Getting help with using FreeAgent

This article describes how FreeAgent’s Knowledge Base and Ruby chat feature can support you with using the software. It also outlines additional helpful resources that are available.

This article contains the following topics. Select a link to skip straight to that section:

Knowledge Base

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 get to grips with the software and terminology. 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.

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of searching the Knowledge Base:

  • Make sure you've selected the appropriate location from the drop-down menu in the website footer, because guidance may differ for UK and non-UK account types.

  • Searching for specific keywords and phrases, such as ‘create an invoice’, will provide the best results.

  • If you can’t find a suitable article when searching for a keyword or phrase, double-check your spelling and try putting the phrase inside double quotation marks, e.g. “explain a bank transaction”.

  • Add a minus in front of a word to exclude it from search results, e.g. "invoice -emails" will exclude articles on setting up invoice emails from the results.

  • When you're typing in the search bar, you can choose from a selection of instant results from the drop-down list that appears below, or press enter for a more comprehensive list of results.

  • Articles will contain links to other Knowledge Base articles and the FreeAgent glossary to explain certain terms in more detail.

  • Most articles are split into sections, with links to each section included near the beginning of the article. This allows you to quickly skip to the section relevant to you.

  • If an article helped to answer your question, you can select ‘Yes, it was useful’ at the bottom of the screen.

Knowledge Base homepage with search bar and help topics for browsing..png

Ruby the Robot

FreeAgent’s friendly robot colleague, Ruby the Robot, can provide assistance with using the software. Select the blue Help button at the bottom of the screen to ask her a question and she’ll attempt to suggest suitable Knowledge Base articles that will help you.

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of using Ruby the Robot:

  • Make sure the relevant location has been selected from the drop-down menu in the bottom of the website footer, because guidance may differ for UK and non-UK account types.

  • Enter your search query as a sentence of at least four words, rather than entering only keywords, e.g. ‘how to create an invoice’.

  • If you don’t find the answer you’re looking for right away, try rephrasing the question.

  • Try putting your query inside double quotation marks, e.g. “create a new contact”.

Chat window with Ruby the Robot..png

Select a title to open up the article within the ‘Help’ window. To view a full-size version of the article, select the icon to the right of the title to open the article in a new tab.

Article open within chat window with icon for new tab highlighted..png

If the article helped answer your question, you can select ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Does this article answer your question?’.

Getting in touch

If Ruby the Robot’s suggestions don’t answer your question, or you can’t find a solution in the Knowledge Base articles, you can select ‘Get in touch’ within the Help pop-up window to receive further assistance from our award-winning Support team.

‘Get in touch’ option highlighted within Chat window with Ruby the Robot..png

You’ll be given the option to either ‘Live chat’ to speak to a member of the Support team or ‘Leave a message’ to send an email directly to the Support team. Please note that live chat is available during support hours, which are 9am to 5pm on Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 4pm on Friday (GMT).

API queries

If you have any API queries, please post them in our dedicated API forum where fellow developers and our own Engineering staff (who frequent regularly) should be able to help you further.

When posting your question, please follow our guidelines to ensure all the required information is available in order to assist you.

If you are just starting out using the FreeAgent API then we also have some API documentation which may help you with your query.

Additional resources

Our Getting Started page contains some helpful videos on setting up your FreeAgent account, along with a recorded webinar that offers a guided tour of the software. You can also book a free 20-minute Getting Started call with our Support team at a time suitable for you.

If you’re new to FreeAgent, your business is already trading and you've been recording your accounts in another software package, find out how to switch to FreeAgent.

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