By Rachel Bennett, small-business accounting systems specialist with 10 years of experience reviewing ledgers, account mappings, and adjusting entries
Last reviewed: July 22, 2026
FreshBooks business owners sign in to review the Chart of Accounts, General Ledger, Trial Balance, Balance Sheet, and automatically generated journal entries. Manual journal entries require the appropriate accounting access, and business owners may need to activate Advanced Accounting before creating them.
This independent guide is not affiliated with FreshBooks.
Start with the source transaction. Skip creating an adjusting entry merely because two reports show different balances; date filters, currencies, accounting methods, and report purposes may explain the difference.
What FreshBooks Journal Entries Do
FreshBooks is cloud accounting software for small businesses and independent professionals. Activities such as creating an invoice, recording an expense, accepting a payment, entering other income, and completing Bank Reconciliation generate journal entries automatically. Each entry affects at least two accounts in the Chart of Accounts.
That is the foundation of double-entry accounting.
For example, issuing an invoice can increase Accounts Receivable and income. Recording an expense can increase an expense account while reducing cash or increasing another liability, depending on the transaction.
FreshBooks creates the underlying accounting treatment from ordinary business activity. Users do not need to enter a manual journal entry for every invoice or expense.
Manual entries are generally used for adjustments that the normal invoice, expense, payment, or reconciliation workflow does not capture adequately. Examples may include:
- opening balances;
- depreciation;
- accruals;
- prepaid expenses;
- tax remittances;
- correcting account classifications;
- year-end adjustments;
- accountant-directed reclassifications.
These entries can materially change accounting reports. Use them deliberately.
Choose the Correct FreshBooks Route
| Your task | Correct starting point |
|---|---|
| Enter the business account | FreshBooks login |
| Review account structure | Accounting > Chart of Accounts |
| Inspect transaction activity | Reports > General Ledger |
| Compare debit and credit balances | Reports > Trial Balance |
| Review manual adjustments | Journal Entry report |
| Create a manual adjustment | Journal entry controls with eligible access |
| Match bank activity | Bank Reconciliation |
| Review assets and liabilities | Balance Sheet report |
| Correct a normal invoice or expense | Edit the original transaction |
| Protect a completed period | Financial Lock |
The current FreshBooks login supports email and password entry, Google sign-in, Apple sign-in, password recovery, and a separate login-help route.
Do this first: confirm the correct company and reporting currency. Skip accounting changes when the active FreshBooks business is uncertain.
Log In to the Existing Business
Use the sign-in method already connected to the established FreshBooks account. A user who manages several companies should verify the active business immediately after authentication.
Check:
- business name;
- reporting period;
- base currency;
- accounting method;
- bank account;
- affected account in the Chart of Accounts;
- whether an accountant already posted an adjustment.
A successful login can still lead to the wrong books.
Do not create another FreshBooks business because the accounting reports appear unavailable. A new account will not contain the original invoices, expenses, payments, bank activity, journal entries, or opening balances.
Priority one is the established ledger. Skip creating a replacement transaction until the original business and account have been identified.
Understand the Chart of Accounts
The Chart of Accounts is FreshBooks’ customizable list of accounts used to organize business transactions. Accounts shown there also appear in the General Ledger. Selecting an account from the Chart of Accounts opens the General Ledger filtered to that account.
Common account groups include:
- assets;
- liabilities;
- equity;
- income;
- cost of goods sold;
- operating expenses.
FreshBooks organizes its default Chart of Accounts using a structure based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, with account types, subtypes, parent accounts, and subaccounts.
The account list should be detailed enough to support useful reporting without becoming unnecessarily fragmented.
For example, creating separate expense accounts for every minor software subscription may make reports harder to read. Combining all direct project materials with ordinary office expenses may hide meaningful cost information.
Use the account structure agreed with the business’s accountant.
Why the Chart of Accounts Balance May Look Wrong
FreshBooks notes that the Chart of Accounts and Balance Sheet can display different figures because their date logic differs.
The Chart of Accounts normally defaults to the current calendar year and shows the net transaction activity within the selected range. The Balance Sheet includes activity from the earliest transaction through the selected “as of” date.
This can create a legitimate difference.
Suppose a bank account began the year with $20,000 and had a net increase of $5,000 during the current year. A date-filtered Chart of Accounts view may emphasize the $5,000 change, while the Balance Sheet may show the complete $25,000 ending balance.
Do not enter a $20,000 journal adjustment merely to make the displays look identical.
Check:
- Date range.
- “As of” date.
- Currency.
- Opening balances.
- Archived or deleted accounts.
- Whether the report shows activity or ending balance.
The reports may be answering different questions.
Review the General Ledger
The General Ledger displays detailed transaction activity moving through each account on an accrual basis. FreshBooks generates these records from invoices, expenses, payments, other income, bank reconciliation, and other account activity.
Use the General Ledger when investigating:
- an unexpected expense category;
- a payment posted to the wrong account;
- duplicate income;
- a journal adjustment;
- changes during a particular date range;
- activity underlying a Trial Balance total.
The standard route is:
Reports > General Ledger
FreshBooks lets users adjust filters and inspect the transactions contributing to each account. The report can also be used alongside bank statements after the relevant date range has been selected.
A General Ledger entry may be generated automatically or entered manually. Open the underlying transaction before assuming it is an unexplained adjustment.
Correct the invoice, expense, or payment when that original record is wrong. Skip adding a second journal entry that leaves the incorrect source transaction in place.
Use the Trial Balance Correctly
The Trial Balance summarizes debit and credit balances for every account on an accrual basis. It helps identify discrepancies, confirm that account totals balance, and support the preparation of financial statements.
FreshBooks updated the Trial Balance in 2026 so account balances are displayed as of a specific date and fiscal-year closing and retained-earnings treatment follow standard accounting logic.
Income and expense accounts reset each year and show year-to-date totals for the selected date. To review changes within a specific period, FreshBooks directs users to the General Ledger instead.
This distinction prevents a common mistake.
The Trial Balance answers: “What are the account balances as of this date?”
The General Ledger answers: “Which transactions changed these accounts during this period?”
FreshBooks’ updated Trial Balance also supports date-period filters and one currency at a time. Individual totals can be expanded to inspect the entries making up the balance.
Priority two is the report date. Skip comparing a June 30 Trial Balance with a General Ledger filtered only to July.
Manual Journal Entries Affect Accounting Reports
FreshBooks states that manually created journal entries affect accounting reports, including the Chart of Accounts, General Ledger, and Balance Sheet.
They do not necessarily alter operational records in the same way as editing an invoice, payment, or expense.
For example, a manual journal entry may adjust an income account for reporting, but it does not automatically create a client invoice or request payment. An adjustment to cash does not create a bank transaction that can be matched without the appropriate reconciliation record.
That separation matters.
Use operational controls for operational events:
- issue an invoice for client billing;
- add a payment when money was received;
- enter an expense for a purchase;
- use Other Income for applicable non-invoice income;
- reconcile an imported bank transaction;
- use a journal entry for a genuine accounting adjustment.
Do not use journal entries as shortcuts around normal workflows. Doing so can leave reports changed while client balances, invoice statuses, and bank reconciliation remain incorrect.
Cash Versus Accrual Reporting
FreshBooks journal entries interact differently with cash-based and accrual-based reporting.
FreshBooks says manual journal entries affect its accounting reports. However, when reports use the Collected, or cash-based, method, the Profit and Loss report reflects only journal entries affecting a cash account by default. Support can assist when all journal entries need to appear in cash-based reporting.
This can explain why an adjustment appears in the General Ledger but seems absent from a cash-based Profit and Loss report.
Check the accounting method before recreating it.
An accrual report recognizes income and expenses based on when they are earned or incurred. A cash-based report generally emphasizes when money is collected or paid.
The correct method depends on the business’s accounting and tax requirements. FreshBooks provides the report controls, but an accountant should determine the appropriate method for official reporting.
Owner, Admin, and Accountant Permissions
Not every FreshBooks role can create or manage journal entries.
FreshBooks documents that an owner has full account access but cannot manage the Chart of Accounts or create journal entries until Advanced Accounting has been activated. Some admin-style roles can review accounting reports and bank reconciliation but cannot create custom accounts or journal entries. Accountant roles can receive broader accounting permissions.
An Accountant with appropriate access can review reports, manage the Chart of Accounts, and create journal entries in the client’s business.
Therefore, a missing New Journal Entry control may be a permission or feature issue rather than a browser problem.
Check:
- assigned role;
- whether Advanced Accounting is activated;
- business subscription;
- active company;
- whether the accounting period is locked.
Do not share the owner’s password to bypass a role limitation. Invite the accountant through the supported access workflow.
Advanced Accounting
Advanced Accounting expands the owner’s ability to work with the Chart of Accounts and manual journal entries. FreshBooks documents controls for adding accounts, editing account names or numbers, changing parent and subaccount relationships, and archiving accounts that are no longer required.
Expense categories map into the Chart of Accounts and Profit and Loss report. Income accounts can also be associated with items and services.
Changing the account structure can therefore affect more than one screen.
Before editing an account:
- inspect existing transactions;
- review its parent account;
- confirm the account type and subtype;
- check linked expense categories;
- inspect financial reports;
- ask whether historical consistency matters.
Do not change an account’s classification merely to move its balance to a more convenient section of a report. Reclassification should reflect the economic nature of the transactions.
Use Financial Lock for Closed Periods
Financial Lock helps protect a completed accounting period from later changes. FreshBooks’ current lock coverage includes transactions such as bills, credits, expense refunds, manual journal entries, and other income within the locked period.
This is useful after month-end, quarter-end, or year-end review.
A locked period helps prevent an old invoice, expense, or journal entry from being edited after reports have been prepared or supplied to an accountant.
When a legitimate correction is required, follow the business’s accounting process. The answer may be to unlock the period temporarily, create a current-period adjusting entry, or document a correction another way.
Do not change an old date solely to bypass the lock. That can move the transaction into the wrong reporting period.
Tax and Other Accountant Adjustments
FreshBooks tracks sales taxes through its invoice and reporting workflows. Other tax types, including income-tax-related accounting, may require journal entries prepared by the business’s accountant. FreshBooks also identifies tax remittances as transactions an accountant can record through a journal entry that reduces the Taxes Payable account.
Do not interpret this as universal tax advice.
The entry depends on what was paid, which liability existed, the applicable jurisdiction, and how the original tax was recorded. Posting a tax payment directly to ordinary tax expense may be incorrect when the payment settles a liability already recognized.
Use the government payment confirmation and the related liability account. Ask an accountant to determine the treatment.
FreshBooks FAQ
Does FreshBooks create journal entries automatically?
Yes. Invoices, expenses, payments, other income, and Bank Reconciliation activity generate journal entries that post to the Chart of Accounts and General Ledger.
Can the owner create manual journal entries?
The owner may need to activate Advanced Accounting first. Role and feature access determine whether journal-entry controls are available.
Why does the Chart of Accounts differ from the Balance Sheet?
The Chart of Accounts can display net activity for its selected date range, while the Balance Sheet includes balances from the earliest activity through its “as of” date.
What is the difference between the General Ledger and Trial Balance?
The General Ledger shows detailed transaction activity. The Trial Balance summarizes debit and credit balances as of a date.
Why is my journal entry missing from cash-based Profit and Loss?
By default, a cash-based Profit and Loss includes manual journal entries that affect a cash account. FreshBooks advises contacting Support when all entries must appear in cash-based reporting.
Can I use a journal entry to correct an invoice?
Edit the original invoice when the invoice itself is wrong. A journal entry changes accounting reports but does not necessarily correct the client-facing document or invoice balance.
Can I export the Chart of Accounts?
Yes. FreshBooks exports active, archived, and deleted accounts as a CSV for one selected currency.
Why can I view reports but not create an entry?
Your FreshBooks role may allow report access and Bank Reconciliation without permission to manage the Chart of Accounts or create journal entries.