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FreeAgent & Datamolino: Step by Step for Bills, Receipts & Invoices Processing
FreeAgent & Datamolino: Step by Step for Bills, Receipts & Invoices Processing

Simple guide to importing, coding and exporting documents

Lubica Jakubac avatar
Written by Lubica Jakubac
Updated over a week ago

Getting Started Checklist


Add a Folder for Your Company, Client, or Project

A folder in Datamolino is where you store documents for a specific company or client - such as purchase invoices, sales invoices, receipts, and bank statements from different suppliers or banks.

  • Tip: If you manage multiple locations, branches, or projects, you can create separate folders and connect them to one FreeAgent Company. This allows you to set unique automation rules for each one and keep your documents organised.

How to Add a Folder

In the main dashboard, click the + Add Folder button.

Note: Datamolino supports unlimited number of folders, enabling flexible and collaborative workflows.


Connect the Folder to FreeAgent

Inside the main dashboard, click ‘Connect’ → ‘Connect to FreeAgent’

Choose the connection type:

  • Accountant/Practice if you’re accessing FreeAgent through the Practice Dashboard

  • Company if you’re invited as a client.

If you’re connecting as an Accountant/Practice with multiple clients, Datamolino will show a list of your FreeAgent clients to choose from.

Datamolino & FreeAgent Connect the Folder


Share your folder - Invite users

Folders can be easily shared among users. Just click 'invite user', type in an email address and the folder will be shared with the user.

If you invite:

  • an existing Datamolino user - they will get an email notification and the folder will appear in their main dashboard straight away.

  • a new user - they will get an invitation to create Datamolino account first and they will gain access to this folder after creating their account.

Note: Datamolino supports unlimited users and clients, ensuring that collaboration is always straightforward.

Datamolino & FreeAgent Invite users


Import your first Documents

Drag & Drop

Import files directly to your folder.

Email

Send documents to your folder’s unique email address.

  • Emails from invited folder users are processed automatically.

  • Non-invited senders require manual approval or need to be added to the whitelist. Learn more about whitelisting.

Datamolino & FreeAgent Email Import

Mobile App

Import documents on the go with our Android or iOS mobile app.

Tip: Import scanned batches and select the auto-split feature to separate multiple bills or invoices from inside of one PDF file automatically. When emailing documents in, use @split in the subject line.


Review Imported Documents in the Import History

Once your documents have been imported, you will be redirected to the folder import history where you can access details of all imports. This dashboard provides data on how your files were imported (email, web or phone app), who sent them, as well as the original file names and import times.

Click ‘Back’ to return to the folder overview.

Processing Time: Most documents process within seconds. Complex or handwritten documents go through our human-in-the-loop process, which can take up to 24 hours to ensure accuracy.


Export to FreeAgent

When you create a folder, you are prompted to connect the folder to your FreeAgent company. If you have not done so, please connect the folder, so you can proceed with the data export.

First-time export

When you export a document for the first time, you need to pair the captured supplier (or customer) names on the invoices with your contacts in FreeAgent. Datamolino remembers the pairing for future use.

Individual export from the document detail

You can review the invoices one by one and export them as you go. This is preferable if you receive invoices from a new supplier or you want to double-check all details for accuracy.

Just click on the first invoice in the invoice list and follow these steps:

  1. In the Contact section, pair the captured contact name with the FreeAgent contact by clicking on the dropdown.

  2. You can also create a new FreeAgent contact directly from Datamolino by clicking on 'Add Contact'. All drop-down menus are searchable for your convenience.

  3. To finalise the export just select the ledger account and tax coded

  4. Click 'Save Changes' and 'Export' button

Tip: Datamolino learns from your previous exports and suggests automation rules for faster processing. You can customise these rules in the Automation tab for each contact or inside the 'Accounting & Automation' settings for entire Folder.

Export Options: Invoice Total, Tax summary or Line items

By default, Datamolino exports 'Invoice Total' data to your FreeAgent. You can switch exporting to Tax Summary or Line items.

Tax Summary

If the 'tax summary' is printed on the invoice, Datamolino tries to capture it. This can give you one line of data for each tax rate. You can also easily add another line of data if needed.

Line item extraction

Available for subscriptions that include line items extraction - this feature lets you export each line of an invoice to FreeAgent. Easily manage diverse products or services by assigning different ledger accounts and tax rates to each line item. Each line is captured with description, too.

Bulk export

Exporting multiple invoices at once can be a major time saver. Feel free to use it in one of the below scenarios:

  • Quickly review and export regular supplier invoices in one go.

  • Do bulk edit of multiple invoices at once - you can change ledger code, tax code or tracking categories for multiple invoices to the same values at once.

  • Easily code your one-off supplier invoices - you can either quickly assign an existing contact or create a new one without a need to go into the document detail.

You can export all ready-to-export invoices by clicking 'Bulk edit' inside the folder. If you want to export only selected invoices, tick the box next to the invoices you want to export and click 'Bulk edit'.

You will be redirected to the screen where you can easily review and adjust coding in bulk if needed. To learn more about this feature, check this article.


After Export - What to Expect

  • The document status changes from ‘Ready’ to ‘FreeAgent’

  • Click the status to view the document in FreeAgent.

  • The original document is also exported to FreeAgent for full record-keeping.

  • Exported documents are archived by default. Update this in 'Workflow' inside the 'Accounting & Automation' folder settings.

Automated Coding and Faster Processing Next Time

Automation Rules: Datamolino suggests rules based on the first time used coding. If needed, this is how you can change the settings 👇

Auto-Export: Enable for hands-free exporting of recurring invoices.

Bill-Split

If a single invoice includes costs that need to be allocated to different accounts or tax codes, you can define the split for:

Keyword Rules

Speed up line item processing by setting up rules for keywords in your invoices. Datamolino will automatically apply the correct coding, making document processing faster and easier 👉 learn more about keyword rules.

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