Automation · Collections and receivables

Answer on WhatsApp how much a client owes according to FreshBooks

An AI agent answers on WhatsApp how much a client owes by reading their invoices, payments and credits in FreshBooks, without opening the books.

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How do I answer on WhatsApp how much a client owes me without opening FreshBooks every time?

A client writes on WhatsApp to find out what they have pending. The Met picks the right business in FreshBooks, finds the client, lists their invoices and opens the ones still open, checks the recorded payments and the credits in their favor, and tells them which invoices are pending and for how much, with what FreshBooks says. If the client insists they already paid and the payment is not there, the Met does not mark it: it tells them the team will check. It is all reading; the FreshBooks connector writes nothing.

What starts it

When the customer writes

It starts when a client writes on WhatsApp to ask how much they owe, which invoice is pending or whether a payment arrived. There is no trigger to configure: the Met assigned to the line runs the procedure inside that conversation.

Nothing to set up. The Met assigned to that channel picks up the conversation and runs the procedure inside it.

Who runs it

Billing Met that answers balances with FreshBooks

Finance and operations team

It has no seeded name: it is a billing Met with FreshBooks connected. Its work ends when the client knows which invoices are pending, or when the difference they claim is in the hands of a person on the team.

Run by the quotes and receivables Met

Channels: WhatsApp

What you need connected

FreshBooks Collect and manage

6 steps · 6 tools

The procedure, step by step

Each step shows the tool that runs. They belong to the real connector: if one of them stopped existing, this page would not build.

1
Pick the right business

The Met lists the businesses the FreshBooks account can access and keeps the one you named in the skill. If the account holds several businesses, querying the wrong one would give a balance that looks normal and belongs to another company.
- business_profile__list_businesses FreshBooks
2
Find the client

The Met looks for the person or their company among the FreshBooks clients. Before giving a balance, it compares what the person says with the client's details, so it never tells someone what another client owes.
- accounting__list_clients FreshBooks
3
List their invoices

The Met lists that client's invoices and separates the ones still pending from the ones already settled. If the client asks about a single one, it keeps that one.
- accounting__list_invoices FreshBooks
4
Open the pending invoices

The Met opens each pending invoice to get its detail: what was billed, for how much and when. That lets it answer the client with concrete data instead of an unexplained total.
- accounting__get_invoice FreshBooks
5
Check the recorded payments

The Met lists the payments recorded for that client. If the person says they already paid and the payment shows up, it confirms it; if it does not, it does not assume it and says the team will check.
- accounting__list_payments FreshBooks
6
Take the credits in their favor into account

The Met lists the credits the client has in their favor and factors them into the answer. Then it tells them which invoices are pending and for how much, with what FreshBooks says.
- accounting__list_credits_for_client FreshBooks

Before you start

What you need ready

The Met solves none of these for you. If one is missing, the automation stops there.

FreshBooks connected in Met

In Met, open Connections → FreshBooks → Connect and sign in with an account that can see the clients, invoices and payments. The connector is read-only: there are no writes to turn on.
Payments recorded up to date in FreshBooks

Your team records in FreshBooks the payments it receives. Whatever is not recorded, the Met does not see, and the balance it gives comes from what FreshBooks has.
A WhatsApp line with the Met assigned

The business connects its WhatsApp Business API line and assigns the billing Met. The answer happens inside that conversation; FreshBooks remains the source of data.

The limits

What this automation does NOT solve

Better said here than discovered halfway through the rollout.

It does not charge or send a payment link. To collect, the Met needs another payments integration; the FreshBooks connector only reads.
It does not record the payment the client says they made. If it is not in FreshBooks, the Met escalates it to the team to check and record it.
It does not create invoices or send reminders from FreshBooks. What the Met answers goes through the WhatsApp conversation.
It does not fix a wrongly recorded balance. If an invoice or a payment is wrong in FreshBooks, the Met answers with what is there; fixing it is your team's job.

FAQ

Questions about this automation

The Met checks the recorded payments. If the payment shows up, it confirms it; if not, it says the team will check. It does not mark it as paid, because the connector does not write to FreshBooks.

It should not: this procedure leads it to compare what the person says with the client's details before giving a balance. The skill should state which details it has to confirm.

It works to answer when the client asks. To reach out on its own it needs a scheduled task and, outside the 24 hours window, a template approved by Meta.

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