QuickBooks Online specifications and data flow examples

*how these are named in BuildTools vs QuickBooks Online

*preferred method is BuildTools to QuickBooks

-Make sure you're an administrator in QuickBooks Online

-The sync uses the Products and Services list to sync with BuildTools cost codes, this can be found by going to the QuickBooks settings page

-Enable Purchase Orders in QuickBooks if you plan on syncing POs. This can be found under settings--->Account and settings--->Expenses
​Note: Purchase orders are only available on Plus and Advanced versions of QuickBooks Online
​Also note: we recommend letting BuildTools manage your POs, in which case there may not be a need to have these sync

Below are examples of the data we can currently sync
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​Recommended method. Create your projects in BuildTools first and these will sync to QuickBooks Online as shown below

If your QuickBooks is set to customers and jobs then BuildTools will give you the option of creating the new project tied to an existing customer
​*if customer is not listed follow this article on how to create the customer in QB first: article

Alternate method. Create the project in QuickBooks Online and pull into BuildTools as shown here. All new projects will come to BuildTools when this button is clicked.

Recommended method. Create your cost codes in BuildTools, these are then sent to the Products and Services list in QuickBooks online. Below are the fields that sync over, also notice that the default income and expense accounts are automatically filled

To learn more about why BuildTools references QuickBooks default accounts check out this article

Alternate method. Create the item in QuickBooks Online and then choose to import into BuildTools as shown here

​Recommended method. Create companies in BuildTools first, these will sync as vendors to QuickBooks online. Only the company name is synced.
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Alternate method. Create the vendor in QuickBooks Online and then tell BuildTools to import them in

Recommended method. Create all new bills in BuildTools first. These bills sync over to QuickBooks tied to their mapped project/customer and to the corresponding item details. Once paid the payment will sync back to BuildTools

Payment reflected back in BuildTools
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Alternate method. Create the bill in QuickBooks Online and wait an hour to be synced to BuildTools, or click on the PULL button as shown below to import into BuildTools

Recommended method. Create new POs in BuildTools, these will sync to the corresponding vendor in QuickBooks, also tied to the mapped project/customer and item details

Alternate method. Create the PO in QuickBooks Online and allow 1 hour for it to sync back to BuildTools, or click on PULL as shown below

Recommended method. Expenses can only be created in QuickBooks and will sync to BuildTools, they'll show as expense type within the Invoice module. Make sure expenses are created using item details and not category details

Recommended method. Checks can only be created in QuickBooks. They'll sync to BuildTools as type Check. Make sure checks are created using item details and not category details

Below are examples of data already in sync and we now proceed to edit their information

In this example I changed the project name and project address, both of these synced and updated those details in QB Online

I now proceed to edit a cost category by changing the numeric code in BuildTools from 105 to 106, this then changes the code in QB Online

If we edit a company name, address, phone, website, and email address, they all sync back to QB Online

If we edit the bill number, date, amount, and memo those details will sync back to QB Online
​Note: if the bill has already been paid these details cannot be edited

The PO was updated with a new cost code, new amount, and line item description in BuildTools and these synced back to QB Online

These cannot be edited in BuildTools, they can only be edited in QB Online. Fields that can be synced back are expense number, amount, cost code, and memo

These cannot be edited in BuildTools, they can only be edited in QB Online. Fields that can be synced back are check number, amount, cost code, and memo

-Credit card credits

Q: Can BuildTools sync with Classes in QuickBooks?

A: Classes are an additional method of tracking expenses in QuickBooks, BuildTools does not sync with the class field at this time

Q: Can BuildTools sync QuickBooks expenses?

A: Yes, expense type transactions can sync from QuickBooks into BuildTools

Q: Are bill payments synced back to BuildTools?

A: Yes, bills that have been created in BuildTools and later paid in QuickBooks can have their payment sync back and mark the bill as paid in BuildTools

Q: Can deleted items sync?

A: No, we never sync deletions. For example, if a bill is deleted in QBO then BuildTools will display a trash icon next to that bill, you'd then have to decide if you'd also like to delete from BuildTools

Q: If a bill is linked to a PO in BuildTools will it also sync as linked?

A: No, at this time they sync separately without being linked

Q: During initial sync, will historical data or data for jobs in progress sync?

A: We sync from the moment we complete the setup going forward, this means only new data will sync, such as new bills or new POs. There is however an exception to this rule, any invoice/PO/expense/check that is edited in QBO will be considered new and can sync back to BuildTools