Freshbooks Invoicing Billing Cli

---
name: freshbooks-invoicing-billing-cli
description: "FreshBooks CLI for managing invoices, clients, and billing. Use when the user mentions freshbooks, invoicing, billing, clients, or accounting."
category: "Finance & Crypto"
author: community
version: "1.0.0"
icon: coins
---

# freshbooks-cli

CLI tool for managing FreshBooks invoices, clients, and billing. Uses the official `@freshbooks/api` SDK.

## Install

```bash
npm install -g @haseebuchiha/freshbooks-cli
```

Requires `.npmrc` with `@haseebuchiha:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com` for GitHub Package Registry.

## Setup (once)

Authenticate with FreshBooks OAuth2. You must use the `--manual` flag (localhost redirect does not work with FreshBooks).

```bash
freshbooks auth login \
  --client-id "<FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_ID>" \
  --client-secret "<FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_SECRET>" \
  --manual
```

This opens the browser. Authorize, then copy the code from the page and paste it into the CLI. Tokens are stored at `~/.config/freshbooks-cli/config.json` (0600 permissions) and auto-refresh before expiry.

Verify: `freshbooks auth status`

## Auth commands

- `freshbooks auth login --client-id <id> --client-secret <secret> --manual` -- authenticate via OAuth2 OOB flow
- `freshbooks auth logout` -- clear stored tokens and credentials
- `freshbooks auth status` -- show account ID, token expiry, and auth state
- `freshbooks auth refresh` -- manually refresh the access token

## Clients commands

- `freshbooks clients list [-p <page>] [--per-page <n>] [-s <search>]` -- list clients, search by org name
- `freshbooks clients get <id>` -- get a single client by ID
- `freshbooks clients create [--fname <name>] [--lname <name>] [--email <email>] [--organization <org>]` -- create a client
- `freshbooks clients create --data '<json>'` -- create with full JSON payload
- `freshbooks clients update <id> --data '<json>'` -- update a client

Example: `freshbooks clients create --fname "Taha" --organization "abcg.io"`

## Invoices commands

- `freshbooks invoices list [-p <page>] [--per-page <n>]` -- list invoices
- `freshbooks invoices get <id>` -- get a single invoice by ID
- `freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> [--lines '<json>']` -- create an invoice with line items
- `freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> --data '<json>'` -- create with full JSON payload
- `freshbooks invoices update <id> --data '<json>'` -- update an invoice
- `freshbooks invoices archive <id>` -- archive an invoice (no permanent delete in FreshBooks)
- `freshbooks invoices share-link <id>` -- get a shareable link for an invoice

### Line items format

Lines are a JSON array. Each line has `name`, `qty`, and `unitCost` (money object):

```json
[
  {"name": "Web Services", "qty": 1, "unitCost": {"amount": "15000.00", "code": "USD"}},
  {"name": "App Services", "qty": 1, "unitCost": {"amount": "15000.00", "code": "USD"}}
]
```

Example (full invoice create):

```bash
freshbooks invoices create --client-id 818183 \
  --lines '[{"name":"Web Services","qty":1,"unitCost":{"amount":"15000.00","code":"USD"}},{"name":"App Services","qty":1,"unitCost":{"amount":"15000.00","code":"USD"}}]'
```

## Workflows

### Onboard a new client and invoice them

1. `freshbooks clients create --fname "Name" --organization "Company"` -- note the returned `id`
2. `freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> --lines '[...]'` -- create the invoice
3. `freshbooks invoices share-link <invoice-id>` -- get shareable link

### Look up billing for a client

1. `freshbooks clients list -s "company name"` -- find the client ID
2. `freshbooks invoices list` -- list all invoices (filter by client in output)
3. `freshbooks invoices get <id>` -- get full invoice details

## Notes

- All output is JSON to stdout. Pipe to `jq` for filtering: `freshbooks clients list | jq '.clients[].organization'`
- Money values are `{"amount": "string", "code": "USD"}`. The amount is always a string like `"30000.00"`, never a number. Do not use parseFloat on money.
- `archive` sets vis_state=1. FreshBooks does not support permanent deletion.
- Tokens auto-refresh. If refresh fails, re-run `freshbooks auth login --client-id <id> --client-secret <secret> --manual`.
- Client credentials can also be read from env vars `FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_ID` and `FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_SECRET` (takes priority over stored config).
- Always use `--manual` for auth login. The localhost callback redirect URI does not work with FreshBooks.
- Confirm with the user before creating invoices or modifying billing data.