QuickBooks Online Integration Set-up for Practice Pro + Accounting

Modified on Thu, 23 Mar, 2023 at 6:10 PM

NOTE: This article contains information relating to features available in Actionstep's Practice Pro + Accounting plan.

In this article, we will how to set up the integration between Actionstep and Quickbooks Online.

Integration Set-up

First of all, you need to set-up the Accounting method by going into Billing and choosing the Actionstep in-built Accounting system - Admin -> Billing

From here, select Actionstep's in-built Accounting system.

It will ask for a Chart of Accounts and in this article, we will use the US as our example.

This will take you to the following Accounting Preferences.

NOTE: Please note that the Accounting method in the Financial settings must be set to Accrual, even if ultimately your destination accounting system will use the Cash accounting method. This is because the integration with Quickbooks Online is set up and designed to work by posting the invoices at the time they are created rather than at the time they are paid. However, when you move into Quickbooks Online, you can set the accounting method to Cash and then it will work as a normal cash accounting system.

The next step is to add the Bank Account - you will need to create a Bank Contact if you haven't already and go into to your then Account List to ensure your bank is linked. See the article on Linking bank accounts in the accounts list

Ensure Trust accounting is configured and the trust bank accounts - see article on Trust Accounting Administration

TIP: It is useful to set up any additional Income Accounts in your Accounts list prior to integrating with QuickBooks Online although the Chart of Accounts link between Actionstep and QuickBooks

Online can be refreshed later.

Users who do not charge sales tax will need to configure a 0% sales tax rate prior to setting up the integration.

Users who do charge sales tax, should ensure that all applicable rates are set up in Actionstep and Quickbooks online prior to configuring the integration. Though rates can be refreshed and mapped after initial setup.

NOTE: Prior to integrating Actionstep and Quickbooks Online, you will need to ensure that a zero rate Sales Tax in Quickbooks Online is set up.

You are now ready to integrate Actionstep with Quickbooks Online. Go to Admin -> Integrations -> Connect with QuickBooks Online

NOTE: You will need Admin access for both Actionstep and Quickbooks Online to do this. You will need Actionstep Admin access to get to the screen where the integration is triggered. It is important that you have Admin access to Quickbooks Online for this process as when you log into Quickbooks Online, the permissions of the account you use will be the permissions that Actionstep has with Quickbooks Online.

From here, Connect to QuickBooks

Click on Connect button and the integration will then synchronise.

You will then be directed to the Quickbooks Online integration configuration screen.

NOTE: Before you start to configure and map the integration, you must ensure that Quickbooks Online Integration Upgrade feature is switched on. This can be enabled in Admin -> General Settings -> Feature preview -> scroll down and enable the upgrade.

Mapping Actionstep and QuickBooks Online

Although the mapping process takes a bit longer, it is important. As both Actionstep and QuickBooks have their own general ledger, currencies, and sales taxes, it is important to map the two together. By doing this, you ensure that a transaction in Actionstep coded to a certain general ledger account with a certain amount of tax is processed in QuickBooks Online with the correct general ledger account and tax code.

To get to the Quickbooks Online integration configuration screen, go to Admin -> Accounting -> QBO: Mapping

Synchronization

By switching Sales invoices on, you are allowing the sales invoices (the bills you produce for your clients) to be pushed through to QuickBooks Online.

As well as the invoices, any payments made to those invoices or credit notes for those invoices will be pushed through.

Edits & Deletions to invoices and payments can now be done directly from Actionstep and have these feed automatically into QBO. (Without the need for unlinking and deleting in both sides as previously was the case).

Credits push through to QBO automatically. If there is a balance that needs to be credited or written off, you should use the credit function. Tip - The best practice is to add a prefix to the credit note identifier to indicate whether it is a write off or a credit which will then push through into QuickBooks Online and then users are able to filter for credits versus write offs.

Sales invoice account map

Your Actionstep Fee Income and Expenses accounts must be mapped to their equivalent Product or Service in QuickBooks Online. You need to map at least one income and expense account for invoicing.

As the Actionstep accounts are mapped to the QuickBooks Online products or services, they appear crossed through in the QuickBooks Product/Service Reference on the right of the screen.

Rather than a user selecting an income account in QuickBooks Online, you need to map to different Products and Services accounts which will then in turn feed into the relevant income accounts.

GL account map

In this section, you will map the accounts in your General Ledger (GL) in Actionstep to equivalent accounts in QuickBooks.

To do this you will use the Add row button to create a new row and within that row, select an account in Actionstep in the left-hand drop-down and the equivalent account in QuickBooks online in the right-hand column.

As the Actionstep accounts are mapped to the QuickBooks Online accounts, they appear crossed through in the QuickBooks GL account Reference on the right of the screen.

Sales tax map

Similar to the section above, you use the Add row button to create a new row and within that row, select a tax code in Actionstep in the left-hand drop-down and the equivalent tax code in QuickBooks online in the right-hand column.