freee 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your freee account

freee is Japanese cloud software for running a business, with products such as freee会計 (accounting) and freee人事労務 (HR and labor management). One freee account signs you in to all of them, and two-factor authentication (2FA) on that account covers every product that uses it (freee).

freee has no SMS or voice-call codes: 2FA there always means an authenticator app. It's optional, but some paid plans let an administrator require it. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, and any authenticator app works the same way. freee's screens are in Japanese, so each label is given as shown, with a translation.

How we checked this guide: the freee steps come from freee's own help center, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. The regular article pages refused plain automated requests, so we read the same articles through the help center's public article feed on support.freee.co.jp. We haven't tested them on a freee account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Each person sets this up for their own account (freee):

1. Sign in to freeeアカウント管理 (freee account management) at accounts.secure.freee.co.jp.
2. Open the ユーザー管理 (user management) menu, then 二要素認証設定 (2FA settings).
3. Click 設定を始める (start setup). On the next screen, 二要素認証の設定を始めます (starting 2FA setup), read the message and click 次へ (next).
4. The 認証アプリへの登録 (register in your authenticator app) screen shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. If you can't scan it, the same screen shows an アカウント名 (account name) and a キー (key). In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Type the code from Novaz in セキュリティコード（6桁） (security code, 6 digits) and click 次へ.
7. The 設定が完了しました (setup complete) screen shows 10 backup codes. Save them now (next section), then click 閉じる (close).

When it worked, 二要素認証設定 shows the message 二要素認証は設定済みです (2FA is set up).

freee doesn't say how often its codes change. Scanning is safer, because the QR code carries the code settings; a key typed into Novaz always gets 30 seconds.

Your 9-digit backup codes

The 10 backup codes appear only on that one screen, right after setup, and you can't look them up later. freee offers クリップボードにコピー (copy to clipboard) and 印刷 (print) there (freee).

Each code is 9 digits and works once, so note which ones you've used. Without a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, its keys exist only on your iPhone, so these codes are your way back in: store them in a password manager or on paper, away from the phone. See 2FA backup codes.

To get a fresh set, go to 二要素認証設定 and click バックアップコードを再発行 (reissue backup codes). Enter a current code from Novaz and click 再発行 (reissue). All older codes stop working, as they also do when you turn 2FA off (freee).

Signing in with a code

You sign in with your email address and password as usual. Then the セキュリティコードを入力 (enter security code) screen appears: type the 6-digit code from Novaz and click 認証 (verify) (freee). freee's help doesn't mention remembering a device.

2FA belongs to the account, so if you're in several businesses (事業所) in freee, you need the code for all of them.

When a business requires 2FA

On freee会計 Enterprise, freee人事労務 Advance (or the older Enterprise plan) or the freee Security Package, an administrator with 2FA on can require it for a whole business: 事業所設定 (business settings) > セキュリティ (security) > 二要素認証を必須にする (require 2FA), on the web only (freee).

Without 2FA, you'll be asked to set it up on the spot or pick another business. Employees invited with a login ID instead of an email address can't use 2FA at all.

If freee rejects your code

freee's help suggests three things (freee):

• Wait for a fresh code and type it right away.
• Close and reopen the app.
• Let the phone set its time automatically. On iPhone: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off.

More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

freee says some apps need setting up again on a new phone. Novaz doesn't if you have an iCloud backup or backup file: restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the codes keep working. Without one, while the old phone still works, turn 2FA off (below), then set it up again with the new phone and save the new backup codes. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

freee documents three routes (freee, freee):

1. A backup code. On セキュリティコードを入力, click 認証できない方はこちら (if you can't verify). On the next screen, type an unused code in バックアップコード（9桁） (backup code, 9 digits) and click 認証. Then turn 2FA off and set it up again soon.
2. Another administrator. If you know your email and password, can receive email at that address, and another administrator of the same business can sign in, ask them. They open 事業所管理 (business management) > メンバー (members) > セキュリティ and click 解除依頼 (removal request) next to your name. Sign in through the emailed link and click 二要素認証を解除する (turn off 2FA).
3. freee's support desk. If neither works, an administrator of the business fills in freee's account reset form, choosing 二要素認証を解除したい (I want to turn off 2FA) and giving an email address that isn't registered with freee. The form is only for administrators. freee checks identity strictly and says this usually takes a few business days.

More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

You need Novaz or an unused backup code. In freeeアカウント管理, open 二要素認証設定 and click 二要素認証を解除 (remove 2FA), then 解除メールを送信する (send removal email). Open the link in the email from freee before it expires, sign in, and click 二要素認証を解除する (freee). freee's turn-off steps call the menu ユーザー設定 (user settings) rather than ユーザー管理, so look for either. Remove freee from Novaz only after this: open the account and tap Remove account.

Official freee help

• ログインユーザーごとに二要素認証を設定する (set up 2FA for each signed-in user)
• 二要素認証ログインでバックアップコードを利用する (use backup codes for 2FA sign-in)
• 事業所ごとに二要素認証を必須化する (require 2FA for a business)