Benefits of integrating WithOtto

WithOtto’s AI capture feature turns receipts, bills and sales invoices into categorised entries in your client’s FreeAgent account. WithOtto extracts the supplier, dates, totals and line items from every document, then suggests categories and tax rates from how you’ve categorised transactions for that client before. Line items come as standard rather than a paid extra, so the details behind mixed tax rates and split categories are always there.

Coding is guided by each client’s own history. WithOtto reads each document on its own terms and draws on how that supplier has been categorised for that specific client before to inform the category and tax rate it suggests. The history stays separate per client, so one client’s treatment is never mixed with another’s. You decide how much to check before anything reaches FreeAgent, adjusting as much as needed for each client.

Documents reach WithOtto by upload or through a submission email address branded to your practice, so clients have a simple way to send things without creating an account. If you have a FreeAgent Practice Dashboard, you connect once and add any of your clients.

WithOtto’s capture feature is priced per client, per month, based on the documents WithOtto publishes to FreeAgent. There’s no cost for duplicates, documents you have discarded and documents still waiting to be published. If a client has no documents in a given month, that client is completely free.

How WithOtto works with FreeAgent

You connect a client to FreeAgent from inside WithOtto, either as a company connection for a single business you run, or a practice connection for adding clients from your FreeAgent Practice Dashboard. The person who authorises the connection needs permission to manage bills. 

Once connected, WithOtto synchronises the reference data it needs to process documents correctly. This includes your client’s contacts, accounting categories, tax rates, currencies and the business’s details.

As documents arrive, WithOtto extracts the supplier, dates, totals and line items, matches the supplier to your client’s FreeAgent contacts, and suggests the category and tax rate from how that client has been categorised before. All you need to do is review, make any adjustments if necessary and publish into FreeAgent.

When you publish, bills land in the FreeAgent ledger with the original document attached, so the paperwork stays with the entry. Sales invoices arrive as drafts for you to complete in FreeAgent. WithOtto handles the right tax treatment and currency for each document, matching how that client’s FreeAgent account is set up.

How do I get started with WithOtto?

You connect to FreeAgent from inside WithOtto by following these steps:

1. Create an Otto Capture account (opens in new window).
2. From the Clients page in WithOtto, click ‘Add client’.
3. Choose the FreeAgent option that applies: ‘I run my own business’ for a single business, or ‘Add a FreeAgent client from your practice’ if you manage clients from a FreeAgent Practice Dashboard.
4. Log in to FreeAgent and authorise WithOtto. The authorising user needs permission to manage bills.
5. WithOtto syncs the client’s contacts, categories, tax rates and currencies, ready for you to complete any client setup.
6. Upload documents or send them in using the client’s branded email address, check WithOtto’s extraction and categorisation, and publish to FreeAgent.