The people you send invoices or estimates to are clients. If you’re looking to save time from adding each new client one by one manually, you can import your list of clients in bulk instead.
When creating the CSV file, ensure the file has these required headers in one of the options below, and then add your data:
Option 1
| First Name | Last Name |
Option 2
| Company Name |
Option 3
| First Name | Last Name | Company Name |
- First Name and Last Name
- Company Name
There are also optional headers you can include in the file to import more data:
| First Name | Last Name | Company Name | Email Address | Phone Number | Address Line 1 | Address Line 2 | City | State | Zip Code | Country |
- Email address
- Phone number
- Address line 1
- Address line 2
- City
- State
- Zip Code
- Country
Once your file is ready, import it in with these steps:
- Go to the Clients section
- Select the More Actions button
- Then select Import Clients
- Select Choose File…
- Next, select your CSV
- Match the fields to the columns from your file using the dropdown (e.g., First Name should match to the First Name header inside your file)
![List of Client fields to map to in csv file.]()
- Select Continue
- Next, match any other optional fields for Address Line 1, Address Line 2, City, State, Zip Code, and Country
![List of additional Client fields to map to in csv file.]()
- Once you’re done matching the fields, select Import Clients
- New clients will be added and you can start reviewing them in your list of clients.
Note: Secondary contacts can be added in manually in each client's profile after the import is completed.
FAQs
How are duplicate clients handled?
All clients will be imported, regardless if they are duplicates or already exist in FreshBooks. We recommend checking the CSV before import to ensure only unique clients are brought in.
Why am I being asked to pay?
If you try to import more clients than you have space for in your plan, you will be asked to upgrade. To continue importing, you can either:
- Modify your CSV file and remove the correct number of clients to accommodate your plan
- Or upgrade your account to a higher plan to increase your client limit
Why did I get an error uploading my file?
The CSV file may be invalid depending on the error:
- The CSV file itself is corrupt - copy the information to a new workbook and re-save as a .csv format
- There are no header columns in the file or one header column is missing - First Name and Last Name, or Company Name are required to be the first row in the file (if headers are missing, the first row is skipped)
- There are invalid formats in the file (e.g., incorrect emails)
- The file is larger than 2MB - try splitting it into two or more CSVs instead