Email a file to Smart Capture on mobile
This article explains how to email files from your device directly to the Smart Capture area in your FreeAgent account.
Instead of downloading a file, such as a PDF or image, and uploading it again to FreeAgent, you can set up automated forwarding rules that enable you to send files directly from your inbox to your FreeAgent account, saving you valuable time.
Please note:
- The email to Smart Capture functionality is being rolled out to all users gradually. If you don't see this functionality in your account, please check back by 23rd November 2026.
- You’ll need to have level 4 access or above to your FreeAgent account to use Smart Capture.
- You’ll need to subscribe to the Smart Capture Unlimited add-on in order to access the functionality to email directly to Smart Capture.
- You’ll need to enable email to Smart Capture in the desktop version of FreeAgent in order to access this functionality within the mobile app.
When the ‘Email to Smart Capture’ setting is set to ‘On’, FreeAgent will generate a unique randomly assigned email address for you to email your files to.
If you’re receiving unwanted emails in Smart Capture, you can generate a new email address to send your files to within the desktop version of the app.
You can choose who can email files to Smart Capture and add allowed sender email addresses in the desktop version of the app as well.
Email files to Smart Capture
When an email is sent to your unique Smart Capture email address from an email address that has been chosen to accept files from, it will appear in the Smart Capture area.
Please note that If an email is sent from an email address which is not included in your list of allowed sender addresses, it won’t be processed by FreeAgent and won't appear in the Smart Capture area. We'll automatically discard the email, so there won’t be a record of it having being sent within FreeAgent.
FreeAgent’s Smart Capture functionality will attempt to automatically extract key details from the file sent via email. It will then attach the file to a ‘Money out’ bank transaction, if one exists that is marked ‘For approval’ or has already been approved or explained, and has a matching date and value.
To view the file, tap the relevant Smart Capture on the list.
You can convert the file into an out-of-pocket expense by selecting ‘Convert to a new expense’, or a bill by selecting ‘Convert to a new bill’.
Unconfirmed sender
There may be situations where FreeAgent is unable to confirm an email definitely came from an allowed email address, for example if there are issues with the email domain or authentication settings. In these situations, we will add a notice that the email has come from an unconfirmed sender. Users should check that they were expecting this file before opening it or creating an expense or bill from it.
Email errors
If we receive an email that is from an allowed email address but there is an issue, a banner will appear at the top of the screen in the Smart Capture area.
Tap the banner and the desktop version of the app will open to the ‘email errors’ tab on your device where you can review an emails that FreeAgent has flagged.
There are a few reasons files from emails could end up here:
- If the file type of an attachment isn’t a supported type. The Smart Capture area supports a number of different formats, including .jpg, .jpeg, .pdf and .png
- If the attachment is over 5MB
Email not received
If users send an email with an attachment which they aren’t seeing appear in Smart Capture as a file, they should check:
- Email to Smart Capture setting is enabled in their account
- The email address they have sent from is on their allowed list
- The attachment is less than 5MB and is a supported file type
- If over 100 emails have been sent to the same Smart Capture email address in an hour