V9 - Setup checklist for new SOS Inventory accounts

 

This section provides a step-by-step process for successfully setting up a new SOS account and integrating it with QuickBooks Online. Some steps must be executed in QuickBooks Online. They are detailed here as well.

 

We recommend that you register for live training! Everything in this article is covered in our free introductory classes:

 

 

Additional classes are available that provide detailed information on specific topics.

 

 

The following steps must be completed by the user who will serve as the master administrator for the QuickBooks Online and SOS Inventory accounts:

 

In QuickBooks Online

  1. Start a new QuickBooks Online account if you do not already have one.
     
  2. In QuickBooks Essentials, Online Plus, or Advanced:
    1. If your account is new and no Product & services have been added, go to Settings > Account and settings. Then go to the Sales tab to turn off Track inventory quantity on hand. When you use SOS Inventory with QuickBooks Online, only SOS Inventory will be tracking inventory. Turning this off now ensures items will be set up correctly in QuickBooks Online.
    2. If you have an existing account with Track inventory quantity on hand enabled, further steps will be provided later in this checklist.
    3. If you are migrating QuickBooks Desktop or Enterprise data into QuickBooks Online, turn off inventory tracking in QuickBooks Online before migrating. (But don't worry if you have already executed the migration without disabling inventory tracking. Support can help you correct your account.)
       
  3. Set up the Chart of accounts. Account numbers are optional, but account short names must be unique. Example: You should not have two accounts (that may be subaccounts to other accounts) with the same account name.
     
  4. Set up the Sales tax center (if needed).
     
  5. Specify the Sales form settings.
    1. Under Settings > Account and settings
      1. Go to the Sales tab.
        1. Under Sales form content:
          1. Enable Shipping, Discount, and/or Deposit in QuickBooks if you will use any of these features in SOS Inventory.
          2. If you would like QuickBooks to continue numbering your invoices, even when those invoices are created in SOS Inventory, disable Custom transaction numbers.
        2. Under Products & services:
          1. It is recommended to disable Turn on price rules because price rules do not sync with SOS Inventory and can override prices on sales that sync from SOS.
          2. While you can leave Revenue recognition on, be aware that SOS Inventory reports will not recognize this setting. SOS Inventory reports will reflect Revenue as if this setting were off.
      2. Under the Advanced tab:
        1. If you enabled Shipping and/or Discount, go under Chart of accounts and choose the associated Shipping account and/or Discount account. (Deposits automatically go to Undeposited funds.)
        2. If you are going to use classes and/or locations (called departments in SOS Inventory), go under Categories, then enable Track classes and/or Track locations.
          1. For Track classes: In the Assign classes dropdown, choose One to each row in transaction. This must be enabled if you plan to use categories with your Products & services.
          2. For Track locations: Choose the desired option under the Location label. (Note: Regardless of the label chosen, in SOS Inventory, it will always be called Department.)
             

Create your SOS Inventory account

  1. Start your SOS account using one of these two methods:
    1. From the Integrations icon in QuickBooks Online, click on Find integrations and search for SOS Inventory, then select Get integration now. You will receive a message to please wait while your account is created.
      1. An SOS Inventory account is created for you and connects it to your QuickBooks Online account.
      2. An initial synchronization of data starts to copy all necessary data from QuickBooks Online to SOS Inventory.
    2. From the SOS website, www.sosinventory.com, click on Start Free Trial to create a new SOS Inventory account.
      1. SOS will navigate to a page where you must select a plan. Click the button under the plan you desire. Another page will ask for your contact information. You must complete the reCAPTCHA before you click Start Trial.
      2. You will receive a message to please wait while SOS creates your account.
      3. Once your account has been created, you will be placed on the account's landing page.
      4. Go in SOS to the QuickBooks Sync Settings page (Tools & settings > Configuration > Connections > QuickBooks).
        1. Click on the button Connect to QuickBooks. Then follow the steps to authorize the connection.
        2. An initial synchronization of data starts to copy all necessary data from QuickBooks Online to SOS Inventory.
           
  2. Regardless of the method you used to create your SOS Inventory account:
    1. The initial sync will begin sending a copy of needed information from QuickBooks Online to SOS Inventory.
      1. This sync can take anywhere from 8 minutes to 24 hours, depending on the amount of data in your QuickBooks Online account.
      2. All customers, vendors, and items that are in QuickBooks Online will sync to SOS Inventory.
      3. Only the most recent 1000 of each transaction type will be synced to SOS. (If you have more that need to be synced over, we will show you how to do it later in this checklist.)
    2. You must wait until the sync is completed before using SOS Inventory. Once the initial sync is complete, you will receive an email at the address that started the account, notifying you that the sync is complete.
    3. If you connected via SOS Inventory, log out of SOS and then log back in to make sure your company name from your QuickBooks Online account is shown in the Company menu in SOS.
    4. If your QuickBooks Online data was migrated from QuickBooks Desktop or Enterprise, now that SOS Inventory is connected to QuickBooks Online, you should NOT migrate your Desktop or Enterprise file into QuickBooks Online again.


In SOS Inventory

  1. After the initial sync is completed:
    1. If you have more transaction data that did not sync over from QuickBooks due to the 1000 transaction limitation, you can use the Data utilities tool (Tools & settings > Data utilities).
      1. Use the Retrieve From QuickBooks option to select the transactions you would like to bring into SOS.
        1. You can select only one transaction type at a time.
        2. This will bring in the entire account history for the selected transaction type.
      2. If you need assistance using this tool, contact Support.
    2. During your trial period, if you plan to test the functionality between SOS Inventory and QuickBooks Online:
      1. SOS recommends that you create any test items for transactions using the word TEST as the beginning of each item name and as the first part of the transaction's reference number.
        1. To set up a test item, go to the Items list (Operations > Inventory > Items) and complete the following steps:
          1. Find an item that you wish to use during your test.
          2. Select Copy from that item's Actions dropdown menu to create your test item.
          3. Edit the new copy of the item to add the word TEST at the beginning of the item name and remove (copy) after the item name. Then save the item.
        2. Set up a test customer and vendor using the word TEST at the beginning of the customer or vendor name. Use these so you can see the transaction histories for both as you test.
        3. When creating a test transaction using that item, add the word TEST at the beginning of the transaction reference number field.
      2. If you have Track inventory quantity on hand enabled in QuickBooks, you may leave it on while testing.
         
        warningIMPORTANT: During your trial of SOS Inventory, do not edit existing items in SOS Inventory if Track inventory quantity on hand is still enabled in QuickBooks Online. Item changes in SOS will not sync to QuickBooks until an item recreation is completed, which can be done only if you choose to subscribe to SOS Inventory after testing.
        warningIMPORTANT: Any change you make in SOS Inventory will sync to make the same change in QuickBooks Online. Be cautious in making changes or deletions from SOS Inventory at this time. If you need to hide data in SOS Inventory without affecting QuickBooks Online, you may archive such data in SOs Inventory.
      3. Once testing is done:
        1. Delete all TEST transactions and TEST items, as well as your TEST customer and TEST vendor. Then sync with QuickBooks.
        2. If you have Track inventory quantity on hand enabled in QuickBooks:
          1. You must have an active account to complete this action. Go to Company menu and click on Account information. Under Payment method, click on the pencil icon. Enter a credit card to activate your account.
          2. Contact Support to complete an item recreation. This is needed due to QuickBooks Online and SOS Inventory handling transactions differently:
            1. In QuickBooks Online, invoices and sales receipts that contain Inventory items (as defined in QuickBooks Online) serve to record the sales income as well as the relief of inventory, affecting the asset and COGS account.
            2. In SOS Inventory, the sales workflow is separated into two distinct transactions.
              1. The invoice or sales receipt will affect only the income accounts.
              2. Shipment transactions will relieve inventory and create the journal entries affecting the asset and COGS accounts.
                 
  2. Since you are the only user on the account at this point, and SOS gave you a default password, you should update your profile. Under the User menu:
    1. Go to User settings. In the pop-up window:
      1. Set your Date format.
      2. Set your Time zone.
      3. Set your Notification method. Regardless of the option you choose, all notifications will continue to appear within the application under the Notifications icon.
        1. The default for notifications is to show them within the app. This option is Don't email or text me.
        2. If you would also like to receive an email whenever you are notified, select the Email me option. This option sends the notification to the email address you use to log in.
        3. If you would like to receive an SMS text message, select the Text me option. This option will send an SMS message to your phone number.
        4. You may also receive notifications by email and text by selecting Email me and text me.
      4. Change your Display name, if desired. This is displayed at the top of the User menu when you click the icon. The Display name also appears on transactions in the Assigned to dropdown list of users. 
      5. Email address which is used for your login and notifications.
      6. Enter your email address again in Confirm email.
      7. Select a Security question.
      8. Enter your Security question answer.
      9. If in your Notification method in 2a(iii), you selected that you want to receive text notifications:
        1. Check the box, Receive notifications via SMS.
        2. Optional: Choose your Mobile carrier from the dropdown.
        3. Enter your Mobile number.
      10. Select Save and close.
    2. We recommend that you update your password. Go to Change password to update your password. Save and close when finished. 
       
  3. Define additional users, if needed.
    1. Go to Company > Users. (This is a shortcut to the Users list, which is located under Tools & settings > Configuration > Company > Users.)
      1. Select +Add to add a new user.
      2. If, during the addition of users, you exceed the limit for your plan, you will see a message at the top of the User edit page letting you know that an additional fee will be charged.
      3. Enter the Name of the user.
      4. Enter the user's Email address and repeat it in the Confirm email field. Please ensure that no extra characters are before or after the email address (such as spaces or tabs).
      5. Select the appropriate privileges for the user, based on their role in your organization.
        1. Check the Administrator box if the user is an administrator.
        2. Check the appropriate privileges if the user is not an administrator. For example, if the new user is a sales representative, you might not want to give privileges pertaining to purchasing or manufacturing.
        3.  Go to More > Save and new to add another user, or select Save and close if you are done. (If you have made at least one user an administrator, they can add other users to the system.)
      6. Each user will receive an email with a system-generated password from SOS. The email will contain a link to the login page and ask them to log in and complete their profile.


The following steps may be completed by any user with appropriate privileges. Each step will annotate who can make the change. Also, use the links to get the details for each topic. For settings, use the notes on the right of each option for clarification.

  1. Administrator — In SOS, go to Company settings (Tools & settings > Configuration > Company) and complete the following as needed:
    1. General settings. 
      1. Company time zone (required).
      2. Automated date format (either month/day/year or day/month/year).
      3. Star settings (yellow or red/yellow/green).
      4. Default lines (number of default item lines when creating a transaction).
      5. Default report format (select desired file format).
      6. Inactivity timeout (leave Off or choose desired interval by moving the slider).
      7. Additional recipient for payment receipts. Allows other people to receive the receipt for the SOS Inventory subscription, other than the master administrator.
    2. Accounting settings.
      1. Never connect. Check this box if using SOS Inventory in standalone mode.
      2. Multicurrency (required if QuickBooks Online account is using Multicurrency).
      3. Home currency (required and must match home currency in QuickBooks Online).
      4. Closing date (strongly recommended). If you are coming from an existing QuickBooks Online account and have set a closing date, please copy that date here.
    3. Name and address settings.
      1. Company name (acquired from QuickBooks Online).
      2. Company address (required for meeting compliance regulations).
      3. Company header (recommended).
    4. Logo settings.
      1. Logo width.
      2. Logo height.
      3. Logo file (recommended).
         
  2. Administrator — Account information. Go to Company menu > Account information and check to ensure the account is at the plan level you desire. If you need to change the plan, click on the pencil icon to select a different plan level. This is especially important if SOS Inventory was enabled via the Integrations icon in QuickBooks Online.
     
  3. Administrator — Locations. Go to Tools & settings > Configuration > Lists > Locations.
    1. Edit the default location so that you have its address and contact information for use on purchase orders and other transactions.
    2. If you are a Plus or Pro plan subscriber, add any additional locations you may need for your inventory management.
      1. Select +Add to create a new location.
      2. Enter the name, address, and contact information for that location.
      3. Only if you are not using the Sales Tax Center in QuickBooks Online: complete the Sales tax rate % field, if desired.
      4. Check the appropriate settings for the location.
        1. Check Default if this location will be your default location.
        2. Check Bin tracking if this location will use bin tracking.
        3. Check Non-nettable if items stored at this location will not be considered available for sale. 
      5. Go to More > Save and new to add another location, or select Save and close if you are done.
         
  4. Any user with appropriate privileges — Go to Tools & settings > Configuration and complete the following to ensure all desired settings are enabled before loading any data. The settings you see are based on the plan you selected.
    1. Inventory settings
    2. Purchasing settings
    3. Sales settings
    4. Fulfillment settings
    5. Production settings 
    6. Rental settings (if enabled on Plus or Pro subscriptions)
    7. Payment settings
       
  5. Other settings.
    1. Select and configure additional settings under the Configuration mode (Tools & settings > Configuration). The most-used options include the following:
      1. Under Lists: 
        1. Administrator — Form templates. Allows you to modify the look and functionality of a form template used to produce a PDF. You will be able to customize existing templates to create a document that looks as you desire for customers and vendors. You may also register for our customer training course on form templates at sosinventory.com/customertraining.
        2. Any user with the Add/edit/delete permission for sales reps — Sales reps. Allows you to manage your sales reps and set their commission rates.
        3. Administrator — Shipping methods. Allows you to modify the list of shipping vendors. Includes additional support for EDI and ShipStation as well.
      2. Administrator — Under Connections:
        1. ShipStation. Allows you to set up a connection to ShipStation.
        2. UPS. Allows you to set up a connection to your UPS account(s). For continental US accounts only.
        3. Carts. BigCommerce and PayPal can be directly connected without further action. However, Shopify is temporarily disabled for new SOS accounts. Please contact Support if you have any questions.
        4. FTP. Allows you to set up connections to external FTP servers.
        5. API. Allows you to set up external connections using our SOS API. Please read the linked information for more details.
    2. Any user with the Add/edit/delete permission for items — If you set up any locations with bin tracking, add your bins (Operations > Inventory > Bins).
       
  6. Any user with appropriate permissions — Validate or add additional item data. If you imported data from QuickBooks Online for the initial sync, you need to validate that the item data in SOS is accurate. If you started with a blank QuickBooks Online account, you will need to add any data required (such as items, customers, and vendors) to SOS Inventory. You can register for 1002 — Data Import Basics and 1002.1 — Data Import Advanced Items courses to learn all the details needed for this process.
    1. Export your item data. Go to Tools & settings > Export data. 
      1. Under the Inventory tab, select Items.
        1. If modifying quantity on hand and value on hand, choose the Location and As Of date for your exported file. If editing today's information, DO NOT enter an As Of date.
           
          warningIMPORTANT: Note the date of your download. This information will be important when you import on a date that is later than your export. We suggest renaming the exported file name to include the date as part of the name. (Example: Items 2026Feb25.xlxs)
        2. In the Columns block, click on the button Add all columns required for import.
        3. Under Retrieve your report: 
          1. Select Download.
          2. In the pop-up window, choose your desired file format. Options are Excel (.xlsx), Legacy Excel (.xls), or Comma-separated values (.csv). Then select Download.
          3. An Items spreadsheet will be downloaded according to your browser settings.
    2. Save a copy of your spreadsheet as a backup.
    3. Edit your Items spreadsheet to validate or enter new data that you know for each item.
      1. Review information about Bulk editing items. 
      2. Make sure you are following the Guidelines for editing data as you complete the process.
      3. At minimum, you should enter data for the following columns:
        1. Name (must be unique)
        2. SalesDescription
        3. QuantityOnHand
        4. ValueOnHand (total value of stock)
        5. PurchaseDescription (optional, but if used, replaces the SalesDescription on purchasing forms)
        6. SalesPrice
        7. Cost
        8. TypeOfItem. Denotes the type of item. Options include Inventory Item, Non-inventory Item, Item Group, Service, Expense, Category, Assembly, Other. For Pro plan subscribers, Labor and Overhead are additional item type options.
           
          edit_noteNOTE: Items typed as Category must be entered on the spreadsheet before any items can be assigned to that category.
        9. IncomeAccountName, AssetAccountName, COGSAccountName (Cost of Goods Sold), and ExpenseAccountName, as appropriate to item type.
      4. For items, each sheet in your spreadsheet workbook should be limited to a maximum of 200 lines when imported back into SOS. If needed, add additional sheets to your workbook to accommodate all items you need to import. This step is needed due to a limitation in the adjustment transaction in SOS.
      5. Save the spreadsheet.
    4. Import your items into SOS Inventory.
      1. Go to the Import data page (Tools & settings > Import data).
      2. Under the Importing dropdown, select Items.
      3. If modifying quantity on hand and value on hand, choose the same Location and As Of date as your exported file. (If uploading quantities as of the current date, DO NOT enter an As Of date if importing on the same date as the exported file.)
      4. In the File field, choose the Excel file containing your data, then select Preview.
      5. If importing items from a workbook with multiple sheets, you will need to select the appropriate sheet from a dropdown list.
      6. The first 10 rows of data will appear for your review.
      7. If everything looks correct, select Import. The system will begin to process the data and will send a notification to your Notifications list stating "Item import complete" if the import was successful. If the import is unsuccessful, the notification will state "Item import failed" and provide the reason for failure.
      8. If you need to import additional sheets from the same workbook, repeat Steps iv-viii.
    5. The import should have created an inventory adjustment if you added QuantityOnHand and ValueOnHand data for your items in the sheet.
      1. On the Operations menu, go to Inventory > Adjustments to find the adjustment record created by the data export/import.
        1. Click on the adjustment transaction number to open the adjustment for editing.
        2. In the Account field:
          1. Select Opening balance equity if all items are new.
          2. If updating synced items, do not change the Account field. It should be the default adjustment account from your settings.  
        3. Save and close the adjustment. This will send journal entries to QuickBooks Online to load the values in Inventory Asset and the appropriate adjustment account.
    6. All item changes, whether they be characteristics or value, will be added to the Sync queue (Sync > Preview Sync).
    7. Go to Sync > Sync Now to send all new items and journal entries from the adjustment to update your accounts in QuickBooks Online.
       
  7. Now you can load any other data you need, such as vendors, customers—and if you created items typed as Assembly or Kit (item group), bills of materials (BOMs). These can be added using the bulk edit process, as you did with items. If this was a newly-synced account from QuickBooks Online which already had existing data, this would be an update. If you started with a blank QuickBooks Online account, you will need to add any data required (such customers, and vendors) to SOS Inventory.
    1. Go to Tools & settings > Export data. 
      1. Under the appropriate tab, select Vendors (under the Purchasing tab), Customers (under the Sales tab), or BOMs (under the Inventory tab).
        1. In the Columns block, click on the button Add all columns required for import.
        2. Under Retrieve your report: 
          1. Select Download.
          2. In the pop-up window, choose your desired file format. Options are Excel (.xlsx), Legacy Excel (.xls), or Comma-separated values (.csv). Then select Download.
          3. The spreadsheet will be downloaded according to your browser settings.
        3. Save a copy of your spreadsheet as a backup.
    2. Edit and complete the spreadsheet with all the information that you know for each line.
      1. Review information about bulk editing vendors, customers, or BOMs.
      2. Make sure you are following the Guidelines for editing data as you complete the process.
    3. Go to the Import data page (Tools & settings > Import data) and upload your spreadsheet into SOS, selecting the appropriate data type (Vendor, Customer, or BOM).
       
  8. Review these Help Center pages to learn more about your workflows.
  9. As a reminder, see the Training registration page to take classes to further your understanding of what you have used in this checklist. See our Course Catalog for all classes offered and a summary of the topics included in each class.
     

If you have any questions as you are going through this, please contact SOS Inventory Support by email or phone. Email support hours are 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Central, Monday through Friday, as well as 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The SOS Support team is available by phone at 817-422-5909 from 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday.