Set Up Instructions

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is in beta in Ploy. Ploy scans your FreshBooks business's team members and their roles. The integration is built from FreshBooks' published API and has not yet been run against a live FreshBooks account, so we ask for your consent before connecting (step 1 below).

What Ploy reads

  • Every team member of the FreshBooks business you choose, including pending invitations and deactivated members.

  • Each team member's business role (Admin, Manager, Employee, Contractor or Accountant).

  • Who currently has access to FreshBooks. Deactivated team members are shown as blocked and lose their access in Ploy.

Ploy only reads. FreshBooks does not let other apps invite, change or remove team members, so those changes are still made in FreshBooks.

Before you start

  • You need to be the owner or an admin of the FreshBooks business.

  • You will register a small app in FreshBooks' developer portal so that Ploy can sign in on your behalf.

Step 1: Agree to the beta terms

The first page of the FreshBooks setup in Ploy has a required consent checkbox. Because the integration is in beta, ticking it lets Ploy record redacted error data when a FreshBooks request fails: the error status and message with any personal data, tokens and secrets removed. We use it only to fix the integration quickly. You cannot continue without ticking it.

Step 2: Register a FreshBooks app

  1. Sign in to FreshBooks and open the developer portal (see FreshBooks' API documentation for the link).

  2. Create a new app. Give it a name such as "Ploy".

  3. Add Ploy's redirect URI, shown on the setup page in Ploy, as the app's redirect URI. It must match exactly.

  4. Give the app the scopes user:profile:read (so Ploy can list the businesses you belong to) and user:teams:read (so Ploy can read the team).

  5. Save the app and copy its Client ID and Client Secret.

Step 3: Enter the app details in Ploy

  1. In Ploy, open Integrations, find FreshBooks and start the setup.

  2. Tick the beta consent checkbox.

  3. Paste the Client ID and Client Secret and continue.

Step 4: Grant access

Click Connect to FreshBooks, sign in as the business owner or an admin, and allow the app. You are returned to Ploy.

Step 5: Choose the business

FreshBooks accounts can belong to more than one business. Pick the business Ploy should scan from the list. To scan another business, add a second FreshBooks connection.

Ploy then tests the connection by reading the business's team. If the test fails:

  • "FreshBooks rejected this connection": grant access again, signed in as the owner or an admin.

  • "The FreshBooks app is missing a permission": add the user:teams:read scope to the app, then grant access again. FreshBooks does not add scopes to an existing grant, so you must grant access again after changing them.

  • "No FreshBooks business is selected": choose a business, then test again.

What to expect

The first scan runs shortly after setup and then every hour. Team members appear in Ploy with their FreshBooks role. Pending invitations are shown as not yet joined, and deactivated team members are shown as blocked.

Not included yet: project teams, last sign-in times, and making changes in FreshBooks from Ploy.

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