How to Migrate from FreshBooks to Relentify

FreshBooks is excellent for what it was built for: simple invoicing and expense tracking for freelancers and small service teams. But the moment your business outgrows that profile—when you need purchase orders, multi-entity accounting, or an expense approval workflow—FreshBooks starts to feel like a tool you've outgrown. Migrating from FreshBooks to Relentify is straightforward enough that most businesses finish in two or three hours (and like most accounting migrations, it involves a small amount of spreadsheet wrangling and one cup of tea).

This guide walks through the complete process.

Why migrate from FreshBooks to Relentify

A few triggers usually prompt the switch:

• Pricing by client list. FreshBooks charges per active client. Once you hit a certain threshold, the monthly bill climbs faster than your revenue does.
• No purchase orders. If you're buying from suppliers and need approval workflows, FreshBooks has no native PO system.
• Limited reporting. Your accountant asks for a trial balance or aged payables report—FreshBooks either doesn't provide it or makes you export and manually interpret the data.
• Single entity only. Running two businesses or a sole trader with a limited company? FreshBooks can't handle that in one platform.
• No expense approval workflows. You're either approving every expense manually or letting team members spend unchecked.
• Multi-currency complexity. FreshBooks' multi-currency support is basic. If you invoice in EUR and pay suppliers in USD, you'll hit the limits quickly.

If three or more of these sound familiar, you're likely past the point where staying with FreshBooks makes sense. The good news: the migration itself is one of the least complex you can do. Unlike migrating from QuickBooks or Xero, FreshBooks' data structure is simpler, so your export-to-import cycle is straightforward.

If you're still deciding whether Relentify is the right fit, our detailed comparison breaks down the pricing and feature differences side by side.

Before you start: Pre-migration checklist

Timing matters. The cleanest migration happens at the start of a financial year or VAT quarter—you get a natural break between old and new accounts.

Before you export anything:

1. Clear draft invoices. Send or delete them. You want your FreshBooks outstanding invoices list to be final.
2. Record all payments. Every payment received should be matched to its invoice.
3. Reconcile banks. If you're using FreshBooks' bank connection, ensure all transactions are categorised correctly.
4. Submit any pending VAT returns. Complete and submit through FreshBooks before you switch. The Making Tax Digital system expects your final FreshBooks submission to have gone through first.
5. Run and save reports. Generate PDFs of your P&L, balance sheet (if available), tax summary, outstanding invoices, and expenses. These are your reference copy.
6. Document recurring invoices. Write down amounts, frequencies, and client names for any standing invoices.
7. Export time tracking data. FreshBooks' time logs don't transfer automatically. If you're using that feature, export it now.

The migration process

Step 1: Export your data

FreshBooks makes this straightforward:

• Clients: Clients > Export Clients (CSV with names, emails, addresses)
• Invoices: Invoices > Export Invoices (all invoices with amounts and payment status)
• Expenses: Expenses > Export Expenses (with categories and amounts)
• Items list: Settings > Items (if you use line items on invoices)

The chart of accounts is trickier. FreshBooks' is simplified compared to standard double-entry accounting. Go to Reports > Chart of Accounts to view yours, then document it—FreshBooks' export options here are limited. You'll use this mapping when you set up Relentify's accounts.

Step 2: Set up Relentify

Create your account and configure the basics:

• Company name, registration number, VAT number, address
• Financial year start date
• VAT scheme (standard, flat rate, or cash accounting for landlords)
• Bank accounts (via Open Banking or manual entry)

Step 3: Map and configure your chart of accounts

This is the critical step. FreshBooks uses a flat, simple structure. Relentify uses a full double-entry chart of accounts that aligns with Companies House filings and standard accounting practice.

Relentify's default UK chart of accounts covers most businesses. Review it and add any custom accounts you need. If FreshBooks had custom expense categories or income buckets, find the matching accounts in Relentify's structure and note the mapping—you'll use it when entering opening balances.

Step 4: Import clients and create suppliers

Upload your FreshBooks client export CSV. Relentify maps the standard fields: name, email, address, phone.

Suppliers are new. FreshBooks doesn't have proper supplier management—if you've been tracking vendors through expenses, you'll now create supplier records in Relentify. This is actually a good thing: you can set payment terms, track history, and build proper purchase order workflows. (This is the moment where FreshBooks feels like it was missing a whole category of features.)

Step 5: Enter opening balances

This requires care. You're moving from simplified accounting to full double-entry, which means your opening balances need to be precise.

If you have a FreshBooks balance sheet, use it. If not, reconstruct from:

• Your actual bank balances (from bank statements)
• Outstanding receivables (from FreshBooks' unpaid invoices report)
• Outstanding payables (from bills you owe—FreshBooks may not track these)
• Any other assets or liabilities

Enter these in Relentify Settings > Opening Balances. Run a trial balance afterward—debits must equal credits.

Important note: If FreshBooks wasn't maintaining full double-entry records—which is common for many users who relied on its simpler model—you may need your accountant to help establish accurate opening balances. This is the one step where accountant involvement is worth the cost.

Step 6: Recreate unpaid invoices and recurring invoices

Export your unpaid invoices from FreshBooks and recreate them in Relentify with original dates. This ensures you can track payments going forward.

Then recreate recurring invoices. Note the frequency, amount, client, and next scheduled date for each. Relentify's recurring feature has more options: automatic sending, attached documents, and flexible recurrence patterns.

Step 7: Connect bank feeds

Link your bank accounts via Open Banking. Transactions flow in automatically from your migration date forward. If you were manually importing in FreshBooks, this is an immediate quality-of-life upgrade.

Step 8: Authorise MTD

If you were submitting VAT through FreshBooks, authorise Relentify with HMRC for Making Tax Digital. Ensure your final FreshBooks VAT return has been submitted first.

What FreshBooks couldn't do (and Relentify can)

This is the rewarding part. With Relentify, you now have:

• Purchase orders with workflows. Set approval rules, spending limits, and supplier preferences.
• Expense approval workflows. Define who can submit, who approves, and spending caps by person.
• Comprehensive reporting. Trial balance, general ledger, cash flow forecast, aged receivables—reports your accountant actually wants.
• Credit notes. Integrated into your invoicing without workarounds.
• Multi-entity management. Running multiple businesses? Add them as separate entities and consolidate reporting.
• Advanced VAT. Flat rate, reverse charge, partial exemption—the works.

If you've been comparing alternatives, Relentify vs Xero offers a detailed feature comparison if you want to see how we stack up against another popular platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long does a FreshBooks migration take? A: Most businesses finish in 2–3 hours. The exception: if your opening balances are unclear, establishing them with your accountant might add a few hours. But that's a business-accounting problem, not a migration problem.

Q: Can I migrate invoices and keep the original invoice numbers? A: Yes. When you recreate unpaid invoices in Relentify, use the original invoice numbers. Relentify will respect them.

Q: What happens to my FreshBooks data after I switch? A: Keep FreshBooks active for at least one month (and keep PDF backups of key reports). Once you're confident in Relentify, cancel your subscription. You can always reference your exported CSVs if you need historical data.

Q: Do I need an accountant to migrate? A: Not necessarily—the process is straightforward. You may want accountant input on opening balances if FreshBooks wasn't keeping full double-entry records, or if your business structure is complex.

Q: Will my bank connections transfer? A: No. You'll need to reconnect your bank accounts in Relentify via Open Banking. This takes about 5 minutes per account.

Q: Can I migrate in the middle of the financial year? A: Yes, but it's cleaner at year-end or a VAT quarter break. If you're mid-year, establish your opening balances as at the migration date and run both systems in parallel for a week to catch any discrepancies.

Q: What if FreshBooks doesn't give me the data I need? A: Contact FreshBooks support. They can often provide custom exports. Relentify's support team can also advise on what to do if you're missing data—migrations from FreshBooks are common enough that we know the typical gaps.

Q: Is Relentify more expensive than FreshBooks? A: Check our pricing page to compare directly. FreshBooks' per-client model often becomes expensive as you grow. Relentify's pricing is based on features, not client count—for most growing businesses, the per-month cost is lower and doesn't climb with client list.

Timeline and next steps

FreshBooks-to-Relentify is one of the quickest migrations because the data structure is simpler than other platforms. Budget 2–3 hours for the process itself, plus any accountant time for opening balances.

The migration is your chance to upgrade from a tool built for freelance invoicing to a platform built for growing businesses. You'll have unlimited clients, proper purchase orders, expense workflows, and reports your accountant can actually use.

Relentify's support team can help with any migration questions—live chat is available during UK business hours. The move from FreshBooks to Relentify is well-trodden ground for us, and the process is predictable.

Outgrowing your accounting software is a good sign. It means your business is progressing. Start your free 14-day trial of Relentify today to see how the features work—no credit card needed.