Moving from FreshBooks

Before you cancel#

Export first. When you cancel FreshBooks, your account stays open until the end of the billing cycle, and there's no read-only time after that. FreshBooks says your data is kept and you can reactivate the account, but an account inactive for 30 days or more may be deactivated and deleted.

• To cancel: your profile picture or initials at the top right, then Billing and Upgrade, then the cancel your account link at the bottom. On a Select plan, or if you don't see the link, FreshBooks' Support does it.
• Cancelling stops recurring templates and retainers, disconnects your bank, and your clients can no longer pay invoices online. Move your unpaid invoices to EscBooks before you do.

Pick your start date first (see Moving to EscBooks): it's the date range for most of what follows.

Export your files#

FreshBooks exports each area as its own CSV. Each export's Select a date or Date Range offers a Custom range.

1. Clients. In Clients, click More Actions, then Export Clients. Addresses and notes come with them. Over 1,000 clients come as several files of 1,000, so let your browser download more than one file.
2. Invoices. In Invoices, click More Actions, then Export Invoices. Choose the dates and a currency, then Download CSV. One currency per file: bill in more than one? Export each.
3. Payments. In Reports, open Payments Collected (under Payments Reports). Set the Date Range under Filters, then More Actions, then Export for Excel. It downloads as a CSV.
4. Time. In Reports, open Time Entry Details (under Time Tracking Reports). Under Filters, set the Date Range and, under Hours / Statuses, choose Billed; then More Actions, Export for Excel. Export it again with Unbilled. The CSV has your exact time, not rounded to the minute.
5. Expenses. In Expenses, click More Actions, then Export Expenses. Choose the dates and a currency, then Download CSV.
6. Receipts. In Expenses, More Actions, then Export Expense Receipts. Choose the Date Range, click Generate File, then Download here when it's ready. It's a ZIP, each file named by date, amount, category and merchant.
7. Services. In Items and Services, open the Services tab, then More Actions, Export Services. Items are the same on the Items tab, with Export Items.

For your records#

• Invoice PDFs: in Invoices, tick the ones you want, then Bulk Actions, Download PDF. Each comes as its own PDF.
• Vendors: in Expenses, the Vendors section, More Actions, Export Vendors.
• On the Plus, Premium and Select plans: the Chart of Accounts (Accounting, Chart of Accounts, More Actions, Export Accounts) and the General Ledger report, for your accountant.
• Any other report: More Actions, then Export for Excel (a CSV) or Print to save a PDF.
• Estimates download as PDFs from the estimates list. A CSV of them takes a request to FreshBooks' Support.

FreshBooks also offers a full copy of your account's data on request, under the GDPR: email privacy@freshbooks.com from the email address on your FreshBooks account and ask for an export of your account data. It comes as CSV and PDF files, within 30 days.

Bring it into EscBooks#

Attach the files and your bank statements to a chat with the assistant you've connected to EscBooks, and paste this with your start date filled in. Unzip anything zipped first.

I'm moving my books from FreshBooks to EscBooks, starting [START DATE]. The files I exported from FreshBooks are attached. The clients are in the clients export; the invoices in the invoices export, with their payments in the Payments Collected report; the time in the Time Entry Details reports (one of billed time, one of unbilled); and other expenses in the expenses export. The bank and card statements came from my bank. Many of the FreshBooks expenses came from my bank too, so use the expenses export only for expenses that aren't on a statement. Using the EscBooks connector, bring them in one step at a time, and show me what you're about to add before each step.

1. Look first. Call whoami, import_context and list_clients, so you know what's already in EscBooks and nothing is added twice.
2. Clients. From the customer or client list, add each client I still work with using create_client: name, email, contact name, and hourly rate if the export has one. Show me the list before adding them. Then tell me which clients have an address, phone, payment terms or a currency other than dollars, so I can add those in EscBooks.
3. Projects. Add each project to its client with create_project, with its own rate if it has one.
4. Invoices dated [START DATE] or later, and any older invoice that's still unpaid. For each one billed by the hour, log its time with log_time on the original dates, client and project (one entry per day, 24 hours at most), then draft_invoice from just those entries, with number set to the invoice's old number and issueDate and dueDate set to its old dates. Compare each draft's total with the old invoice, and tell me any that differ (a different rate, a discount, tax, or lines that weren't hours) and any invoice that wasn't billed by the hour, which I'll make in EscBooks myself. Then list the drafts for me to open.
5. Wait while I check each draft and click Mark as Sent. Then, for each invoice that was paid, use request_record_payment with the amount, the date it was paid and how. I'll approve those in EscBooks. Tell me about any invoice in another currency: I'll record its payment in EscBooks myself.
6. Time that isn't on an invoice yet: log it as billable, so it waits on To Invoice. Other past time I want in my reports: log it with billable set to false, so it's never billed.
7. Bank and card transactions since [START DATE]: one import per account with import_expenses, using the account's name as the source and its opening and closing balances if the export shows them. Send every line. Mark transfers between my own accounts and card payments as skip, and anything personal as personal. Tell me which deposits aren't client payments (bank interest, a sale I didn't invoice), so I can mark them as other income when I review. I'll review and approve each import in EscBooks.
8. Income that isn't a payment on an invoice and isn't on those statements (interest on an account I'm not bringing in, a cash sale): ask to record each with request_record_other_income, with its type (interest, sale or other), amount, the day it came in and the account from import_context. I'll approve those in EscBooks.
9. Expenses that aren't on a bank or card statement (cash, or paid personally): add them with add_expense.
10. When you're done, list what you added, what's waiting for my approval, and anything you couldn't bring in.

• It adds your clients and projects, logs the time, and drafts each invoice under its FreshBooks number. You set each draft's Invoice date and click Mark as Sent; then it asks to record the payments, which you approve in Requests.
• Each bank and card statement comes in as an import that waits on the account for your review. You can also upload the bank's CSVs yourself (see Importing statements).
• Services aren't added by the assistant. Add them from the services export in Settings → Services.
• Then set Invoice prefix and Next invoice number in Settings → Invoicing so the hint under them shows the number your next FreshBooks invoice would have had.

Before you start, read Moving to EscBooks: it covers the assistant's permissions, its changes a day, and the services and subcontractors to add first.

What doesn't come across#

• Invoices for items or a flat fee. The assistant builds invoices from time, so it tells you which ones to make yourself with New Invoice and Add Line.
• Payments on their own and client credits. A payment comes over on the invoice it paid.
• Receipts. They stay in your ZIP. Attach any you need to their expense in EscBooks.
• Retainers and recurring templates. Set up retainers and repeating invoices again in EscBooks (see Retainers).
• Your chart of accounts and journal entries. EscBooks puts each expense in one of its own categories, and builds its General Ledger from your records.
• Bills. FreshBooks lists no export for them. Paid ones are on your bank statements; enter open ones on Bills.