FreshBooks Automation

Automate FreshBooks operations including listing businesses, managing projects, tracking time, and monitoring budgets for small and medium-sized business accounting.

Toolkit docs: composio.dev/toolkits/freshbooks

---

Setup

This skill requires the Rube MCP server connected at https://rube.app/mcp.

Before executing any tools, ensure an active connection exists for the freshbooks toolkit. If no connection is active, initiate one via RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS.

---

Core Workflows

1. List Businesses

Retrieve all businesses associated with the authenticated user. The business_id from this response is required for most other FreshBooks API calls.

Tool: FRESHBOOKS_LIST_BUSINESSES

Parameters: None required.

Example:

Tool: FRESHBOOKS_LIST_BUSINESSES
Arguments: {}

Output: Returns business membership information including all businesses the user has access to, along with their role in each business.

Important: Always call this first to obtain a valid business_id before performing project-specific operations.

---

2. List and Filter Projects

Retrieve all projects for a business with comprehensive filtering and sorting options.

Tool: FRESHBOOKS_LIST_PROJECTS

Key Parameters:

• business_id (required) -- Business ID obtained from FRESHBOOKS_LIST_BUSINESSES
• active -- Filter by active status: true (active only), false (inactive only), omit for all
• complete -- Filter by completion: true (completed), false (incomplete), omit for all
• sort_by -- Sort order: "created_at", "due_date", or "title"
• updated_since -- UTC datetime in RFC3339 format, e.g., "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"
• include_logged_duration -- true to include total logged time (in seconds) per project
• skip_group -- true to omit team member/invitation data (reduces response size)

Example:

Tool: FRESHBOOKS_LIST_PROJECTS
Arguments:
  business_id: 123456
  active: true
  complete: false
  sort_by: "due_date"
  include_logged_duration: true

Use Cases:

• Get all projects for time tracking or invoicing
• Find projects by client, status, or date range
• Monitor project completion and budget tracking
• Retrieve team assignments and project groups

---

3. Monitor Active Projects

Track project progress and budgets by filtering for active, incomplete projects.

Steps:

1. Call FRESHBOOKS_LIST_BUSINESSES to get business_id
2. Call FRESHBOOKS_LIST_PROJECTS with active: true, complete: false, include_logged_duration: true
3. Analyze logged duration vs. budget for each project

---

4. Review Recently Updated Projects

Check for recent project activity using the updated_since filter.

Steps:

1. Call FRESHBOOKS_LIST_BUSINESSES to get business_id
2. Call FRESHBOOKS_LIST_PROJECTS with updated_since set to your cutoff datetime
3. Review returned projects for recent changes

Example:

Tool: FRESHBOOKS_LIST_PROJECTS
Arguments:
  business_id: 123456
  updated_since: "2026-02-01T00:00:00Z"
  sort_by: "created_at"

---

Recommended Execution Plan

1. Get the business ID by calling FRESHBOOKS_LIST_BUSINESSES
2. List projects using FRESHBOOKS_LIST_PROJECTS with the obtained business_id
3. Filter as needed using active, complete, updated_since, and sort_by parameters

---

Known Pitfalls

Pitfall	Detail
business_id required	Most FreshBooks operations require a business_id. Always call FRESHBOOKS_LIST_BUSINESSES first to obtain it.
Date format	The updated_since parameter must be in RFC3339 format: "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z". Other formats will fail.
Paginated results	Project list responses are paginated. Check for additional pages in the response.
Empty results	Returns an empty list if no projects exist or match the applied filters. This is not an error.
Logged duration units	When include_logged_duration is true, the duration is returned in seconds. Convert to hours (divide by 3600) for display.

---

Quick Reference

Tool Slug	Description
FRESHBOOKS_LIST_BUSINESSES	List all businesses for the authenticated user
FRESHBOOKS_LIST_PROJECTS	List projects with filtering and sorting for a business

---

Powered by Composio