Before You Start

This guide assumes you have active subscriptions to both QuickBooks Online and Salesforce, and administrator access to both platforms. Key data points like customer records and product lists should be clean.

Overview

40 min
Setup Time
Advanced
Difficulty
Weekly
Maintenance

What You’ll Learn

  • How to choose the right integration connector
  • Best practices for mapping customer and invoice data
  • Strategies for handling data conflicts and discrepancies
  • Automating invoice creation from Salesforce Opportunities

1. Preparation Steps

Before connecting anything, ensure these are ready in QuickBooks:

Required Data Points in QBO

  • Customers (will sync from Salesforce Accounts)
  • Products/Services (matching Salesforce Price Book items)
  • Accounts Receivable (standard asset account)
  • Sales Tax Codes (matching Salesforce tax settings if applicable)

Optional (but recommended) in QBO

  • Sales Reps (matching Salesforce Users for attribution)
  • Custom Fields (for specific data points from Salesforce)
  • Classes/Locations (for enhanced departmental reporting)

2. Choosing Your Sync Method

You have two primary options, each with serious pros and cons.

Method A: Manual Data Entry / CSV Import

This method involves exporting data from Salesforce and manually entering or importing it into QuickBooks.

Pros:
  • No additional software cost.
  • Full manual control over data.
  • Good for very infrequent syncs.
Cons:
  • Prone to human errors.
  • Extremely time-consuming.
  • No real-time data sync.

Method B: Third-Party Connectors (e.g., Breadwinner, Workato, Zapier)

These are paid apps that offer far more control and automation.

Expert Tip: We strongly recommend using a dedicated third-party connector like Breadwinner or Workato. These tools are built for complex data mapping and provide robust error handling, crucial for maintaining data integrity between QuickBooks and Salesforce.

3. Step-by-Step: Syncing with a Connector

Here is the high-level workflow for a clean setup.

Here is a sample code block to show how a Salesforce Opportunity might look before syncing.

{
  "Id": "006xxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "Name": "New Client Onboarding Project",
  "Amount": 5500.00,
  "StageName": "Closed Won",
  "AccountId": "001xxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "CloseDate": "2025-10-20",
  "Product_SKU__c": "PROJ-SVC-001"
}

4. Setting Up Your Connector

  1. 1

    Connect Salesforce to Connector

    Authorize your chosen connector to access your Salesforce org. Ensure the user performing the connection has API access and appropriate permissions.

  2. 2

    Connect Connector to QuickBooks

    Link your QuickBooks Online account to the connector. Grant full administrative permissions for comprehensive data sync.

  3. 3

    Define Data Mappings

    Crucially map Salesforce Accounts to QBO Customers, Salesforce Opportunities (or specific stages) to QBO Invoices, and Salesforce Products/Price Book Items to QBO Products/Services.

Common Error: Missing or Duplicate Records

Make sure your customer records in Salesforce have unique identifiers that can map cleanly to QuickBooks. Duplicate customer names or missing essential contact data can cause sync failures.

5. Testing Your Setup

Test Sync Checklist

  • Create a test Account and Opportunity in Salesforce
  • Mark the test Opportunity as ‘Closed Won’ to trigger sync
  • Verify a corresponding Customer and Invoice are created in QuickBooks
  • Check all line items, amounts, and tax calculations match exactly
  • Confirm customer data (name, address, email) is correct in QBO

Need Help?

Get Support

Having trouble with your setup? Our team can help troubleshoot your specific workflow.

Contact Us