Reply to: FreeAgent - Expenses & Receipts

[l35kee]

I've just got a reply form FA support on the same question.

Unfortunately, attachments do not form part of the export all data you can acquire from your FreeAgent account so you will have to download these individually I'm afraid.

There is a 3rd party app that we are aware of (there may be others) that report it will create a copy of the documents held in your online accounting package and puts them in your existing cloud storage provider: https://assistnt.com/index

And one which reports it will export your data including receipts and attachments: https://exportify.co.uk/

The export function is something that we have considered as a future development so I will add your vote to this.

[FrontEnder]

I've just been uploading to FA via the app or desktop site. But their support pages recommend keeping your own backup, which doesn't fill me with much confidence... Surely they keep multiple backups of these... :/

I wish they made it easy to pull a backup of all files uploaded. Doesn't seem to be any way for me to grab the existing receipt photos out of there, so if they do lose it I may be screwed..

This is my biggest issue with expenses. A download of all files would be very useful.

The reporting in general in freeagent could be a lot better e.g. Should be able to download a data file with all expenses between a certain period.

[l35kee]

Paper expenses I photograph on my phone and then upload via the app or mobile site. These are then stored in my iCloud aswell as the FreeAgent DB. The paper copies accumulate for a few weeks and then get rifled through (make sure I didn't miss anything) and binned. Online / emailed receipts get saved to Dropbox and then put on FreeAgent via the desktop site. Again stored in original format in a cloud system I have control of in addition to FA. I work in Cloud Computing though, I've seen it all disappear before

I've just been uploading to FA via the app or desktop site. But their support pages recommend keeping your own backup, which doesn't fill me with much confidence... Surely they keep multiple backups of these... :/

I wish they made it easy to pull a backup of all files uploaded. Doesn't seem to be any way for me to grab the existing receipt photos out of there, so if they do lose it I may be screwed..

[SeanT]

Paper expenses I photograph on my phone and then upload via the app or mobile site. These are then stored in my iCloud aswell as the FreeAgent DB. The paper copies accumulate for a few weeks and then get rifled through (make sure I didn't miss anything) and binned. Online / emailed receipts get saved to Dropbox and then put on FreeAgent via the desktop site. Again stored in original format in a cloud system I have control of in addition to FA. I work in Cloud Computing though, I've seen it all disappear before

[adubya]

I use the app on android - it stores them in a separate folder. So it should be easy enough to just upload that to OneDrive periodically (or auto sync it - I don't use OneDrive, so no idea if that's possible).

Just did a test and can't find any local image on the Android filesystem.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I have a business credit card which I figured would go great with FreeAgent except 1) The Bank Feed doesn't work and 2) It keeps on duplicating entries when I import new statements.

Also you need to watch out with potential P11D/BIK issues - most of this stuff, travel, subsistence etc. doesn't normally need to be reported any more but IIRC the provision of a company credit for use by an employee on out of pocket expenses can potentially be reportable in its own right. Worth checking.

[vwdan]

One idea might be to have some kind of dedicated pre-paid debit card that I only use for out of pocket expenses which I could then set up as a bank feed in FreeAgent.

I have a business credit card which I figured would go great with FreeAgent except 1) The Bank Feed doesn't work and 2) It keeps on duplicating entries when I import new statements

Don't get me wrong, I still love FA and it's definitely better/easier than the old SJD spreadsheet but I do feel like I spend more time than I need to messing with receipts.

[l35kee]

I use the app on android - it stores them in a separate folder. So it should be easy enough to just upload that to OneDrive periodically (or auto sync it - I don't use OneDrive, so no idea if that's possible).

Other than that, why do you think the app is lacking? Personally, I just use the app to take a pic of the receipt as I go along. I don't bother filing the paper receipts.

Do you know the path to this? I'd like to grab them!

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

IMO, out of pocket expense tracking continues to be the weakest point for FreeAgent.

I have dabbled with various alternatives over the years - for ages I was using a spreadsheet to track all of my individual expenses and then aggregating them into FreeAgent but it was very easy to fall behind on this.

I've tried various other platforms like Expensify but never found anything I really liked that integrated nicely with FreeAgent. Ideally I'd prefer it if FreeAgent just made general improvements to their expense tracking.

I've had very little in the way of out of pocket expenses this year as I've been almost 100% WFH and I've also switched to using my business debit card to pay for train tickets directly which is probably my main out of pocket expense.

One idea might be to have some kind of dedicated pre-paid debit card that I only use for out of pocket expenses which I could then set up as a bank feed in FreeAgent.

[FrontEnder]

The FreeAgent app seems to be a bit lacking and, in particular, I hate that there's no easy way to store the receipts off FreeAgent. I've got 3 years of receipts stored on OneDrive and I'd like to carry on that tradition for my own peace of mind.

I use the app on android - it stores them in a separate folder. So it should be easy enough to just upload that to OneDrive periodically (or auto sync it - I don't use OneDrive, so no idea if that's possible).

Other than that, why do you think the app is lacking? Personally, I just use the app to take a pic of the receipt as I go along. I don't bother filing the paper receipts.

[Lance]

spend 10 minutes doing them weekly.

[grabri]

The FA app on the phone allows you to enter and take photos of receipts 'on-the-go'. Automatically syncs to the cloud - then just stuff the paper copies in a polypocket each month.

[adubya]

I use the google drive "scan" option to store a receipt scan on google drive and then attach the scan from there to the Freeagent receipt entry.
Doesn't take long and I have my own copy of the scans so wouldn't need to perform a massive image export from Freeagent if I ever stopped using it.
Don't bother keeping the paper receipt.

[eek]

I just subscribe to Xpenditure.com for £7 a month i get an app take a photo of the receipt and send it off.

Then once a month I run a report and import it into freeagent.

[youngguy]

I 'smoothed' mine a few yrs ago by carrying my business debit card and putting all expenses on that. Paper receipts go in a Polly pocket at the end of each month. I used to scan in as well but no longer bother. After 10 yrs my first lot of receipts have aged well in Polly's so I figured my belts and braces approach was just wasting time.

Most of my expenses are the same each month so FA has learnt them and all I need to do is a quick check and confirm each month when I do my invoice.

If there is a nifty integration I don't know about I'd be interested in improving