How to add a new bank account

This article explains how to add another bank account in FreeAgent such as a savings account, credit card account or PayPal account.

Navigate to the 'Banking' tab at the top of the screen and select 'Bank Accounts' from the drop-down menu.

Select 'Add new account' and choose what kind of account you want to add from the drop-down menu. You can choose from 'Bank Account', 'Credit Card Account' or 'PayPal Account'.

Enter all the relevant information. If you’re adding a new PayPal account, make sure the email address you enter is the same one that you use to log in to PayPal.

Personal bank account

If you're a sole trader or partner and running your business through a personal bank account rather than having a dedicated business bank account, tick the 'This is a personal account' checkbox. Find out about the differences between personal and business bank accounts in FreeAgent.

When you have a business bank account, you need to explain each bank transaction once it has been imported into your FreeAgent account via a bank feed or uploaded from a bank statement. When you have a personal bank account, you only need to explain the bank transactions that relate to the business. Unexplained transactions in personal bank accounts won't update your records but will be included in your Cashflow unless those bank accounts are excluded.

You can't record money paid to a user from a personal bank account because money transferred between personal bank accounts isn't part of the business's transactions. Therefore, if you have employees, you would need to make sure the account is not marked as personal so that you can record their salaries correctly in FreeAgent.

Primary bank account

To make this bank account your primary account rather than the bank account you created when you first set up your FreeAgent account, tick the 'Make this my primary account checkbox'.

Guess bank transactions

Guess is a FreeAgent feature that is enabled by default and attempts to automatically explain your bank transactions based on existing information in your FreeAgent account. If you want to disable this feature, untick the 'Guess explanations for my transactions' checkbox.

Information required for enabling a bank feed

If you're going to enable a bank feed, you'll need to enter your bank account number and sort code. Don't include any spaces or dashes in either number.

Opening bank balance

Enter the balance of your bank account as at the start of the day on your FreeAgent start date. This will be the same as the balance at the end of the previous day. So if your FreeAgent start date is 6th April 2023, you'd put in the balance from your bank statement as at the end of 5th April 2023.

If you opened this account after the FreeAgent start date, this will be zero. 

International banking

Under 'More Options', you'll find a place to enter international banking information.

If you want the international information to print on your invoices, make sure the contact's country is set as outside the United Kingdom.

Once you've finished entering all the details, select 'Create new account' to complete the process.