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How to integrate Programa with QuickBooks

Connect your Programa account to QuickBooks to automatically sync invoices, payments, and financial data.

Gail Esterhuyse avatar
Written by Gail Esterhuyse
Updated this week

This guide shows you how to connect your QuickBooks account to Programa so your invoicing data syncs automatically, eliminating duplicate entry work.

Before you begin: Programa's invoicing tool runs on Stripe's payment infrastructure. You'll need to set up a Stripe account first. See our How to set up invoicing guide for instructions.


Connecting Your QuickBooks Account

We recommend deleting all obsolete tax rates in QuickBooks before connecting to ensure clean tax rate syncing.

  1. Navigate to Settings > Integrations > QuickBooks

  2. Click Connect and enter your QuickBooks login credentials

  3. Select your company from the dropdown (choose the one linked to your Programa projects if you have multiple)

  4. Click Next

  5. Click Connect to complete the integration

You'll be redirected back to Programa, and your QuickBooks tile will display as connected.


Configuring Your QuickBooks Settings

Once connected, QuickBooks automatically creates default income and expense accounts labeled 'Programa'. All products or services you add to Programa invoices will link to these accounts by default.

To use different accounts you've already set up in QuickBooks:

  1. Click Settings on your QuickBooks integration tile

  2. Select your preferred accounts from the dropdown fields

  3. Click Save


Importing Tax Rates from QuickBooks

Important: Set up your tax rates/codes in QuickBooks before connecting invoices. See QuickBooks' tax rate guide for help.

  1. Navigate to Settings > Tax

  2. Click + Add Tax rate

  3. Select Sync

Your QuickBooks tax rates will appear instantly with a QuickBooks icon to distinguish them from Programa-created rates.


Connecting Invoices to QuickBooks

When creating a new invoice in Programa, you'll need to assign each product line to a QuickBooks income account.

  1. Create a new invoice in Programa

  2. For each product line, click the Income Account dropdown

  3. Select the appropriate QuickBooks income account

Note: The income accounts configured in your QuickBooks settings will be selected by default.

US accounts only: Due to QuickBooks constraints, US-registered accounts must apply tax as exclusive—inclusive tax rates are not supported. Learn more in our tax preferences guide.

Character requirements: QuickBooks requires specific characters for product descriptions. Ensure your descriptions meet these requirements for successful syncing.


Viewing Synced Invoices in QuickBooks

  1. Log into QuickBooks

  2. Click Sales & Get Paid from the left navigation menu

  3. Select Invoices

  4. Click View/Edit next to any invoice to review details

Note: Both the 'Product/service' and 'Description' fields display the same information from your Programa invoice's 'Description' field. Learn more in our How Programa Syncs with QuickBooks guide.

To view income accounts associated with invoice products:

  1. In QuickBooks, go to Sales & Get Paid > Products & services

  2. Click Edit in the Action field for any product

  3. View or change the Income account via the dropdown


Need more help with your QuickBooks integration? Contact our support team via live chat for personalized assistance.

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