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How to Track Supplier Spending with InboxBill and FreeAgent

Once supplier invoices flow into FreeAgent automatically via InboxBill, you have clean, structured data that makes spending analysis genuinely useful. Here's how to get the most out of it.

What FreeAgent shows you once data is clean

  • Spending by supplier — who are your top 10 vendors by cost?
  • Spending by category — which nominal codes are growing?
  • Cash flow by supplier — when are large bills due?
  • VAT by period — how much input VAT are you reclaiming?
  • Year-on-year comparison — is any category growing unexpectedly?

Setting up category consistency

Spending analysis is only as useful as your categorisation is consistent. In InboxBill, set default nominal codes per supplier using rules. This ensures every invoice from AWS is coded to Server Costs, every office supply invoice goes to Office Expenses, etc. — without manual intervention.

Getting supplier spending reports in FreeAgent

  1. 1In FreeAgent, go to Reports → Bills
  2. 2Filter by date range and status (paid/unpaid/all)
  3. 3Export to CSV for detailed analysis
  4. 4Or use Chart of Accounts for spending by category
  5. 5Use Profit & Loss to see costs by category vs prior year
Clean data makes reports meaningful. When every invoice is correctly coded at the point of entry, FreeAgent's reports become a genuine management tool.

Build a clean, analysable invoice record

InboxBill ensures consistent coding on every invoice.

Try InboxBill free