What the FreeAgent start date means for existing businesses

This article explains what the 'FreeAgent start date' means for existing businesses that have been trading for a while and are moving to FreeAgent from another accounting software package. It also explains how to enter accounting data before your FreeAgent start date.

If you’re setting up FreeAgent for a new business, please see this article for new businesses instead.

What is the FreeAgent start date?

When you set up your FreeAgent account, you'll have been asked to enter a FreeAgent start date. This is the date from which you will start keeping your books in FreeAgent.

Your choice of date will depend on how long your business has been trading. If you’ve been trading for less than a year, you might decide to start keeping your books in FreeAgent from the date that your business officially started. If you’ve been trading for longer, you might choose the start of the most recent accounting year.

Why is the FreeAgent start date important?

All bank transactions, invoices, bills, out-of-pocket expenses, capital assets and journal entries entered into FreeAgent need to be dated on or after your FreeAgent start date. If you enter any of these with a date before your FreeAgent start date, they will not be counted in FreeAgent.

Accounting data before the FreeAgent start date

Accounting data dated before your FreeAgent start date should be entered as part of your opening balances.

Opening balances are the figures brought forward from your previous software package as at your FreeAgent start date. You can obtain these from a trial balance from your previous software package. This includes any money owed to the business from suppliers or money owed from the business to customers.

If you have already uploaded bank transactions that are dated before your FreeAgent start date and want to remove them, you can undo your last import or delete any transactions dated before your start date.