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GoCardless

Available

This integration is active and ready to use in Frihet.

Connect GoCardless to Frihet to manage SEPA direct debit collections. View mandates, payments, and clients directly from your ERP. Ideal for subscriptions and recurring payments with low fees.

What is it for?​

With GoCardless integrated:

  • Import payments — Import GoCardless collections as invoices in Frihet with a click
  • Automatic deduplication — Already imported payments are not duplicated (prefix GC-)
  • View payments — View all your direct debit collections from Frihet
  • Manage clients — Access client information with active mandates
  • Consult mandates — See the status of each SEPA mandate (active, pending, cancelled)
  • Reconcile collections — Associate GoCardless payments with invoices in Frihet
  • Sandbox mode — Test the integration with fictitious data

Requirements​

  • Active GoCardless account — gocardless.com
  • API Access Token — Generated from the dashboard
  • Frihet Pro or higher

Connect GoCardless with Frihet​

Step 1: Get your Access Token​

  1. Go to manage.gocardless.com (or manage-sandbox.gocardless.com for testing)
  2. Log in to your account
  3. Go to Developers in the sidebar menu
  4. Click on Create → Access Token
  5. Select the Read-only scope (sufficient for querying data) or Read-write if you need to manage collections
  6. Give it a name (e.g., "Frihet ERP")
  7. Copy the generated token
Save the token

The Access Token is only shown once when created. Copy it before closing the window.

Step 2: Configure in Frihet​

  1. Go to Settings → Integrations
  2. Search for GoCardless
  3. Click on Connect
  4. Paste your Access Token
  5. Select the environment:
    • Live — For real data
    • Sandbox — For testing
  6. Click on Verify connection

Step 3: Verify connection​

If the connection is correct, Frihet will show:

  • Name of your GoCardless organization
  • Number of active mandates
  • Number of registered clients

How it works​

Frihet connects to the GoCardless API v2 (version 2015-07-06) using Bearer authentication:

  1. You provide your Access Token
  2. Frihet sends the token in the Authorization: Bearer <token> header of each request
  3. Payment, client, and mandate data is queried on demand
  4. The token is stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM) in Frihet
  5. All communication is performed over HTTPS

Synchronized Data​

DataDirectionFrequency
Payments (collections)GoCardless → FrihetOn demand
ClientsGoCardless → FrihetOn demand
SEPA MandatesGoCardless → FrihetOn demand
Payment statusGoCardless → FrihetOn demand

Use cases​

Consultancy with monthly fees​

You charge your clients a monthly fee via direct debit. From Frihet, you can see which payments have been successfully collected, which are pending, and which have failed, without leaving your ERP.

SaaS with SEPA subscriptions​

Your European clients prefer to pay by direct debit instead of card. GoCardless manages recurring collections, and Frihet shows you the status of each payment alongside the issued invoices.

Verify mandates before invoicing​

Before issuing a recurring invoice, check from Frihet if the client's mandate is still active. Avoid invoicing clients whose mandate has expired or been cancelled.

Import payments to Frihet​

You can import GoCardless payments as invoices in Frihet:

  1. Go to Settings → Integrations → GoCardless
  2. In the Data tab, click on Import payments
  3. Frihet will download all payments and create invoices for each one
  4. Payments already imported previously are automatically skipped (deduplication by GC-{id})
  5. Upon completion, you will see the exact number of imported payments

Imported payments include: amount, currency, date, reference, and status.

Sandbox Mode​

GoCardless offers a completely separate sandbox environment:

  1. Register at manage-sandbox.gocardless.com
  2. Create an Access Token in the sandbox environment
  3. Configure Frihet in "Sandbox" mode
  4. Create test mandates and payments from the sandbox dashboard
  5. Verify that the data appears correctly in Frihet

GoCardless Payment Statuses​

GoCardless StatusMeaning
pending_submissionPayment created, pending submission to the bank
submittedSubmitted to the bank, in process
confirmedCollection successfully completed
paid_outFunds transferred to your account
failedThe collection failed (insufficient funds, mandate cancelled, etc.)
cancelledCancelled before processing

Troubleshooting​

"Authentication error"​

  • Verify that the Access Token is correct and has not expired
  • Make sure to use a Live token in Live mode and a Sandbox token in Sandbox mode
  • If you regenerated the token in GoCardless, update it in Frihet

"I don't see my payments"​

  • Check that you have payments registered in your GoCardless account
  • Verify that the token has read permissions
  • In sandbox, create test payments first

"API version error"​

  • Frihet uses GoCardless API version 2015-07-06, which is stable and compatible
  • If GoCardless notifies of API changes, we will update the integration

"I want to disconnect"​

  1. Go to Settings → Integrations → GoCardless
  2. Click on Disconnect
  3. Optionally, revoke the Access Token from the GoCardless dashboard

Next steps​