Sync Payments to QuickBooks Online
Financial Connections sends the payments you take in Unit Trac to QuickBooks Online, so nobody has to type them in again. You choose how payments are recorded in QuickBooks, which payments are included, and when they’re sent.
Before you start
- You need access to the Accounting menu in Unit Trac.
- You need a QuickBooks Online login that’s allowed to connect apps to your company. This is usually a QuickBooks admin.
- Decide with your bookkeeper whether payments should be recorded as bank deposits or sales receipts. The two are compared below.
Connect QuickBooks Online
- Go to Accounting > Financial Connections.
- On the QuickBooks Online card, click Connect.
- Review what Unit Trac will be able to do, then click Authorize with Intuit.
- Sign in to Intuit, choose your QuickBooks company if you have more than one, and approve access.
You’ll return to the QuickBooks Online page in Unit Trac. Before your first sync, set up the connection in Configure Connection, described below.
Choose how payments are recorded
A QuickBooks Online connection records payments in one of two ways: as bank deposits or as sales receipts. You choose in Configure Connection, and you can switch later.
Bank deposits
Each payment becomes a deposit in QuickBooks, made straight into the bank account you choose.
- The whole payment is recorded in one account: the account mapped to the payment’s largest charge. For example, a payment for rent and a late fee is recorded entirely in the account mapped to Rent.
- Processing fees are subtracted first, so each deposit is the amount you actually received.
- Sales tax isn’t recorded separately. It’s part of the deposit amount.
Bank deposits suit you if you want each payment in your bank register right away and don’t need it split by charge.
Sales receipts
Each payment becomes a sales receipt in QuickBooks, with one line for each type of charge it paid.
- Each line uses one of your QuickBooks products/services, so rent, late fees, deposits and other charges are recorded in the accounts those products/services post to.
- Sales tax gets its own line.
- Processing fees are a negative line, so the receipt total is the amount you actually received.
- Money that isn’t applied to a charge, such as a prepayment, gets its own line.
- Receipts go to Undeposited Funds unless you choose a bank account. Some QuickBooks companies call this account Payments to deposit.
Receipts wait in Undeposited Funds until you or your bookkeeper group them into a bank deposit in QuickBooks (+ New > Bank deposit), so each deposit matches one on your bank statement. Sales receipts suit you if you want income split by charge, sales tax tracked on its own, or deposits that match your bank statement.
Sales receipts are available for QuickBooks Online companies in the United States.
| Bank deposits | Sales receipts | |
|---|---|---|
| Created in QuickBooks | One deposit per payment | One sales receipt per payment |
| Where the money goes | The bank account you choose | Undeposited Funds, or a bank account you choose |
| Split by charge | No. The whole payment goes to one account. | Yes, one line per type of charge |
| Sales tax | Part of the deposit amount | Its own line |
| Processing fees | Subtracted before the deposit is made | A negative line on the receipt |
| What you set up | An account for each item type, and a bank account | A product/service for each item type, plus sales tax, card fees and unapplied payments |
Connections set up before sales receipts were available keep recording bank deposits until you change the setting.
Configure the connection
On the QuickBooks Online page, click Configure Connection, then:
- Under How payments are recorded, choose Bank deposits or Sales receipts.
- Under Payment methods, select the payment methods to include. At least one is required.
- Fill in the settings for the option you chose, described below.
- Click Save.
Bank deposits settings
- Account mapping: click Edit Mappings and choose a QuickBooks account for each Unit Trac item type: Rent, Deposit, Retained Deposit, Late Fee, Refund, Fee and Other. Every item type needs an account before you can sync. Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable accounts aren’t listed, because QuickBooks won’t accept a deposit into them without a customer or vendor.
- Deposit account: choose the bank account deposits go into.
Sales receipts settings
- Deposit to: choose Undeposited Funds (recommended) or a bank account.
- Product/service mapping: choose a product/service for each Unit Trac item type. Each one shows the account it posts to.
- Sales tax: choose the product/service for sales tax, usually one that posts to a sales tax liability account.
- Card fees: choose the product/service for processing fees, usually one that posts to an expense account such as merchant fees.
- Unapplied payments: choose the product/service for money that isn’t applied to a charge. It can be your rent product/service if you don’t want a separate one. If you leave it blank and a payment like that comes up, that payment fails with a note asking you to choose one.
The lists show active products/services of the Service and Non-inventory types. A product/service can post to any kind of account. For example, a Security Deposit service can post to a liability account, and a Card Fees service can post to an expense account. To add one, create it in QuickBooks, then click Refresh in Configure Connection.
Sync payments
- Go to Accounting > Financial Connections and click Manage on the QuickBooks Online card.
- The Sync to QuickBooks Online panel shows how many payments are ready to send, and their total.
- Review the payments under Details, and untick any you don’t want to send. With sales receipts, the list also shows how each payment will be split.
- Click Sync now.
Unit Trac sends the payments one at a time. While it works, the page shows Sync in process with a progress bar and refreshes on its own. The sync keeps going if you leave the page.
To stop a sync, click Stop Sync. Payments already sent stay in QuickBooks. The rest are marked Incomplete and are included the next time you sync.
Which payments are included
- Your first sync starts with payments from when you connected QuickBooks Online. To send older payments, use a custom date range.
- After that, each sync picks up where the last one left off and skips payments that were already sent.
- Only payments made with the payment methods you selected in Configure Connection are included.
- Refunded payments aren’t sent.
- For payments processed through Unit Trac, the list shows the gross amount, the processing fees, and the net amount that’s sent to QuickBooks.
Sync a custom date range
- On the Sync to QuickBooks Online panel, click Custom.
- Choose Custom date range, pick the From and To dates, and click Apply.
- Untick any payments you’ve already sent, then click Sync now.
Watch for duplicates. A custom date range includes every payment in those dates, even ones already in QuickBooks, and sending a payment twice creates a duplicate. With sales receipts, payments that were already sent are marked in the list.
To go back to the normal range, click Custom, choose Automatic and click Apply.
Check your sync history
The History panel lists your 20 most recent syncs, with the number of payments sent, the total and the result:
- Posted: every payment was sent.
- Failed: at least one payment couldn’t be sent.
- Stopped: the sync was stopped before it finished.
- In process: the sync is still running.
Click a sync to see each payment and its status: Posted, Failed, Incomplete (the sync stopped before reaching it) or Pending. Syncs that recorded sales receipts also show each payment’s lines and a link to the receipt in QuickBooks.
Switch between bank deposits and sales receipts
You can change how payments are recorded at any time in Configure Connection. You’ll be asked to confirm.
- The change applies to future syncs only. Payments already in QuickBooks stay the way they were recorded.
- Your next sync skips payments that were already sent either way, so nothing is sent twice. A custom date range doesn’t skip them, so untick any payment you’ve already sent.
- The settings for each option are kept, so switching back picks up where you left off.
- Syncs that recorded sales receipts are labeled Sales receipts in History.
What Unit Trac changes in QuickBooks
- Unit Trac only adds new deposits or sales receipts. It never moves money and doesn’t change transactions that are already in QuickBooks.
- Deposits and sales receipts don’t name a QuickBooks customer. The memo shows the customer’s name and units.
- If you refund, delete or change a payment in Unit Trac after it’s been sent, QuickBooks isn’t updated. Make the same change in QuickBooks.
- With sales receipts, sales tax posts to the account your sales tax product/service uses. QuickBooks’ own sales tax tracking doesn’t include it, so report and pay sales tax from that account or from the Unit Trac Revenue Report.
Reconnect or disconnect
Reconnect: Intuit periodically asks you to approve Unit Trac’s access again. When that happens, the QuickBooks Online page says so. Click Reconnect, sign in to Intuit and approve access. Your settings and history stay as they are.
Disconnect: on the QuickBooks Online page, click Disconnect and confirm. Unit Trac stops sending payments and gives up its access to your QuickBooks company. Everything already sent stays in QuickBooks.
If you connect again later, it’s a new connection, so set it up again in Configure Connection. Your earlier sync history isn’t shown, and the first sync starts from when you reconnected. Use a custom date range for payments taken while you were disconnected, and untick any that were already sent.
Troubleshooting
No payments are listed, or Sync now is grayed out. Either there are no new payments since your last sync, or the connection isn’t fully set up. If you see Almost ready - just one more thing, click Configure and finish the settings.
A sync failed. The top of the QuickBooks Online page explains what went wrong with your most recent sync. Fix the cause, such as an account or product/service that was deleted or made inactive in QuickBooks, then sync again. If the payments that failed aren’t in the list, click Custom, choose dates that cover them, untick payments already sent, and sync. If it keeps happening, contact Unit Trac support.
An account or product/service is missing from a list. Only active accounts and products/services are listed. Check that it’s active in QuickBooks, then reopen Configure Connection or click Refresh.
A payment is in QuickBooks twice. A custom date range included a payment that had already been sent. Delete the extra deposit or sales receipt in QuickBooks.
Other ways to get payments into your books
- QuickBooks Desktop: download a .QBO Web Connect file to import into QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier or Enterprise.
- Excel Download: download an .XLSX file of your payments to import into other accounting software.
You’ll find both under Accounting > Financial Connections, and you can use them alongside QuickBooks Online.