How to transfer an existing FreeAgent account to your Practice Dashboard

This article explains how to transfer a client’s existing FreeAgent account to your Practice Dashboard as part of the onboarding process.

Please note that by transferring a client’s account, you will gain full access to their account and be responsible for managing their subscription, if they have one.

Whether your client has a direct FreeAgent subscription or a subsidised FreeAgent account through NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank NI or Mettle, you'll need to follow the transfer process below.

If your client is transferring their FreeAgent account from another accountancy practice, or they have subscribed through a third-party subscription provider like Apple, you’ll need to follow this slightly different transfer process.

Before you get started

Before you can begin the transfer process, you’ll need to find out your client’s email address and FreeAgent subdomain. To do this, your client will need to follow the steps outlined in this article.

1. Begin the transfer process on your Practice Dashboard

Log in to your Practice Dashboard and navigate to the 'My Clients' tab.

Select 'Add Account' in the top-right corner and choose 'Transfer Existing Account' from the drop-down menu.

2. Enter your client’s email address and FreeAgent subdomain

Next, enter your client’s email address and their FreeAgent subdomain in the fields provided, then select 'Transfer Account'.

An email will automatically be sent to your client informing them of the proposed transfer and asking for their confirmation to proceed. Your client will need to follow the instructions provided in the email to log in to their account and confirm the transfer.

3. Wait for confirmation

While you’re waiting for your client to confirm, the transfer will be marked as ‘pending’ in FreeAgent. A banner detailing your total number of pending transfers can be seen in your 'My Clients' tab. It will also be displayed in the 'All Clients' tab if you’re a senior account manager.

If you need to make changes to any pending transfers, select ‘manage your transfers here’ on the banner.

You’ll then be presented with a list of all your pending transfer requests. You can choose to either resend the invitation by selecting 'Resend Invite' or cancel the transfer by selecting 'Cancel Transfer'.

Access the newly transferred client

After the client confirms the transfer request, you’ll receive an email confirmation. The client will now appear under the 'My Clients' tab (plus the 'All Clients' tab, if you’re a senior account manager) of your Practice Dashboard.

Please note that the account manager who made the transfer request in FreeAgent will automatically become the client’s account manager when the transfer is complete. If you’d like to change the client’s account manager, follow these steps.

Refund for annual subscription

Once the client has been successfully transferred to your Practice Dashboard, any remaining annual subscription that the client has will automatically be refunded to the client. You can view the credit note for this refund in the 'Billing' area of your client’s account.

If, after following all of these steps, your client hasn’t switched to the subsidised NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank NI or Mettle FreeAgent account, please follow these steps.

Transferring clients who are currently using FreeAgent through another practice

If your client has been using FreeAgent through another practice and wishes to transfer their account to your practice, your client needs to first ask their existing accountant to remove their account from their Practice Dashboard.

Once your client has received email confirmation that their account has been removed from their previous practice’s dashboard, follow the steps above to complete the transfer to your Practice Dashboard.

Transferring clients who are currently using FreeAgent through a third-party subscription provider

If your client currently subscribes to FreeAgent through a third party subscription provider, such as Apple, please ask them to cancel their third-party subscription and then contact our support team at practicesupport@freeagent.com. A member of our support team will then help switch their account to a FreeAgent subscription.

Once your client has received email confirmation that their account has been switched to a FreeAgent subscription, follow the steps above to transfer their account to your Practice Dashboard.

How to link an existing FreeAgent account to your Practice Dashboard

If you link a client's account to your Practice Dashboard, you will gain limited access to their FreeAgent account and the client will continue to manage their own subscription.

Please note that you'll need to follow the transfer process above if you’re taking over the client’s full licence or the client has a subsidised FreeAgent account through NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank NI or Mettle.

To link a client’s account to your Practice Dashboard instead, you will need to complete an email template and send it to our support team as detailed below.

Complete the email template and send it to our support team

Begin by downloading this email template and completing the relevant information for the client’s account that you would like to link to your Practice Dashboard. Next, email this to practicesupport@freeagent.com and copy in (CC) the client.

Please note that the email must be sent from the email address of a registered account manager of your practice’s FreeAgent account. The email address you use for the client must also be the account owner’s registered email address in FreeAgent.

In your email, please make it clear that you wish to link the client’s account to your Practice Dashboard, and include the client’s FreeAgent URL in your message.

In the email template, we also ask your client to generate a support code. This is because we take the security of our customers’ data very seriously and FreeAgent staff members don't have routine access to your clients’ data or numbers. As a result, our support team will need a support access code from the client in order to complete the linking process.

Once the emails from your practice and your client have been received, FreeAgent’s support team will reply to you and your client to confirm when their account has been successfully linked. You’ll then be able to see your client’s FreeAgent account on your Practice Dashboard and access their FreeAgent account(s).