FreshBooks now 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!
This automatic expense importing feature is available to users located in:
- Canada
- US
- United Kingdom
- Australia
Note: Expense Import can only be set up from the web, not the mobile app.
Adding a Bank
There are 2 ways to get to the Bank Connections page:
- Click on your avatar/initials in the top left corner, then click on Bank Connections:
- If you are in your Expenses section, click on the Connect your Bank link inside the notification:
Once in the Bank Connections section, do the following:
- Click on your bank if you see it in the top 12 popular banks. If you don't see it, click on the Find your bank link underneath, then you can type your bank in and select it:
- Enter your online banking credentials as prompted
- Answer any security/verification questions that appear
- All connected accounts under your bank will appear
- You can click on Remove under an account if you don't want to import expenses from that account
- You can also click on rename account if you want to give it a nickname to make it easier to remember which account is connected (e.g., Business Checking)
- When you are done, click on Import
- Sit back and watch your Expenses begin importing into the Expenses section!
Automatically categorizing Imported Expenses
To save you time, FreshBooks has the ability to auto-categorize your imported Expenses. To utilize this feature, simply edit one of your imported Expenses, and click on the Apply to future imported expenses link:
Once you enable this, FreshBooks will recognize Expenses from the same Vendor, and will categorize them accordingly moving forward.
Refreshing the Connection
- Click on your avatar/initials in the top left corner
- Click on Bank Connections
- Click on the Refresh link next to your bank account (this can take a few minutes).
FAQs:
How often does it import new expenses?
Once a day, queued throughout 24 hours.
Why did the automatic expense import not bring in all my expenses that I see on my bank statement?
When first connecting to a bank account, we will retrieve the last 30-90 days’ worth of expenses. The amount of time we can go back is largely dependent on how far back the financial institution will allow access.
Also note that FreshBooks is single-entry, so only expenses in the form of payment and debit transactions will be imported in. Deposits and credits will not be imported in.
I updated my online banking credentials. How do I update them in FreshBooks too?
- Click on your avatar/initials in the top left corner
- Click on Bank Connections
- Click on the Edit link next to your bank account, and you will be taken to the login page for your online bank account, where you can re-enter your new credentials.
How do I disconnect my bank?
Note that disconnecting a bank will not remove expenses that have already been imported in for that account. To disconnect, follow these steps:
- Click on your avatar/initials in the top left corner
- Click on Bank Connections
- Click on the bank itself to show the connected accounts
- Next to each account, click on the Remove link.
I can't find my bank/my bank is not available?
The search requires a minimum of 3 characters. For example, if you are searching by PC or TD, you will need to add one extra character at least (e.g., PC Financial or TD Bank) for it to show up in the results.
If you still can't find our banks, send us an email over at help@freshbooks.com or call us at 1-866-303-6061.
https://www.freshbooks.com/support/how-do-i-connect-a-bank-account-for-automatic-expense-importing