Smart Accounting Hub for QuickBooks Online (QBO) Invoice Settings

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IMPORTANT  Please review the information in Smart Accounting Hub for QuickBooks Online to ensure the integration is connected before configuring the settings on this page.

Invoices are synced from Autotask to QuickBooks Online using a polling style integration that checks for un-synced invoices every 15 minutes. Detected invoices are added to a processing queue, with processing time depending on the queue size and the number of line items per invoice.

Invoices in Autotask are synced based on settings that define how many days back to search for un-synced invoices. The criteria for what counts as an "un-synced invoice" depend on the chosen invoice numbering method.

By default, QuickBooks Online (QBO) generates invoice numbers. To use this setup, Autotask invoice numbering and QBO custom transaction numbering must both be disabled. In this setup, an un-synced invoice is one with a blank Invoice Number field in Autotask.

If using Autotask-generated invoice numbers in QuickBooks Online, QBO custom transaction numbering must be enabled. This allows external systems to set invoice numbers. In this setup, an un-synced invoice is one without a Web Service Date in Autotask.

Field Description
Autotask Company Name Autotask companies are mapped to QBO customers using predefined cross-references, with a fallback match on the QBO Customer Company Name. If both methods fail, a new QBO customer is created using the Autotask company name.
Invoice Number

May be used as the QBO invoice number; otherwise a QBO-generated invoice number will be used and returned to Autotask in this field, depending on settings.

NOTE  Invoice Order Number, Tax Group, Invoice Date and invoice Comments will be included on the QBO invoice Customer Memo field, depending on settings.
Payment Terms The integration tries to match the Autotask term with a corresponding term in QBO. If no match is found, the default QBO term is used.
Sales Terms The integration looks for a matching term in QBO by name. If none is found, it uses the customer’s default QBO term instead.
Ship To Address fields The selected shipping address.
Billing Email The QBO invoice billing email is sourced from the customer's primary email address in QBO.
Email Status The status defaults to "NotSet" but can change to "NeedToSend" based on configuration settings.
Invoice Date Used to set the Transaction Date of the QBO invoice.
Field Description
Quantity Used as the QBO invoice line quantity.
Rate

Used as the QBO invoice line unit price.

NOTE  In QBO, the invoice line amount is calculated by multiplying quantity by rate.
Item Date

Used to set the service date on the QBO invoice line.
Group Description / Full Description

Used as the QBO invoice line description.

NOTE  If available, the group description is used; otherwise, the full description is applied.
Product/Service

Refer to Item lookup.
Tax

Refer to Tax handling.

Each Autotask invoice item is linked to a product or service. When creating invoice lines in QBO, the app searches for matching QBO items (products/services) as follows:

  1. The billing item sub-type field is used to determine the item type. Based on the sub-type, the item is classified into one of the following:

    • Labor

    • Service

    • Charge

    • Block purchase

    • Retainer purchase

    • Ticket purchase

    • Subscription

    • Expense

    • Milestone

    • Recurring service setup fee

  2. After identifying the item type, the integration uses the related item setting to find the name for matching. It then searches for an active QBO item with that name.

  3. If no matching QBO item is found, a new QBO item may be created automatically based on your settings. The new, created item will have the following characteristics:

    • Type = Service

      NOTE  Inventory items cannot be created automatically due to the complexity of setting initial asset and liability G/L balances. Instead, a default item type of Service is used.

    • Name = the name used from the Item Setting derivation above.

    • Taxable = true if the Autotask billing item total tax value is greater than zero, otherwise false

    • Active = true

    • Unit Price = Autotask billing code unit price, or if not provided, the Autotask billing item rate.

    • Purchase Cost = not set

    • Income G/L Account = the default G/L account for invoice item-creation as configured in your settings.

For U.S. customers, tax handling relies entirely on the sales tax configured in QBO. Autotask tax codes are ignored, and no tax mapping occurs. Only item taxability (true/false) is determined, based on whether the Autotask billing item has tax dollars greater than zero.

For non-U.S. customers, taxes are determined directly at the billing item level, as follows:

  1. Check the Tax Region of the Autotask invoice.

  2. Then, identify the billing code of the billing item, which includes a tax category.

  3. The Tax Region and Tax Category are used together to locate the applicable Autotask taxes.

    NOTE  If multiple matching Autotask taxes are found, the invoice will fail, as QBO supports only one tax per line. To resolve this, create a single Autotask tax that combines all needed rates and ensure a matching tax exists in QBO.

  4. The Autotask tax is used to find a QBO tax code. This tax is applied to the line.

Configure Settings

Setting Description
General Invoice Settings
Automatic Invoice Sync If selected, the automatic invoice sync is enabled and the Smart Accounting Hub will scan every 15 minutes for invoices based on the Sync Behavior settings.

Automatic Payment Sync

 

If selected, the automatic payment sync is enabled and the Smart Accounting Hub will scan every 15 minutes for invoice payment information based on the Sync Behavior and Payment settings.

NOTE  This feature is not available for sandbox environments.

Automatic Voided Invoice Sync

 

If selected, the Smart Accounting Hub will scan every 15 minutes for invoices that have been voided, based on the Sync Behavior settings.

NOTE  It is recommended to not enable any automatic sync settings until all other settings are configured.
Sync Behavior Settings

Invoice Max Age

The maximum age of invoices, expressed in number of days (inclusive), that will be considered for syncing.

EXAMPLE  If the max age is set to 14 days, when scanning on March 3, 2025, the Smart Accounting Hub will only sync items as far back as February 17, 2025.

Invoice Numbering

 

Select the method that QuickBooks Online should use to number invoices.

  • Let QuickBooks generate the invoice number: The invoice number field in Autotask PSA will be blank initially. Once the invoice has synced to QuickBooks Online, the QuickBooks invoice number populates. For this setting to work correctly, you must have invoice numbering disabled in Autotask PSA. Refer to Contracts and billing system settings.
  • Use the Autotask invoice number: The invoice number in QuickBooks Online will be the invoice number assigned in Autotask PSA.

Voided Invoice Max Age

The maximum age of voided invoices, expressed in number of days (inclusive), that will be considered for syncing.

EXAMPLE  If the max age is set to 14 days, when scanning on March 3, 2025, the Smart Accounting Hub will only sync items as far back as February 17, 2025.

Income Account to Use

Select an available income account in which the invoices from Autotask will sync to QuickBooks. The drop-down list is sourced directly from QuickBooks.

Create QuickBooks Item Automatically

 

  • If selected, any items that do not exist in QuickBooks during an invoice sync will be automatically created using the naming convention set in Item Settings. Refer to Item Settings.

  • If not selected, any items on an invoice that are not found in QuickBooks during an invoice sync will display an error in the Activity Logs. Refer to View Logs.

Group Invoice Lines By Autotask Billing Code

 

  • If selected, any line items that have the same billing code will be grouped using the corresponding Autotask Billing Code when synced to QuickBooks.

  • If not selected, all line items will sync as an individual line item on the QuickBooks invoice.

Include Customer Message

If selected, the Message on invoice field on the QuickBooks invoice will be populated with additional information about the invoice from Autotask, i.e From date, To date, etc.

Email Invoices Automatically

If selected, invoices will be automatically sent to customers from QuickBooks.

NOTE  Emailed invoices must be configured in QuickBooks if this feature is enabled.

Ignore Zero-Balance Invoices

If selected, all invoices with a total balance of $0.00 will be ignored and will not sync to QuickBooks.
Payment Settings
Allow Invoice Payments by Credit Card

  • Yes: Select to allow the customer associated with the invoice to pay by credit card.

  • No: Select to never allow the customer associated with the invoice to pay by credit card.

  • Only allow when a stored payment method exists for the customer in QuickBooks: This setting allows the invoice Online Payment credit card flag if the customer associated with the invoice has a default Payment method set up in their Customer Details in QuickBooks. If no default payment method is set up for the customer, the customer will not be able to pay by credit card. Please note that if selected, this setting will be applied to ALL invoices synced to QuickBooks. If there are exceptions, you must clear the setting on individual invoices in QuickBooks.

Allow Invoice Payment by ACH
  • Yes: Select to allow the customer associated with the invoice to pay by ACH.

  • No: Select to never allow the customer associated with the invoice to pay by ACH.

  • Only allow when a stored payment method exists for the customer in QuickBooks: This setting allows the invoice Online Payment ACH flag if the customer associated with the invoice has a default Payment method set up in their Customer Details in QuickBooks. If no default payment method is set up for the customer, the customer will not be able to pay by ACH. Please note that if selected, this setting will be applied to ALL invoices synced to QuickBooks. If there are exceptions, you must clear the setting on individual invoices in QuickBooks.

Click Save to complete any changes before leaving this page. To revert all settings on this page to their default settings, click Restore Defaults.

Settings and Mappings