-
Working inside FreeAgent: what LedgerBPO does
FreeAgent bookkeeping services from LedgerBPO give UK freelancers, contractors and small limited companies a named accountant who works inside your own FreeAgent account: explaining bank transactions, reconciling every account, keeping projects and invoices current, reviewing the VAT return before you or your accountant submit it under Making Tax Digital, and keeping the Tax Timeline honest.
01 / 06 -
Your subscription, your data
FreeAgent bookkeeping services from LedgerBPO give UK freelancers, contractors and small limited companies a named accountant who works inside your own FreeAgent account: explaining bank transactions, reconciling every account, keeping projects and invoices current, reviewing the VAT return before you or your accountant submit it under Making Tax Digital, and keeping the Tax Timeline honest.
02 / 06 -
Inside your file
Bank transactions explained and every account reconciled in your FreeAgent
03 / 06 -
Reconciled on a calendar
Invoices, projects and expenses kept current so the Tax Timeline is right
04 / 06 -
Reviewed before you see it
VAT return workings reviewed before you or your accountant submit
05 / 06 -
A named accountant, a backup and a team lead
Inside your own software, on a fixed close calendar, with a reply from a person within 1 business day. Call +1-657-777-0006 or start a quote.
Get a custom quote 06 / 06
Why businesses on FreeAgent outsource
FreeAgent is designed so a sole trader or contractor can do their own books, and many do until the unexplained transactions pass a hundred. Guess suggests an explanation that was right once and wrong since, and personal spending from the business card lands in expenses instead of the director's loan account. The VAT return goes off with whatever the categories say, and Making Tax Digital quarterly updates make the gap visible.
A dedicated accountant explains every transaction against a receipt or invoice, reconciles each account to the bank, tidies the director's loan and dividends, and reviews the VAT figures before you submit. You keep your FreeAgent account, free with a NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank business account or paid directly; we keep it accurate.
What we do inside FreeAgent
Bank feeds and explanations
We keep Open Banking feeds connected, explain every transaction against an invoice, bill or receipt, and use Guess only where the history is reliable, so the unexplained list stays empty.
Reconciling every account
Each bank, credit card and PayPal account is reconciled to its statement balance monthly, with duplicated feed lines and missing days corrected before the month is closed.
Invoices, estimates and projects
Recurring invoices, estimates and project time are kept current, payments explained against the right invoice, and overdue invoices chased under your name with FreeAgent's reminders and our DunningDesk process.
Smart Capture and expenses
Receipts photographed in the FreeAgent mobile app or emailed in are matched to bank lines, and out-of-pocket expenses are recorded against the right category and VAT treatment.
VAT return review
Before each VAT return we check the scheme settings, the VAT treatment on unusual items and the reclaim on expenses, then hand you or your accountant the figures to submit under Making Tax Digital.
Director's loan, dividends and journals
We keep the director's loan account explained, record dividends and salary correctly, and post year-end journals so the Tax Timeline and the accounts your accountant files agree.
Integrations we reconcile
- StripeInvoice payments taken through Stripe matched to invoices, with fees explained and the payout reconciled.
- PayPalPayPal feed lines explained against invoices and expenses, and the balance reconciled monthly.
- GoCardlessDirect Debit collections matched to invoices and the payout net of fees explained.
- DextReceipts and supplier bills extracted and published into FreeAgent with the right category and VAT rate.
Migration to and from FreeAgent
Moving to FreeAgent
Moving to FreeAgent from a spreadsheet, Xero or QuickBooks usually happens when a NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank account makes it free, or an accountant recommends it. We set the FreeAgent start date and enter opening balances, unpaid invoices and bills, VAT scheme details and payroll year-to-date figures. Then we connect bank feeds and explain the first month alongside the old records.
Moving from FreeAgent
Businesses outgrow FreeAgent when they add staff, stock or a second entity, and usually move to Xero. We explain and reconcile everything to the leaving date, then export the trial balance, contacts, unpaid invoices and bills, fixed assets and VAT position. FreeAgent's categories are mapped to the new chart of accounts, and the old account stays read-only until the new ledger's first close agrees.
Common FreeAgent reconciliation problems we fix
Hundreds of unexplained transactions
Bank lines pile up unexplained, so the profit figure, the VAT return and the Tax Timeline are all built on incomplete data. We explain them against source documents in date order and reconcile each month as we go.
Guess explaining the wrong way
One early mistake teaches Guess to categorise a supplier wrongly for every later transaction. We correct the history, re-explain the affected lines and check the category defaults.
Personal spending in business expenses
Card spend for personal items is explained as an expense instead of money paid to the director or drawings. We move each item to the director's loan or drawings so the accounts and Corporation Tax are right.
VAT scheme set up wrongly
A business on the flat rate scheme with FreeAgent set to standard VAT, or cash basis and invoice basis mixed up, produces a return that does not match reality. We correct the settings from the registration date and rework the affected periods with your accountant.
Duplicate lines after a bank feed reconnects
Re-authorising an Open Banking feed or uploading a statement over a live feed doubles the transactions. We remove the duplicates by date and amount and confirm the closing balance against the bank.
Other general ledger platforms
Frequently asked questions
Do you work inside my existing FreeAgent subscription?
Yes. You add our accountant as a user, or through your accountant's practice dashboard if they manage the subscription, and you keep the account, the bank feeds and the owner login. Whether FreeAgent is free through your NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank account or paid directly, nothing changes about who owns it.
Can you clean up my FreeAgent file?
Yes. A FreeAgent cleanup explains every outstanding transaction, removes duplicates, reconciles each account to the bank, sorts the director's loan and drawings, checks the VAT scheme and treatments, and corrects the categories that Guess learnt wrongly. Your accountant then gets a trial balance they can file from. Our bookkeeping cleanup service explains the scope and hand-off.
How much do FreeAgent bookkeeping services cost?
Pricing depends on volume and scope, so we send a custom quote within 1 business day. The drivers are the number of bank and card accounts, monthly transaction volume, whether you are VAT registered, how many invoices and projects you run, and whether payroll journals and Making Tax Digital quarterly workings are included.
Do you submit my VAT return or MTD quarterly updates from FreeAgent?
No. We prepare and check the figures; you or your accountant submit them from your own FreeAgent login, which is connected to HMRC. That covers VAT returns under Making Tax Digital and, from April 2026 for qualifying income above £50,000, the quarterly updates for MTD for Income Tax. Our VAT returns page explains the review we do.
Can you handle CIS in FreeAgent?
Yes. FreeAgent supports the Construction Industry Scheme for contractors and subcontractors, and we record the deductions on invoices and bills so the CIS suffered and CIS deducted figures are right. The monthly CIS return is submitted from your account by you or your accountant. Our CIS payroll page covers the wider process.
Is FreeAgent still right for me as I grow?
It suits sole traders, contractors and small limited companies with a handful of staff. Once you need stock, multiple tracking dimensions, several entities or complex approvals, Xero usually fits better, and we say so. When that day comes our accounting software setup service handles the move with a parallel month checked in both systems.
Ask an AI assistant to summarize this page
Opens the assistant with a prefilled prompt so you can check our claims against the page yourself.