To ensure smooth synchronization between Karbon and QuickBooks Online Accountants and avoid issues such as duplicate contacts, syncing errors, and more, it’s essential to clean up your contact data in both applications before connecting the integration.
Step 1: Understand the Integration Process
The Karbon-QuickBooks Online Accountants Contact Sync provides bidirectional synchronization. This means that contact details from both applications can be updated and reflected in real-time in each platform.
When initially connected, the integration matches contacts based on two main criteria:
Name (Full Name/Display Name)
Email Address
Key Sync Rules
Exact Match on Name and Email:
If the full name and email in Karbon exactly match the data in QuickBooks Online Accountants, contacts are automatically connected.
Partial Match:
If only one field (either name or email) matches, you'll be given the option to manually match or create a new contact.
No Match:
If there’s no match on either the name or email, a new contact will be automatically created.
Important Note: For Organizations in Karbon, the company name must match the display name in QuickBooks Online Accountants for a successful connection. For People contacts, the first name, last name, and email must all match for synchronization to happen.
Step 2: Prepare QuickBooks Online Accountants Data for Syncing with Karbon
Before you connect Karbon to QuickBooks Online Accountants, it's important to ensure that your data in QuickBooks Online Accountants is formatted correctly. Follow these steps:
For Organizations (Business Clients):
In QuickBooks Online Accountants, ensure that the Business Name field and Display Name field are identical. This helps QuickBooks Online Accountants recognize your contact as an organization in Karbon.
Best practice: Copy/Paste the Business Name to the Display Name field for consistency.
For People (Individual Clients):
In QuickBooks Online Accountants, ensure that First Name, Last Name, and Customer Display Name are populated with the correct individual information.
This ensures that Karbon recognizes this contact as an individual (People contact type).
For Couples/Joint Contacts (e.g., married couples):
Use the Organization contact type to manage joint work, such as shared tax returns. Make sure the Company Name and Customer Display Name match and the primary taxpayer's details (First and Last Name) are entered under the individual fields.
Note: The First Name and Last Name are not required for the data to update to Karbon as long as the 'Display as Name' and 'Company Name' are an exact match.
Step 3: Clean Up Your Data in QuickBooks Online Accountants
Checking for Duplicates and Inconsistencies:
Match Display Name and Company Name:
The Display Name in QuickBooks Online Accountants should match the Company Name (for organizations) or the Full Name (for individuals). Any inconsistencies between these fields can prevent the contact from syncing to Karbon.
Email Addresses:
Ensure that each contact has a valid and unique email address. The integration relies heavily on email matching to connect the contacts.
Field Completeness:
Double-check that all required fields are populated in QuickBooks Online Accountants (Name, Email, Address, Phone, etc.). Missing or incomplete data can cause syncing issues.
Step 4: Manual Sync and Data Updates
Once your data is cleaned up in QuickBooks Online Accountants, you can proceed with connecting the integration to Karbon.
How to Manually Sync Contacts:
If updates don’t appear automatically, you can manually sync contacts by following these steps:
Go to Settings in Karbon.
Select Connected Apps.
Click the Manage button for QuickBooks Online Accountants.
Click the Sync Now button to trigger a manual sync.
Note: Any data currently in Karbon will be updated to QuickBooks Online Accountants during this manual sync.
Step 5: Monitoring and Ongoing Data Sync
After your initial sync, the integration will keep both platforms updated automatically whenever changes are made. However, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Field Mapping:
The following fields sync between Karbon and QuickBooks Online Accountants:
Name
Email
Phone numbers
Physical and mailing addresses
Updates from Karbon:
Changes made in Karbon, such as updates to Organization Name, First Name, Last Name, or Email, will be pushed to QuickBooks Online Accountants.
Important Note on Address Syncing:
Only the Primary Address from Karbon will be updated to QuickBooks Online Accountants. If you have multiple address fields, make sure to manage them appropriately in QuickBooks Online Accountants.
Common Syncing Issue
One common issue occurs when contacts from QuickBooks Online Accountants don’t carry over to Karbon because there’s no first or last name, or the Display Name does not match the Company Name. In this case, the contact simply won’t connect.
Solution:
To resolve this, you will need to amend the contact data in QuickBooks Online Accountants:
Update the Display Name to match the Company Name.
Alternatively, add First and Last Name fields to the contact if the contact is an individual.
This ensures the integration can properly match and sync the contacts to Karbon.