> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.spott.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# QuickBooks

> Connect QuickBooks Online to invoice placements from Spott, with pay codes, customers and invoice status kept in sync.

The QuickBooks integration lets your consultants **create invoices for placements directly in
Spott** and send them to QuickBooks Online. Your finance team then sends them and records
payment in QuickBooks as usual, and Spott tracks each invoice's status on the placement.

With the integration you can:

* **Sync your QuickBooks products and services into Spott as pay codes**, so line items use
  the same codes and descriptions as in QuickBooks.
* **Link a Spott company to its QuickBooks customer once**, or create the customer from Spott,
  so every future invoice goes to the right billing entity.
* **Create invoices** from contingent, contract and retained placements, including invoices
  built from approved timesheets.
* **See at a glance** which placements are invoiced, which invoices are still open, and which
  are paid.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Invoices from Spott are not created as drafts. They arrive in QuickBooks as open invoices,
> ready to send, and show as **Authorised** in Spott. You can still edit them from Spott.

This page covers setting up the integration. Creating invoices, and following their status
once they are in QuickBooks, is on [Invoicing with QuickBooks](https://docs.spott.io/docs/integrations/quickbooks-invoicing.md).
Sending and reconciling invoices happens in QuickBooks, not in Spott.

## Before you start

Check that these things are in place before your team creates its first invoice:

* **A Spott admin has connected QuickBooks.** It is connected once for the whole workspace,
  with one QuickBooks company or several.
* **Your products and services are set up in QuickBooks.** Spott imports them as pay codes,
  with their names and descriptions.
* **Automatically send imported invoices is off in QuickBooks.** When it is on, QuickBooks
  emails every invoice from Spott to the customer as soon as it arrives. You find it under
  **Settings → Account and settings → Sales → Invoice payments** in QuickBooks.

## Connect your QuickBooks companies

1. Go to **Settings → Integrations** and select **QuickBooks**.
2. Click **Connect** and sign in with your Intuit account.
3. Under **Please select your company**, choose the QuickBooks company to link, then click
   **Connect** to let Spott access it. Spott shows **Successfully connected!** and takes you
   back. The company appears as your **Primary company**.
4. To link another company, for example a second legal entity, click
   **Connect another company** and choose it the same way. It appears as a
   **Connected company**.

Each company has its own row, showing its name and **Connected**.

![The QuickBooks integration page with three connected companies, a primary and two others, the Connect another company button and Manage pay codes](https://mintcdn.com/spott-docs/0_dAphR9fauZYMnj/images/integrations/quickbooks-connected.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=0_dAphR9fauZYMnj\&q=85\&s=7fd5ce615d866aaf2f3999b9fd4a25de)

> [!NOTE]
>
> Only workspace admins can connect this integration. A QuickBooks Online account is required.

Companies are not tied to a brand, entity or office in Spott. Each invoice goes to the
QuickBooks company you choose when you create it, as described in
[Invoicing with QuickBooks](https://docs.spott.io/docs/integrations/quickbooks-invoicing.md#invoice-a-contingent-placement).

### Disconnect a company

On the QuickBooks integration page, open the dropdown next to **Connected** on the company's
row and click **Disconnect**. Only that company is disconnected; any others stay connected.
Its invoices, customer links and pay codes are kept, but cannot be used until you connect it
again.

The primary company is always the one connected first. If you disconnect it, the oldest
remaining company becomes primary. If the connection is ended from QuickBooks' side, click
**Reconnect** on the company's row.

## Sync pay codes from QuickBooks

Pay codes are the items you bill for, such as a permanent placement fee or an hourly
development rate. They come from your QuickBooks products and services.

1. On the QuickBooks integration page, open **Manage pay codes**. You can also go to
   **Settings → Templates → Rate Card Templates → Pay Codes**.
2. Next to **Sync pay codes: Import the latest item codes from QuickBooks**, click **Sync**.
   With several companies connected, this imports from all of them at once, and the list is
   grouped by company.
3. Imported codes appear in the list under their QuickBooks company, alongside their
   description.

If Xero is connected too, the Pay Codes page has a separate **Sync pay codes** row for each
provider.

Sync again whenever your finance team adds or changes products and services in QuickBooks.
Syncing is **one-way**: changes in QuickBooks come into Spott, but pay codes you create in
Spott are not sent to QuickBooks.

A code exists only once in your workspace. If two companies both have a product or service
with the same code, Spott keeps one shared pay code, with one description, linked to both.

> [!TIP]
>
> You can also create pay codes directly in Spott with **Create pay code**. These are for
> tracking only, for example if you do not use QuickBooks. Use QuickBooks pay codes for
> anything you invoice through QuickBooks.

### Move a Spott pay code to QuickBooks

If you created a pay code in Spott and now want to invoice it through QuickBooks:

1. In QuickBooks, create a product or service whose name matches the Spott pay code
   **exactly**, including capitals and spaces. `OT` and `ot` are treated as different codes.
2. Back in Spott, click **Sync** again.

Spott links the two, and the pay code moves under its QuickBooks company. Any rate cards and
timesheets already using it keep working.

### Description templates

A pay code's description becomes the line description on the invoice. Instead of fixed text,
you can write it as a template that fills in details from the placement. This works for every
pay code, including ones synced from QuickBooks: open a QuickBooks pay code in Spott and add
variables to its description.

1. Open a pay code and click in the **Description** field.
2. Type `{` and pick a placement variable, such as first name, last name, company or start
   date.

For example, `Placement of { First name } { Last name } at { Company }, starting { Start date }`
becomes *Placement of John Doe at Acme, starting 2024-02-01* on the invoice.

* Only **placement variables** can be used.
* A description without variables is used as written.
* If one invoice covers several placements, the variables cannot be filled in and the line
  reads **N/A**. Edit that line by hand before sending.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Your template is kept in Spott only; the product or service in QuickBooks keeps its own
> description. Once you edit a pay code's description in Spott, syncing from QuickBooks no
> longer overwrites it. To go back to the QuickBooks description, clear the field and sync
> again.

## Link companies to QuickBooks customers

Each Spott company is billed through a QuickBooks customer. You can link it ahead of time from
the company record, or the first time you invoice that company. With several QuickBooks
companies connected, a Spott company can have one QuickBooks customer in each.

To link it from the company record:

1. Open the company in Spott and click **External Links**.
2. Click the **+** next to **QuickBooks**.
3. With several companies connected, choose the **QuickBooks company**. The primary one is
   preselected.
4. Pick the **QuickBooks customer** from the dropdown.

If the customer does not exist in QuickBooks yet, choose **Create QuickBooks customer** when
you create the invoice.

Once linked, every invoice to that company in that QuickBooks company goes to the same
customer, and you are not asked again. Unlike Xero, the link can be undone: unlink it with the
**External Links** button on the company page.

> [card] [Create your first invoice](https://docs.spott.io/docs/integrations/quickbooks-invoicing.md)
>
> **Invoicing with QuickBooks** walks through invoicing contingent, retained and contract
> placements, including rate cards and timesheets, and following each invoice's status once
> it is in QuickBooks.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.