QuickBooks Sync Settings and Data Mapping

Derek Torres
Derek Torres
  • Updated

This document covers terms and setting information related to your ServiceTrade's QuickBooks Connection settings. This document also walks you through how ServiceTrade data flows into QuickBooks.

The data type mapping details may be of interest primarily to accounting and data admin persons.

 

How the Integration Works

  1. Pro-forma Invoices are created in ServiceTrade and submitted to QuickBooks.
  2. We will attempt to match with your existing customers and Items when creating an Invoice in QuickBooks.
  3. If no match for a customer or Item is found, we will create it in QuickBooks (exactly what happens here is configurable in your settings).

General Notes on Ongoing Usage and Maintenance of Data

  • It is important to understand that there is not a full, two-way, and ongoing sync occurring between ServiceTrade and QuickBooks. 
  • Data exports from QuickBooks are bulk imported usually as a one-time event during your ServiceTrade setup process.  Additional bulk imports into ServiceTrade may be performed on a periodic or special event basis, but are a manual, human-initiated process, not a sync.  A primary example of this is a full Item list import to update pricing only.
  • After the initial import of your data into ServiceTrade, we recommend that ServiceTrade be your starting point going forward, for all new customers, Items, locations, etc.  

 

Configuring QuickBooks Integrations Settings

Global settings for the QuickBooks integration are configured in your ServiceTrade account.

These settings affect all Invoices sent from ServiceTrade.

  1. To configure these settings, click Account Settings in ServiceTrade.
  2. Then click to expand the Integrations accordion.
  3. Find and click the Configure QuickBooks button.
  4. This will take you the Configure QuickBooks Connection menu.
    The sections below will detail how each of the settings affects the connection.
  5. Once you are done configuring your settings click Save Configuration.

The Configure QuickBooks Connection Menu

Click the links below to navigate to the relevant setting menu:

Expense and Revenue Account for New Items

This setting is related to when a new Item (not in QuickBooks) is added to ServiceTrade and is created in QuickBooks during a Sync. This is not a setting related to a customer.

  • If you send an Invoice to QuickBooks that has a new Item in it, the Item will be created using the Revenue and Expense info you place in the first two drop-down menus.
  • Once this Item is created, you can edit the Item account to anything different you’d like it to be.   Instructions on how to do that can be found on Intuit's website.

Payment Terms (QuickBooks Desktop only)

This setting will allow you to set the default payment term setting that ServiceTrade uses when creating a new customer. 

If a customer is created in ServiceTrade and does not exist in QuickBooks, the payment terms in the drop-down menu will be used for that customer. This can also be changed after the fact.  

  • This will be the default payment term setting that ServiceTrade uses when creating a new customer.  
  • If a customer is created in ServiceTrade and does not exist in QuickBooks, the payment terms in the drop-down menu will be used for that customer. This can also be changed after the fact.  

Customer Mapping

This setting needs to be the best match for how you have your customers arranged in QuickBooks. 

  • There are 6 different options for how ServiceTrade customers will map into QuickBooks, depending on your own preferences.
  • To experiment with the options and to see how the data will change in QuickBooks:
    1. Click Account Settings in ServiceTrade.
    2. Then click to expand the Integrations accordion.
    3. Find and click the Configure QuickBooks button.

Invoice Numbers Should Be...

This setting will allow you to choose whether the ServiceTrade Invoice passes over to the resulting QuickBooks synced Invoice or whether the synced Invoice should use the next QuickBooks Invoice number.

  • If Set By QuickBooks - The synced Invoice in QuickBooks will automatically get the next QuickBooks Invoice number. 
    • Customer Transaction Numbers should be disabled.
  • If Always the ServiceTrade invoice number - The QuickBooks Custom Transaction Number Toggle must be 'On.' The synced Invoice in QuickBooks will get the ServiceTrade Invoice number.
    • Customer Transaction Numbers should be enabled.

Follow the instructions below in QuickBooks Online.

QBO_%2B_ST_-_Invoice_Number.gif

  • We also recommend sticking with the "Old Invoice View.":

    Here’s how:

    1. Select + New. 
    2. Select Invoice or Estimate. 
    3. At the top right of the form, select Old layout.

    If you switch back, you won’t be able to use features that only come with the new estimates and invoices. For example, when you create and send an estimate, customers won’t be able to approve or make deposits online directly from the estimate. 

  • Always the ServiceTrade Invoice number - The synced Invoice in QuickBooks will get the ServiceTrade Invoice number.

Invoice Shipping Address is...

This setting will allow you to decide whether the QuickBooks Invoice pulls the ServiceTrade shipping address to the "Ship to" field on the QuickBooks Invoice.

  • Set by QuickBooks - The synced Invoice in QuickBooks will have the "Ship to" address from the customer in QuickBooks as the "Ship to" on the Invoice.
  • Always the ServiceTrade Location address - The synced Invoice in QuickBooks will have the Location address from ServiceTrade as the "Ship to" on the Invoice. 

Invoice Status (QuickBooks Desktop only)

This setting allows you to choose the Invoice status in QuickBooks Desktop of the Invoices that you send to QuickBooks.  There are two options:  Final and Pending.

 
The Invoice Transaction and Ship date is...(QuickBooks Desktop only)

This setting allows you to choose how the transaction and ship dates are set on Invoices in QuickBooks.  

For each of the transaction and ship date settings, you have three choices:

  • The ServiceTrade Invoice transaction date - This is the transaction date of the Invoice that you can see (and edit) on the Invoice page in ServiceTrade.
    When a new Invoice is created in ServiceTrade, its transaction date is initially the day the Invoice was created, but this can be changed on an Invoice-by-Invoice basis.
  • The ServiceTrade last appointment date - This is the date of the start time of the latest appointment that was successfully completed in ServiceTrade for this Invoice's Job.
  • The date the transaction was sent to QuickBooks - This is the date when you clicked Send to QuickBooks on the Invoice in ServiceTrade.

Where to find these dates in Quickbooks 

  • The QuickBooks Invoice transaction date is the date that shows on the Invoice, and that the customer can see.
  • The QuickBooks Invoice ship date is the date that the Invoice was created (viewable in history.)
    In some versions of QuickBooks, the Invoice ship date is pulled from the sales order.  
  • Please see Intuit documentation or training resources for more information on the above differences. 

The Invoice Rep is... (QuickBooks Desktop only)

This setting can be used to set the Rep field in QuickBooks for revenue tracking and/or commissions for your salespeople or technicians.

  • Set by QuickBooks - QuickBooks will use its internal rules to determine the Rep. Usually, but not always, choosing "Set by QuickBooks" will mean that the Rep field is empty.
  • ServiceTrade job owner - The Rep on the QuickBooks Invoice will be the owner of the Job in ServiceTrade.  You can change the job owner by going to the ServiceTrade Job page and clicking Manage Job.
  • Technician on last ServiceTrade appointment - The Rep on the QuickBooks Invoice will be the Technician on the latest successfully completed Appointment in ServiceTrade for this Invoice's Job.  If that latest Appointment has multiple Technicians assigned to it, only one Technician will be arbitrarily selected.  
    Note: If you commonly have multiple technicians assigned to your appointments and you want to use the Rep field to help you with commissions, we recommend that you use the "ServiceTrade job owner" setting, and assign the technician that you want to receive a commission for the job as that job's owner immediately before you Invoice the job.

If you choose "ServiceTrade job owner" or "Technician on last ServiceTrade appointment", the initials of the user in ServiceTrade must match the initials of that employee in QuickBooks.  You may need to include your employee's middle initial in their name in ServiceTrade to accomplish this.

For instance, if your employee's name is "John C. Smith" and their initials in QuickBooks are "JCS", you should make their first name in ServiceTrade "John C." and their last name in ServiceTrade "Smith".

If the employee record in QuickBooks can't be found (for instance, if there is no employee record whose initials correspond to the ServiceTrade user's initials), no Rep information will be sent to QuickBooks. The result will be the same as if you had selected "Set by QuickBooks".

Note: QuickBooks does not have a built-in way to handle split commissions (that is, multiple technicians sharing commissions for a single Invoice), so if you need to handle split commissions, we recommend that you use the ServiceTrade Invoice export (which includes a list of all technicians involved on each Invoice's job) to compute your commissions.

Use Customer's Preferred Delivery Method for Invoice (QuickBooks Desktop only)

This setting can be used if you keep track of your customers' default communication preferences (print or email) in QuickBooks. You can use that information to auto-select the correct delivery method when syncing new Invoices from ServiceTrade.

  • Yes - the Invoice's 'Print Later' checkbox will be checked if the customer's communication preference is 'Mail', and the Invoice's 'Email Later' checkbox will be checked if the customer's communication preference is 'E-Mail'.
    If the customer's communication preference is 'None', ServiceTrade will not check either of the 'Print Later' or the 'Email Later' checkboxes on the Invoice. 
  • No - ServiceTrade will not check either of the 'Print Later' or the 'Email Later' checkboxes on the Invoice.

Note:  If ServiceTrade does not check either of the communication checkboxes on an Invoice (that is, if you've chosen not to use this setting, or if the customer's preference was 'None'), QuickBooks will then rely on its own internal rules in deciding whether either (or both) of these checkboxes should be checked.  These are the same rules that it uses when you create an Invoice manually. 

 

Other Item Mapping (Optional)

  • Item Codes in ServiceTrade Invoices correspond to Item names in QuickBooks.
    Note: Quickbooks Web Connector cannot create Item names with colons.  If you wish to use an Item name with a colon, you must create it in QuickBooks first.
  • Item Descriptions on ServiceTrade Invoices correspond to descriptions in QuickBooks.  The ServiceTrade Item description always takes precedence and will be displayed on the Invoice in QuickBooks. 
  • PO numbers will transfer from ServiceTrade to PO No. field (QuickBooks Desktop) or a custom field named "PO" (QuickBooks Online.) NOTE: ServiceTrade PO numbers will not transfer to a PO No. field in QuickBooks Online Advanced.  Visit QuickBooks Support to learn more about custom fields in QuickBooks Online.
  • Pricing on an Invoice in QuickBooks that came from ServiceTrade will always have the same pricing as on the ServiceTrade Invoice. The default QuickBooks pricing is only considered when a QuickBooks user manually makes an Invoice in QuickBooks.
    • Note: If an Item has an Item code in ServiceTrade, we will attempt to match it with an Item name in QuickBooks. If there is no Item code or no match, the descriptions will be matched up. If a match is not found in QuickBooks and the ServiceTrade Item has an Item code, a new QuickBooks Item is created.
    • Items created in both QuickBooks Online and Desktop will land as Service Items. The item type cannot be changed in QuickBooks Desktop when it lands, so having a MISC or MTL catchall item code is recommended.

Whether to charge Sales Tax on Invoice Items is determined by...

  • Your QuickBooks sales tax rules - no information about sales tax will be sent to QuickBooks.  
    • QuickBooks will determine whether sales tax should be charged on Invoice Items, and the tax rate to charge for each Item, based on the sales tax code settings for those Items in your QuickBooks Item list.  
    • QuickBooks will determine whether tax should be charged on the entire Invoice based on the sales tax settings for the customer in QuickBooks.
    • The tax checkbox on Invoice Items on the ServiceTrade Invoice, and the tax rate selected on the ServiceTrade Invoice, will be ignored.
  • The ServiceTrade Invoice - QuickBooks will charge sales tax on Invoice Items that were marked as taxable on the ServiceTrade Invoice.
    • QuickBooks will still determine the tax rate to charge for each Item, based on your sales tax code settings for those Items in your QuickBooks Item list. The sales tax rate selected on the ServiceTrade Invoice will be ignored; however QuickBooks will treat all Items as non-taxable if the ServiceTrade Invoice sales tax rate is 0%. 
    • QuickBooks internal rules will decide whether tax should be charged on the entire Invoice based on the sales tax settings for the customer in QuickBooks.

Note: Users of international versions of QuickBooks will need to take special steps to ensure that sales tax is handled properly on Invoices sent from ServiceTrade. More details are available in this article.

Other Fields

Note: Customer contact information is only mapped to QuickBooks for newly created customers and cannot overwrite existing data. It also does not map to customer invoices.

Email

If company-only mapping is set in ServiceTrade, we do not send an email to QuickBooks (as we don't track email address on companies.) Otherwise, we use the ServiceTrade location's email address.

If using location mapping and there is no ServiceTrade location email, we use the primary contact email.

Phone Numbers

  • Primary Phone - If using company-only mapping, we send the ServiceTrade company phone number.  If using location mapping, we send the ServiceTrade location phone number.  If there is no ServiceTrade location phone number, we use primary contact phone.
  • Alternate Phone - If using company mapping, we do not send anything. If using location mapping, we send the company phone number.

Invoice Notes

ServiceTrade pro-forma Invoices have a section for "Notes". We do pass these notes to QuickBooks, but note the differences below:

  • QuickBooks Online - The ServiceTrade Invoices notes will be displayed as Invoice notes (visible if printing/emailing the Invoice.)
  • QuickBooks Desktop - The ServiceTrade Invoice notes will be displayed as Invoice memos (not visible if printing/emailing the Invoice.)

Invoice Item Class Mapping

Three class mapping options are available:

  • Job Type - Each QuickBooks Invoice Item's class will be mapped to the Job type of the Invoice's ServiceTrade job ("Service Call", "Priority Inspection", etc.)
  • Invoice Item Service Line - Each QuickBooks Invoice Item's class will be mapped to the name of the service line associated with the ServiceTrade Invoice Item ("Fire Suppression", "Commercial Plumbing", etc)
  • Invoice Item Type - each QuickBooks Invoice Item's class will be mapped to the ServiceTrade Invoice Item type ("Labor", "Part", etc.)

Note: The class names that you choose in QuickBooks must exactly match the job type, service line, or Item type in ServiceTrade.  Only top-level QuickBooks classes are supported, not sub-classes.  For QuickBooks Online, you must enable class mapping in QuickBooks Online to make use of this feature.  See the help documentation for your version of QuickBooks Online for more information on enabling classes.

How to avoid creating new Items in QuickBooks:

It might be your preference to keep tight controls on your QuickBooks product/Item list.

A random Item such as "thingamajig" or "Misc" can be created in QuickBooks, even if an Item code was not specified.  This behavior, if desired, requires many-to-one mapping to be enabled in ServiceTrade. To enable this many-to-one mapping:

  1. To configure these settings, click Account Settings in ServiceTrade.
  2. Then click to expand the Integrations accordion.
  3. Find and click the Configure QuickBooks button.
  4. Enter the desired mapping (such as "Misc") into the Other Item Mapping (Optional) field. 
    • We will map Invoice Items that aren't in your ServiceTrade standard Item list to this QuickBooks Item. This Item must already exist in QuickBooks.  If not provided, ServiceTrade will create new Items in QuickBooks for each nonstandard Invoice Item.

If you do not provide another Item mapping (which will cause new Items to be created), all newly created Items will be Non-inventory Items.

If you provide a QuickBooks Item name that does not exist in Quickbooks, the Invoice will fail. (You may intentionally cause this to happen if, for instance, you never want Items that don't already exist in QuickBooks to be used on your Invoices. In this case, you should provide an Item ID such as 'BOGUS' or 'FAKEITEM' that does not exist in QuickBooks.)

Was this article helpful?

/

Comments

0 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.