Connect FreeAgent to EDI instantly
Join thousands of businesses moving EDI orders, invoices and fulfilment updates between FreeAgent and their trading partners on XEDI, no manual re-keying.
No credit card needed ✦ Free EDI mailbox included
Getting started with FreeAgent EDI
XEDI handles a retail or wholesale account end to end and delivers the invoice into FreeAgent, which suits businesses whose accounting is deliberately lightweight and who have just won a customer that is not.
One managed platform, no custom code
XEDI maps FreeAgent to your trading partners and validates every document, so data flows straight into the systems your teams already use.
FreeAgent is deliberately simple, which is the point and the limit
FreeAgent suits people who want their accounts handled without becoming a finance department. That simplicity is a feature, and it is also why it holds nothing about a trading relationship: no purchase orders, no delivery terms, no document formats a buyer will insist on.
Which is fine, because none of that belongs in accounting software. It belongs here, and FreeAgent receives the invoice at the end of it.
The mismatch is usually size, not software
The situation this page exists for is specific: a very small business has won a customer many times its size, and that customer trades the way large organisations do. They send purchase orders electronically, they expect documents back in a format, and they will deduct when it is wrong.
Nothing about running FreeAgent prepares anybody for that, and it should not have to. The requirements are held by us, the documents are produced, and the business carries on being small while trading like it is not.
What your team sees day to day
You get an EDI mailbox and a portal that behaves like an inbox. Your customer's order arrives there, you are notified, and confirming, despatching and invoicing happen in one place.
That order becomes the despatch advice, adjusted where the delivery differs from what was ordered, carrying SSCC pallet labels where the customer requires them, and then the invoice once delivered, with its delivery confirmed in the dashboard.
FreeAgent receives the invoice so your accounts stay simple. That is usually the entire extent of what a business at this stage needs.
Documents you can exchange
- Customer orders received and worked in the portal
- Order acknowledgements returned to the customer
- Despatch advice and ASN messages from what you ship
- Sales invoices delivered into FreeAgent
- Credit notes where a delivery falls short
Built for FreeAgent teams
Whoever owns FreeAgent in your business, XEDI keeps EDI accurate and hands-off.
- Small producers and independent brands
- Freelancers and micro-businesses selling product
- Founders doing their own books
- Businesses whose first wholesale customer is much larger than them
- Anyone facing an EDI requirement with no operations team
FreeAgent EDI document types
The EDI documents belong to your customer. FreeAgent's part is the invoice.
| Document | What it carries | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase orders | Your customer's demand, with terms, delivery window and identifiers, received in the portal. | Customer to you |
| Order acknowledgements | What you commit to supplying, in the form the customer requires. | You to customer |
| Advanced shipping notices | A description of what is actually being delivered, labelled to their specification. | You to customer |
| Invoices | Raised against the delivery with the references the customer pays against, and delivered into FreeAgent. | You to customer and FreeAgent |
| Credit notes | Issued where a delivery was short, against the invoice being corrected. | You to customer |
| Remittance detail | What has been paid and against which invoices, so reconciliation is simple. | Customer to you |
How to connect FreeAgent with EDI using XEDI
The point is to trade with a much larger customer without becoming a much larger business. The sequence below is what onboarding looks like from your side.
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01
We look at how you bill today and what your new customer has specified.
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02
We set the portal up as the place orders are confirmed, despatched and invoiced.
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03
We map your FreeAgent contacts and categories so invoices arrive ready for your books.
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04
We prove the flows against the customer's requirements rather than against FreeAgent's capabilities.
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05
You get the account working without adding systems or people.
Ready to connect FreeAgent?
Talk through documents, mapping, testing and go-live with XEDI.
Everything about FreeAgent EDI
Common requirements
- FreeAgent account and API access
- Contact records and categories
- VAT treatment for these sales
- How invoices are raised today
- Who has started buying from you at scale
What we need from you to build it
Only what we cannot hold for you. Everything your customer specifies is ours to satisfy.
- FreeAgent access
- Account and API access so invoices arrive without anyone re-typing them.
- Contacts and categories
- Which contact each customer maps to and how these sales should be categorised.
- VAT treatment
- How these sales are handled for VAT, because a customer will reject an invoice that differs from their expectation.
- How you bill today
- Who raises the invoice and how, since that step moves into the portal.
- Who has started buying at scale
- The customers driving this, agreed or in discussion. Their requirements are already held by us.
Why suppliers choose XEDI for FreeAgent
- The customer driving this is very likely connected already, so you can meet their requirement quickly.
- You can supply a much larger customer without hiring anybody or buying systems.
- Their document formats, labels and timing are our responsibility rather than something you learn.
- Invoices land in FreeAgent so your accounts stay as simple as you set them up to be.
- We are clear that no integration beyond the invoice is needed here, because none is.
- If your customer raises a problem, it comes to us, which matters a great deal when the business is you.
Does FreeAgent support EDI?
No. FreeAgent keeps your accounts and holds nothing about a trading relationship. Purchase orders, delivery documents and the formats a large customer insists on are handled here, and FreeAgent receives the invoice.
Our customer is far bigger than us and wants EDI. Can we manage it?
Yes, and it is a common situation. The requirements are held by us, orders are worked in the portal, and the documents they expect are produced without you needing to understand the standards involved.
Will we need better accounting software?
Not for this. FreeAgent receiving the invoice is enough, and changing it would not make your customer's requirements any simpler.
Plan your FreeAgent EDI setup
Everything you need to scope, map and go live with FreeAgent, in one place.