Anybody out there using freeagent.

Didn't find your answer?

My boss has kindly arranged for me to have a meeting with a freeagent rep on Friday afternoon. I was planning on spending it in the pub, so I suppose that idea is out of the window.

I have heard of freeagent, but never come across any client using it, does anybody out there use it or know client who use it? I see it even has its own accountingweb tag.

The plan will be to push clients to using it, is it user friendly?

Replies (13)

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By Kelly1234
11th Oct 2017 10:54

I've used it and we have 3 or 4 clients who are using it with no issues.
It's quite good and relatively user friendly - although the clients using it are providing technology services so I think that's why they find it easy to use.
It allows clients to keep a log of their time on a job, invoice from FA to their customer.
It also links up to the business bank account so makes reconciling the bank easier, the client can also upload copies of invoices etc.
Personally, I think it's good it does everything I think most clients would be looking for but they need to have some sort of knowledge of what they are doing. It's also very easy to extract information from it.
They can put your firms name on their website as one of their accredited firms but you have to jump through some hoops for that!

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By Duggimon
11th Oct 2017 11:10

I've used it, I've also used Sage One, Xero and Kashflow. Of the four I like Freeagent least, it's clunky and I find it annoyingly difficult to get information out of in a useful format. All four do essentially do the same things.

If we were not using IRIS for our accountancy and tax software though I expect I would have the same issues with Kashflow but as it is I am most keen to avoid Freeagent.

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
11th Oct 2017 11:30

It was the first cloud accounting I used 6 years ago and about 5 of my clients still use & love it

Despite some shortcomings below I too really like it and it particularly suited my spreadsheet clients who had never used formal accounting software and needed something with as few tabs and screens as possible. A lot of thought has gone into what happens under the hood so that users need little if any accounting knowledge.

It does not suit businesses with high volumes of invoices or bills and if a supplier's bill contains more than one nominal code entry you have to enter the bill a line at a time, ie one bill turns into 2 or more.

Unlike most other systems, the only stuff of value you can import are customer/supplier standing data and bank entries, ie you can't import sales or purchases meaning that if converting from another system, it's usually best to do it at the start of a financial year. You can do it mid year but, unless you have time to input individual invoices and bills, you are best entering the TB from your old system at the conversion date and having two sets of books for that year.

Originally the chart of accounts was fixed, which actually suited my clients, but they have since added the ability to add revenue and expense codes. Many don't like this restricted chart and it is fiddly working with a fixed balance sheet especially as some accounts are not available to bank entries and so you have to revert to posting to a contra (suspense) account and using journals.

Their support/knowledge base is, in my experience, second to none, and clients now tend to go there rather than bother me.

Have a look at it as it gives you a good feel for what the software can do and how it does it:https://support.freeagent.com/hc/en-gb?kb=
This should default to the UK site but always best to check this at the bottom of the page as the Global or US page will be missing stuff like Payroll.

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Replying to Paul Scholes:
Fabio
By Fabio
14th Oct 2018 20:51

You can now upload Invoices (single or multi-line), Bills, Expenses, Timeslips (and more) to FreeAgent in bulk using Fabio (http://getfabio.co.uk). Support for Practices is coming...

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Caroline
By accountantccole
11th Oct 2017 12:54

We love FreeAgent. We have about 30 clients on it and Natwest are including it in their business package now so clients can get it for "free".
It isn't perfect, the lack of balance sheet codes is an issue but you can work around this by using bank codes.
I like the simplicity of it. Import bank statements and allocate them, perfect for our less complex clients.
The running tax liability is good too, to ensure clients save. I don't think any of the other online solutions do this?
Phone lines are answered quickly.
I'd definitely have a chat with them.

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Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
11th Oct 2017 14:36

I think you should consider the below before advising clients to take up the free software or least make sure it is clear in your T & C we are. We are Free Agent Partner/Certified Expert.

I think Free Agent is a great piece of software and I think it is very strong on the invoicing side.

However, I do object though this push of free software with the very big T&C the business must agree that their financial Profit and Loss and balance sheet are shared with RBS and Natwest.

I would hope accountants would advise this to their clients before they sign up for the free copy, this is the bank RBS and Natwest that have systematically bully business.

Personally, I would pay for the Software; I explained to clients the consequences of sharing their financials with Natwest and RBS. All have declined.

Whether this arrangement works out for Free Agent I don,t know. But I would never share my financials with RBS or Natwest. See article

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-3830850/RBS-destroyed-...

To be clear I like Free Agent, but clients should be aware what they are getting into when they use the Free software option instead of paying for it. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

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Replying to sarah douglas:
Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
11th Oct 2017 14:53

Hi Sarah

"Open Banking", which is what this is based on, is just a couple of months away and, within a year or two, will be the norm. Given the automation it will enable, it will dramatically alter how books are kept.

So it may be weird to consider allowing your bank to open your data to others but, it's about time they came into the 21st century with their systems and, ultimately, the account owner can always say no.

https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/business/finance-strategy/open-sesame-ps...

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Replying to Paul Scholes:
Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
11th Oct 2017 15:32

Thanks Paul

I agree with you, and it is not my decision for a client if I agree or not, but for example if the Free agent free copy is under your partnership link and the client feels you gave them that advice, then I was mainly saying your T& C should cover that under your data protection section so that they can never come back to you and it is clearly understood. Basically cover yourself. You may enter something a accrual incorrectly which then has the bank worried eg.

I think the whole data protection area is a grey area. I am joking here but the snooping of banks may force cash to come back in. I was watching a programme last week about it.

It is a interesting topic

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Replying to sarah douglas:
Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
11th Oct 2017 17:44

Oh I see - yes this is confusing.

I've just asked FA if I should get all my FA clients to go and open a NatWest or RBOS bank account.

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By pjd17mini
11th Oct 2017 16:30

I've used FreeAgent, Xero and Sage One and of them all, I prefer Freeagent - to me it's just more pleasing to use and generally clients get on well with it - with little or no training in some cases.

Yes it has its limitations, but they all seem to have a dew of those. What I like for small company clients are the extra bits - the estimated CT liability, the estimated retained earnings (no you can't take a dividend.. see..), and the production of divi vouchers and minutes.

The only problem we have found is the cost of it - it would suit a lot of clients really well, but they see cheaper options and are led by the £s.
HTH
P

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Replying to pjd17mini:
Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
11th Oct 2017 17:08

Just a small point on the dividend paperwork.

I've had a battle with FA over this as it's not compliant. You get a single document with the minutes at the top and a dividend voucher down the bottom.

There should be two documents and whilst this is just about OK for a single owner business it is not OK for more than one shareholder as it's evidencing that a separate directors' meeting was held for each shareholder's dividend, with the wording indicating that that sum paid to the person on that date was the total of the dividends authorised.

It also has no control over the total dividends paid or split of shares, meaning that shareholders are allowed to pay whatever they like to each other regardless of the shares they hold. I inherited a two shareholder client a few years back where each shareholder recorded a dividend every time they wanted some money.

There's only one or two systems that offer proper dividend functionality and so the risk of a complete mess is even greater in the majority of systems but by offering a dividend function FA is giving the impression that everything is being taken care of properly.

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Replying to Paul Scholes:
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By pjd17mini
12th Oct 2017 12:34

Yes, all valid points, but still better than nothing IMO

At least it helps when trying to encourage clients to understand their business

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Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
11th Oct 2017 19:08

I see this was discussed in June 17 it came up under this question if anyone wants to have a read

https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/any-answers/what-information-does-natwes...

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