Import a client’s accounting data

1. Check the client’s details

Before importing your client’s accounting data, switch to the client’s account and make sure it has been set up correctly.

It’s important to make sure the following details are in your client’s account:

• correct accounting basis
• correct accounting dates (the client’s invoices, bills, expenses and bank transactions must all be dated on or after their FreeAgent start date)
• VAT registration details (if the client is registered for VAT)
• custom accounting categories (if you need any that aren’t part of FreeAgent’s default chart of accounts to track income, spending, assets and liabilities)
• additional FreeAgent users if the client’s business has any employees or additional directors (it’s important to add the users if they’ll be part of the client’s opening balances, for example, balances to the expense or director’s loan account)
• CIS contractor and subcontractor details (if the client is a CIS contractor and/or subcontractor)
• properties and ownership arrangements (if the client has an unincorporated landlord account)

2. Import the client’s contacts and projects

Next, you can bring in the client’s customers and suppliers in one go by importing their contacts.

Learn how to format a .CSV file to import contacts into FreeAgent.

If the client tracks work using projects, you can import their projects into FreeAgent.

The client can also import contacts and projects themselves.

3. Import the client’s opening balances

Then, you’ll want to import the client’s opening balances. 

You’ll find these on the trial balance report from the previous software package or spreadsheets. It’s important to make sure the client’s opening balances in FreeAgent are accurate and match the trial balance report.

Please note that if the client has an unincorporated landlord account, you’ll need to enter the opening balances manually rather than importing them.

You can download our opening balances template and then fill in the required columns for each opening balance that you'd like to import for the client. Alternatively, you can create your own .CSV file to import into the client’s account.

Which opening balances you’ll need to import will depend on whether the client is using the accruals or cash accounting basis.

Accruals basis accounting

If the client is using the traditional accruals accounting basis and their FreeAgent start date is the first day of the accounting period, you can enter the outstanding balance of sales and supplier invoices as of the first day of the accounting period, against the contacts.

As your client's customers have paid the money that they owe, the bank transactions can be explained as ‘Other Money In’ > ‘Receipt from Initial Debtor'. As your client pays their bills, the bank transactions can be explained as 'Other Money Out' > 'Payment to Initial Creditor'. This will reduce the opening trade debtor/creditor balances.

If the client’s FreeAgent start date is the last day of the accounting period, you can import the individual sales and supplier invoices that are outstanding as of the last day of the accounting year.

When the payments for the sales invoices have been received, they can be explained as an ‘Invoice Receipt’ to mark the invoices as paid. When the payments for the supplier invoices have been paid, they can be explained as a ‘Bill Payment’ to mark the bills as paid.

Learn more about how to enter opening balances when using accruals basis accounting.

Cash basis accounting

If the client is using the cash accounting basis and their FreeAgent start date is the last day of the accounting period, you can import the individual sales and supplier invoices that are outstanding as of the last day of the accounting year.

When the payments for the sales invoices have been received, they can be explained as an ‘Invoice Receipt’ to mark the invoices as paid. When the payments for the supplier invoices have been paid, they can be explained as a ‘Bill Payment’ to mark the bills as paid.

Learn more about how to enter opening balances when using cash basis accounting.

4. Import the client's invoices, bills and out-of-pocket expenses

Please note that you’d only import invoices, bills and out-of-pocket expenses that are dated on or after the client’s FreeAgent start date. Any that are dated before their FreeAgent start date would be entered as opening balances instead.

Sales invoices

Once the client’s customers, suppliers and projects have been imported, you can import the client’s sales invoices dated from the FreeAgent start date up to today's date.

Bills

If the client has any supplier invoices which need to be imported, for example, supplier invoices dated between the FreeAgent start date and the current date, you can import these as bills in FreeAgent.

Out-of-pocket expenses

FreeAgent uses out-of-pocket expenses to record business costs paid for personally that will be reimbursed. You can import the client’s out-of-pocket expenses and mileage claims.

Please note that if the client has an unincorporated landlord account, you’ll need to enter the expenses and mileage claims manually.

If the cost was paid for directly by the business, rather than being reimbursed by the business to the business owner or one of their staff, you can explain the bank transaction or record it as a bill. Learn more about the difference between an expense, a bill and a bank transaction in FreeAgent.

The client can import out-of-pocket expenses and mileage claims themselves but can’t currently import invoices or bills.

5. Import and explain the client’s bank transactions

Importing bank transactions

If the client enables a bank feed, this allows their business bank transactions to be automatically imported into FreeAgent.

If they'd rather not connect their bank just yet, you can upload statements. Learn how to format the CSV file before uploading it into FreeAgent.

If the client has an unincorporated landlord account and receives statements from a letting agency, you can import the rental statements to extract incoming and outgoing transactions into a dedicated virtual bank account.

Explaining bank transactions

FreeAgent adds up the numbers for the client’s accounts based on the explanations given for the money paid into and out of their business bank accounts. FreeAgent’s Guess feature is powered by AI to help nail the daily admin by automatically categorising new bank transactions.

Once the statement(s) have been imported and FreeAgent’s Guess feature has assigned the transactions to accounting categories, you can check the transactions, edit the explanations if necessary and once everything is correct, approve the transactions.

If Guess is unable to assign any of transactions automatically, they’ll remain unexplained for you or the client to explain.

VAT-registered clients and CIS contractors

If the client is VAT-registered, we’d recommend you import the client’s bank transactions one historic VAT return period at a time. Before moving on to the next VAT return, it’s important to check that the VAT return in FreeAgent matches the VAT return submitted on your previous software (if applicable). If you need to, you can post journals to the VAT accounts in FreeAgent to adjust boxes 1 to 4 of the VAT return, or manually adjust boxes 6 to 9.

Once the VAT return in FreeAgent matches the return submitted outside of FreeAgent, you should mark the VAT return as filed. If you haven’t yet submitted the VAT return to HMRC, find out how to file a VAT return using FreeAgent.

Similarly, if the client is a CIS contractor, it’s important to make sure the CIS300 returns in FreeAgent match the CIS returns submitted externally. Once reconciled, you should mark the CIS300 return as filed.

Next steps

Great job! You’ve completed the migration and the client can tailor their FreeAgent account.

They can add a logo, connect a payment solution and create a custom invoice theme so that FreeAgent feels like it's built for them.

If you need to make Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax submissions for the client, you may find the following articles useful:

• Set up your practice and clients for MTD for Income Tax from start to finish
• Use FreeAgent’s MTD for Income Tax functionality for your clients
• Automate clients’ quarterly MTD for Income Tax updates and approvals
• Manage your clients’ MTD for Income Tax submissions in bulk
• Manage your practice’s default tax submission and access settings