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QuickBooks Integration (Small business packages only)
QuickBooks Integration (Small business packages only)

Learn everything there is to know about integrating to QuickBooks

Chris Garbacz avatar
Written by Chris Garbacz
Updated over 2 years ago

In this article you will learn:

  • An Overview

  • How to integrate your account with QuickBooks

  • Working with your QuickBooks integration

Overview

QuickBooks is a cloud-based accounting solution. If you use QuickBooks then this integration will offer you the following benefits:

  • All invoices created in Studio Ninja will automatically copy to QuickBooks.

  • All invoices edited in Studio Ninja will automatically be updated in QuickBooks.

  • All invoices deleted in Studio Ninja will be voided in QuickBooks.

  • Optional - All payments recorded in Studio Ninja will automatically be updated in QuickBooks and vice versa. 

** IMPORTANT ** Studio Ninja only integrates with Small Business packages and the US, UK, CA, NZ and Australia versions.

Note: Prices noted above are not the actual plan prices. Please check the QuickBooks website for your country to know the updated pricing.

Integrating with QuickBooks

To integrate Studio Ninja with QuickBooks follow these steps:

Step 1: Go to Settings > Integrations page.

Step 2: Click the 'Integrate' button within the QuickBooks box. You will be redirected to a QuickBooks login screen. Login using your QuickBooks credentials and click Authorize. 

Step 3: After logging in successfully, you will be redirected back to your Studio Ninja account. A lightbox will appear asking for some remaining details to finalise the integration.

Step 4: Choose which default revenue account you would like your Studio Ninja invoices to copy to. 

A Revenue Account is an account that records your invoices. 

Step 5: This step is optional. Choose if you would like to copy payments received in Studio Ninja to QuickBooks. If you (or your bookkeeper / accountant) record payments in QuickBooks then this option is not recommended.  

A Payment Account is an account that records payments received for invoices in Studio Ninja. The name of this account as it appears in the Studio Ninja dropdown menu reflects your settings in QuickBooks.

You can view your existing accounts and create new ones on the Chart of Accounts page from your QuickBooks dashboard. 

Step 6: In Studio Ninja, click the 'Save settings' button and your integration will be complete!

IMPORTANT: From this point onward, every time you create, edit or delete an invoice in Studio Ninja, the same action will occur in QuickBooks. All existing invoices will not be copied to QuickBooks. 

Now that your integration with QuickBooks is complete, your settings options will change. You will now be able to 'Edit settings' and 'Disconnect' your QuickBooks integration at any time using the buttons within the QuickBooks box. 

Working with your QuickBooks integration

Now that you have successfully integrated Studio Ninja with QuickBooks, let's explore the integration in action! 

Creating a new invoice

Every time you create a new invoice, you will see a COPIED TO QUICKBOOKS stamp on the invoice. This means that the invoice has been successfully copied to your QuickBooks account. 

As you can see from the screenshot below, the invoice has automatically been created in your QuickBooks account. 

Other functionality:

  1. Edit Invoice: Feel free to make changes and edit invoices. The changes you make will automatically be applied to your QuickBooks invoice.

  2. Delete Invoice: If you delete an invoice from Studio Ninja, the invoice will automatically be voided in your QuickBooks account. 

  3. Recording Payments: If you ticked the 'Sync payments to QuickBooks' checkbox during the setup process then any payments recorded in Studio Ninja will also be applied to your invoices in QuickBooks. For example:

  • If you manually receive a payment in Studio Ninja using the Record Payment feature, the payment will automatically be applied to the invoice in QuickBooks.

  • If you receive a payment by Stripe, the payment will automatically be applied to the invoice in QuickBooks.

  • If you receive a payment by PayPal, the payment will automatically be applied to the invoice in QuickBooks.

  • If you recorded a payment in QuickBooks, then the payment will also automatically be recorded in Studio Ninja.
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IMPORTANT: If there is a glitch, for example, a temporary internet outage at the time of saving the invoice in Studio Ninja, the invoice may not copy to QuickBooks successfully. 

In this instance, the COPIED TO QUICKBOOKS stamp will not appear. If you notice at any time that the COPIED TO QUICKBOOKS stamp is not visible, simply click the 'Copy to QuickBooks' button and Studio Ninja will copy the invoice to QuickBooks again.  

DISCONNECTED - QUICKBOOKS INVOICE ALTERED 

There are a few scenarios that will disconnect your Studio Ninja invoice from QuickBooks. Generally this happens if an invoice is altered in any way in QuickBooks. Specifically the examples are:

  • If you void an invoice in QuickBooks.

  • If you edit the total invoiced amount in QuickBooks.

  • If you change the primary contact in QuickBooks.

  • If you add a product / package to the invoice in QuickBooks. 

  • If you change the tax amount in QuickBooks. 

  • If you chance the date of the invoice in QuickBooks.

  • If you change the invoice ID in QuickBooks.

If any of the above scenarios occur, you will see a DISCONNECTED - QUICKBOOKS INVOICE ALTERED stamp appear on your invoice in Studio Ninja. 

Once an invoice has been disconnected, any changes made to this invoice within Studio Ninja will no longer be copied to QuickBooks. 

There are a couple of ways to resolve this situation. 

1. Click on the 'Copy to QuickBooks' button in Studio Ninja. This will copy the invoice and all its data to QuickBooks again so that it matches Studio Ninja exactly. 

2. You can go back to QuickBooks and undo what you did that caused the disconnected stamp. For example, if you changed the invoice total amount in QuickBooks, the invoice will become disconnected. Go back to QuickBooks, update the total amount back to what it was originally, and automatically the invoice will reconnect itself.
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Copying existing invoices to QuickBooks

As described above, it is really easy to copy your invoices and existing invoices to QuickBooks using the 'Copy to QuickBooks' button. 

QuickBooks doesn’t support the fixed discount method which Studio Ninja uses so if your existing invoices have a fixed discount applied then you'll need to do one of the following for it to copy to QuickBooks successfully:

  1. If the math is easy to work out, change past invoices to a percentage discount so that the discounted amount is the same. Then sync / copy to QuickBooks.

  2. If the math is not easy to work out, you can remove the discount, but change the invoiced total to the lower discounted amount and mention the discount in the description. Then sync / copy to QuickBooks.

  3. If the math is not easy to work out AND you want to keep the fixed discount as showing in the invoice, you can recreate the invoice in QuickBooks with a negative line item.

If you have any other questions or need help with anything, please chat to us in-app, in our Facebook group, or send us an email to [email protected] 

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