Tips & Tricks [Sticky]

QuickBooks integration using QBTimer

1. •  
     CommentAuthorjreeve
   • CommentTimeJul 20th 2009 edited @ 05/17/2010 12:54 pm

    

   How does data get from Intervals into QuickBooks?

   Intervals exports time data as IIF files for importing into the QuickBooks QBTimer. Follow the instructions below to set up QuickBooks and your Intervals account. Once the setup is complete you will see the QuickBooks export icon appear to administrator level users on the following pages:

   • Timesheet
   • Edit Time
   • Summary Report
   • Project Activity Report

   How do I set up QuickBooks?

   First, you will need to make sure that you have QBTimer installed in QuickBooks (it is not installed by default). If you don’t, follow these steps to install it and get QuickBooks set up for importing time from IIF files.

   1. Load the QuickBooks CD on the computer
   2. Browse to the CD and open the QBTimer folder
   3. Run the install.exe file
   4. Follow the onscreen instructions

   How do I set up Intervals?

   Now that you’ve set up QuickBooks, follow these steps to extract the COMPANYCREATETIME variable from QuickBooks (Intervals will need this value to properly export time data into QuickBooks).

   1. Enable the QuickBooks functionality by clicking on the "Enable QuickBooks" button on the left
   2. Open QuickBooks and go to File > Utilities > Export > Timer Lists
   3. Save the IIF file and open it in Excel or your favorite text editor
   4. Look for the value listed under COMPANYCREATETIME. It will appear at the end of the line beginning with TIMERHDR.

      

   5. Copy and paste the COMPANYCREATETIME into the "Company Create Time" value on the above left and click update

   Notes:

   1. QuickBooks time export only works with the QuickBooks Windows edition.
   2. The COMPANYCREATETIME and COMPANYNAME variables must match exactly between QuickBooks and Intervals.
   3. Once you have enabled QuickBooks and entered the COMPANYCREATETIME value in the site settings section, the QuickBooks time export icon will appear on the above-mentioned pages with exportable time data.
   4. QuickBooks Mac does not allow time activity imports.

   How does Intervals map exported time data to QuickBooks?
   …and which fields are required?

   It is essential that data between QuickBooks and Intervals matches, otherwise, QuickBooks will error out when trying to import the time data. The spelling and spacing of all items must match exactly for the fields in bold.

   Intervals	QuickBooks
   Client	Client
   Project	Job
   Person	Employee
   Worktype	Item
   Module	Payroll Item
   Task & Description	Note

   Importing Intervals time data into QuickBooks

   After you have downloaded and saved an IIF file from Intervals, follow these instructions to import the file into QuickBooks.

   

   1. Open QuickBooks and go to File -> Utilities -> Import -> Timer Activities
   2. Find the saved IIF file on your computer and select it for import.
   3. If QuickBooks warns you that the import file was created with an older version, click OK (Intervals can’t guess which version of QuickBooks you are running).
   4. A small timer window will open showing the results of the import. Click “View Report” to verify your time data was imported correctly.
   5. Close the status window and you are done!
2. • CommentAuthor591dave
   • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2009

    
   It would be great if we could opt to have Module sync with [QB] Class.
3. • CommentAuthormargaux
   • CommentTimeSep 5th 2009

    
   Just wanted to report on my experience in hopes that it'll save others some troubleshooting time. I am using Quickbooks 2008 Premier Professional Services edition, and I found that when I imported projects/jobs, worktypes/items that did not already exist in Quickbooks, Quickbooks simply created a new one. This was pretty handy because I had added some new projects/jobs along the way, and it saved me some time not to have to add it in both places.
   
   However, when I tried to import a client/customer that did not already exist in Quickbooks, it did error out and close Quickbooks as this original post says. Of course once I went into Quickbooks and created matching clients, the import worked perfectly.
4. •  
     CommentAuthorjreeve
   • CommentTimeOct 8th 2009

    
   Thanks for updating the forums with your experience. It really helps our customers to hear about others experiences. Meanwhile, if you have some ideas for how we can improve this feature please log into your Intervals account and click on the feature request link in the footer. This creates a formal request that is tagged with an ID and alerts our development team who will respond within 24 hours.
   
   We'll consider the option of having Module sync with the QB Class. Sounds like an interesting idea worth researching more.
5. •  
     CommentAuthorjreeve
   • CommentTimeMay 17th 2010

    
   Update. We'll be changing the QuickBooks IIF export slightly so that module is exported as payroll item. For those companies that use payroll items in QB this may be a better way to align Intervals with QuickBooks. As for the QB Class, we've researched that and the conclusion is that it will not be implemented. The reason for this is that Class is not an allowable header for the TIMEACT item in IIF files.
6. • CommentAuthorjbetts
   • CommentTimeMay 17th 2010

    
   Maybe I'm missing something, but this has been an issue with other web-based apps that integrate with QuickBooks. Is there some sort of mechanism in Intervals that recognizes that a particular time event has already been exported? This is one of the few advantages of using the QB timer, really the only reason for it. With their timer, when one exports time, it logs it as exported (the next time you export, it only exports unexported time events). You can then go into the log and change the exported status if you need to re-import, etc. Seems like this would just be a matter of adding a binary field in Intervals (and of course the necessary user interface additions!). Let me know if this already exists and if not, I'll add it as a feature request. Thanks!
7. •  
     CommentAuthorjreeve
   • CommentTimeMay 18th 2010

    
   Intervals does not have any sort of mechanism that identifies which time entries have already been exported to QuickBooks. Our advice is to include the QB export as part of the timesheet approval process and not export a timesheet until it has been approved. Once approved, the date range of each timesheet can no longer be updated by that person. This effectively makes it safe to export the timesheet without worrying about individual time entries being exported multiple times.
8. • CommentAuthorjbetts
   • CommentTimeMay 19th 2010

    
   @#jreeve - Thanks for the quick response. The suggested workflow works great. Thanks!