Import projects
This article provides a simple guide on how to upload multiple projects into FreeAgent.
If you don’t want to create each individual project manually, you can bulk upload several at once. You can also import projects from Basecamp.
Please note that the customer(s) you’ll be completing the work for will need to have been added as a contact(s) before you can import a project into FreeAgent.
How to import projects
Navigate to the 'Work' tab at the top of the screen and select 'Projects' from the drop-down menu.
Next, select ‘Import projects’. Please note that the screen you see will differ depending on whether you’ve already created your first project in FreeAgent or not.
You'll be prompted to download our projects template. See below for details on how to fill in our projects template.
How to fill in our projects template
The table below shows you how to fill in the template.
| Column name | What to enter | Example | Required? |
| contact_name | The first and last name of the contact in FreeAgent you're completing the work for. This is case-sensitive and must match exactly with the contact's name in FreeAgent. | Claire Ashcroft | Yes, if the contact doesn’t have an organisation name in FreeAgent |
| organisation_name | The organisation name of the contact in FreeAgent you're completing the work for. This is case-sensitive and must match exactly with the contact's name in FreeAgent. | Meadows Marketing | Yes, if the contact doesn’t have a first and last name in FreeAgent |
| project_name | The name you’d like the project to be called in FreeAgent. | Marketing project | Yes |
| status | This can be either ‘Active’, ‘Completed’, ‘Cancelled’ or ‘Hidden’. | Active | Yes |
| contract_po_reference | If you have a contract or purchase order reference, enter that here. | 101 | No |
| uses_project_invoice_sequence | If you want invoices for this project to follow project-level sequencing, enter ‘true’. | true | If blank, invoices for this project will follow global sequencing |
| currency | The 3-character ISO code for the currency the project is in. | GBP | If not provided, we will use your FreeAgent account's native currency. |
| budget | You can set a budget of time for this project if you wish. Don't worry if you go over your budget, FreeAgent won't stop you recording more time to the project. Leave this field blank if there's no set budgeted time. | 500 | No |
| budget_units | If you want to enter a budget for the project, this can be either ‘Hours’, ‘Days’ or ‘Monetary’. Leave this field blank if there's no set budget. | Hours | Yes, if budget is provided |
| hours_per_day | The number of hours you'll be working each day on the project as a fraction (not hours and minutes), e.g 7.5. Please note that the number of hours you allocate here will be used if you add a task with a rate per day rather than per hour. | 7.5 | No |
| normal_billing_rate | If you have a set billing rate for this project that you want to use on timeslips and invoices, enter that here. Please note that if you enter rates for individual tasks in the project, those rates will override the default project rate. | 15.00 | No |
| billing_period | This can be either ‘Hour’ or ‘Day’. | Hour | Yes, if normal_billing_rate is provided |
| is_ir35 | If the project comes under IR35 as de facto employment, enter ‘true’. Otherwise leave blank. | true | No |
| start_DD/MM/YYYY | If you want to enter a start date for the project. If you don’t want to enter a start date, leave blank. | 01/01/2025 | No |
| end_DD/MM/YYYY | If you want to enter a finish date for the project. If you don’t want to enter a finish date, leave blank. | 31/07/2025 | No |
| include_unbillable_time | If you would like to see unbillable time, which is time that you've spent on this project but won't charge your customer for, enter ‘true’. Otherwise leave blank. | true | No |
Upload the template
Once you’ve filled in the template, select the CSV file you want to import and then select ‘Upload’ to complete the process. Please ensure that you select the 'CSV (Comma delimited)' option.
Review the imported projects
Once the upload is complete, you'll be prompted to review your newly added projects.
If you realise that you've made an error, select ‘Edit’ to the right of the project you want to make changes to.
To remove a project, select the cross ‘x’ to the right of the project you want to delete.
Undoing an import
To undo an import, select ‘Import projects’.
Select ‘Undo’ next to the import you want to undo.
Select ‘Yes, remove projects import’ in the pop-up window to complete the process.