Check out our online tutorial video for a quick overview of the QuickBooks
Integration.
QuickBooks Details involved with mapping information from DesignSpec
Categories
In QuickBooks Online (QBO), categories are used to group products and services for easier reporting and analysis, while items represent specific products or services sold or purchased.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
What are Categories?
Categories are broad groupings used to classify transactions, items, and expenses.
They help organize your data and make it easier to generate reports and analyze your business performance.
Examples include "Office Supplies," "Marketing Expenses," or "Service Revenue".
You can create sub-categories to further refine your groupings.
What are Items?
Items represent specific products or services that you sell or purchase.
They are mapped to categories to help with reporting and analysis.
Examples include a specific product, a service, or a recurring expense.
How to Manage Categories and Items in QBO:
Go to Settings ⚙, then select Products & services (Take me there).
Select More ▼, then Manage categories.
Select New category, then enter the name of the category.
If you need a create a sub-category, select Is a sub-category checkbox and the main category.
Select Save.
You can also edit an item to add a category by going to Lists, then select Item List, select the item, and then select Item ▼ and select Edit Item.
Select Category and select an existing category or < Add New > to create a new category.
If you have a parent category, you can select Is a sub-category of to create a new sub-category.
What is the difference between category and item in QBO?
Categories in QuickBooks Online are used to classify transactions into broad groups for reporting and analysis purposes and are based on the accounts on the chart of accounts. Meanwhile, items are used to represent products and services on sales and purchase transactions and are mapped to categories.
QuickBooks Products and Services
In QuickBooks Online (QBO), "Products and Services" refers to the items you sell or provide to customers, categorized as inventory, non-inventory, services, or bundles, allowing for detailed tracking and reporting.
Here's a breakdown of how to manage products and services in QBO:
Accessing Products and Services:
You can find this section by going to "Sales" and then "Products and Services" or by clicking the gear icon for "Settings" and selecting "Products and Services" under the "Lists" category.
In QuickBooks Online (QBO), you can categorize products and services using four item types: Inventory, Non-Inventory, Service, and Bundle. These categories help you organize and track your sales and inventory effectively.
Here's a breakdown:
Inventory: Products you sell and track quantities for.
Non-inventory: Products or items you buy or sell, but don't need to track quantities of.
Service: Services you provide to customers.
Bundle: Several products or services you sell together as a single item.
Categories: You can also group products and services into categories for better organization and reporting.
Adding Products and Services:
Go to "Sales" and then "Products & services".
Select "New".
Choose the type (Non-inventory, Service, or Inventory).
Enter a name, SKU (if needed), and select a category.
Confirm the checkbox is selected for "I sell this product/service to my customers"
Categorizing Products and Services:
Use categories to group items of the same type and create sub-categories for more specific grouping.
Managing Categories:
Go to Sales and select Products & services.
Select the More ▼ dropdown, then Manage categories.
Select New category, then enter the name of the category.
Editing and Removing:
Go to Settings ⚙, then select All lists.
Open the "Products and Services" list.
From the Action ▼ dropdown menu, select either delete, make inactive or remove.
Products and Services – Account Setup
In QuickBooks Online (QBO), "Products and Services" refers to the items you sell to customers, and these are linked to specific accounts (like income and cost of goods sold) for accurate financial reporting.
What are Products and Services in QBO?
Items You Sell:
These are the things you offer to your customers, whether they are physical products or services.
Not Just Accounts:
While they relate to accounts, "Products and Services" are distinct from your general ledger accounts.
Purpose:
They allow for more detailed tracking of sales and expenses related to specific items, leading to more accurate financial reports.
How to Access:
You can find the "Products and Services" list by going to "Sales" and then "Products & Services" or through the "Settings" gear icon under "Lists".
How Products and Services Relate to Accounts:
Income Accounts:
When you sell a product or service, the sale is linked to the income account associated with that item.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Accounts:
If you purchase products to resell, the cost of those products is linked to a COGS account associated with the item.
Expense Accounts:
If you're tracking expenses related to a service, those expenses can be linked to specific expense accounts associated with the service item.
Example:
If you sell "Concrete," you'll set up a "Concrete" product/service item and link it to an income account like "Landscaping Services" and a COGS account like "Job Materials".
Key Steps for Setting Up Products and Services:
Go to Products & Services: Navigate to the "Products & Services" list.
Create New Item: Click "New" and choose whether it's a "non-inventory" product, an "Inventory" product, or a "Service".
Enter Details: Provide a name, description, and other relevant information, such as the income account and cost of goods sold account (if applicable).
Categorize (Optional): You can assign products and services to categories for easier reporting.
Add a Picture (Optional): You can add a picture of the product or service.
Save: Save the item.
Taxes setup in QuickBooks Online
Go to Taxes.
Select Sales tax (Take me there). (Tip: If you use payroll in QuickBooks Online, you may need to select Sales Tax as opposed to Payroll Tax.)
Select Manage sales tax.
Select Add tax.
Under What type of tax do you want to add?
DesignSpec Integration Setup
Syncing Accounts
First, let’s connect to QuickBooks. This will allow DesignSpec to read data from your QuickBooks account and allow you to export data to QuickBooks.
To get started, log into your DesignSpec account. If you’re already logged in, go to the settings workspace by clicking the Home button (house icon) in the top left corner of the screen.
Click on the QuickBooks® Integration tab.
If this is the first time anyone on your DesignSpec account sets up integration with QuickBooks, you will see an explanation of what QuickBooks data DesignSpec uses, and how it uses it. If you agree with the terms and conditions, check the box at the bottom of the page, and click Continue.
Now, you must authorize DesignSpec to Connect to QuickBooks. On the next page, click the Connect to QuickBooks button. This will redirect you to a page from Intuit.
If you are not logged in to QuickBooks, you will need to sign in before continuing.
Once logged in, choose which company you want to connect to DesignSpec (note: you can only connect one at a time), and Click Next.
If you agree with Intuit’s terms and conditions, click the Connect to grant authorization. You will be redirected back to DesignSpec.
Once authorization is complete, you will see some basic authorization information, such as your QuickBooks company name, its country and what version of QuickBooks you’re using.
Disconnecting QuickBooks from DesignSpec
Disconnecting from QuickBooks revokes DesignSpec’s access to your QuickBooks account. If you need to link your DesignSpec account to a different QuickBooks account, then you would first disconnect them and then connect again. Note that when you are disconnected you will no longer be able to export data to QuickBooks.
In DesignSpec, click the Home button (house icon) on the top left corner of the screen to go to your Settings area.
Click on the QuickBooks® Integration tab.
If you are connected to a QuickBooks account, you’ll see some basic authorization information about your account, as well as a Disconnect from QuickBooks button. Click the button.
DesignSpec will no longer have access to your QuickBooks account. You can click on “See how DesignSpec uses your QuickBooks Data” for more information.
The Quickbooks Integration is setup to help you tracking from the budget client item and additional costs for the project, and from the procurement area the cost of items purchased and owing to your vendors.
Create a QuickBooks® Estimate from your Budget
With QuickBooks Integration, you can generate Estimates from your DesignSpec budget.
Note that it’s recommended to have all your specifications assigned to categories to streamline the export process. All those categories should also have a corresponding product or service in QuickBooks by the same name.
In DesignSpec, open a project (click the home icon in the top left and go to the Projects tab, select a project.)
Click the Budget tab. If you have not created a budget, refer to our Budgeting Tutorial .
On the top action bar above the budget, click the Export button, then QuickBooks Estimate. A new window will pop up.
On the window, you will see several options depending on your QuickBooks company settings and location. For more information about the available options, see our QuickBooks Reference.
Once you fill out all fields, click the Export button. The top bar will show a checkmark and message indicating the budget was exported as an estimate.
For quicker generation in the future, you can set some defaults in the Budget Settings.
QuickBooks Budget Settings
Setting defaults for your Quickbooks Estimate generation can help you speed up your workflow when exporting budgets.
In DesignSpec, click the Home button in (house icon) on the top left corner of the screen to go to your Settings area.
Click the Budget Setup tab and scroll down to the QuickBooks section. Here you can set several default settings:
QuickBooks Tax Code for non-taxable budget items.
QuickBooks product/service for budget specs whose category does not match one.
QuickBooks product/service for budget specs without a category.
QuickBooks Income Account for creating products/services.
QuickBooks Expense Account for creating products/service.
Once you have set values for the fields you want, click Save.
Export a Single Purchase Order to QuickBooks®
With QuickBooks Integration, you can export purchase orders to your QuickBooks account directly from DesignSpec.
In DesignSpec, open a project (click the home icon in the top left and go to the Projects tab, select a project.)
Click the Procurement tab. This will take you to the Procurement Items page.
Hover over the left sidebar and click Orders.
If you have not created any purchase orders, you can refer to our Procurement Tutorial .
For the purchase order you want to export, click the More button (3-dot icon), then click Details. A new window will pop up with the purchase order’s details.
If you are using multicurrency in QuickBooks, ensure the Currency field is filled out with a valid code from your account. You can use autofill to enter a valid value.
If you are using tax in QuickBooks, you can use autofill to enter a valid tax rate.
On the left menu, click QuickBooks® Integration to jump to the export section.
Click the Export button. A new window will pop up. (Note that if the purchase order has been exported before, you will see a Re-export Items button instead).
On the window, you will see several options depending on your QuickBooks company settings and location. For more information about the available options, see our QuickBooks Reference.
Once you fill out all fields, click the Export button. The export window will close automatically, and the details window will show information about the recently exported purchase order.
For quicker generation in the future, you can set some defaults in the Procurement Settings globally, or for your project.
Export Multiple Purchase Orders to Quickbooks®
With QuickBooks Integration, you can export purchase orders to your QuickBooks account directly from DesignSpec.
In DesignSpec, open a project (click the home icon in the top left and go to the Projects tab, select a project.)
Click the Procurement tab. This will take you to the Procurement Items page.
Hover over the left sidebar and click Orders.
If you have not created any purchase orders, you can refer to our Procurement Tutorial to create one. Ensure the purchase order has at least one item.
Select the purchase orders you want to export by clicking the checkboxes on the left side of the rows. You can also select all purchase orders by clicking the checkbox at the table’s header.
Click the Export button on the right side of the action bar, then click QuickBooks®. An export window will pop up.
On the window, you will see several options depending on your QuickBooks company settings and location. For more information about the available options, see our QuickBooks.
Once you fill out all fields and address any warnings, click the Export button. The export window will close automatically, and the exported purchase orders will show a checkmark under the Intuit QuickBooks column.
For quicker generation in the future, you can set some defaults in the Procurement Settings globally, or for your project. [f]
QuickBooks Procurement Settings
Setting defaults for your Quickbooks purchase order generation from budget can help you speed up your workflow when exporting purchase orders.
In DesignSpec, click the Home button (house icon) on the top left corner of the screen to go to your Settings area.
Click the Procurement Setup tab and scroll down to the QuickBooks section. Here you can set several default settings:
Default QuickBooks Account when exporting purchase orders
Default QuickBooks product/service for purchase order specs whose category does not match one
Default QuickBooks product/service for purchase order specs without a category
Default Income Account when creating new Items for purchase orders
Default Expense Account when creating new Items for purchase order
Once you have set values for the fields you want, click Save.
Quickbooks Integration Reference Information
Export Budget
Customer
If a customer does not exist with your project’s name, you can create a new Customer or use an existing QuickBooks customer. If a customer with your project’s name already exists, you will be able to select it from the list of existing customers.
Create a new Customer
This creates a new customer in QuickBooks using your project’s name. If your QuickBooks company has multicurrency enabled, you will also need to choose a currency for the customer, which will also be the estimate’s currency.
Use an existing customer
This option allows you to choose a customer from your QuickBooks account. If your QuickBooks company has multicurrency enabled, the estimate will be created using the selected customer’s currency.
Email Address - This corresponds to the Email field in a QuickBooks estimate. If you select an existing QuickBooks customer with an email address, this field will be filled automatically.
Taxes
Tax Code options are applicable if the following conditions are met:
Your DesignSpec budget has any percentage-based taxes
Your company is not using the US-based version of QuickBooks
You have sales tax setup in QuickBooks
If the tax description on your budget exactly matches a tax code from QuickBooks, then the tax will be automatically selected when you export. Otherwise, you will need to manually select the desired tax. Thus, it’s recommended to use the Autofill button when entering tax on your budget, to select from the list of available taxes in your QuickBooks account.
Items (Specifications) - Specification Categories
The categories that your specifications are assigned to must be associated with corresponding products or services in your QuickBooks account (by the same name). If those categories don’t match any products/services in QuickBooks, you can choose to create a new product/service or select an existing one. Whichever one you select will be applied to all items that do not have a matching product/service in QuickBooks.
Also, if some of your items do not have a category assigned, then you must choose an existing QuickBooks product/service to match them with. Whichever one you select will be applied to all items that do not have a category assigned.
Estimate Number - If custom estimate numbers are enabled in your QuickBooks account settings, you can set the estimate number when exporting.
Message to Customer - Corresponds to the “Message displayed on estimate” field on the QuickBooks estimate of the
Export Purchase Orders
Account
The account to which the purchase order will be posted. According to QuickBooks requirements, this must be an account whose sub type is “Accounts Payable” and whose classification is “Liability”.
Vendor(s)
Vendors correspond to vendors or suppliers in QuickBooks (locale-dependent). If a purchase order’s vendor does not exist in QuickBooks, you will have the option to create a vendor or use an existing QuickBooks vendor.
Create new vendor - Creates a new vendor using a purchase order vendor’s name.
If exporting multiple purchase orders and multicurrency is enabled on your QuickBooks account, note that the vendors will be created using the currency of the first purchase order that has that vendor. If multiple purchase orders have the same vendor, but different currencies, QuickBooks will not create any purchase orders whose currencies are different from the currency used to create the vendor.
Use an existing QuickBooks vendor - Uses a vendor from your QuickBooks account.
If exporting multiple purchase orders and multicurrency is enabled on your QuickBooks account, note that a purchase order’s currency must match its vendor’s currency. If the purchase orders with unmatched vendors have a currency that’s different from the selected vendor’s, QuickBooks will not create those purchase orders.
Customer - The customer associated with the purchase order can be set in the project’s procurement settings.
Currency - Shows the currency of your purchase order (individual purchase order export only).
If your QuickBooks company has multicurrency enabled, DesignSpec will check if the selected purchase orders’ currencies match any currencies in your QuickBooks account (you can use autofill when editing a purchase order to enter valid currency codes). If any purchase order has an invalid currency code, it will be listed in a warning message.
Tax Codes
Tax Code options are only applicable to exporting if the following conditions are met:
At least one purchase order has any percentage-based taxes
Your company is not US-based
You have taxes set up
The tax fields are located under the Tax section of the purchase order Details screen.
When exporting, DesignSpec will search for any QuickBooks Tax Codes that have a single Tax Rate that matches (in name and amount) the purchase order’s tax fields (Description and Amount, respectively). Thus, it’s recommended to use the Autofill button when entering tax on your purchase orders, to select from the list of available taxes in your QuickBooks account.
Tax will be excluded for any purchase orders exported that don’t have an exact matching tax in QuickBooks.
Non-Taxable Tax Code
0% Tax code for non-taxable elements of a purchase order. For example, purchase orders could have no tax or have untaxed additional costs.
Additional Costs - The expense account to which the additional costs will be assigned.
Items (Item Categories)
Your purchase order items inherit the same category (such as “Furniture”) of the specification from which they were generated. These categories must be associated with corresponding products or services in your QuickBooks account (by the same name).
If the categories don’t match any products/services in QuickBooks, you can choose to create a new product/service or select an existing one. Whichever one you select will be applied to all items that do not have a matching product/service in QuickBooks.
Also, if some of your items do not have a category assigned, then you must choose an existing QuickBooks product/service to match them with. Whichever one you select will be applied to all items that do not have a category assigned.
*If you have any additional questions or are receiving error messages with the integration, please reach out to Support@designspec.com, any error message screenshots and a description of where you are working and the task being performed, are helpful to resolve the issue.