Installing the Accounting Connector for ComputerEase

The ServiceTrade Accounting Connector for ComputerEase is a Windows application that batch imports your ServiceTrade AR invoice and payroll data into ComputerEase.

Prerequisites

To use the Connector, you will need the following:

• A supported version of Microsoft Windows (note that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 are no longer supported by Microsoft as of January 14, 2020)
• PowerShell version 5.0 or later
• ComputerEase version 12.0 (7/26/2019) or later
• Internet access

Installation

To install the Connector, follow these steps.  IMPORTANT: You must install the Connector on the same computer where ComputerEase is installed.

1. Go to http://extensions.servicetrade.com
2. In the Accounting Connector section, find 'Accounting Connector - ComputerEase'
3. Click the 'Download ComputerEase connector' link
4. When the installation file finishes downloading, open it to start the installation process.
5. If you see an 'Open File - Security Warning' prompt that asks you to confirm that you want to run an application from an unknown publisher, click 'Run'.
6. When asked what additional tasks should be performed, leave the 'Create a desktop shortcut' box checked and click 'Next'.

7. On the 'Ready to Install' screen, click 'Install'.

8. When the installation is finished, click 'Finish'.

9. You should now see a shortcut to the Connector on your desktop.

Configuring the Accounting Connector

Before you use the Connector for the first time, you will need to configure the Connector with your ComputerEase and ServiceTrade settings.

1. Go to the folder into which the Connector was installed.  On most computers, this is C:\Program Files (x86)\ServiceTrade Accounting Connector
2. Open the file named environment.txt in a text editor such as Notepad.  It will look like this:

3. Open the ServiceTrade Accounting Connector application in a web browser, and log in with your ServiceTrade username and password.
4. Click on 'Settings' to go to the settings page.

5. Scroll to the ServiceTrade Credentials section.  Ensure that the username and password of a ServiceTrade user are entered.

If credentials were not already entered, enter them, then click 'Save Changes' and restart these instruction at step 4.

6. Scroll to the API Clients section at the bottom of the page.  If you do not have any API client key/secret pairs generated already, or if you wish to create a new pair, click the 'Create New Client' button.
7. Copy the Key and paste it into the environment.txt file in the line for RECIPE_API_KEY.  For instance, if your Key was abc123, then your RECIPE_API_KEY line should now read RECIPE_API_KEY=abc123.
8. Copy the Secret and paste it into the environment.txt file in the line for RECIPE_API_SECRET.  For instance, if your Secret was abcde12345, then your RECIPE_API_SECRET should now read RECIPE_API_SECRET=abcde12345.
9. Go back to the recipe list in the ServiceTrade Accounting Connector web application.
10. If you are using the Connector for payroll:  Click on the recipe for 'ComputerEase Payroll'.  In your web browser's address bar, copy the ID portion of the URL for this recipe.  

For instance, if the URL of your recipe is https://connector.servicetrade.com/recipe/abcd1234/apply, then you should copy abcd1234.  Paste the ID into the environment.txt file in the line for PAYROLL_RECIPE.
11. If you are using the Connector for AR invoices: Click on the recipe for 'ComputerEase AR Invoices'.  In your web browser's address bar, copy the ID portion of the URL for this recipe. Paste the ID into the environment.txt file in the line for AR_INVOICE_RECIPE.  Repeat this process for the recipe for 'ComputerEase ServiceTrade Invoice Updates', and paste the ID into the environment.txt file in the line for ST_INVOICE_UPDATE_RECIPE.

IMPORTANT FOR COMPUTEREASE CLOUD CUSTOMERS

12. You MUST create a new folder On your C: drive named 'ComputerEaseImports', then within the environment.txt file you MUST set the OUTPUT_DIR equal to 'C:\ComputerEaseImports' and set value of AUTO_IMPORT to '0' (zero).

13. Save your changes to the environment.txt file.

For more information, see this article about using the Connector or this article for troubleshooting common error messages.