Getting started troubleshooting

This article outlines answers to some common questions about banking, expenses and accounting that users frequently ask when they're new to using FreeAgent.

The Getting Started page on the FreeAgent website contains some handy videos on setting up your account, along with a recorded webinar that offers a guided tour of the software. You’ll find a whole host of more detailed information on how to get started with FreeAgent here in the Knowledge Base. You can also select the blue ‘Help’ button in the bottom-right corner of the screen if you need assistance. 

If you're unable to log in to your FreeAgent account, please see our troubleshooting steps for login problems.

Banking

Why doesn't my bank balance in FreeAgent match my actual bank account balance?

1. You might have entered the wrong opening balance for your default bank account when first setting up your FreeAgent account. If your FreeAgent start date and your businesses start date are different, then your opening bank balance will not be zero. Likewise, if your FreeAgent start date and your businesses start date are the same you probably shouldn’t have entered an opening balance. You can manually edit your bank balance at any time to adjust this.
2. You might have entered transactions from before your FreeAgent start date. You'll need to make changes to how you’ve entered these transactions – please see our guides for either new business or existing businesses.
3. You might not have added all of your bank transactions since your FreeAgent start date. This could be because you've missed transactions when uploading a bank statement or there are missing transactions from before you set up a bank feed. You can add any missing bank transactions manually to your bank account in FreeAgent.
4. It’s also important to check that there aren’t any duplicate transactions appearing in FreeAgent. For example, if you have created a manual transaction in your bank account in FreeAgent and then it has been imported automatically via your bank feed or you have uploaded a bank statement that includes that transaction, you may need to match the two together.

Expenses

Why is there a negative 'brought forward' balance showing in Expenses?

This is usually caused by entering out-of-pocket expenses dated before your FreeAgent start date. If you spent money on the business before it officially started, enter the out-of-pocket expense dated on your FreeAgent start date. For more information, please see this article.

Accounting

Why does my 'Suspense Account' have a balance showing?

If the debit and credit values of your opening balances aren’t equal, FreeAgent automatically creates a suspense account as a balancing entry. To correct this, check that you have entered your opening balances in full. Once all your opening balances have been entered, the balance in the suspense account will automatically disappear.

A balance in your suspense account can also be caused by entering journal entries incorrectly. If you’re unsure about which journals you should enter, please ask your accountant.