How to update FreshBooks from Excel

The CData Excel Add-In for FreshBooks enables you to edit and save FreshBooks data directly from Excel. This article explains how to transfer data from Excel to FreshBooks. This technique is useful if you want to work on FreshBooks data in Excel and update changes, or if you have a whole spreadsheet you want to import into FreshBooks. In this example, you will use the Clients table; however, the same process will work for any table that can be retrieved by the CData Excel Add-In.

Establish a Connection

If you have not already done so, create a new FreshBooks connection by clicking From FreshBooks on the ribbon.

To connect to FreshBooks, you can set the CompanyName and Token connection properties. Alternatively, you can use the OAuth authentication standard.

OAuth can be used to enable other users to access their own company data. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret by registering an app. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

Retrieve Data from FreshBooks

To insert data into FreshBooks, you will first need to retrieve data from the FreshBooks table you want to add to. This links the Excel spreadsheet to the FreshBooks table selected: After you retrieve data, any changes you make to the data are highlighted in red.

1. Click the From FreshBooks button on the CData ribbon. The Data Selection wizard is displayed.
2. In the Table or View menu, select the Clients table.
3. In the Maximum Rows menu, select the number of rows you want to retrieve. If you want to insert rows, you need to retrieve only one row. The Query box will then display the SQL query that corresponds to your request.
4. In the Sheet Name box, enter the name for the sheet that will be populated. By default the add-in will create a new sheet with the name of the table.

Insert Rows to FreshBooks

After retrieving data, you can add data from an existing spreadsheet in Excel.

1. In a cell after the last row, enter a formula referencing the corresponding cell from the other spreadsheet; for example, =MyClientsSheetInExcel!A1.
2. After using a formula to reference the cells you want to add to FreshBooks, select the cells that you are inserting data into and drag the formula down as far as needed. The referenced values you want to add will be displayed on the Clients sheet.
3. Highlight the rows you want to insert and click the Update Rows button.

As each row is inserted, the Id value will appear in the Id column and the row's text will change to black, indicating that the record has been inserted.