Connecting to QuickBooks Online

You will be redirected to the QuickBooks Online website and be asked to log in to your account.  

If you have access to more than one QuickBooks Online company please be sure to connect to the correct QuickBooks Online account. If you have selected the wrong file, please view  this article to disconnect and you can come back to reconnect your QuickBooks Online file again.  

Lightyear will automatically sync the following data back from QuickBooks Online which are required to process your payables bills: 

• QuickBooks Online Suppliers
  
• Customers (if setting is switched on and set up in QuickBooks Online)
  
• Account Codes
  
• Tax Rates
  
• Classes & Locations (if setting is switched on and set up in QuickBooks Online)
  

1. Turn on or off the functionality of using Classes.
   
2. Turn on or off the functionality of using Locations.
   
3. Turn on or off the functionality of using Billable Expenses and Tracking Customers.
   
4. Turn on or off the ability to automatically apply categories on line item level. 
   
5. Turn on or off the ability to send attachments to QuickBooks Online

Activate Classes/Locations

1. For those using Classes/Locations in QuickBooks Online, select Yes to allow Lightyear to code and export these details to QuickBooks Online
2. If you do not require classes/locations, you can simply select No
   
3. You could also switch on one and not the other
   

Read on below for more information on Classes/Locations

Activate Billable Expenses/Track Customers 

1. For those using billable expenses/customers in QuickBooks Online, select Yes to allow Lightyear to code and export these details to QuickBooks Online
2. If you do not require billable expenses/customers, you can simply select No
   

Read on below for more information on Billable Expenses/Track Customers

Automatically apply categories on line item 

1. Yes - save time by coding it in Lightyear, and we'll remember the next time we extract the line item what you last coded the supplier lines.
   
2. No - keeps these blank and code them individually 

Read on below for more information on this

Automatically apply Chart of Accounts on a line item level?

1. Yes - Save time by coding it in Lightyear, and we’ll remember the next time we extract the line item what you’ve coded the supplier lines to.
2. No - keeps these blank for you to code individually.

Send attachments to QuickBooks Online

1. Yes - this will send a copy of the document upon export which can be found as an attachment to the bill in QuickBooks Online
2. No - this will only send your bill data to QuickBooks Online and not send a copy of the document across to QuickBooks Online upon export
   

If you choose to send the attachment to QuickBooks Online, keep in mind there is more data to push through so it may take a little bit longer to complete the export

Group Line Item Data?

1. Yes - Invoices will be exported with grouped data per the Account Codes used.
2. No - Invoices will be exported with normal line item data

If you choose to use Grouped Data, you will not be able to send the Projects info i.e. Billable and Customers to QuickBooks Online, as these are not compatible.

For the full article on this, click here. 

Don't forget to Import All to refresh the connection and bring back your classes and locations again.

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How QuickBooks Online Suppliers work

1.  Suppliers  - the Supplier profiles created in Lightyear to house all your rules
   
2.  QuickBooks Online Suppliers  - your QuickBooks Online Suppliers from QuickBooks Online (also referred to as an Accounting Supplier).
   

If you didn't assign a   QuickBooks Online Supplier  when you created the   Supplier  in Lightyear, you can assign one by going to   then selecting the   Supplier  in question, and clicking Edit to select the    QuickBooks Online Supplier   under Accounting Supplier.

Alternatively, if you cannot find the    QuickBooks Online Supplier   from the drop down list, check first that they don't exist in QuickBooks Online. If they do exist in QuickBooks Online, simply Import from  QuickBooks  Online again to bring them back into Lightyear. If they don't exist, you can click on the  to create a new    QuickBooks Online Supplier   and this will create a new one in QuickBooks Online upon export. 

1. Firstly, check that they don't already exist in QuickBooks Online
2. If they do exist in QuickBooks Online, simply head to Accounting Software > QuickBooks Online Suppliers > Edit > Import from QuickBooks Online to import them into Lightyear
   
3. If they don't exist, you can create a   QuickBooks Online Supplier  and this will create a new one in QuickBooks Online upon your next export via one of the methods below
   
1. Go to Accounting Software > QuickBooks Online Suppliers > Edit > Add to create a new Accounting Supplier
   
2. Go to Suppliers > Select the  Supplier Profile > Create  to create a new Accounting Supplier
   

Importing from QuickBooks Online 

1. Supplier Name
2. VAT Number
3. Country Code
4. Currency
5. CIS Registered
6. Sort Code/BSB Number
7. Bank Account Number
8. Bank Account Name
9. IBAN 
10. BIC
11. Default Tax Code

Please Note: There is a column for Default Account Code and Banking details, however these are not supported on the QuickBooks Online API, meaning we cannot import it to Lightyear.

If you want to remove a Supplier, simply click the red trash can icon  on the right of each line.

Create a New QuickBooks Online Suppliers

To do this click the + Supplier   button in  the top right of the QuickBooks Online Suppliers page. The following modal will display:

This will be created both in Lightyear and QuickBooks Online (in Expenses > Suppliers). The Supplier in Lightyear will display with the Country and Currency set up within your QuickBooks Online account.

If you make any changes or update the details of the Supplier within QuickBooks Online, you can update this in Lightyear by clicking the Import Suppliers.

Warning: The Default Account Code is not available via the QuickBooks Online API, meaning the Default Account Code set within Lightyear will not transfer across to QuickBooks Online.

Update Lightyear Suppliers

After importing your QuickBooks Online Suppliers from QuickBooks Online, you can quickly create Lightyear Suppliers alongside this. While in Accountancy > QuickBooks Online Suppliers, click the Update Lightyear Suppliers button. You will be given the option to Create & Override or Create Only New.  

Create & Override will create new suppliers that don't exist within Lightyear, and update the information with what's set up in QuickBooks Online.

Create Only New will create new suppliers that don't exist within Lightyear, without updating any current suppliers.

Suppliers in Lightyear will then be created with the information from QuickBooks Online, automatically populating the Supplier Name, Country, Currency, Default Tax Code and Bank Details.

This supplier information can be updated at any time, and changed from what's saved in Xero. For full details on this, click here.

Missing Country Codes? Click here to fix this.

Chart of Accounts

Under  Accounting Software > Chart of Accounts > Edit you will see your list of Account codes imported from  QuickBooks  Online once you've connected. While we will return all codes within your  QuickBooks  Online file, you will only be able to export documents assigned Expense Type codes. You can select/deselect the checkbox under the In Use column for active/inactive codes respectively. Marking them not in use will mean they don't appear as an option to select when coding from the Approval/Review workflow tabs.

Any new Account Codes added to  QuickBooks Online  will need to be imported back into Lightyear before being able to export to these. Simply re-sync by clicking  "Import from QuickBooks Online".

Don't forget to set a default rounding code and any automatic rounding rows will be auto assigned to this chosen code. See outlined box below.

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Set your default tax rates

Once Lightyear and  QuickBooks Online  have connected, Lightyear imports all of your  QuickBooks  Online  tax rates. Select which of your  QuickBooks  Online  tax rates are to be defaulted for taxed and non taxed items.

This can be set under  Accounting Software > Tax Rates > Edit as shown in the image below. 

The image below shows what a typical set looks like. We have ticked the 2 standard tax rates (GST on non-capital) and GST Free non-capital).

Once you have done so, click  Save. When Lightyear detects that an item is taxable or non-taxable, it will use these defaults to send with the bill/line-data to  QuickBooks  Online  unless you choose to assign another non-default tax code to the item.  

Setting a default tax rate against a certain supplier

Usually the Supplier tax rate is left blank, which allows the 2 defaults set above to work with maps.

But there may be circumstances where you assign a certain supplier with a different tax code to the defaults you have set at company level.

Go to the  Suppliers > Select Supplier > Edit. You can then choose to set a default tax rate from the drop-down list.

Please note that you can only set one default tax rate.  If you set a taxable rate as the Supplier default, your Lightyear company non-default tax rate will still be applied if there is a non-taxable item within the supplier bill, and vice-versa.

Please also note that if you do not claim tax in your tax return and require the use of our 'Override tax rate' feature, as a Quickbooks Online user you will not be able to set this up yourself. Please reach out to us on Support so that one of our advisors can perform this for you. 

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More about Billable Expenses & Customers

As mentioned above, you can switch this feature on if you're using this in  QuickBooks  Online . You will then be presented with an extra fields as below

When you have done this, you'll still need to import your Customers to Lightyear. You can do this by selecting Import All - this will import across everything from the above fields, or go into Customers and click Import Customers from QuickBooks Online to import these only.

Billable & Customers

Both Billable and Customers can be assigned at an invoice/bill level, or at a line-by-line level.

If you want to create a new Customer, you need to do so in QuickBooks  Online . It should also be noted that if you need new Customers, in QuickBooks  Online  you can import the new ones to Lightyear via  Accounting Settings  as described above.

You do not need to set Billable or a Customer - they are not mandatory fields. However, if you choose a line to be Billable, it will require a customer.

In order to check the Customers that are assigned against each row of a bill, go to the top of Panel 2.  

In the example below, you are looking at a section of Panel 2 in the Approval Tab.  You can do this in Panel 2 of either the Approval Tab or the Review Tab.

In the far right hand column, Billable, several of the rows has been ticked to indicate they are billable and the Customer has been set to "Project X" on each of these ticked lines.

Once you have the Customers set, you must click Save Changes.

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More about Classes & Locations

As mentioned above, you can switch this feature on if you're using this in  QuickBooks  Online . You will then be presented with an extra two fields as below

When you have done this, you'll still need to import your Classes/Locations to Lightyear. You can do this by selecting Import All - this will import across everything from the above fields, or go into Classes or Locations and click  Import from QuickBooks Online  to import these only.

If you have Classes/Locations that you won't be using in Lightyear, you can set these to Inactive by deselecting them via the "In Use" checkbox.

Note:  having a large number of active Classes/Locations could degrade the app performance, so if they're not in use at all, best to mark inactive from your QuickBooks Online file. Marking them not in use in Lightyear simply hides the option for those who code for Classes/Locations.

Classes

Classes can however be assigned either at an invoice/bill level, or at a line-by-line level.

If you want to create new Classes/Locations, you need to do so in Quickbooks  Online .  It should also be noted that if you add new Classes/Locations in QuickBooks  Online  you can import the new ones to Lightyear via  Accounting Settings  as described above.

Locations

Please note, you can only assign a location at invoice/bill level, not at line level. These are the conditions set as per QuickBooks  Online  rules.

You do not need to set a Class or a Location - they are not mandatory fields.

In order to check the Classes/Locations that are assigned against each row of a bill, go to the top of Panel 2.  

In the example below, you are looking at a section of Panel 2 in the Approval Tab.  You can do this in Panel 2 of either the Approval Tab or the Review Tab.

In the far right hand column, Class, one of the rows has been assigned to the "Planet" and the Location has been set to "4. Mars".

Once you have the Classes and Locations set, you must click Save Changes.

More about Automatically Applying Classes/Locations

By switching this on, Lightyear will remember the Classes and Locations you have previously selected, and automatically apply these the next time the invoice is received in the Approvals tab.

This can be set as a supplier default, meaning one Class/Location will be selected for all lines of an invoice, or it can be set on a line-by-line basis, based on the product code.

To set as a supplier default, go to your Supplier, and under the Class/Location fields, select the required option from the dropdown:

To set on a line-by-line basis, go to your Supplier > Products. Click the green pencil on the item you want to edit, and under the Class/Location fields, select the required option from the dropdown:

Support for multi-currency exports