How to Connect Magento and QuickBooks

Why does the business need data integration, what problems may it solve, and what benefits may it bring? Each e-commerce business operates with vast amounts of data types, like customer, inventory, sales, etc. It’s crucial to manage this zoo to see the whole picture of how it goes. At this moment, data integration steps on the stage to optimize your complicated data set in one unified, easy-to-use ecosystem.
Let’s review it with Magento and the QuickBooks integration story. We’ll deep down and check the platforms to discover how to integrate them into your business scenarios to make your company successful.

Table of Contents

1. Understanding Magento and QuickBooks
2. Benefits of integrating Magento and QuickBooks
3. Method 1: Using QuickBooks Connector (OneSaas)
4. Method 2: Using Store Manager for Magento
5. Method 3: Using Cloud Integration by Skyvia
   • Magento QuickBooks Import Scenario
   • Magento QuickBooks Bidirectional Synchronization Scenario
   • Data Replication from Both Data Sources to the DWH Scenario
6. Choosing the Right Integration Method
7. Conclusion

Understanding Magento and QuickBooks

Magento is a global e-commerce platform that allows you to create and customize online stores. It provides digital commerce services, like marketing, SEO, product management, etc. Magento’s diverse features solve almost any e-commerce task or challenge. The service supports multiple payment gateways, currencies, languages, etc. You can use a variety of extensions from the Magento marketplace or integrate your store with third-party apps.

QuickBooks is an excellent accounting tool every store (especially the small ones) needs to use. They offer a set of features for any business, like invoicing, expense tracking, payroll management, and finance report generation.

Benefits of integrating Magento and QuickBooks

Let’s review the possible Magento and QuickBooks integration scenarios and the benefits each of them may give the businesses.

Scenario	Benefits
A single source of truth creation	– Since companies work with different systems / orchestrate data throughout many services, creating a single data source provides businesses with trusted data. – The avoidance of loss or redundancy of information and ambiguity.
Synchronization of two data sources	– Simultaneous data updating in two systems allows all departments to be informed, know how things are, and respond to changes promptly. – The avoidance of ambiguity, contradictions, and loss of information.
Forecasting, determining trends, and influencing factors ( based on AI and ML)	– Full raw data accumulation allows the implementation of any AI/ML algorithms.  – By data replication to DWH, businesses can quickly transfer data into any BI tool of choice and create reports/dashboards to improve forecasting.

Prerequisites for Integration

Magento version requirements

• Magento version 2.0 and higher (version 2.4 is optimal for integration).
• UP to 2GB of RAM.

QuickBooks Online requirements

• QuickBooks version 2022 and higher.
• 4 GB of RAM and more.

Method 1: Using QuickBooks Connector (OneSaas)

This method doesn’t have a visual editor and requires an archiver for the plugin, but it’s simple and needs just a few steps. Let’s go through it.

Step one

Installing the QuickBooks Connector Magento 2.0 plugin.

1. Click the QuickBooks Connector Magento 2.0 plugin to download it. 
2. When the plugin connects QuickBooks Connector to your Magento 2.0 site, save the zip file, extract its content, and copy or transfer it to your Magento installation directory.
3. To install the plugin, run the php bin/magento setup:upgrade command and login to the Admin section of your Magento.

Step two

Getting the QuickBooks Connector API Key.

1. Select the QuickBooks Connector > Integration link from the System menu to get the QuickBooks Connector API Key. Copy it to use in the integration process.

Step three

Connecting QuickBooks and Magento.

1. Log in to your QuickBooks Online account, click  Apps, search, and install the Magento Connector app.
2. Select Connect to redirect to the Connections tab of your QuickBooks Connector. Choose Connect to Magento here.

Step four

 Entering the Magento API Key.

1. A new page will pop up on your screen and ask you to enter the Magento API key provided to you after installing the QuickBooks plugin (step two). Click Connect to Magento to establish the connection and authorization with your QuickBooks Connector file.

NOTE: You may use the QuickBooks Plugin (OneSaas) to set up the integration between Magento and QuickBooks Online by creating an App on the QuickBooks side. But the product fits only for QuickBooks.

Step five

Configuring the integration.

When your QuickBooks Online and Magento apps are connected, you may start to configure the integration.

Step six

When you’ve finished configuring the final workflow, click Save, and the stock-level data will be sent from QuickBooks Online to your Magento products. 

That’s all you need to start transferring your data. However, if this doesn’t work for you, let’s go through the other methods.

Method 2: Using Store Manager for Magento

Opposite to integration with QuickBooks Connector, Store Manager for Magento may be successfully used for various product integration, including QuickBooks.  

Overview of Store Manager for Magento

To clarify, what’s the Store Manager for Magento, just imagine your office workspace but on your laptop or desktop screen. Now clearer? Advanced sorting, bulk editing, filtering, and repeated tasks automation tools are available here. In other words, you have to download this app to manage your Magento (Adobe Commerce and Open Source) sales and catalog. Here, you may operate your storefront zoo even offline.

Installing and setting up the QuickBooks Integration Addon

QuickBooks Integration Addon of Store Manager lets you forget about manual data entry. It helps export your Magento data, like customers, products, and so on, to QuickBooks and import it from QuickBooks to your Magento store.

NOTE: You may download a Free trial and use the Quick Start Guide to install the app. Addon in demo mode allows you to export five items for free just to try how it works.

After installing the Store Manager:

1. Open it.
2. Go to the Addons tab.
3. Click the QuickBooks Integration icon to get started.

Exporting and importing data between Magento and QuickBooks

Use the Step-by-step Wizard to export/import your data with the Magento QuickBooks Integration addon according to the selected scenario, like:

• Export Magento 2 Products to QuickBooks.
• Export Customers from Magento 2 to QuickBooks.
• Export Magento 2 Orders to QuickBooks.
• Import Products from QuickBooks to Magento.

In the Export Magento 2 Products to QuickBooks case, you may select the items for export before launching the addon. Or use filters and select the products on the Preview Data Export step. Then, connect to your QuickBooks accounting tool.

NOTE: The export depends on your QuickBooks software (Desktop or Online). For Desktop, the parent configurable product with its SKU and quantity will be exported only without the variations. For Online, the addon will ship parent configurable products with their SKU and quantity and variations with their SKUs and quantities.

With the addon, you can create new items, modify existing ones, or carry out both operations when exporting products to QuickBooks. But take in mind that you have to specify product export options:

• Inventory part. 
• Non-inventory part.
• Service.
• Other charge.

NOTE: Ensure you use a dot(.) as a decimal separator; otherwise, you will derive an error, and the process won’t succeed.

In the Export Customers from Magento 2 to QuickBooks case, the Export Customers wizard allows adding a new buyer, renewing customer data, or performing both operations. Select how you want to identify your customers here.

In the Export Magento 2 Orders to QuickBooks case, you may export all relevant order data directly to QuickBooks. But remember that you may create orders but not update them. And if there’s no customer, you may not create orders. Associate the order with the customer to export it. If the customer doesn’t exist, click the Create customer if does not exist check box on the Export Options step. After creating a customer, the target order will be appended to QuickBooks.  You may also create all the orders for one buyer.

In the Import Products from QuickBooks to Magento case with addon, you may:

• Import products from QuickBooks to Store Manager (you need to specify the import method (create and modify, only create or only modify), product type, and field(s) for update). 
• If you plan to add new wares to Magento, provide the Default category name for import. If the specified category doesn’t exist in Store Manager, it will be created automatically in the data import process.

Method 3: Using Cloud Integration by Skyvia

Skyvia is a really excellent choice for such work. It’s no code, an easy-to-use universal data integration tool, and seamlessly integrates data with various sources, including popular cloud apps, databases, and flat files. 

The platform supports various data-related processes, such as:

• ETL, ELT, reverse ETL.
• Data migration. 
• One-way and bi-directional data sync. 
• Workflow automation.
• Backup for cloud apps. 
• Data sharing via REST API, etc. 

It’s pretty balanced between the offer and the price, so you have a whole set of benefits while using it. You may try Skyvia in action for each method, which is excellent. Try the free trial right now!

Skyvia offers a list of components for different integration scenarios:

• Import allows data loading from one DB, cloud app, or CSV file to another DB or cloud app using the ETL or reverse ETL scenarios.
• Export allows data extraction from a cloud app or DB and loading it locally or in cloud storage as a CSV file.
• Synchronization allows connecting two sources, like DBs and cloud apps, and synchronizing data in both directions.
• Replication allows the creation of an exact copy of the cloud app in DB, using the ELT scenario and keeping it up-to-date automatically.
• Data Flow and Control Flow allow the creation of complex data pipelines according to the appropriate sources and conditions.

In this article, we’ll review the data import and replication scenarios for Magento and QuickBooks Online integration, based on real business cases.

Magento QuickBooks Import Scenario

Skyvia Import is a powerful ETL tool that integrates data between various systems (with different data schemes and structures), like clouds, relational DBs, and CSV files. Overall, this Import scenario helps with:

• Accounting process streamlining.
• Manual data entry elimination.
• Information synchronization.
• Data accuracy and working process efficiency increase.

Let’s say we need to sync Magento customers’ data with Quickbooks for our real-life example. You may need it if you have a lot of customers and transactions and aren’t ready to update this data zoo manually.

To do it:

1. Click +NEW in the upper screen menu.
2. Go to the Integration column and click Import.
3. Under Source Type, click Data Source and select Magento from the Connection dropdown list.
4. In the Target field, choose QuickBooks from the Connection dropdown list.

5. Go to the Task Editor, click Add new link, select the source table, state filters, choose the object for filtering (Customer Addresses_BillingAddress in the screenshot above), and click the Next step.
6. Select the target table from the dropdown similarly and click the Next step again to finish the operation.
7. Now, in the Mapping Definition tab, you can set mapping by categories and the search type and filter them as mapped, unmapped, not required, and valid. By default, all the data fields are shown. 

NOTE: The same names are mapped automatically; others must be mapped manually. Please pay attention to your screen and click the red colored text “This column must be mapped to do it”.

8. Don’t forget to click Save when you finish the mapping settings. Now, you may run it manually by clicking Run in the upper right corner of the screen, or you may run it automatically according to the schedule. You may set the schedule in the top left menu.  

Magento QuickBooks Bidirectional Synchronization Scenario

To implement bidirectional data synchronization, Skyvia offers several options depending on the business scenario or the company’s needs.

Option one

You may use the Import component described above to synchronize data in two directions. Here, you just need to create two different packages in both directions. In other words, create a data transfer component from QuickBooks to Magento, and vice versa from Magento to QuickBooks.

Option two

The bi-directional synchronization scenario is a good choice if one of the apps is still empty. Skyvia copies all data from Magento to QuickBooks and vice versa for the first time, preventing the apps from records duplication.

To set up and execute the synchronization, please do the following:

1. Click +NEW in the top menu.
2. In the Integration column, click Synchronization.
3. Under Source, select Magento.
4. Under Target, select QuickBooks.

Then, follow the steps described in the Import scenario.

Data Replication from Both Data Sources to the DWH Scenario

Skyvia’s data replication is used for creating a copy of cloud app data to cloud DWH or  DB server to keep it up-to-date. It’s helpful for transparent decision-making and checking trends, which we may not see while analyzing data from separate sources. 

Contrary to the Import scenario above, it’s more accessible in configuration because there’s no need for custom mapping and different structure data loading in source and target. It also may automatically create the tables in the target database for transferred data. You need it for:

• Clearing up and simplifying your accounting process.
• Data updates and accuracy.
• Manual error elimination.
• Decision-making according to the whole business picture.

Let’s see how it works with another real-life example. Imagine we need to replicate the QuickBooks customers’ data and Magento customers’ and products’ data to DWH. 

To do it:

1. Click +NEW in the upper screen menu.
2. Go to the Replication component.
3. Under Source Type, click Data Source and select QuickBooks or Magento from the Connection dropdown list, depending on what data (QuickBooks or Magento) you will replicate right now.  
4. In the Target field, choose the DWH you need in the Connection dropdown list.
5. To add new or updated records for replication, check the Incremental Updates checkbox.  
6. To add new DB tables for the replication data, select the Create Tables checkbox.

7. Go to the Task Editor, select objects for replication, and save the changes.

8. Now, you may run it manually by clicking Run in the upper right corner of the screen, or you may run it automatically according to the schedule. You may set the schedule in the top left menu.

9. Click Save when you have finished the Schedule settings.

Choosing the Right Integration Method

The table below shows each method’s strong and weak sides to help you choose the most suitable one for your current and future business cases.

Method	Pros	Cons	Pricing	Security
Using QuickBooks Connector (OneSaas)	– It’s easy to install. – No maintenance is required.	Additional costs for the extra features. Limited customization and integration options for companies with unique needs or workflows.	The pricing starts at $1 per month and includes three types of plans with a free trial.	ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, and PCI DSS Level 1.
Using Store Manager for Magento	– Visual wizard. – Offers a set of several export and import scenarios.	The functionality and customization option limitations. Especially for companies with unique data requirements and workflow. Data Accuracy troubles. Adon may not be ideal for transferring data between the two platforms. You need web development skills to customize your store.	Pricing depends on the available features, company size, infrastructure, security, and other parameters. Contact Adobe directly to calculate custom prices for your business. Free plan and trial are available.	PCI DSS, GDPR, SOC 2 Type II.
Using Skyvia	– Visual wizard. – Easy-to-use, no technical background needed. – Offers various integration scenarios from basic up to complex data flows.	Some more video tutorials would be helpful.	Volume-based and feature-based pricing.  The Freemium model allows you to start with a free plan.	HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 (by Azure).

Conclusion

We discovered three methods of how to integrate data between Magento and QuickBooks:

• Using QuickBooks Connector (OneSaas).
• Using Store Manager for Magento.
• Using Skyvia.

Of course, each is good enough, but if you select between the abilities, simplicity, and price, Skyvia is still the winner in this run.

 And you still may get started for free.