Categories / Invoicing/
FreshBooks Excentric Agency: end-of-month invoicing 5× faster; saves 1 full day/month
A 15-person marketing agency made month-end invoicing about 5× faster — saving a full day every month — by pulling project hours straight into FreshBooks invoices and giving their bookkeeper Accountant access.
- Task
- escape Excel + pretty-invoice tool + separate time tracker that made month-end a chore
- Result
- end-of-month invoicing ~5× faster; saves a full day every month; lower bookkeeping cost because bookkeeper uses Accountant role in FreshBooks; Projects hour budgets improve future quoting; record growth year attributed partly to having processes
- Tools
- FreshBooks (Invoicing, Proposals/Estimates with embedded long-form PDFs + e-sign, Projects, Expenses, Dashboard, Time Tracking, Accountant role)
- Setup
- create Projects with team hour budgets → team logs tasks/time → month-end pull hours into invoices → use Proposals for big SOWs (embed 30–40 page PDF + pricing/signature) → give bookkeeper Accountant access instead of emailing attachments
Step-by-step setup guide + copy-paste prompt
Honest note: Projects, time tracking, and invoicing are rules workflows. Still eliminates Excel + separate timers.
Prerequisites
- FreshBooks with Projects + Time Tracking on your plan.
- Team members invited; bookkeeper ready for Accountant role.
Step-by-step setup
Step 1. Create Projects with hour budgets. Projects → New Project → set client, budget, team (+ under Team Members → Update Team Members → Save).
Step 2. Team logs time to tasks on each project during the month.
Step 3. Generate the invoice from the project. Open the project → More Actions → Generate Invoice → choose date range / unbilled time / expenses → edit → send. (Or Invoices → New Invoice → Add a Line → Import Unbilled Time, Expenses, and Projects.)
Step 4. Use Proposals for big SOWs. Attach/embed the long PDF + pricing + e-sign so sales and billing stay in one system.
Step 5. Invite the bookkeeper. Team Members → invite as Accountant or Accountant – Full Access (Full Access if they need to create/edit beyond view-only). Stops emailing spreadsheet attachments.
Copy-paste prompt
Write a month-end invoicing checklist for a {{n}}-person agency on FreshBooks: what PMs must close before finance runs Generate Invoice, and what the bookkeeper reviews.Sources
- FreshBooks: Excentric Agency. Credit: Excentric Agency leadership.
- FreshBooks Help: Generate an invoice
- FreshBooks Help: Team permissions
Industries: AI automation for Agencies & Consultancies
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