V9 - QuickBooks Online integration and connection overview

 

The sections below provide an overview of how SOS Inventory works with QuickBooks. It will walk you through preparing for and initiating the connection between the two applications and their first sync.

 

QuickBooks Online integration

SOS Inventory was designed to work with QuickBooks Online from the ground up. SOS Inventory integrates tightly with QuickBooks Online to produce a world-class experience for the user. The integration works via a two-way synchronization process in which data are exchanged from server to server.

 

Connecting to QuickBooks Online

SOS Inventory communicates with QuickBooks Online via a “connection,” which is simply an authorization that you provide, giving permission for SOS to communicate with QuickBooks Online on your behalf. If a connection is not active, the sync functions will not be available to you.

 

Considerations before connecting

Before you connect SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online, you should understand possible situations that may need to be corrected first.

 

 

If you already use bundles or inventory tracking in QuickBooks Online, please contact Support to obtain assistance in recreating your items to be compatible with SOS Inventory.

 

Migrating from QuickBooks Desktop, Premier, or Enterprise to QuickBooks Online

If you are moving from QuickBooks Desktop, Premier, or Enterprise to a QuickBooks Online account, you must complete the migration process first. If you feel you need assistance, please contact our Support team.

 

As part of this migration process, the recommended steps are:

 

  1. Create a QuickBooks Online account. Make sure that Track inventory quantity on hand is turned OFF by going to the gear icon in the upper right, selecting Account & settings, selecting the Sales tab on the left. The option is under Product and services.
  2. Migrate your QuickBooks Desktop, Premier, or Enterprise to a QuickBooks Online account (QuickBooks Online support can answer questions). When asked in a pop-up message during the import if you want to track inventory, answer No. This will save you time later.
  3. Please note that this is an operation that must be completed before connecting to SOS. Once connected to SOS, you cannot migrate again.
  4. Proceed to the next section: Creating the connection.

 

If you are experiencing issues during migration, please contact QuickBooks Online Technical Support for assistance.

 

Creating the connection

You can create the connection through one of two methods:

 

  1. From SOS Inventory. At sosinventory.com, select the Start Free Trial button in the upper right corner. Alternatively, you can go to the SOS Inventory login page, app.sosinventory.com and click I need an account. Either way, you need to choose your account plan first. An information page then displays for you to provide your email address (which should also be the email address of an administrator in the QuickBooks Online account), your name, company, and phone number. Ensure you check the box for the reCAPTCHA and follow that process. Finally, click on Start Trial. This will create your new SOS account.
    1. If this is your first SOS account, your initial password is generated by the system. For security, you should reset your user password (User > Change password) before continuing.
    2. If this is not your first SOS account, you may have already completed the password reset. In this case, this action is not needed.
    3. Now you need to connect to QuickBooks Online (Tools & settings > Configuration > Connections > QuickBooks). Selecting the Connect to QuickBooks button will open a pop-up window that will walk you through authorizing your QuickBooks Online Company to connect to SOS. Again, you must be an administrator on QuickBooks Online to authorize the connection. SOS finds your QuickBooks Online Company by using your email address, so make sure it matches in QuickBooks Online. See Manual versus automatic synchronization and QuickBooks setting descriptions for more on automated sync.
       
  2. From QuickBooks Online. Go to the Integrations icon (the icon to the left of the Notifications bell) on the Task bar. You should find SOS Inventory by clicking the Find integrations button. Click on Get integration now to connect and complete the process. Using this method, it connects the products for you, so you do not have to authorize the connection separately.

 

No matter which method you use, as the person creating the connection, you should now see SOS Inventory listed under My integrations. Only the person making the connection will have this option.

 

Refer to Setup checklist for new SOS Inventory accounts for complete step-by-step instructions on setting up SOS Inventory. 

 

First sync

When you first make a connection between SOS and QuickBooks Online, SOS will begin retrieving the relevant data in your QuickBooks Online account. All customers, vendors, and items that are in QuickBooks Online will sync to SOS Inventory. But only 1,000 of the most recent of each transaction type will be synchronized to SOS. It will also retrieve other required information, such as Chart of accounts, Sales tax center, and more.

 

This initial synchronization between QuickBooks Online and SOS Inventory typically takes much longer than subsequent synchronizations. The first sync generally takes 15 minutes to an hour to complete, depending on the volume of data in your account. You should not use SOS Inventory while it is synchronizing. Wait until the process completes. When the sync completes, you will get an email at the address used for your login letting you know.

 

If you need to sync more transactions than allowed for the initial sync, use the Retrieve from QuickBooks data utility (Tools & settings > Data utilities) to obtain the additional transactions. If you have defined automated order processing (AOP) rules (Tools & settings > Configuration > Lists > AOP rules) or have turned on Auto functions in the General sales settings (Tools & settings > Configuration > Sales > General), the system will display a message stating that you must disable these features before using the Retrieve from QuickBooks function. Once you are finished retrieving transactions, you can enable those options again.

 

edit_noteNOTE: If you need to sync additional transactions using the Retrieve from QuickBooks feature, the synchronization should be completed before executing an item recreation. An item recreation is needed if inventory tracking was enabled in QuickBooks Online before you connected to SOS. Please contact our Support desk if this condition exists. If sales receipts, invoices, and purchase orders are synced after an item recreation, transactions will include the extension (deleted) at the end of each item listed on the transaction, and reports in SOS will not report historical data accurately for those items.

 

After the initial sync, you can synchronize SOS Inventory with QuickBooks Online at any time by selecting Sync now (Sync > Sync now). See Manual versus automatic synchronization for more information.

 

Inventory tracking in QuickBooks

QuickBooks Online includes an inventory tracking setting called Track inventory quantity on hand that allows you to keep track of your quantity on hand and cost of goods sold. If you decide to use SOS Inventory because the inventory functionality in QuickBooks Online is insufficient for your business needs, you do not want to manage inventory in both SOS and QuickBooks Online. Use SOS Inventory only. For that reason, SOS customers should turn off inventory tracking in QuickBooks Online.

 

If you are having duplicate cost of goods sold entries showing up in QuickBooks Online, the cause is that inventory tracking has been enabled for some items in QuickBooks. Consequently, both QuickBooks Online and SOS are posting to cost of goods sold—resulting in duplicate entries.

 

If you are seeing this issue or have questions, please contact SOS Support to discuss.