mobileAgent isn’t perfect, but I’ve tried to make it as robust as possible. This page lists any known issues – and workarounds – that are available.

If your problem isn’t listed here, please email me and I’ll try to work out whats going on and fix it.

Before you email, please remember:

  • I can’t give accounting advice (tho I can recommend a brilliant accountant!). I’m not an accountant – I’m a small business owner and software developer.
  • I can’t fix things in FreeAgent, or help you with how to use it. FreeAgent Support is a good place to start for those kinds of things.


Whats new in v1.8?

  • Various fixes around Dropbox uploading and receipt image cleanup; Mileage now allows decimals (1.5); Mileage can have images; Visual changes.

I can’t connect or log in for the first time!

It is possible that API access in FreeAgent is disabled. See this page for step by step instructions on how to enable API Access.

If you normally login to FreeAgent using My Business Works or other method where you log into another service, select “FreeAgent” from their menu and are automatically logged into FreeAgent, this page details how you set your FreeAgent password.

For anything else, have a read of the how do I login page.

How does contact syncing work?

This page explains it.

Everything is in KM’s / Miles! Argh!

All mileage is in whatever units your FreeAgent account is in – so if you are in the UK or US, it’s miles. Anywhere else it’s in KM’s. If you have set your account to be one or the other, then it’s which ever one you set.

You are just entering the number – FreeAgent controls what that number represents.


When entering time, it’s…. odd? 1.50? 1 hour 50 mins or 1 and a half hours? whats going on here?

There are two ways to enter time in mobileAgent.

  • You can enter time in decimal format: 1.5 is 1 hour 30 mins.
  • You can enter time in time format: 1:30 is 1 hour 30 mins.

As the : isn’t on the standard iOS number pad, you can put one in by using two dots, so to enter 1:30, enter 1..30 and it will be converted to 1:30.

If you are in Europe, then 1.30 is 1,30 – and to enter 1:30, use 1,,30

When I select a project while creating a new Mileage expense, I can’t see my project!

FreeAgent only allows you to submit mileage for projects which are in the same currency as your FreeAgent account is. So if you are a UK company, your currency is GBP, and only projects which are in GBP will show up (not EUR or USD).

This applies to universal companies too. However, as I don’t know your currency, all projects are displayed with their currency.

From iTunes Comments – remember that I can read – but not reply to – comments on the iTunes store.

  • Why can’t I create an invoice / send an invoice / mark an invoice as paid?
    Creation of invoices is supported by the FreeAgent API, so this is, in theory, possible, but out of the scope of the app. Marking invoices as paid is not supported by the api – only draft, sent or cancelled.
  • Cannot see any dashboard information. Cannot view invoices or estimates for clients. Cannot see bank account balances.
    Most of whats on the dashboard is not available in the api – except for the tax timeline and invoice timeline. The format in the API is not useful however (eg, I can’t work out which invoice it is,  just that there is one). I had invoices shown, but it was pretty useless, so I removed it. If there is demand, I can add it back in.

My problem isn’t listed here! Help!

Please email me with details of your problem, including:

  • Your device type (iPhone 4/3GS/3, iPod Touch 4th/3rd/2nd generation, iPad) and size (8GB, 16GB etc). If you are unsure, select Settings -> General -> About and list the Model field (eg MC086FD)
  • Your iOS version. This can be found in iTunes, and also on the About screen in the Settings – eg 3.1.3, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2 etc.
  • How good is your internet connection where you were trying to use the application? eg WiFi, 3G, EDGE (“E” in the top bar next to the carrier name / signal strength) or GPRS (a dot in the top bar).
  • Is your device Jailbroken?
  • And as much information about your FreeAgent account and the problem as you can. Eg: About how many contacts, projects and invoices do you have in FreeAgent (roughly - 10? 50? 100? 500? 1000?)

The more information you give, the quicker I can work out whats going on!