QuickBooks Online Integration: How It Works, Use Cases & Best Practices

Although every integration is different, a reliable workflow generally follows the same basic sequence.

1. Capture the Source Activity

The process begins in the system where the business event actually occurs.

That event might be a completed POS business day, ecommerce order, customer payment, payroll run, approved expense, invoice, or another operational transaction.

The integration captures the information needed to process that event, including relevant identifiers, dates, amounts, company information, and transaction details.

2. Transform the Data

Operational systems and accounting systems do not always structure information in the same way.

The integration may therefore need to summarize transactions, split amounts, change formats, perform calculations, or combine related records before sending anything to QuickBooks.

A POS platform, for example, might provide gross sales, taxes, tips, discounts, refunds, card payments, cash, and processing fees separately.

Those values need to be transformed into the accounting structure the business has approved.

3. Map the Accounting Information

This is where a basic data transfer becomes an accounting integration.