Welcome to the easiest way to keep your accounting and billing running smoothly!
By using ServiceCore's integration with QuickBooks Online (QBO), you're set up for a hassle-free experience that saves your team time and effort.
Before You Start
- You must be the Account Owner in ServiceCore and an Admin in QuickBooks Online (QBO) in order to set up and manage the integration.
- You must have a QuickBooks Online US account to integrate with ServiceCore. QuickBooks files from other countries like Canada are not supported.
- If your business is outside the US, you should not use QuickBooks US. Differences in currency and tax rules can cause bookkeeping errors.
- You must be on the Essentials, Plus, or Advanced QBO plan in order to integrate with ServiceCore.
- Simple Start, Self Employed, Solopreneur, and the Free Version are not compatible with our integration.
- Only ServiceCore can be synced to QBO; any other integrations will need to be disabled.
- Once the integration between QBO and ServiceCore is set up, the sync is automatic and you don't need to keep both systems open.
Integration Highlights
The PDF below contains a high-level overview of how the data sync between ServiceCore and QBO works, and in which direction(s) the information flows between the two platforms.
TIP: Download a copy of this PDF here.
Set Up the Integration
Before your QBO integration is fully set up, there are a few preliminary steps what need to occur during your initial onboarding process.
These steps include:
- Expert Guidance: Right after you sign up with ServiceCore, you'll get a dynamic duo on your side: an Implementation Project Manager and a Customer Success Engineer. They're your go-to experts for integrating your QuickBooks Online account with ServiceCore.
- Data Review: Your Implementation Project Manager will schedule a data review call with you and a Customer Success Engineer to do a deep dive into your QuickBooks data and ensure everything's perfectly aligned for a seamless sync.
- Connect & Authenticate: We'll guide you through connecting your QBO account with your ServiceCore account with clear instructions, making it a breeze.
- Comprehensive Initial Sync: We'll then perform a thorough import of your QuickBooks data into ServiceCore. This includes everything from customer details to tax rates. This comprehensive sync is a one-time process to get everything in place.
- Initial Import Review: After the initial sync, the Customer Success Engineer will meticulously review your sync logs, hunting down and fixing any discrepancies, to ensure your data's in perfect shape.
- Detailed Full Export: Once your data is primed and ready, we'll proceed with the full export from ServiceCore back to QBO, ensuring your records are mirror images of each other.
- Full Export Review: After exporting, we'll dive into the sync logs again to double-check that every piece of data has found its way home smoothly, with no errors left behind.
- Enabling Per-Item Syncing: With the import and export checks complete, we'll switch on per-item syncing. This is where the magic happens! Your data flows between ServiceCore and QBO in real-time as updates or new entries occur.
- Ongoing Sync: Moving forward, all your financial transactions from ServiceCore (invoices, payments, refunds, and credit memos) will automatically sync to QuickBooks Online. And for the non-financial data (customers, sites, classes, payment terms, and tax codes), it's a two-way street. Create or update info on either platform and it mirrors in the other seamlessly.
What Syncs During Initial Import
The table below outlines what data syncs from QuickBooks Online to ServiceCore during your initial sync (Step 4 above).
Please Note: Financial transactions made in QuickBooks, like payments, invoices, credit memos or refunds, WON'T sync to ServiceCore. Because of this, we strongly encourage you to treat ServiceCore as your transactional system of truth instead of QBO.
QuickBooks |
→ |
ServiceCore |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Class |
→ |
Class |
|
Term |
→ |
Payment Term |
|
Chart of Account |
→ |
Chart of Account |
We import all account types except NonPosting. |
Tax Rate |
→ |
Tax Rate |
User-generated and System-generated (Automated Sales Tax) tax entities will be imported. |
Tax Code |
→ |
Tax Code |
User-generated and System-generated (Automated Sales Tax) tax entities will be imported. |
Tax Agency |
→ |
Tax Agency |
User-generated and System-generated (Automated Sales Tax) tax entities will be imported. |
Service |
→ |
Service |
|
Customer |
→ |
Customer |
All sub-customers must only be one sub-customer deep. Sub-customers cannot have sub-customers. |
Job |
→ |
Site |
We only import first level jobs. Any jobs nested deeper than one level will not import. |
How Per-Item Syncing Works
Once we've done an initial import/export and turned on per-item syncing (Step 8 above), there are a few things to note:
- Non-financial information, like customer details and service info, will keep updating back and forth between ServiceCore and QBO, no matter where you add or change them.
- Financial information, like invoices and payments, will only go from ServiceCore to QBO. So if you enter any financial transactions in QBO, they won't show up in ServiceCore. This means that your customer account balances, statuses, and aging report amounts will be incorrect, because ServiceCore will not match the amounts you see in QBO.
After per-item syncing is enabled, the data below flows both ways: from QBO into ServiceCore and from ServiceCore into QBO.
QuickBooks |
↔ |
ServiceCore |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Class |
↔ |
Class |
|
Term |
↔ |
Payment Term |
|
Chart of Accounts |
↔ |
Chart of Accounts |
We import all account types except NonPosting. |
Item Sales Tax |
↔ |
Tax Rate |
User-generated and System-generated (Automated Sales Tax) tax entities will be imported. |
Item Sales Tax Group |
↔ |
Tax Code |
User-generated and System-generated (Automated Sales Tax) tax entities will be imported. |
Sales Tax Vendor |
↔ |
Sales Tax Agency |
User-generated and System-generated (Automated Sales Tax) tax entities will be imported. |
Service |
↔ |
Service |
|
Customer |
↔ |
Customer |
In QuickBooks Online, Customers share namespace with Employees and Vendors. They cannot be named the same. |
Job |
↔ |
Site |
We only import first level jobs. Any jobs nested deeper than one level will not import. |
After per-item syncing is enabled, the data below ONLY flows from ServiceCore into QBO.
ServiceCore |
→ |
QuickBooks |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Invoice |
→ |
Invoice |
|
Credit Memo |
→ |
Credit Memo |
Applied Credit Memos in ServiceCore currently do not export as applied to an invoice. You'll have to apply them manually in QBO. |
Payment |
→ |
Payment |
ServiceCore sends every payment to Undeposited Funds in QuickBooks QBO. If you edit a payment in ServiceCore, the change syncs again unless you’ve already deposited that payment in QBO. |
Refund |
→ |
Refund |
|
What Does Not Sync
The table below outlines what data DOESN'T sync back and forth between QBO and ServiceCore.
TIP: If this data were included in the integration's sync, it would cause the sync to completely fail.
QuickBooks |
X |
ServiceCore |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Services | X | Deactivated Services | Invoices that use deactivated or deleted services will fail to sync. |
| Payments | X | Deleted Payments | Payments that are deleted in ServiceCore will not sync to QBO and will not be deleted from QBO. |
| "P.O. Number" on Payments | X | N/A | Payments do not have P.O Numbers in ServiceCore, so these will not sync to QBO. |
| "Job Name" on Payments | X | N/A | Payments do not have Job Names in ServiceCore, so these will not sync to QBO. |
| Journal Entries | X | N/A | Journal Entries are not currently supported by the QBO sync with ServiceCore |
| Checks | X | N/A | ServiceCore only allows transaction types of "Invoice" and "Credit Memo". Transactions with a type of "Check" in QuickBooks are not imported into ServiceCore and will not sync. |
| Credit Cards | X | N/A | If credit cards are stored insecurely in QBO, like in customer notes, the integration will delete the credit card information in QBO |
About the Sync
The sync happens in real-time as items are updated so you don't have to manually update either platform for synced items.
The table below outlines some important things to know about the sync's settings.
Sync Settings | ||
|---|---|---|
Name |
Description |
Default |
Use Site Shipping Address |
Sites in ServiceCore are allowed to have one address field that's meant to be the physical address of the site. In QBO this is the Site Shipping Address. In ServiceCore this is the Site Address. If this setting is Enabled, we will import the QuickBooks Site Shipping Address into ServiceCore as the Site Address. If this setting is Disabled, we will instead import the QuickBooks Site Billing Address into ServiceCore as the Site Address. |
Enabled |
Name on Line One of Site Address |
All of your Site Addresses must be in one of two Address Formats shown below this table. If this setting is Enabled, we will assume all sites are in Format 1. If this setting is Disabled, we will assume all site addresses are in Format 2. We support either format. You must choose one format and ALL of your site addresses HAVE to be in your chosen format for the sync to work properly. |
Enabled |
Name on Line One of Customer Address |
All of your Customer Addresses must be in one of two Address Formats shown below this table. If this setting is Enabled, we will assume all sites are in Format 1. If this setting is Disabled, we will assume all site addresses are in Format 2. We support either format. You must choose one format and ALL of your sites HAVE to be in your chosen format for the sync to work properly. |
Enabled |
There are two types of address formats supported by ServiceCore.
Which format is used in your ServiceCore account used depends on whether the "Name on Line One" settings are enabled or disabled in your QBO account (see above table).
TIP: If you're unsure what format your addresses currently use, we'll review this with you during your initial onboarding process.
Address Format 1: Name on Line One is ENABLED | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Description |
Example |
||
| Line 1 | Customer Name | Line 1 | ServiceCore |
| Line 2 | Street Address | Line 2 | 405 Urban Street |
| Line 3 | Secondary Address | Line 3 | Suite 120 |
| Line 4, 5 | <Not Used by ServiceCore> | Line 4, 5 | N/A |
Address Format 2: Name on Line One is DISABLED | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | Example | ||
| Line 1 | Street Address | Line 1 | 405 Urban Street |
| Line 2 | Secondary Address | Line 2 | Suite 120 |
| Line 3 | <Not Used by ServiceCore> | Line 3 | |
| Line 4, 5 | <Not Used by ServiceCore> | Line 4, 5 | N/A |
Accepted and Unaccepted Characters
QuickBooks Online has restrictions on which special characters can be used in their system and therefore, which special characters can be used in a sync to their system.
Click here to learn more about acceptable characters in QuickBooks Online.
Please Note: Using unaccepted characters will cause the sync to fail.
Accepted Characters | |
Characters |
Description |
| A-Z, a-z | Letters (uppercase & lowercase) |
| 0-9 | Numbers |
| , . ? @ & ! # ' ~ * | Common Punctuation |
| Space _ - ; + | Spacing and Separators |
Unaccepted Characters | |
Character |
Description |
| " | Double Quote |
| $ | Dollar Sign |
| % | Percent |
| ( ) | Parentheses |
| / | Slash |
| : | Colon |
| < = > | Comparison Signs |
| [ \ ] | Brackets and Backslash |
| ^ ` {} | Special Symbols |
Character Limits
ServiceCore sets a maximum length for the names and labels of records that sync with QuickBooks Online.
TIP: Keep names within these limits so your records sync without errors.
Record |
Field |
Maximum Length |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Name | 127 characters |
| Site | Name | 127 characters |
| Account | Name | 16 characters |
| Class | Name | 31 characters |
| Service | Name | 31 characters |
| Payment Term | Label | 128 characters |
| Tax Agency | Label | 255 characters |
| Tax Code | Label | 255 characters |
| Tax Rate | Label | 255 characters |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
These FAQs address common questions and quick clarifications to help you use this feature with confidence.
How Far Back Does the Initial Full Sync Go?
The full initial sync is for all QuickBooks online data ever (from the beginning of time). There is no setting that allows QuickBooks Online users to have their sync data start from a specific date.
If you have QuickBooks data from 2001, 2007, 2019, etc...your sync will include all of that information, including any data you have in your QuickBooks account through today.
If I Fix an Old Transaction, Will That Change Still Sync?
Yes. Updates to transactions are synced upon saving and will sync to your QuickBooks account immediately.
What Happens If I Delete, Deactivate, or Void Something in ServiceCore and Not in QuickBooks?
If you delete, deactivate, or void something (like an invoice, payment, or tax code) in ServiceCore, those items will still appear in QuickBooks Online.
You'll need to repeat your action in QBO to keep the systems matching.
Why Doesn't the Sync Import Accounting Transactions From QuickBooks Back into ServiceCore?
Financial transactions only flow one way: from ServiceCore to QuickBooks. ServiceCore is the source of truth for invoices, payments, credit memos, and refunds, so create them in ServiceCore.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@servicecore.com!