The short version
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Connecting FreshBooks
Go to Financials → Integrations. The FreshBooks section sits under QuickBooks Desktop.
Only owners and admins can connect, disconnect or change the settings. Choosing a different business than before starts fresh there; nothing already sent to the old one is changed.
One set of books at a time. While QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop or Xero is connected, FreshBooks won't sync, and the other way round. Disconnect the one you are leaving.
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Settings
| Setting | What it decides | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Start date | Invoices dated on or after this day go across, with their payments. Use the day you moved to PortaPro. | Yes |
| Tax name | What your FreshBooks calls the sales tax on taxed lines, for example "Sales Tax" or "IL Sales Tax". PortaPro sends the rate it charged under that name and FreshBooks works out the tax. | No (defaults to Sales Tax) |
Click Save settings. Nothing is sent until the start date is saved.
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What goes across
Every night at 7:40 UTC, and whenever you click Sync now:
| PortaPro | FreshBooks |
|---|---|
| Customer | Client, created the first time one of their invoices goes across. A client with the same name is matched, not duplicated. |
| Issued invoice dated on or after the start date | Invoice with every line, PortaPro's own number (INV-001234) and the customer's PO number. Drafts never go. An edited invoice is updated with its current values. |
| Settled payment | Payment on the invoice, for no more than the invoice still owes in FreshBooks. FreshBooks never emails your customer about it. |
| Goodwill or dispute credit | Credit note on the client. |
| Prepayment, or the extra on an overpayment | Prepayment credit note on the client. |
| Credit applied to an invoice | A payment of type Credit on the invoice, drawn from the client's credit, the same as Add a Payment in FreshBooks. |
| Earned cash discount | A credit applied to the invoice, so it reads paid in full in FreshBooks too. |
| Voided invoice | Deleted in FreshBooks, which has no void, after its payments and credits come off. |
| Reversed or refunded payment | Removed in FreshBooks. |
| Money moved to another invoice | Follows it, for example a deposit credited to the final invoice. |
| Revised invoice | Updated, or sent as INV-001234-R2 when the revision kept the old number. |
If FreshBooks' total differs from PortaPro's, the invoice still goes across and the sync log says by how much.
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Push to FreshBooks on one invoice
Push to FreshBooks in an invoice's menu sends that invoice now, with its client, settled payments, cash discount and any credit applied to it. It ignores the start date: asking for one invoice means it belongs in FreshBooks.
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Not sent
Record those in FreshBooks.
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The sync log
Recent sync activity on the card lists the latest results: what was sent, what was skipped and why, and any error in FreshBooks' own words. A fixed error is tried again on the next sync. If a large first sync runs out of time, the card says Sync paused, more to push and the next sync carries on. Nothing is sent twice: invoices are found again by their number, clients by name, and a payment or credit cut off mid-send is looked up in FreshBooks before it is sent again.
If a credit application fails with "FreshBooks recorded this as an ordinary payment instead of drawing from the client's credit", PortaPro removed that payment so the invoice isn't paid twice. Apply the credit to that invoice in FreshBooks with Add a Payment.
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Reconnect and disconnect
If FreshBooks stops accepting PortaPro's connection, the card shows Reconnect needed. Click Reconnect and sign in again. Your settings and what was already sent are kept, so nothing duplicates.
Disconnect stops syncing immediately. Nothing is deleted in FreshBooks, and reconnecting the same business later won't create duplicates.
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