill out the Entry Name, Date and Currency

5. Enter in a Description for easy reference
6. Choose the Accounts and enter in the amount in either the Debit or Credit field (one
Account should be debited and one Account should be credited)
7. Use the Add a line button if you need to add more entries
8. Click Save to finish and the Journal Entry will be recorded.

Viewing Journal Entries

You can use the General Ledger Report to view all manually created Journal Entries, which are called
Adjustments on the report itself with the steps here. 

Fixing Journal Entries

Journal Entries are historical and permanent records of transactions occurring inside the account.
This ensures your books remain accurate. If a Journal Entry is missing information or you need to
correct an error, use the below steps:

1. Create a Journal Entry to reverse the error/incomplete entry (as in, the opposite of what’s
been inputted in for debits and credits)
2. 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.

Assets

An Asset is a resource that your business owns, like cash in hand, prepaid expenses or office
equipment. All Assets will appear in your Chart of Accounts and on your Balance Sheet Report, two
types of Assets are displayed instead:

Current Assets

Current Assets are generally used in the daily operations of your business and can be converted into
cash easily:

 Petty Cash
 Bank Accounts
 Accounts Receivable
 Customer Deposits

Fixed Assets

Fixed Assets may also be used in the daily operations of your business. They differ from Current
Assets in that they typically last longer than one year:

 Property
 Plant
 Equipment

 
In order to properly record the cost of Fixed Assets over the course of time that they’re used, they
are depreciated.

Depreciation is the accounting process that ensures that the cost of a Fixed Asset is allocated
correctly over its useful life. Since there are many different methods for calculating this, Depreciation
must be recorded manually.

Both Assets and Depreciation can be recorded by having your Accountant add an Account
and create a Journal Entry with the steps above.

Loans/Lines of Credit

A Loan is an amount of money that is borrowed and is meant to be paid back to the lender, often
with interest costs. A Line of Credit is a preset amount of money that can be borrowed as needed,
repaid, and then borrowed again on a revolving basis often with interest costs.

Liabilities like Loans and Lines of Credit will appear in your Chart of Accounts and on your Balance
Sheet Report. 

In order to recognize a loan or a line of credit, as well as principal repayments, and any interest costs
(if applicable) within FreshBooks, your Accountant can add an Account and create a Journal Entry
with the steps above.

Owner's Equity

Owner's Equity represents an owner's investment into their business as well as any withdrawals from
the business. This can be withdrawing funds for personal use, or depositing funds from a personal
account to a business account to help with cash flow or funding.

Equity, including Owner’s Equity, Common Stock and Retained Earnings will appear in your Chart of
Accounts and on your Balance Sheet Report. 

Owner's Equity can be recorded in one of two ways: 

 If you are using Bank Reconciliation, you can mark the transaction as Owner's Equity with
the steps here
 If you are not using Bank Reconciliation, your Accountant can record Owner's Equity as a
Journal Entry with the steps above

 
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

Debi
Account Credit
t

Accounts Receivable (A/R) $10  

Sales   $10

 An invoice is created for a billed expense

Account Debit Credit

A/R $10  

Billed
  $10
Expenses

 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

Debi
Account Credit
t

A/R $10  

Petty Cash   $10

Expenses

 Create a non-Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) travel expense manually

Debi
Account Credit
t

Travel* $10  

Petty Cash   $10


* The parent account in this case would be "Operating Expense"
 Create a travel expense considered COGS manually
 Debi
Account Credit
t

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)

Debi
Account Credit
t

Travel $9  

HST $1  

Petty Cash   $10

 Travel Expense created through a connected AMEX credit card

Debi
Account Credit
t

Travel $10  

American Express #1234   $10

 Expense created through connected RBC bank account

Account Debit Credit

Expense Category $10  

RBC Bank Account

  $10
#123

 User updates a travel expense amount (e.g. $10 to $12)

 The original entry ($10) is reversed, new entry is booked
 Debi
Account Credit
t

Travel   $10 

Petty Cash  $10  

Debi
Account Credit
t

Petty Cash   $12

Travel  $12  

 When a user rebills an expense to the client, with no markup

Account Debit Credit

A/R $10   

Billed
   $10
Expenses

 When a user rebills an expense to the client, with a $1 markup

Account Debit Credit

A/R $11  

Billed
   $11
Expenses


* Could be bank/credit account, if applicable

Important: Duplicate expense lines if you have a bank account & credit card connected:

Currently, when you connect both your bank account and credit card to automate expense tracking,
only the outflow of money is captured by the system. This can creates duplicate expenses.
Here’s a full example:

You have two $100 expenses on your credit card - FreshBooks has recorded this as an expense.

You then pay the $200 off using your 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 worth of expenses logged when in fact you should only have $200.

To fix this, if you're using Bank Reconciliation, mark the transaction as a transfer. If you're not using
Bank Reconciliation, delete all payments to the credit card from the bank account in the Expenses
section. This preserves the item level expense details while removing the duplicates.

Credits

 A credit is created

Debi
Account Credit
t

Petty Cash $10  

Customer Credit   $10

 A credit has an amount updated ($10 to $12)

 The original entry is reversed

Debi
Account Credit
t

Customer Credit $10  

Petty Cash   $10

 A new entry is booked for the total updated amount

Debi
Account Credit
t

Petty Cash $12  

Customer Credit   $12

  A credit is deleted

Debi
Account Credit
t

Customer Credit $10  

Petty Cash   $10

 A credit is applied to an invoice

Debi
Account Credit
t

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

Debi
Account Credit
t

A/R   $5 

Petty Cash  $5  

Pre March 2018

We’ve 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.

How do I reconcile transactions in Bank Reconciliation?

Bank Reconciliation (Bank Rec) is the process of matching transactions from your bank statement to
entries in FreshBooks. Once you have a bank account set up with an Opening Balance with the steps
here, you can start matching transactions which is the reconciliation process.

Matching transactions should be completed at regular intervals for all of 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 haven’t already) to help you learn more about
Bank Reconciliation.

 Unmatched Transactions
 Matching Transactions
 Match
 Change the Date Range
 Create a New Entry
 Mark As…
 Mark as Transfer
 Mark as Owner’s Equity
 Mark as an Expense Refund
 Viewing Matched Transactions
 FAQs

Unmatched Transactions
Before transactions are reconciled they will remain in an unmatched state. There are two types of
transactions that may or may not affect your reports inside your account:

Unmatched Money-in Transactions

  These are Unreconciled Bank Transactions in your account like deposits and payments
received, and anything else that is an increase to your bank account balance
 Will not affect your reports until you Match or Mark as inside Bank Rec

Unmatched Money-out Transactions

 These are Unreconciled Bank Transactions in your account like expenses, payments made and
anything else that is a decrease to your bank account balance
 Displayed both under the Bank Transactions and the FreshBooks Entries sections inside your
Bank Rec widget (Bank Connections automatically creates an expense entry in FreshBooks to
correspond with the money-out transaction imported from your bank account)
 Will affect your reports; flows through Petty Cash first (increases Expense account and
decreases Petty Cash account)
 Once these money-out transactions are Matched or Mark As…, these transactions will
be attributed to the Bank or Credit Card account instead of Petty Cash

Matching Transactions
To start reconciling your transactions, use the below steps:

1. Click on the Accounting section
2. You’ll now see your bank account(s) listed in the Bank Reconciliation widget, click on the x
left to match link

3. FreshBooks will automatically match transactions for you

1. If you see matches that are actually bank transfers or incorrectly matched, click on
the checkmark to deselect it
2. If you see matches that are correctly matched and there is nothing to change, keep it
checked off
4. Click Confirm and Continue to proceed.

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

 Match
 Change the Date Range
 Create a New Entry
 Mark As…
 Mark as Transfer
 Mark as Owner’s Equity
 Mark as an Expense Refund

Match

If you have an Unreconciled Bank Transaction and you see the corresponding entry (or multiple
entries) in the FreshBooks Entries section, use the below steps to match them together.

If your FreshBooks Entry isn’t listed, check the date range, or make a new entry. If it is a Transfer,
Owner’s Equity, or Expense Refund, use these steps instead.

Only entries from the date you start Bank Rec (as stated in your Opening Balance) and moving
forward will be listed.

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

2. Then in the FreshBooks Entries section on the right, use the search bar if you need to find
your entries, and check off one or several entries that match
 3. Click on the Match button.

Change the Date Range

This is useful if the transactions you’re looking for are not listed because they fall outside of the date
range.

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

2. Choose a new Start and End date
3. If needed, you can specify the Entry Type (Payments & Other Income only, Check payments
only, Expenses only)
 4. Click Apply to save and new entries should appear on the right
5. In the Bank Account Transactions section on the left, check off a transaction
6. Then in the FreshBooks Entries section on the right, check off one or several entries that
match
7. Click on the Match button.

Create a New Entry

If the FreshBooks entry doesn’t exist yet, you can create it with these steps:

1. Under FreshBooks Entries, click on the Create a New Entry link

2. Then choose from Expense, Other Income, or Payment depending on what kind of

matching entry you need to create
3. Once saved, this entry will now appear in the list of FreshBooks Entries
4. Check off the entry or entries that you’ve just created
5. Click on the Match button.

Mark As...
If your Unreconciled Bank Transaction doesn’t require an accompanying FreshBooks Entry to match it
to because it is a Transfer, Owner’s Equity or Expense Refund, choose from the below for the steps:

 Mark as Transfer
 Mark as Owner’s Equity
 Mark as an Expense Refund

If the Unreconciled Bank Transaction is meant to be matched to one or multiple FreshBooks

Entry/Entries, use these steps instead.

 
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:

1. Check off the box next to the Bank Account Transaction

2. Click on the Mark As button at the top
3. Select Transfer

4. Enter details on the transfer as needed in the Note box

5. Click Submit to finish and 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.

Notes:

 When marked as a transfer, two accounts will be affected in your reports:

 Money-in transactions marked as transfers:
 Will increase the balance in the connected Bank account and decrease the
balance in the Petty Cash account
 Money-out transactions marked as transfers:
 Will decrease the balance in the connected Bank account and increase the
balance in the Petty Cash account
  Once Marked as Transfers, they can be found in the Matched tab in chronological order of
when you marked them with a note indicating it is a Bank Transfer

Mark as Owner’s Equity

If the transaction is Owner’s Equity (explained here), you can mark it as so with the below steps:

1. Check off the box next to the Bank Account Transaction

2. Click on the Mark As button at the top
3. Select Owner’s Equity

4. Enter details on the equity as needed in the Note box

5. 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.

Notes:

 Once marked as Owner’s Equity, you can find them in the Matched tab in chronological
order of when you marked them with a note indicating it is Owner’s Equity

 These transactions will also be located inside the Owner’s Equity account on the Chart of
Accounts
 

Mark as an Expense Refund

If the transaction is a payment you received from a vendor when returning an Expense, you can use
the Mark as an Expense Return option. Use the below steps:

1. Check off the box next to the Bank Account Transaction

2. Click on the Mark As button at the top
3. Select Expense Refund
 4. If the expense was originally marked as Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), check the box
off to Mark refund as Cost of Goods Sold

5. Next, choose the Refunded Expense Category

6. Then enter details about the return as needed in the Note box
7. 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.

Notes:

 Once marked as an Expense Refund, you can find them in the Matched tab in chronological
order of when you marked them with a note indicating it is an Expense Refund

 The Refunded Expense Category selected will also be decreased when a transaction is
marked as an Expense Refund

 These transactions will be located in the Chart of Accounts, under the original Operating
Expenses Account that corresponds to the selected Refunded Expense Category, as well as a
separate section in the bottom of your Expense Report

 If the Expense Refund has been marked as COGS, then the Expense Refund will appear in the
COGS account that corresponds to the selected Refunded Expense Category
  On the Profit & Loss Report, Expense Refunds will be reflected in the Total Expenses, but not
in the Refunded Expense Category

Viewing Matched Transactions

All matched transactions, including those marked as Transfers, Owner’s Equity and Expense Refunds,
can be viewed with the below steps:

1. Click on the Accounting section
2. Click on the x left to match link for the account you want to review in the Bank
Reconciliation Widget
3. Click on the Matched sub-tab.

If you’ve accidentally 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
Why is my Bank Account Balance and my FreshBooks Balance not matching? 

If your Bank Account Balance does not match your real-time bank account’s balance, then:

 Refresh your bank connection to make sure you have imported the latest transactions
 Confirm that the Opening Balance was entered correctly - you can change your Opening
Balance with the steps here

If your FreshBooks Balance does not match your Bank Account Balance then:

 Match or Mark As all the transactions on the left side of your Bank Rec until there are none
left
 Check for Journal Entries posted to the bank account - this will cause a difference as they
will change the FreshBooks Balance but will not affect the Bank Account Balance
 
How do I reconcile my online payment deposits and fees from WePay and/or Stripe?

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

1. Log into your WePay account

2. Click on Reporting
3. Then select Settlements
4. Choose the settlement you want the report for
5. Click on theDownload CSV button, and you’ll receive an email within 5 minutes with a link to
download the report.

Stripe

1. Log into your Stripe dashboard

2. Click on Balance
3. Then click on Transactions
4. Next, click on Export in the top left corner
5. Choose the date range as needed and click Export.

How do I reconcile a loan or line of credit transaction?

If the transaction is a Loan or Line of Credit (as explained here), first Mark as Transfer, which will
move this transaction to Petty Cash in your Chart of Accounts. Then ask your invited Accountant
to create a Journal Entry to record this as a Loan or Line of Credit in your books.
 

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:

1. Edit the original Expense down to the new total after reimbursement
2. Find the original matched expense and unmatch it with the steps in Viewing Matched
Transactions above
3. 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

1. Find the original matched Invoice payment and unmatch it with the steps in Viewing
Matched Transactions above
2. In the Unmatched section, match the Invoice payment from your Bank Transaction with the
refund from your Bank Transaction
3. 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

1. Edit the payment on the Invoice to reflect the partial refund.

2. Find the original matched Invoice payment and unmatch it with the steps in Viewing
Matched Transactions above
3. 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).