Skip to content
Skillpedia
Automations77k · #1176

FreshBooks Automation

Automates business tasks in FreshBooks. Helps manage projects, track time, and handle billing.

What it does

This tool helps you manage your businesses and projects in FreshBooks. You can list your businesses, view active or recent projects, and even track time spent on them.

When to use it

  • ✓When you want to see all your businesses in FreshBooks.
  • ✓When you need to list active projects to work on.
  • ✓When you want to check which projects were recently updated.

Example of what to ask your AI

“List my active projects in FreshBooks and tell me how much time has been logged for each.”

Want more? Open the sections below.

How to use

The easiest way: copy the message below and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI. It reads the skill and follows the instructions.

Skill link

https://github.com/ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills/blob/master/composio-skills/freshbooks-automation/SKILL.md

Ready-to-paste message

Use this skill to help me: https://github.com/ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills/blob/master/composio-skills/freshbooks-automation/SKILL.md Read the SKILL.md file at that link and follow its instructions for my task.
How it works

First, the tool finds your business ID. Then, it uses that ID to fetch project information, allowing you to filter and sort the results.

Installation

Easiest way: copy the skill link and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor asking it to follow the instructions.

In the terminal (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor), in your project folder:

npx skills add ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills --skill FreshBooks Automation

Or download just the file:

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills/master/composio-skills/freshbooks-automation/SKILL.md -o SKILL.md
Technical content (original SKILL.md)

Original text by the author, straight from GitHub.

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

FAQ

Why do I need a business ID?

Most actions in FreshBooks need to know which business you're working in, and the business ID acts like an address for it.

How is logged time shown?

Time is shown in seconds. You can divide by 3600 to find out how many hours were logged.

What happens if there are no projects?

If there are no projects or none match your request, the tool will return an empty list. This is normal and not an error.

Details

Original description by the author

FreshBooks Automation: manage businesses, projects, time tracking, and billing in FreshBooks cloud accounting

repo: ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills

Popularity

GitHub stars
77k
Ranking position
#1176
License
—
Updated
9/18/2026

Is this skill useful?

0

Sign in to vote.

Comments

  • …

More skills from this repository

Similar skills