By integrating QuickBooks Online Accountant with Karbon, you can keep any records updated in each system with a simple sync.
This guide will walk you through the steps to connect your integration to Karbon and keep your data updated.
Index
Important:
Prior to connecting your QuickBooks Online for Accountants integration, also review Manage your QuickBooks Online Accountant Integration for important details to help ensure clients in QBOA are successfully matched to existing Contacts in Karbon.
Connecting to QuickBooks Online Accountant
Link the integration and Karbon together by logging into your QuickBooks Online Accountant account. Next, in Karbon, navigate to your 'Settings' > click 'Connected Apps' and select 'Connect' next to QuickBooks Online Accountant.
You will then be able to connect to your account by logging in using the Primary Admin credentials for QuickBooks Online for Accountants.
Once connected, Karbon will allow you to manage your contact sync settings and import clients from QuickBooks Online for Accountants.
Sync your contacts
Once you're connected to your account, click 'Sync Now' found under the QuickBooks Online Accountant section of the Connected Apps to sync your contacts FROM the integrated app to Karbon.
This will then import contact from QuickBooks Online for Accountants to Karbon and attempt to match your clients to contacts. You have the ability to see all the contacts that were automatically synced as well as the contacts that are showing as duplicates for you to resolve.
For contacts automatically mapped, the following information will be imported from QuickBooks Online Accountant to Karbon:
Name
Email
Phone number(s)
Physical address
Mailing address
A client is matched using the following rules:
If there is a name and email match exactly the contact will get automatically matched.
If both the name and email don't match then Karbon will create a new contact.
If there's a partial match (i.e. email matches, the name doesn't / name matches, email doesn't) then Karbon will show the contact in the duplicates resolution screen - allowing you to pick the right match or create a new contact.
Note: Clicking 'Sync Now' will not sync your Karbon contacts TO the integrated app. This is to ensure the integrated app does not get flooded with new or duplicate contact records. See below on how to push existing and new contact records to the integrated app.
Viewing mapped contacts
To view contacts that were already mapped, click on 'View Client List' and you will be presented with the contacts that are in QuickBooks Online Accountant that has been connected in Karbon.
Here you can view the contacts that have been mapped. If you feel that the mapping is incorrect, you can remove the match by clicking the options menu (...) to the right of the match and clicking 'Remove Match'.
Identifying duplicates
If duplicates have been identified after syncing it's likely that the contacts share the same associated email address but the name is differs from one another. You can reconcile this by selecting the potential match given or you can create a new contact in Karbon to connect the QuickBooks Online Accountant contact
To do this, click on 'Resolve Duplicates' and you'll be taken to a page that shows you which contacts came up as duplicates. You can confirm the match that was prompted by Karbon or you can create a new contact if it's not correct.
Updating contacts
If the following updates are made to connected Clients in QuickBooks Online Accountant or Karbon, it will be updated to the subsequent system:
Name change
Email change / addition
Phone number(s) change / addition
Physical address change / addition
Mailing address change / addition
If the change isn't occurring quickly, you can manually update your contacts by going to Karbon Settings > clicking on Connected Apps > Mange your QuickBooks Online Accountant and click Sync Now.
Managing contact sync settings
With the integration, you are able to control what contacts get synced from either Karbon to the integrated app or vice versa using the Contact Sync Settings.
The top section in the settings area will let you specify the Contact Type assigned to any new contact from the integrated app to Karbon. The default is "Client" but you may decide to create a new Contact Type and have your synced contacts obtain that Contact Type to easily identify and filter those throughout Karbon (e.g. "Client - QuickBooks").
The second section allows you to specify which contacts based on their assigned Contact Type in Karbon will be pushed to the integrated app. Only contacts with this Contact Type will be synced. Once the first sync is completed, any new contact with a selected Contact Type will be created in the integrated app and will be updated going forward if a change to the contact is made (e.g. name, email, phone and/or address change).
Tip: How to push contacts from Karbon to QuickBooks Online Accountant
As noted above, when clicking 'Sync Now' , Karbon will not create new clients in the integrated app on the initial sync. However, it will create a new contact from this point forward if the following criteria is met:
New Contact: Upon creating a new contact, the Contact Type matches the selected Contact Type(s) identified in the QuickBooks Online Accountant Contact Sync Settings.
Existing Contact: A change to the contact is made (e.g. contact type, name, email, phone and/or address change) AND the Contact Type of the existing contact matches the selected Contact Type(s) identified in the QuickBooks Online Accountant Contact Sync Settings.
So, if you want to push / match a select set of contacts from Karbon to the integrated app, we recommend that you create a new Contact Type (e.g. "Client - QuickBooks") and then update the contacts you want to sync to the integrated app to have the new Contact Type specified. This will be identified as a change to the contact and, since the contact matches the Contact Type in the QuickBooks Online Accountant Contact Sync Settings, it will sync those contacts between Karbon and the integrated app.
Looking to update Contact Types in bulk for contacts? Use the export/import bulk contact update file from the Contact Export/Import icon.
QBOA Billing Integration Beta (Invoices and Payments)
Turning on the QBOA Billing Integration Beta
This integration is currently in Beta. To join, contact Karbon Support. The Beta requires Karbon Payments and is available in the US, CA, AU, UK, and NZ. Note that Lacerte or ProConnect cannot be used with this integration.
Setup QBOA Billing Integration
Once enabled by Karbon Support:
Navigate to Settings > Connected Apps > QBOA > Setup.
Follow the setup wizard, which includes:
Running a contact sync: Ensures invoices have associated contacts.
Work Type mapping: Map Karbon Work Types to QuickBooks Online Accountants services, including a default service for unmapped Work Types.
Tax mapping: Map Karbon Tax Rates to QuickBooks Online Accountants Tax Rates (include parent and sub-taxes for combined rates).
Sync start date: Select a start date that aligns with your accounting period.
Syncing Invoices
Invoices will sync to QuickBooks Online Accountants when sent in Karbon. They will only sync if they fall after the Sync Start Date set during setup. The invoice is sent to both QuickBooks Online Accountants and the billing contact in Karbon.
Syncing Payments
Karbon Payments: Payments sync automatically to QuickBooks Online Accountants when invoices are paid in Karbon.
Manual Payments: Record manual payments directly in QuickBooks Online Accountants (Sales > Find Invoice > Receive Payment > Save). Partial payments can also be recorded here.
Managing Errors
Access the error management area at Settings > Connected Apps > QuickBooks Online Accountant > View Errors (visible only when errors exist).
Common Errors:
Error Message | Explanation |
CustomerRef is required | We can't find your billing contact in QuickBooks Online Accountants. Check your contact sync settings and make sure you're syncing this client. See How to push contacts from Karbon to QuickBooks Online Accountant |
Duplicate Document Number Error | There's already an item in QuickBooks Online Accountants with this exact invoice number. You'll need to manually change this duplicated number in QuickBooks Online Accountants to be a different number and then try again. |
KarbonTaxRateInvalid | Make sure all your tax rates are mapped in the QuickBooks Online Accountants set-up — Settings > Connected Apps > Edit Billing Integration > Next > Map Missing Tax Rate. Once the tax rate is mapped retry syncing from the error management area. |
Failed to create manual payment. | We haven't got a Payment back for this invoice. This can happen for a number of reasons, most likely because you are outside of a valid accounting period. Open the accounting period and then try again. |
message=AuthenticationFailed; errorCode=003200; statusCode=401 | Disconnect from QuickBooks Online Accountants and then make sure your QuickBooks Online Accountants is connected in the Connected App screen and then try again. |
QboaUsInvoiceMultipleTaxRates | Currently, QuickBooks Online Accountants US Invoices cannot have multiple tax rates. Ensure that all invoice lines have the same tax rate. |
If you're still having trouble please contact Karbon Support with a screenshot of your errors.
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