QuickBooks Online
Applies toShopify
What it does
QuickBooks Online (opens in a new tab) is online accounting software for managing finances, invoices, inventory and customer records.
SparkLayer has a direct integration with QuickBooks Online. Your B2B orders sync to QuickBooks as invoices and contacts, so there's less manual data entry and no need for another app to keep the systems in sync.
B2B order
Contact
QuickBooks invoice
My Account
Let customers view invoices
When an invoice is ready, a View & Download Invoice button appears on the order in My Account on your store. It opens the public invoice page generated by QuickBooks. If the button doesn't appear, see Troubleshooting.
What syncs and in which direction
Data goes one way, from SparkLayer into QuickBooks.
| Data | Direction | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices | SparkLayer to QuickBooks | One invoice for each eligible B2B order, or for each shipment if you choose. Changes you make to an invoice in QuickBooks, such as to line items or customer details, aren't reflected back in SparkLayer or your platform. |
| Customers | SparkLayer to QuickBooks | Each invoice is linked to a matching QuickBooks customer. If there's no match, SparkLayer can create one. Details are copied once, when the customer is created. |
| Sales receipts | SparkLayer to QuickBooks | For orders paid upfront, if you turn on Enable Sales Receipts. |
How invoices are created
SparkLayer creates the invoice in QuickBooks as soon as an eligible order arrives from your platform. This happens in the background so checkout stays fast, so the invoice can take a short while to appear in QuickBooks.
Which orders get an invoice
An order gets an invoice when both of these are true:
- Fulfilment status is
processingorshipped. Orders that haven't reachedprocessingyet, such as Shopify draft orders you haven't completed, don't get an invoice. - Paid with Payment by Invoice or Payment on Account. Payment by Invoice orders are invoiced as soon as they reach
processing. Pay on Account orders follow the Payment on account - Invoice creation trigger setting. See Payment methods to set these methods up.
The integration only covers B2B orders placed through SparkLayer. Retail (D2C) orders aren't sent to QuickBooks.
Pay on Account orders and split shipments
| Setting | When invoices are created |
|---|---|
| On order | One invoice for the whole order, when it reaches processing. |
| On shipment | One invoice each time a fulfilment is completed, containing only the items in that fulfilment. This handles split shipments. |
Customers can download every invoice for an order from My Account. With split shipments, the order's shipping is always added to the invoice for the first shipment.
If you switch from On shipment to On order, partly fulfilled orders won't get invoices for their remaining shipments. Complete any partly fulfilled orders before you change the setting.
What's on the invoice
| Field | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Contact | The QuickBooks customer matched (or created) from the order's customer. See Contact matching and creation. |
| Billing address | The order's billing address. |
| Due date (Payment by Invoice) | The order date. |
| Due date (Payment on Account) | Worked out in this order: 1) the customer's net terms in SparkLayer, added to the order date; 2) the customer's payment terms in QuickBooks; 3) your global payment terms in QuickBooks; 4) otherwise, the order date. |
| Line description | The item's SKU. |
| Quantity | The quantity on the SparkLayer order. |
| Unit amount and line amount | Calculated by SparkLayer and passed to QuickBooks. |
| Tax amount | Calculated by QuickBooks, using the tax rates set in QuickBooks. |
| Shipping | If shipping is turned on in QuickBooks, it's set on the invoice, with the shipping method named after the service chosen and the price in the totals. If it's off, shipping is added as a line item. The shipping line uses the Shipping Tax Code. |
Contact matching and creation
Every invoice needs a QuickBooks customer. SparkLayer matches an existing one or, if you allow it, creates one.
How contacts are matched
When it creates an invoice, SparkLayer looks for the right QuickBooks customer in this order:
- Account number (recommended): a QuickBooks customer whose ID matches the accounting ID metafield on the SparkLayer customer.
- Email: a QuickBooks customer with the same email address.
If either matches, the invoice is linked to that customer. If neither does, Automatic Contact Creation decides whether a new one is created.
Several contacts with one email
In SparkLayer, each email address belongs to one customer. In QuickBooks, several customers can share an email address. If more than one active QuickBooks customer has the email, and the invoice currency matches, the invoice goes to the oldest one. If your organisation has several contacts with the same email, give each a unique account number so matching is reliable.
Data synced when a contact is created
These details are copied once, when SparkLayer creates the QuickBooks customer. Later changes in SparkLayer aren't synced.
- First and last name
- Email address
- Billing and shipping address, from the order being invoiced
- Currency, set to the currency of the invoice
Set up QuickBooks
Check the requirements, connect your QuickBooks company, then choose your settings.
Requirements
- The Pro or Enterprise plan. See Plans and features.
- A Shopify store connected to SparkLayer. See Shopify.
- A QuickBooks Online account. The desktop version isn't supported.
- Your B2B products in QuickBooks, each with a SKU that matches Shopify and the right tax rate.
- Shipping turned on in QuickBooks, if you want shipping added at invoice level. If it's off, shipping is added as a line item instead.
Connect QuickBooks
- In the SparkLayer Dashboard, go to
SparkLayer Wholesale,Integrations,Partners (in your Shopify admin). - Under Accountancy, turn on the switch next to QuickBooks.
- Sign in to QuickBooks when it opens. QuickBooks shows the data SparkLayer needs access to (see the FAQs).
- If your QuickBooks account has several companies, choose the one to connect. You can connect one company per SparkLayer team.
- Back in SparkLayer Wholesale,Integrations,Partners (in your Shopify admin), open QuickBooks and complete the settings below.
When the integration is installed, SparkLayer creates a product called SparkLayer Custom Product in QuickBooks. It's used when a custom item is added to an order in SparkLayer. Before you use it, set its tax rate in QuickBooks, the same way as your other products. Otherwise invoices with custom items can't be created.
Configure the integration
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automatic Contact Creation | Not set when you install the integration: set it before you use the integration. Each invoice needs a QuickBooks customer. If SparkLayer can't match an existing one, this decides what happens. Enabled: SparkLayer creates a new QuickBooks customer from the customer data it holds, the same way as the Xero integration. Disabled: SparkLayer doesn't create customers, because you create them in another system or manage them by hand in QuickBooks. If no match is found, no invoice is created. |
| Payment on account - Invoice creation trigger | Default: On order. When to create invoices for Pay on Account orders. On order creates one invoice for the whole order when it reaches processing. On shipment creates an invoice for each shipment, when it's fulfilled. See Pay on Account orders and split shipments. |
| Enable Sales Receipts | Creates sales receipts in QuickBooks for orders paid upfront. |
| Shipping Tax Code | The name of the QuickBooks tax code for the shipping line. You must set this for invoices to sync. |
| Tax Exemption Tax Code | The name of the QuickBooks tax code for invoice lines of tax-exempt customers. |
| Income Account | The name of the QuickBooks account to use as the income account for new products. It's used when SparkLayer creates the SparkLayer Custom Product. |
Turn off the integration
- In the SparkLayer Dashboard, go to SparkLayer Wholesale,Integrations,Partners (in your Shopify admin).
- Under Accountancy, turn off the switch next to QuickBooks.
When the integration is off:
- No invoices are created for orders placed while it's off.
- Customers can no longer open QuickBooks invoices created through SparkLayer from My Account.
Limitations
- Products must exist in QuickBooks, with a SKU that matches Shopify and the correct tax rate.
- Invoice creation is one way. Changes to invoices in QuickBooks aren't reflected in SparkLayer or your platform.
- Apportioned tax rates on the shipping line aren't supported.
- Multi-currency isn't supported where a customer already has an invoice in another currency.
FAQs
Turn the integration off in SparkLayer Wholesale,Integrations,Partners (in your Shopify admin), under Accountancy. This removes the connection to your QuickBooks organisation. See Turn off the integration for what happens next. It works the same way as the Xero integration.
No. It only covers B2B orders created through your platform's connection with SparkLayer. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) orders aren't sent to QuickBooks as invoices.
When you connect, QuickBooks lists the exact permissions SparkLayer asks for. We only ask for the minimum needed:
- View & manage contacts: to match invoices to existing contacts, and create new ones if your settings allow.
- View & manage business transactions: to create invoices for SparkLayer B2B orders and, in future, to view payments made on invoices.
- View organisation settings: to read settings such as global payment terms when working out due dates.
Troubleshooting
If your issue isn't listed, or it continues after these steps, contact support.
Check that:
- The integration is turned on in SparkLayer Wholesale,Integrations,Partners (in your Shopify admin), under Accountancy.
- The order is
processingorshipped. Orders that haven't reachedprocessingyet, such as Shopify draft orders you haven't completed, don't get an invoice. - An invoice exists in QuickBooks for the order. It can take a little while to sync. If there's a long delay, or no invoice was created, contact support with the customer and order ID.
If invoice links are missing for all your customers, contact support.
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