Overview
Note: Help content (except videos) has been updated to reflect the UI/UX changes in BQE CORE.
Data integration between BQE CORE and QuickBooks® Online (by Intuit) can make your time billing, accounting and financial management tasks easier. Although CORE is a full-featured business management and accounting platform, integration between CORE and QuickBooks enables you to continue using QuickBooks for the day-to-day accounting tasks. You can use CORE for its superior time tracking, robust project management, and billing functions without the need for double entry. Our CORE web app is available through the QuickBooks App store. Click to watch this video on managing data integration with QuickBooks Online.
CORE integrates with all editions of QuickBooks Online, except Simple Start; however, you must check the edition you have for the features it includes. You must be a CORE user with appropriate security permissions to perform data synchronization between the two programs. Our CORE-QuickBooks Online integration allows syncing the data bi-directionally, which means you can send data to as well as get data from QuickBooks.
One of the biggest benefits of CORE-QuickBooks Online integration is giving you the choice to either use QuickBooks or CORE for data entry and have integration do the rest so that there is no need to enter data twice. Even though you can enter your data in either application, we have some recommendations for syncing your QuickBooks and CORE data.
- If you are an existing QuickBooks user and a new CORE user, it is recommended that you delete the default Chart of Accounts and terms in CORE, and instead transfer these lists from QuickBooks.
- It is better to transfer transactions for active projects only when getting historical data from QuickBooks.
- Before getting time entries from QuickBooks, set up bill and cost rates for your synced employees in CORE. This ensures that you are taking full advantage of features like job costing, earned value analysis, and other project management features that are either missing or limited in QuickBooks. Do note that this step is important because QuickBooks does not have bill rates and cost rates for time entries. If you skip this step, all time entries default to a dollar bill rate and cost rate ($1).
- Make sure to enable the Auto Approve Time and Expenses rule prior to getting your time and expenses from QuickBooks. You can do this in the Projects or Employees screen in CORE. This ensures that all your historical time and expenses are transferred as approved, which is important because CORE allows you to bill only approved entries. You can disable this rule later if you prefer your employees to follow a submit-approve workflow.
- Sync your master lists (such as Chart of Accounts, Terms, Classes, Employees, Vendors, Customers, Jobs/Projects, Items, etc.) before you transfer time and expenses, invoices, and payments from QuickBooks to CORE or vice versa. CORE gets transactions only for projects that have been synced between the two programs. Time and expenses that are not project-related are not transferred to CORE.
- After transferring your historical data from QuickBooks to CORE, it is recommended to use CORE for front-office functions like time and expense tracking, project management and billing, and use QuickBooks for back-office accounting functions like printing checks, bank reconciliation, financial reporting, payroll processing, etc.
- In case you are using QuickBooks built-in Payroll, have your staff use CORE’s robust time tracking function. Make sure you assign the appropriate payroll items to every active employee in Sync Settings. This is an important step before you transfer time entries to QuickBooks for payroll processing (please check the QuickBooks Employee screen > Payroll Info section for reference if you need help with the payroll item assignment). If you skip this step, the time entries still transfer, but they do not have any payroll item assigned in QuickBooks. It is also possible to get errors if you have turned on payroll processing and enabled the rule 'Use time data to create paychecks' for your employees in QuickBooks. These rules make payroll item assignment mandatory for time entries in QuickBooks.
- Before syncing historical time, expenses, vendor bills, invoices or payments from QuickBooks, adjust the closing date in the CORE > Company screen to an earlier date to ensure historical transactions sync over to CORE. Any transactions that are older than the closing date will not transfer. After the initial sync is complete, you can reset the closing date to match your actual closing date.
- You should use your branded invoices in CORE and send them to QuickBooks so that they feed seamlessly into QuickBooks accounting. If you choose to process invoices in CORE, you can then send those invoices from CORE to QuickBooks. If it is your first-time sending invoices, you are required to assign the default accounts in Sync Settings > Accounts.
- QuickBooks supports decimal as well as minute format; so, 1 hour and 30 minutes can be represented as either 1.5 (decimal) or 1:30 (minutes) depending on the Time Format selected. On the other hand, CORE uses decimal time format, i.e., 1 hour and 30 minutes is presented as 1.5. To ensure accurate comparison when transferring hours between the two programs, it is recommended to set your QuickBooks time format to decimal (QuickBooks > Preferences).
Note: Even though you can continue using CORE-QuickBooks Online integration to sync your data between the two programs, it is recommended that you look at integrated accounting within CORE, which offers features like project-level accounting, Pay When Paid option to name a few, in addition to the day-to-day accounting functions you are used to in QuickBooks. When you are ready to switch to CORE accounting, our Professional Services Team can help you make this transition.
The table below shows the direction of potential data flow between CORE and QuickBooks Online. Whether it flows in one direction or the other (or both directions) depends on your sync settings. CORE-QuickBooks Online integration gives you complete control over how the data flows between the two programs, and also to which General Ledger accounts your transactions are posted in QuickBooks. Click here for detailed data mappings.
| CORE Data | Data Flow | QuickBooks Data |
| Chart of Accounts |
<-> |
Chart of Accounts |
| Activity Items |
<-> |
Service Items |
| Expense Items |
<-> |
Other Charge Items, Inventory/Non-Inventory |
| Employees |
<-> |
Employees |
| Clients |
<-> |
Customers |
| Vendors |
<-> |
Vendors |
| Projects |
<-> |
Projects/Jobs/Sub-Customers |
| Time Entries |
<-> |
Time Records |
| Expense Entries |
<-> |
Expenses (Checks, Credit Card Charges, Vendor Bills) |
| Estimates |
<- |
Estimates |
| Invoices |
<-> |
Invoices |
| Payments |
<-> |
Payments |
| Vendor Bills |
<-> |
Vendor Bills |
| Classes |
<-> |
Class List |
If you are sending CORE data from individual screens using the Actions > Send To option in the detail view, it does not obey the sync rules and filters set in the Sync Settings screen. The sync settings are effective when doing a batch sync from the Integrations screen.
How To
Connect with QuickBooks Online
Get Data from QuickBooks Online
Send Data to QuickBooks Online
Field Descriptions
| Field Name | Field Description |
| Integrations > QuickBooks Sync Detail > Details | |
| History |
Displays a history of previous synchronizations taken place between CORE and QuickBooks Online, if any. This sync log shows you the date, time, description and action taken. |
| More: Clear Sync Log |
You can clear the sync log if you do not want to see the sync history between the two programs. |
| Export as CSV |
You have an option to export the sync log as a comma-separated values (.csv) file that can be viewed in Microsoft Excel or any other spreadsheet program. This allows you to focus on the most recent sync history while maintaining a record of the previous history. |
| Integrations > QuickBooks Sync Detail > Sync Settings > Get > | |
| Do not get...data |
You can check this option if you want to skip syncing any data from QuickBooks. Note: After you are done with the initial sync, you can use CORE as the source of your master lists and check this option for all your lists, time entry, invoice, and payment data in the Get settings. |
| Only get active records |
Check this option if you want to transfer only active records from QuickBooks to CORE. By default, both active and inactive records are synced. |
| If record exists, overwrite? |
You can specify the rule for overwriting data in CORE when getting it from QuickBooks Online, if that record already exists here. For instance, if both CORE and QuickBooks Online have a record for employee John Doe, this rule determines whether upon synchronization that record will be updated or not.
|
| QuickBooks Items as Activity Codes |
Activity items in CORE are linked to service items in QuickBooks Online. You must select the QuickBooks items from the drop-down that you want to get as activity items. By default, the items that have previously been synced from CORE to QuickBooks Online appear disabled or grayed out in the list. Note: Typically, this has to be done just once; however, you have to revisit this option whenever you add new service items in QuickBooks. |
| Default Bill Rate |
You need to set a default bill rate of employees received from QuickBooks Online. By default, the value is taken as 1. You can also change these values later in CORE > Employees. |
| Default Cost Rate |
You need to set a default cost rate of employees received from QuickBooks Online. By default, the value is taken as 1. You can also change these values later in CORE > Employees. |
| Set bill rate as pay rate multiplier of |
CORE allows you to set the bill rate of employees received from QuickBooks Online based on a pay rate multiplier. Thus, if pay rate changes in QuickBooks Online, the bill rate can be easily updated in CORE. |
| QuickBooks Items as Expense Codes |
Expense items in CORE are linked to inventory or non-inventory items in QuickBooks Online. You must select the QuickBooks items from the drop-down that you want to get as expense items. By default, the items that have previously been synced from CORE to QuickBooks Online appear disabled or grayed out in the list. Note: Typically, this has to be done just once; however, you have to revisit this option whenever you add new items in QuickBooks. |
| Skip getting bills | You can check this option if you do not want to get expenses tied to vendor bills as separate expense items. |
| Ignore payment method | Check this option to get all types of purchases from QuickBooks Online irrespective of the payment method used there. It then brings all the purchases, including billable and non-billable expenses, into CORE. This option is checked by default when getting expenses from QuickBooks. |
| Integrations > QuickBooks Sync Detail > Sync Settings > Send > | |
| Ignore last sync date |
CORE ignores the date when it last synced data with QuickBooks Online for the selected feature. The last sync date is used for reference when we want CORE to send data since this date. |
| Skip non-reimbursable expenses |
You can skip sending non-reimbursable expenses when syncing expenses from CORE to QuickBooks. This option is checked by default. |
| Do not send purchase tax |
When sending expenses and vendor bills to QuickBooks, you can exclude the purchase tax specified in CORE. If this option is unchecked, the Charge Amount is synced over along with the purchase tax amount. Otherwise, the Cost Amount is synced without any purchase tax. In order to sync the Cost Amount, you need to check this option. This is preferred if QuickBooks items are set up with the correct tax codes. This option is available for Expense Entry and Vendor Bills. |
| Mapping: CORE Employee-QuickBooks Vendor |
You can map CORE employees with the corresponding QuickBooks Online vendors so that the correct association is made when sending CORE employee expenses to QuickBooks as vendor bills. You can also select a vendor when sending the employee expenses to QuickBooks from the Expense Entries screen. |
| Send joint invoices as single invoice to QuickBooks |
When sending joint/combined or phased invoices to QuickBooks Online, CORE creates multiple invoices there with the same invoice number and client, depending on the number of projects or phases on that invoice. However, you can choose to send the joint invoices for non-phased projects as a single record and link it to the client. For joint phased invoices, you can send them as a single invoice too, but you must choose as to what CORE should associate it with:
This option is unchecked by default. |
| Do not send $0 invoices |
You can check this option if you do not want invoices with zero (0) value or amount to be included when syncing them from CORE to QuickBooks. This option is unchecked by default. |
| Map TE memo to QuickBooks description |
For time records only: Maps or sends CORE time entry memos to QuickBooks Online time entry description. |
| Transfer Hours |
For time records only: Sends actual hours worked to QuickBooks Online instead of billable hours (Client Hours). |
| Map Reference to QuickBooks reference |
For vendor bills only: Maps the Reference Number of vendor bills in CORE to the QuickBooks Reference field. Else, it gets mapped to the Bill Number in QuickBooks Online. |
| If record exists, overwrite? |
You can specify the rule for overwriting data in QuickBooks Online when sending it from CORE, if that record already exists there. For instance, if both CORE and QuickBooks Online have a record for employee John Doe, this rule determines whether upon synchronization that record will be updated or not.
|
| Integrations > QuickBooks Sync Detail > Sync Settings > Accounts > Default > | |
| Default Income Account |
Every service and expense item in QuickBooks must have an income account. These default accounts are used for new activity or expense items transferred to QuickBooks, provided the income account assignment is missing in CORE. These are also default accounts for invoice items like ServiceAmt, LateFeeAmt, MiscAmt, etc. that are created by the integration in QuickBooks to ensure that standard invoices transfer accurately from CORE to QuickBooks. |
| Default Expense Account |
Every service and expense item in QuickBooks must have an expense account. These default accounts are used for new activity or expense items transferred to QuickBooks, provided the expense account assignment is missing in CORE. These are also default accounts for other charge items like ExpenseAmt that are created by the integration in QuickBooks to ensure that standard invoices transfer accurately from CORE to QuickBooks. |
| Default Item Sales Tax Code |
QuickBooks Online offers a Sales Tax center for non-regional companies (in countries such as Australia, Canada and UK) that allows them to track and submit sales tax to the concerned tax authority if they have turned on the Sales Tax management option there. To handle taxes for the vendor bills, expenses and invoices sent to QuickBooks, you can specify the default sales tax liability account. This tax code applies to the synced activity and expense line items as the item-level sales tax code in QuickBooks. You can override the tax code assignment in QuickBooks later. This account is used as a default account for Sales Tax items (e.g., MainServiceTax, Main Expense Tax, etc.) that are created in QuickBooks to facilitate invoice transfer. You can leave this field blank if you do not charge sales taxes. Note: This option is available only for QuickBooks Online Canada and Australia regional settings and not US regional settings. You can see this if you have turned on the Sales Tax option in QuickBooks Online. |
| Default Item Purchase Tax Code |
To handle taxes for the vendor bills, expenses and invoices sent to QuickBooks, you can specify the item-level tax code for purchase tax here. This tax code applies to the synced activity and expense line items as the item-level purchase tax code in QuickBooks. Note: This option is available only for QuickBooks Online Canada and Australia regional settings and not US regional settings. |
| Default Income Account for Services Invoiced |
The income account selected here is where the service total of your CORE invoices transfer upon synchronization with QuickBooks. For summarized invoices where you are not sending time details, you must specify a default income account for services being billed. |
| Default Income Account for Expenses Invoiced |
The income account selected here is where the expense total of your CORE invoices transfer upon synchronization with QuickBooks. For summarized invoices where you are not sending expense details, you must specify a default income account for expenses being billed. |
| Bank Account |
You can select a default QuickBooks bank account here that is assigned to all the payments sent from CORE to QuickBooks Online on sync. Synced payments directly get deposited in this bank account in QuickBooks. You can leave this field blank if you prefer the payments to show up in the Banking > Deposits screen in QuickBooks (Undeposited Funds). This is preferred if you have multiple bank accounts in QuickBooks and need the ability to selectively deposit the payments in the bank of your choice. |
| Do not send MST/MET/Item Taxes as a line item to QuickBooks |
You can ignore the main taxes (MST/MET) and item taxes (Tax 1/2/3) as line items when sending the invoices to QuickBooks Online by selecting this option. This makes sure that only services and expenses billed are transferred to QuickBooks and taxes assigned to the product and service items in QuickBooks are used. For Canada and Australia regional settings, this option is checked by default. |
| Skip getting sales tax from QuickBooks |
You can choose to ignore the sales tax (MST/MET) associated with invoices when getting them from QuickBooks Online in to CORE. This can be used to avoid doubling the tax amount and causing any accounting discrepancy with respect to the invoice amount. |
| QuickBooks Income Account |
Every invoice item in QuickBooks Online must be assigned to an account. For project types where you are not sending time and expense details (summarized invoices), you must specify default QuickBooks income account here for various invoice items. These are the accounts into which the service, expense, tax, retainer, late fee and other income amounts on CORE invoices transfer upon synchronization. |
| QuickBooks Expense Account |
Every invoice item in QuickBooks Online must be assigned to an account. For project types where you are not sending time and expense details (summarized invoices), you must specify default QuickBooks expense account here for various invoice items. These are the accounts into which the service, expense, tax, retainer, late fee and other expense amounts on CORE invoices transfer upon synchronization. |
| Integrations > QuickBooks Sync Detail > Sync Settings > Accounts > Project > | |
| Assign To: Project/Project Group |
When sending summarized invoices to QuickBooks, CORE assigns default accounts to the invoice items. You can override those accounts and assign different G/L accounts to invoice items on a project or project group basis. When assigning accounts for the summarized invoices for the project groups, you should set the selected project group as a default group in CORE before syncing invoices to QuickBooks Online. For the selected project or group, each item on a CORE invoice like tax, discount, retainers, etc. can have a specific G/L account assigned to it. When you sync invoices with QuickBooks, the corresponding G/L account is updated there. Note: By default, all projects in CORE are a part of the default All Projects group. |
|
You can select QuickBooks accounts for each invoice line item at the project level that is transferred from CORE to QuickBooks. This way, the correct accounts are posted for every transaction. Tax items should be assigned to liability accounts. Example: Service Tax Amount can be assigned to Sales Tax Payable account and so on.
|
|
| Integrations > QuickBooks Sync Detail > Sync Settings > Invoices > | |
| Do not send time/expense details... | You can choose not to send the time and expense details on invoices for specific project types (contracts). For such summarized invoices, you must specify the default QuickBooks income and expense accounts on the Accounts tab for various line items. |
Synchronization Rules
To ensure accuracy and completeness of data synchronization, please review these synchronization rules.
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| QuickBooks accepts transactions if the transaction date is greater (later) than the closing date of your QuickBooks company. | CORE accepts transactions if the transaction date is greater (later) than the closing date set in the Company screen. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| When data is received from QuickBooks Online, the system date is converted to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and is recorded in the Last Modified date field for each record. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| Because QuickBooks does not require or have the same data fields as CORE, CORE inserts placeholder data in the required fields—FromQuickBooks—when receiving data. As a part of the data checking procedure, you should change ‘FromQuickBooks' to whatever value you want for the field. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| When you send or get data using the Send or Get menu, follow the order of the listed items. For example, sync clients before projects and invoices before payments. | When you send or get data using the Send or Get menu, follow the order of the listed items. For example, sync clients before projects and invoices before payments. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| CORE syncs the Bank (IOLTA) account as a normal operative bank account to QuickBooks. | If you are re-syncing an account from QuickBooks that has trust fund transactions associated with it, CORE does not allow updating its account type. However, if there are no transactions associated with it, the account type is changed to 'bank' in CORE. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
|
For service items, tax rate, minimum hours and billable status do not exist in QuickBooks. After you transfer these service items to CORE, zero placeholder is used for the Tax Rate and Minimum Hours fields. Service items transferred from QuickBooks to CORE are billable by default. It is recommended that you update the billable status of synced activity and expense items in CORE before you use these items in your transactions. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| When you get Other Charge Items (expense items) from QuickBooks, markup percentage is calculated from Sales and Purchase > Purchase Cost and Sales and Purchase > Purchase Price. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| You can map CORE employees to QuickBooks vendors in the Record Mappings section. It is a common practice in QuickBooks to set up employees as vendors if you are paying your employees for any reimbursable expenses and also want to keep track of these expenses on the A/P side. You can map Core employees to their corresponding vendor records in QuickBooks and then send employee reimbursable expenses from CORE to QuickBooks as vendor bills that are tied to their corresponding vendor records. | When transferring employee data from QuickBooks, Bill Rate and Cost Rate defaults to $0 in CORE. It is recommended that you update your employee bill rate and cost rate in CORE before your employees start recording time. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| Client contacts are automatically sent to QuickBooks Online when you sync client records. | When customers and customer contacts are transferred from QuickBooks, they are saved as clients and client contacts in CORE. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| You can map CORE employees to CORE vendors that are linked with QuickBooks Online vendors so as to send the expenses there to become vendor bills. | When vendors are transferred from QuickBooks Online, CORE inserts $0 as a placeholder value in the Bill Rate and Cost Rate fields in the vendor records. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| Both sub-customers as well as projects sync from QuickBooks Online to CORE as projects. There is no need to convert the sub-customers to projects in QuickBooks to get any transactions like invoices or payments recorded against them. | |
| CORE-QuickBooks Online sync supports project currency. Clients who have been designated a custom currency in QuickBooks have their project currency in CORE mapped to the currency preference in QuickBooks. The setting automatically flows to their invoice templates. | |
| Project data is transferred from QuickBooks only if a customer record is tagged as ‘Is sub-customer’ in its Customer Information screen while time entries are associated with projects only if the ‘Bill this customer’ option is checked there. You can also sync projects to CORE if you maintain project/job records in QuickBooks. | |
| When sub-jobs or phases are received from QuickBooks, they are saved as project phases in CORE. | |
|
CORE bypasses some project rules when getting transaction data like time and expense entries, bills, etc. because it restricts entering data on sync, leading to sync failures. These rules are ignored during sync:
|
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| When sending time entries to QuickBooks, only basic information like employee, project, activity, payroll item (optional) and hours is sent over. For time entries to have correct payroll items assigned in QuickBooks, make sure you map the appropriate payroll items for your employees in Sync Settings. Payroll assignment is required only if you are using QuickBooks Payroll. |
When time entries are received from QuickBooks, following scenarios are possible:
|
| QuickBooks does not support negative time entries, and so these entries do not transfer during synchronization. | Even though you can sync time entries older than January 1, 1901 to CORE, any entries that are older than this date are received in CORE dated as January 1, 1901. |
| CORE does not re-sync time entries that have already been transferred. In other words, changes made to synced time entries are not transferred to QuickBooks. For example, if you send a time entry to QuickBooks (say for 5 hours) and then change it in CORE to 4 hours, it cannot be re-sent. To re-send a time entry with changes, you need to delete that time entry in QuickBooks and then unmap that time record from Sync Settings > Record Mappings > Mapped Records tab > Time Entry. After you unlink the record, you can transfer the time entry to QuickBooks and check to see that the time entry has correct hours (say 4 hours) there. | QuickBooks does not allow rates at the time entry level. By default, time entries transferred from QuickBooks to CORE have a zero bill rate and cost rate, which is not ideal. It is recommended to set the relevant rates either at the employee level or activity level, or if your rates vary by project, use fee schedules. After the rates are defined in CORE, you are ready to send time entries. CORE ensures that correct rates are used for your time entries. |
| If employees log more than 24 hours in a day (e.g., entering historical entries) in CORE, QuickBooks does not accept this and such time entries do not sync. | When getting time entries from QuickBooks, if duration is blank, a placeholder of 0 is used for Client Hours and Actual Hours in CORE, provided you have enabled the rule 'Allow zero hour time entries' in Settings. |
| Only approved time entries are sent to QuickBooks. | When getting data from QuickBooks, if Billable has no value there, then True is assigned to the time entry’s Billable flag. |
| If time and expenses are billed in QuickBooks after sending them over to CORE, billed status for synced entries are not changed from unbilled to billed in CORE. It is recommended that you send time and expenses to CORE after they are billed in QuickBooks. | CORE bypasses project assignments, DCAA rules and employee control restrictions while getting time entries from QuickBooks. |
| CORE can send time entries that are tied to vendor bills to QuickBooks. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| CORE receives and sends bills, checks, cash and credit card purchases from and to QuickBooks as expenses, respectively. | Project-related line items on checks and credit card charges are transferred as project expenses from QuickBooks to CORE. |
| CORE can send approved expense entries tied to vendors as bills to QuickBooks Online. There is no mapping needed between these CORE vendors and QuickBooks vendors as it is a direct sync. | Vendor bill, credit card and check (expense) line items can be marked as billable or non-billable, and received along with their status from QuickBooks into CORE as project expenses. |
| CORE does not support updating synced expense entries. It can re-send records only if that data is missing in QuickBooks. So you can delete synced expense entries (vendor bills) in QuickBooks and then re-send them from CORE, if needed. |
When expenses are received from QuickBooks, following scenarios are possible:
|
| If CORE expenses are set as 'Reimbursable', they can be sent to QuickBooks from the Expense Entries screen as vendor bills because they are considered as system vendor bills. Here, CORE employees have to be mapped to CORE vendors who are linked to QuickBooks vendors. | When you get expenses from QuickBooks, CORE pulls the items from the Expenses tab as well as Items tab of the Enter Bills screen. However, we recommend using the Items tab because CORE gets them as 'QBExpense' along with their description. If you use the Expenses tab, they transfer as FromQuickBooks. |
| You can send multiple expense entries from CORE as a single vendor bill to QuickBooks when syncing from the QuickBooks Sync Detail screen using the Send menu. However, this cannot be done from the Expense Entries screen. | Checks and credit card charges can be received from QuickBooks as expense entries if they are associated with a job there. If they are not associated with jobs, then CORE receives them as vendor bills. If you get QuickBooks credit card credits, they get synced as negative expense entries the same way CORE records a negative expense entry when you enter a credit card refund or credit in CORE. |
| When sending expenses to QuickBooks, they do not include the purchase tax by default. You can choose this option under sync settings. | CORE bypasses project assignments, DCAA rules and employee control restrictions while getting expense entries from QuickBooks. |
| All approved, un-billed (not tied to vendor bills in CORE), reimbursable, and billed expenses tied to employees or vendors sync over to QuickBooks. The approved expenses tied to vendor bills already in CORE do not sync over to QuickBooks, In this case, you have to sync the vendor bills directly to QuickBooks. | |
| CORE can send expense entries that are tied to vendor bills to QuickBooks. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| Draft and zero value invoices in CORE cannot be sent to QuickBooks. This includes the phased invoices. The only exception to transferring a zero value invoice is in case of retainers. | Prior to the first synchronization, all invoices should be moved to projects in QuickBooks. Syncing invoices directly from the clients can result in complications. Project-level accounts are used for invoices received from QuickBooks. |
| When sending invoices to QuickBooks, separate line items are created for taxes, service amount, expense amount and late fee. Markup is added to the expense amount. | When invoices are transferred from QuickBooks to CORE, they are transferred as manual invoices. The related billed time and expense entries are also transferred. |
| It is not necessary to send time and expense details to QuickBooks in order to send detailed invoices. | Pending invoices in QuickBooks cannot be received in CORE. |
| When invoices are sent to QuickBooks, they transfer with their time and expense details. If you are sending an adjusted time entry (WUD) whose activity has an income account in QuickBooks, the whole amount goes into that account. If you are applying a WUD to the billing record affecting multiple time entries, it will show up on the invoice as an extra line item in QuickBooks with an automatically created service item, GEN:WUD. This happens only when there is a mismatch between the bottom line amount and details of an invoice. | In QuickBooks, you can create invoices and receive payments directly at the client level, unlike in CORE. To get these invoices and payments into CORE, they must be linked to jobs, not customers. If this is not the case, CORE creates a new project with the same name as the client and then associates the invoices to this new project. |
| When you are sending invoices to QuickBooks with some write-up/down adjustment, CORE checks if the project has a class associated with it. If it has, then the same class is assigned to the WUD line item. | When receiving invoices from QuickBooks, details like associated items, units, rates and credit payments can also be synced to CORE. |
| When credits applied to invoices are sent to QuickBooks, they transfer as discounts because QuickBooks does not support credit type payment at the invoice level. | If a discount is applied to invoices using the ‘Discounts and Credits’ option on the Payment screen in QuickBooks, CORE does not sync this payment. We recommend using the Credit Memo option in QuickBooks to discount invoices. Credit memos are received from QuickBooks into CORE as invoices with negative amounts so as to balance the accounts. The invoice number is set as CM + Reference Number of the credit memo. |
| When sending invoices to QuickBooks, CORE sets the due date based on the payment terms set for the project. | When getting invoices from QuickBooks, sometimes the imported invoice numbers can be the same as that of the voided invoices in CORE. In this case, existing invoice numbers of void invoices can be re-used. |
| For sales transaction lines that do not contain a Tax Code reference, QuickBooks Online treats that line item as if the TaxCodeRef is TAX and determines the taxability of that line based on the item’s taxability. | When getting invoices, CORE posts the related taxes to MET instead of the expense tax. |
| When sending joint invoices to QuickBooks, it creates multiple invoices there with same invoice number and client, depending upon the number of projects or phases on the joint invoice. So, overpayments and credits on such invoices can be transferred to CORE as project retainers, not client retainers. | When getting invoices from QuickBooks Online into CORE, the ePayments option is turned on by default for those synced invoices. |
| When syncing split billing invoices from CORE to QuickBooks, they sync as multiple invoices against the clients that are associated with the projects part of the split billing invoice. However, only the time and expense details of the project that has Split Billing enabled in CORE are synced; for other projects involved, time and expenses sync as summarized items against the adjustment items 'COREServiceAmt' and 'COREExpenseAmt'. | |
| As with retainer payments, CORE syncs 'Accept as Trust Fund' payments as a zero value invoice to QuickBooks against the CORE adjustment items 'CORERetainerChargeItem' and 'CORERetainerPayment'. CORE also syncs the 'Use Trust Fund' payment as a negative invoice line against the adjustment item 'CORERetainerChargeItem', thus adjusting the invoice amount with respect to the payment amount. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| When sending retainer payments from CORE, the integration credits the liability account used to track customer deposits or credits, and debits either the bank account or undeposited funds in QuickBooks. | When transferring Client Credits from a liability account in QuickBooks, CORE saves them as client and project retainers. |
| Negative payments do not transfer to QuickBooks (retainer refund). You must reduce that amount in CORE using a credit memo or directly from the QuickBooks Retainer account. You can issue a refund check from QuickBooks to the client. | If you have overpayments in QuickBooks at the job level, CORE receives them automatically as project retainers; or at the customer level, as client retainers. You do not need to enter credit payments as retainers manually. |
| Retainer invoices are not available for record mappings. | Retainer invoices are not available for record mappings. |
| Retainers show up in QuickBooks only if you have applied them to invoices in CORE; otherwise, if you apply retainers to projects, they are not sent to QuickBooks. |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| Payments from CORE do not transfer to QuickBooks if invoices do not exist there. | Both debit and credit type payments are synced between CORE and QuickBooks. Retainer payments are sent as ‘check’ type by default. Payment write-offs transfer as credits or discounts. Credit transaction gets transferred to CORE as a credit memo, not as a payment. |
| CORE does not allow updating of synced payments in QuickBooks. You can delete synced payments in QuickBooks and then re-send them from CORE after unlinking the payment from the Record Mappings > Mapped Records tab. | If payments are applied to customers in QuickBooks and then invoices related to jobs are paid, they get transferred to CORE as client payments and are associated with the correct project. |
| When paying invoices in CORE using a retainer, CORE debits the liability account in QuickBooks. | Payments from QuickBooks do not transfer if the associated invoices are not synced to CORE. Unused credits and unused payments are exception to this rule. |
| When sending payment applied to multiple invoices to QuickBooks, they are sent as multiple line items of the main payments. | If you receive an overpayment in QuickBooks at the job level, CORE receives that payment automatically as a project retainer, or at the customer level, as a client retainer. You do not need to enter overpayments as retainers manually. |
| Payment refunds cannot be sent to QuickBooks. | Project-level accounts are used for payments received from QuickBooks via data integration. |
| Accept Trust Fund payments that serve as an opening balance for the Trust Fund accounts sync over to QuickBooks as zero value invoices. Use Trust Fund payment syncs over to QuickBooks as invoice line item against the CORERetainerChargeItem adjustment item. | Credit payments associated with clients in QuickBooks are transferred to CORE as client retainers. If missing, projects are created on the fly because they are required in CORE for invoices and payments tied to clients. |
| Payments made in CORE that are directly deposited into the bank account sync over to QuickBooks as direct deposits (payments hitting the bank account that has been specified at the CORE payment level instead of the Un-Deposited Funds account). |
Payments associated with clients as well as jobs in QuickBooks are synced to CORE.
|
|
Invoice discounts are transferred over to CORE as write-off payments |
| CORE to QuickBooks | QuickBooks to CORE |
| For the employee reimbursable expenses to transfer over to QuickBooks, you are required to match them with QuickBooks vendors. | Only job-related line items on a vendor bill are transferred from QuickBooks into CORE. |
| CORE does not support updating synced vendor bills. You can delete synced vendor bills in QuickBooks and then re-send them from CORE after unlinking the vendor bill from the Record Mappings > Mapped Records tab. | You can edit vendor bills in QuickBooks and transfer them again to CORE. The date associated with the line items is not changed. |
| When sending vendor bills and expenses to QuickBooks, they do not include the purchase tax by default. You can choose this option under sync settings. | If the line items of a vendor bill do not have any value, then the Expense Description is used from the Expense table. If Expense Description is also not present or if the expense does not exist in CORE, then Payee Name is used for the description. If Payee Name is not present, then FromQuickBooks is assigned as a placeholder for the description. |
| While syncing vendor bills and expenses from CORE to QuickBooks, if you change the Tax Code value at the QuickBooks item level and have a different Tax Code set in CORE > Sync Settings, the preference is always given to the tax code set in QuickBooks. | CORE bypasses project assignments, DCAA rules and employee control restrictions while getting purchase orders and vendor bills from QuickBooks into CORE. |
Connect with QuickBooks Online
CORE allows you to sync your data with your QuickBooks Online database by adding that software in CORE. You can then connect to your QuickBooks Online data file. The authentication and company selection process is handled by Intuit but CORE provides the synchronization feature to initiate the data transfer.
To add QuickBooks Online in CORE, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Integrations screen from the side menu > Settings.
- On the Applications panel, select your accounting software, QuickBooks, from the list and click to connect with it.
- CORE tries to connect to your QuickBooks database and prompts you to sign in. When the information is verified, CORE establishes a connection with your QuickBooks Online account.
- You are prompted to select the company database and also authorize the sharing of data between the two programs. Click Authorize.
On the QuickBooks Sync Detail screen, you can set your synchronization rules and then start syncing data with QuickBooks Online.
Specify Sync Settings
Before you integrate CORE and QuickBooks, it is recommended that you review the above Synchronization Rules and settings in this section for a smooth and accurate data integration between the two programs.
To specify your sync settings for CORE-QuickBooks Online data integration, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Integrations screen from the side menu > Settings.
- On the Applications panel, click QuickBooks on the grid (if you are already connected to the company file; else you have to add the software and log in).
- On the QuickBooks Sync Detail screen, go to the Sync Settings > Send tab to select the default settings for sending data. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Next, go to the Get tab to select the default settings for getting data. You can also assign accounts to various items being synced. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Click Save Settings.
After specifying the sync settings, you can start the process of syncing data one screen at a time in the given order (in the Get or Send menu).
Get Data from QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks users who are new to CORE should start by transferring their existing data to a new CORE database. After creating your CORE company and specifying settings, you can get your QuickBooks data into CORE using the Integrations feature and then verify the transferred data. If this is your first-time getting data from QuickBooks and you are an existing QuickBooks user, first delete the default Chart of Accounts and terms in CORE. You should transfer them from QuickBooks into CORE.
To get your QuickBooks Online data into CORE, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Integrations screen from the side menu > Settings.
- On the Applications panel, click QuickBooks on the grid (if you are already connected to the company file, else you have to add the software first and log in).
- On the QuickBooks Sync Detail screen, go to the Sync Settings > Get tab and specify your sync preferences for getting data, especially the date filters. Please follow the above recommendations before you transfer time and expenses, invoices and payments.
- Click Save Settings.
- Then go to the Get menu and click the data you want to get, say Activity. It is best to follow the order of the menu for syncing data.
- After the sync is complete, go to CORE > Settings > Accounting and make sure to set your default accounts from the list of accounts transferred from QuickBooks in the above step. Also, if you use classes in QuickBooks, you should consider assigning classes at the project level (assigning classes at the customer or job level is not supported in QuickBooks). This ensures that when you transfer invoices from CORE to QuickBooks, the transactions are then mapped to the correct classes when running the class-based reports in QuickBooks like Profit & Loss by Class and Balance Sheet by Class.
Note: If you have a large data set, it is recommended that you only get data that you need in CORE. You can use various filters in Sync Settings to limit your data set. For instance, you can use the date filter in combination with the Employee filter to get time entries for active employees only. Remember, you can always access your historical data in QuickBooks, if needed.
Verify Synced Data
You should verify your data in CORE after the sync with QuickBooks Online. This ensures that your information is accurate and complete before you begin using CORE. Data adjustments might be needed in CORE after getting data from QuickBooks because it requires certain fields that are optional in QuickBooks. You can verify the accuracy of data either by running reports or checking screens in detail.
Here are some tips:
-
General: Check the names or IDs of records (projects) transferred from QuickBooks. In the Settings screen, you can easily change the display name for your projects as per your preference.
-
Employees: Make sure to check the employee profiles and assign the appropriate security to limit their access to only the required screens in CORE. Before you start entering time in CORE, make sure the Bill Rate and Cost Rate of your employees is correct. In addition, if you charge different rates for your employees depending on the project being worked on, be sure to create the appropriate fee schedules and assign them to the projects.
-
Vendors: If you enter time for vendors in CORE, be sure to change the Bill Rate and Cost Rate in their profile. When you get vendors from QuickBooks, CORE inserts a $0 placeholder value in their records.
- Projects: You must assign a project manager to all active projects in CORE. QuickBooks does not have a dedicated field to set the project manager and so the integration assigns a placeholder to all projects transferred from QuickBooks. You can use the Batch Update feature in CORE to assign a manger to a group of projects in a batch.
-
Activity and Expense Items: Check to make sure the item lists match in both programs.
-
Time Entries: After you update rates for your employees in CORE, you are ready to get time entries from QuickBooks.
-
Expense Entries: When you get expense entries from QuickBooks, make sure to update the cost rates in CORE because QuickBooks does not require them. If special cost rates apply to projects, make sure to define fee schedules and assign them to projects before entering expenses.
- Accounts: Validate CORE and QuickBooks aging and makes sure it is an accurate match by running an A/R Aging report in both programs. If the report matches, your integration is successful. If it does not, it might be because of a journal entry that adjusted the A/R or a record that did not transfer. The solution is to make a manual adjustment in CORE.
Send Data to QuickBooks Online
CORE allows you to send data to QuickBooks Online using the Integrations feature. After setting the synchronization preferences in CORE, you can send your data to QuickBooks and then verify the transferred data.
To send your CORE data to QuickBooks Online, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Integrations screen from the side menu > Settings.
- On the Applications panel, click QuickBooks on the grid (if you are already connected to the company file, else you have to add the software first and log in).
- On the QuickBooks Sync Detail screen, go to the Sync Settings > Send tab and specify your sync preferences for sending data, especially the date filters. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Click Save Settings.
- Then go to the Send menu and click the data you want to send, say Activity. It is best to follow the order of the menu for syncing data.
Note: If you choose to process invoices in CORE, you can send those invoices from CORE to QuickBooks. If it is your first-time sending invoices, you are required to assign the default accounts in Sync Settings > Accounts.
Assign Accounts for Data Sync
QuickBooks Online requires accounts for every item and transaction. Before transferring any invoices from CORE to QuickBooks, you must specify the default General Ledger accounts for the service, expense, and invoice items. For new service and expense items that you create in CORE, the default accounts are used if you have not specified any account overrides in CORE. However, it is highly recommended that you set the correct accounts for new activity and expense items in CORE before sending them to QuickBooks. Similarly, when transferring invoices, the actual accounts used depend on what accounts are used for your invoices in CORE. For instance, if you use project accounting in CORE and assign income accounts at the project level, the sync uses these account overrides from Core when transferring invoices to QuickBooks.
If you collect sales taxes, make sure you assign sales tax liability account. If your company is not charging sales tax, it is recommended to leave the Sales Tax default account blank in the Sync Settings > Accounts screen
Note: You can assign accounts to individual activity and expense items from their respective screens in CORE. The item-level accounts get precedence over the global default accounts.
To specify accounts for CORE items to be synced to QuickBooks, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Integrations screen from the side menu > Settings.
- On the Applications panel, click QuickBooks on the grid (if you are already connected to the company file; else you have to add the software and log in).
- On the QuickBooks Sync Detail screen, go to the Sync Settings > Accounts > Default tab.
- Select the default QuickBooks income accounts for your activity and expense items. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Default Income Account
- Default Expense Account
- If you prefer sending summarized invoices, select the default QuickBooks income accounts for them. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Default Income Account for Services Invoiced
- Default Income Account for Expenses Invoiced
Note: If you are using 'Make Expenses and Items Billable' feature of QuickBooks Online, we recommend that you use one of the following account types: expense, other expense, other current liabilities, other current assets, other assets, fixed assets, or COGS when specifying an account for expense items. QuickBooks Online does not allow billable expenses that use account types other than the ones mentioned above.
-
Non-regional companies (in countries such as Australia, Canada and UK) that want to track sales tax can set their default tax codes for service and expense line items on invoices. You can see these tax codes if you have turned on the Sales Tax option in QuickBooks Online.
-
Then select the default QuickBooks income and expense accounts for invoice line items. This applies to the project types for which you are not sending any time and expense details (summarized invoices).
-
Click Save Settings.
-
Next, go to the Accounts > Project tab.
-
You can override the default accounts set above by assigning different G/L accounts to invoice items on a project level. Select a Project or a Project Group from the drop-down lists. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
-
For the selected project or project group, select an account and assign it to invoice items like tax, discount, retainers, etc.
Note: If you assign accounts to a project group (say the default All group), you do not have to go back to the Sync Settings every time you add a new project to that group. CORE automatically assigns these settings to the new project in that group. -
When you have finished, click Save Settings.
-
Finally, go to the Invoices tab and select the invoice types (contract types) for which you do not want to send time and expense details. When you have finished, click Save Settings again. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
Map Records
Typically, you either get data from or send data to QuickBooks and the integration keeps track of what is synced between the two databases. However, it is possible that someone sets up a project or client in CORE or QuickBooks, bypassing the sync process. The Record Mappings feature gives you the ability to fix such errors by simply linking unmapped records and transactions between the two programs. There is no need to delete the unlinked records in either program; simply map them using the Record Mappings option. You can also use it as a quick tool for integration health check to ensure everything is linked correctly between the two programs.
After syncing your data between CORE and QuickBooks Online, you can view the mapped records as well as the unmapped records. You have an option to match the un-mapped records, if needed.
Note: Groups are not included under this feature.
To map records between QuickBooks Online and CORE, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Integrations screen from the side menu > Settings.
- On the Applications panel, click QuickBooks Online on the grid if you are already connected to the company file (else you have to add the software and log in).
- On the QuickBooks Sync Detail screen, go to the Record Mappings tab.
- Choose an option from the 'I want to map' drop-down and then review the un-mapped records of that feature on the Unmapped Records tab.
- Select the records on both sides of the grid that you want to map and click Map Selected.
After your confirmation, these records disappear from the Unmapped Records grid and appear on the Mapped Records grid.
Un-Map Records
Typically, you either get data from or send data to QuickBooks and the integration keeps track of what is synced between the two databases. However, it is possible that someone sets up a project or client in CORE or QuickBooks, bypassing the sync process. The Record Mappings feature gives you the ability to fix such errors by simply linking unmapped records and transactions between the two programs. There is no need to delete the unlinked records in either program; simply map them using the Record Mappings option. You can also use it as a quick tool for integration health check to ensure everything is linked correctly between the two programs.
After syncing your data between CORE and QuickBooks Online, you can view the mapped records as well as the unmapped records. You have an option to un-match the mapped records if they are not correctly matched in both databases.
Note: Groups are not included under this feature.
To un-map records between QuickBooks Online and CORE, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Integrations screen from the side menu > Settings.
-
On the Applications panel, click QuickBooks Online on the grid if you are already connected to the company file (else you have to add the software and log in).
-
On the QuickBooks Sync Detail screen, go to the Record Mappings tab.
-
Choose an option from the 'I want to map' drop-down and then review the mapped records of that feature on the Mapped Records tab.
-
Select all the records on the grid that you want to un-map and click Remove Mapping.
After your confirmation, these records disappear from the Mapped Records grid and appear on the Unmapped Records grid.