How to Work Effectively With Your Accountant in FreshBooks

If you work with an accountant or bookkeeper, then you know how valuable they are at providing an expert second opinion. Have a concern about your taxes? Give them a call. Need help reading a financial report? They have your back.

But working together can be difficult when you’re not on the same platform. Numbers can get lost in translation, and you can waste time sending information and reports back and forth.

To solve those problems, FreshBooks has created the Accountant role. This user role gives your accountant all the tools they need, so you can collaborate together effectively on FreshBooks.

What Is the Accountant Role?

The Accountant role gives an accounting professional access to the tools, reports, and information they need in FreshBooks to properly advise your business. This includes the ability to:

• Access accounting reports like General Ledger, Balance Sheet, and Profit and Loss
• Add Journal Entries
• Manage Chart of Accounts
• Review and manage Invoices, Expenses, Payments, Other Income, and Bank Reconciliation

Not only will your accounting professional be able to generate reports, but they’ll also have access to all the numbers they need to help you grow your business, save time with taxes, and see how your business is performing.

How Do I Invite My Accountant to FreshBooks?

Inviting your accountant or bookkeeper to FreshBooks is simple:

1. Log in to your FreshBooks account
2. Once on your Dashboard, click the green Invite button in the top right corner
3. Select the Accountant option
4. Enter their Name and Email Address
5. Add a personal message if needed, then click Send Invitation
6. Your accounting professional will receive an email with instructions to log in

What Will My Accountant See When I Invite Them?

Your accountant or bookkeeper will receive a simple email from you, asking them to set up a FreshBooks account. The email will look something like this:

Wait: Does My Accountant See Everything in My FreshBooks Account?

The Accountant role is not the same as your (the Owner) role. Their permissions give them access to your:

• Dashboard
• Invoices and Other Income
• Expenses
• Reports
• Accounting (Chart of Accounts)

But your accounting professional cannot:

• Manage your Clients
• Track time or view your Projects
• Send invoices or estimates
• Manage Bank Connections
• Create recurring expenses or import a CSV file of expenses

This will ensure you only give them access to the information they need while protecting more sensitive areas of your business. (Learn more about these permissions here.)

Things to Keep in Mind

It’s not absolutely necessary to hire an accounting professional to help with your finances. In fact, you may prefer to handle your books on your own because it keeps you more connected to your business. That’s totally up to you!

But if you trust an accountant or bookkeeper to help you save time on your books, or just appreciate having an expert second opinion, you’ll love how easy it is to work together on FreshBooks. And you can rest assured that your accountant or bookkeeper only has access to the areas of your business you want them to.

Click here to invite your accountant today and get started.

This post was updated in November 2022.