Note: Quickbooks integration is included for those subscribed as Clever Monkey and above. You will need to have a QuickBooks Desktop installed on the computer (Windows-only) that you are using with Shopmonkey. This article covers the initial setup of your QuickBooks Desktop integration. Desktop integration supports the following versions: Pro and Premier 2014 and later, and Enterprise 14.0 and later

For QuickBooks Desktop to communicate with Shopmonkey you will need to install a web connector application. To start this process, in Shopmonkey go to Settings and under Integrations go to QuickBooks. There you will see Connect to Desktop.

Note: If you are using a cloud provider to host your QuickBooks Desktop, you will need to contact your provider to install the web connector application in order to be able to communicate with Shopmonkey.

Once selected, Shopmonkey will begin to walk you through the connection process, step by step. First, you will be prompted to download and install the Shopmonkey Sync Manager.

Note: The Sync Manager is currently only supported on computers running Windows 8.1 or newer.

The Sync Manager should only be installed and running on the computer that contains the QuickBooks Desktop company file. Installing and running the Sync Manager on computers that do not contain the QuickBooks Desktop company file could cause connection issues.

The next important step is to connect Shopmonkey and the Sync Manager. Shopmonkey will provide a personalized token that you will copy and paste into the Sync Manager. Once you click Save, you'll notice the connection status update. When it says Connected, you are ready to move to the next step.

When the installation is complete, log in to QuickBooks as "admin" and switch to "Single-User Mode". After the initial setup, you no longer need to sign in as "admin" or be in single-user mode.

Next, give permission to the Shopmonkey Sync Manager to communicate between Shopmonkey and QuickBooks. Back in Shopmonkey click Connect. We recommend selecting "Yes, always: allow access even if QuickBooks is not running" to ensure that data between Shopmonkey and QuickBooks is shared in real-time. Note: There may be times when you need to take actions in QuickBooks to prevent sync errors even when you have this setting enabled. For more information, check out our article on setting up and managing QuickBooks Desktop.

Now you are connected and ready to sync data between Shopmonkey and QuickBooks. Please check out our other article on sending invoices and payments to QuickBooks.

Open up QuickBooks Desktop to create items and services:

On the home page, click the Items & Services icon to the right. Then click Item, and New.

In the New Item Window, select Service or Non-Inventory from the drop-down. Shopmonkey will use items of these types when syncing. Then add a name for Item Name/Number (e.g. Shopmonkey Labor). Next, select an Account from the dropdown, then click OK.

Create an Item for each of the below categories, if you do not already have these created:

Service > Shopmonkey Labor

Non-inventory > Shopmonkey Part

Non-inventory > Shopmonkey Tire

Non-inventory > Shopmonkey Subcontract

Non-inventory > Shopmonkey EPA

Non-inventory > Shopmonkey Shop Supplies

Non-inventory > Shopmonkey Fee

Discount > Taxed Discount (with taxable tax code)

Discount > Non-taxed Discount (with non-taxable tax code)

Note: Setting up these specific discounts is important for QuickBooks to calculate Shopmonkey discounts.

We recommend naming these new QuickBooks Items "Shopmonkey Labor", "Shopmonkey Part", "Shopmonkey Tire", etc. This way it is easy to identify the intended field when mapping between Shopmonkey and QuickBooks Desktop.

Check out this Quickbooks help article about Items & Services.

Setting up your Sales Tax:

Taxes will be mapped to your Sales Tax item in QuickBooks Desktop.

Check out this QuickBooks help article on tax codes to learn more and set up your sales tax.

Once everything is entered in QuickBooks Desktop, return to Shopmonkey and navigate to Settings > QuickBooks. Use the dropdown and select the newly created Items and default tax code under each appropriate category, or type in the full name of the Product/Service, as it appears in QuickBooks, and select it after it appears in the list. For example, under "Shop Supplies" you should be able to see and select your newly created item "Shopmonkey Shop Supplies." Click Save to complete the initial setup.

Tips:

If you are already managing your customers, inventory, or other non-inventory data in QuickBooks Desktop:

This will initiate a sync for the selected data from QuickBooks over to Shopmonkey. Run this sync anytime you’d like QuickBooks to send the selected category data to Shopmonkey. Note that this will not delete any records already in Shopmonkey.

Alternatively, you can import customers, inventory, and non-inventory, and labor items from their respective pages by uploading a completed import template.

For more information about syncing inventory check out our help article.

To learn how to send invoices and payments to QuickBooks, and to find out more on the QuickBooks settings available to you, please check out our How do I send invoices to QuickBooks? article.

QuickBooks Desktop can have advanced setups and you can run into situations where best practices can help. We have an article that can help. Check out What are the best practices for QuickBooks Desktop setup?

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us through the Chat Icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. Thanks for reading!