Frequently asked questions about FreeAgent

Why can’t I log in?

If you’re unable to log in, please try following our troubleshooting steps for problems logging in to FreeAgent.

As a security measure, FreeAgent temporarily disables login attempts when an incorrect password has been entered several times in a short period of time.

The length of time you’ll have to wait varies depending on the number of incorrect attempts but will be a maximum of 30 minutes. If your login is temporarily disabled, please wait 30 minutes or more from your last attempt before attempting to log in again.

If you have multiple FreeAgent accounts, you may be trying to log in to the wrong account. Check that the URL matches the account that you’re trying to log in to. You can bookmark the specific login page for each account so that you can log in to the appropriate accounts easily.

Alternatively, you may wish to consider using the same email address and password for multiple accounts so that you’ll only have to remember one set of login details. Then, if you visit login.freeagent.com and enter the associated email address and password, you’ll be prompted to select the account you wish to log in to. You can update any of your passwords if you need to.

Why is my data missing?

If you have multiple FreeAgent accounts, make sure you’re logged in to the correct account by checking the subdomain.

If you’re logged in to the wrong account, log out and try logging in again to the correct account. You can reset your password if you need to.

Why isn’t my account free?

You can have one free FreeAgent account for each NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle account that you hold, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria detailed here (otherwise FreeAgent fees will apply). Optional add-ons may be chargeable from each account.

Make sure that details of your Natwest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle business current account are added to the Banking area of your FreeAgent account. Once you've done this, you should see a notification advising you that your account may be eligible for the funding offer with the NatWest Group.

To confirm eligibility, you'll need to enable a bank feed from that bank via Open Banking against your business current account. Once the bank feed connection has been enabled, you should be prompted to update your FreeAgent account with the free subscription. Read more about how to switch to a funded account.

If you’ve signed up to FreeAgent using the mobile app, this won’t create a subsidised account. You’ll need to log in to your account using the desktop version and switch to a funded account.

If you’ve signed up to FreeAgent via the Apple App Store, you’ll need to switch to a direct FreeAgent subscription to benefit from a subsidised account via NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank or Mettle.

How do I get help?

FreeAgent’s Knowledge Base is a help centre at your fingertips, with hundreds of useful articles and step-by-step instructions designed to help you familiarise yourself with FreeAgent’s terminology and learn what you can file to HMRC and Companies House from the software. You can either search for a particular article using the search bar or select a particular topic to view all the articles within that section.

If your business is already trading and you've been recording your accounts in another software package, read our guidance on switching to FreeAgent for help with entering your accounting dates and opening balances.

FreeAgent’s friendly robot colleague, Ruby the Robot, can provide assistance with using the software if you need to speak to a human. Select the blue Help button at the bottom of the screen to ask a question and it’ll attempt to suggest suitable Knowledge Base articles that will help you or connect you to the support team to leave a message.

You’ll also find lots of helpful information and videos, and a link to watch a recording of one of our ‘Getting Started’ webinars, on our Getting Started page. You can register for and watch upcoming webinars on our events pages for business owners or accountants and bookkeepers

Find out more about how to get help with using FreeAgent.

Why do I have duplicate transactions?

If you’ve added a manual bank transaction in FreeAgent and then the same transaction has been uploaded or imported, this will create a duplicate transaction.

Similarly, if you’ve explained a bank transaction as a transfer between bank accounts before both transactions have been imported into FreeAgent, a duplicate transaction will be created when the incoming transaction is imported.

In these scenarios, you’ll need to match the imported transaction with the manual transaction to correct the duplicate transactions.

If you enable a bank feed or upload bank transactions and then explain your transactions, your bank balance in FreeAgent should match the amount in your bank account. FreeAgent's ‘Balance at bank’ feature can help you check whether these balances match. Learn more about how to match your FreeAgent bank balance to your bank account balance.

What’s the difference between personal and business bank accounts?

When you have a personal bank account in FreeAgent, you only need to explain the bank transactions that relate to the business.

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.

You should only use a personal bank account in FreeAgent if you're a sole trader, partner or landlord and running your business through a personal bank account rather than having a dedicated business bank account.

However, if you have employees, you would need to use a business bank account so that you can record their salaries and expense repayments correctly in FreeAgent as these options aren’t available in a personal account.

If your business is a limited company or limited liability partnership, you should use a business bank account in FreeAgent. Any money that you personally spend on business costs would need to be entered as an out-of-pocket expense or mileage claim.

Learn more about the difference between personal and business bank accounts in FreeAgent.

Which type and category do I select if the one I need isn’t listed?

For business costs, select ‘Payment’ as the ‘Type’ and choose the relevant cost or tax category.

Learn how to choose the appropriate bank transaction type and category for sole traders, landlords and limited companies.

If none of the available categories is suitable for a transaction, you can create a custom accounting category.

If you’re unsure which ‘Type’ and ‘Category’ to allocate a bank transaction to, please ask your accountant. If you’re not currently working with an accountant, you may wish to find one through FreeAgent CoPilot.

How do I explain personal payments? 

If you’re a sole trader, partner or landlord, you would explain personal payments paid out of the business as a transfer to another account if the money is transferred to another bank account that's set up in FreeAgent, or ‘Money Paid to User’ > ‘Drawings’ if it’s not.

For money paid into the business, you would explain the payments as a transfer from another account if the money is transferred from another bank account that's set up in FreeAgent, or ‘Money Received from User’ > ‘Capital Introduced’ if it’s not.

If you’re a limited company director, you would explain the transactions using the director’s loan account.

Please note that you won't see the ‘Money Paid to User’ or ‘Money Received from User’ options if the bank account has been marked as personal or you have the role of ‘Accountant’.

Why can't I see the property functionality?

The property functionality in FreeAgent is only available in an unincorporated landlord account. 

Selecting the ‘Property / Landlord’ business industry in a sole trader or limited company account won't allow you to add or manage properties in FreeAgent.

If you’ve set up a sole trader account, find out how to switch from a sole trader to a landlord account.

Why is my invoice showing as unpaid?

Make sure that you’ve explained the bank transaction as an ‘Invoice Receipt’ and allocated it to the correct invoice to mark the invoice as paid.

Please note that if you explain the transaction as ‘Sales’, the invoice will remain unpaid in FreeAgent.

Why can't I upload bank statements?

You'll need to log in to your online banking and download a bank statement in a format supported by FreeAgent. For information on downloading a bank statement, please ask your bank.

If your bank doesn’t support OFX or QIF bank statement formats when downloading a bank statement from your online banking, you’ll need to download a CSV file instead and format it before you can upload it into FreeAgent.

What if my business industry isn't listed?

The industry you choose won’t affect your FreeAgent experience so if there isn’t an industry that matches your business, please choose the industry closest to your business.

Learn more about choosing the appropriate business type and industry.

What happens if my business type changes?

If you've been trading as a sole trader and then become a partnership, or if you decide to ‘incorporate’ your business (turn it into a limited company), you'll need to set up a new FreeAgent account.

Learn about switching between a sole trader, partnership, limited company or landlord account.