QuickBooks Desktop (on-premise)
Learn about our QuickBooks Desktop on-premise connector
This documentation describes the use of our new QuickBooks Desktop web connector. If you are using our legacy on-premise connector, refer to the previous version of our documentation:
Our QuickBooks Desktop connector enables SMBs who use QuickBooks Desktop to share their consented accounting data through the Codat platform, supporting the following ways of connecting to QBD:
- QuickBooks Desktop app
- QuickBooks Enterprise Cloud
- Right Networks
The connector utilizes the Intuit Web Connector, a Windows application that runs on the SMB user's local machine.
Data type coverage
View the coverage of our QuickBooks Desktop connector in the Data coverage explorer.
Uploading and downloading attachments to QuickBooks Desktop is not supported for any data type. This functionality is not supported by the QuickBooks SDK.
Features and benefits
Our connector provides a seamless and full featured integration to QuickBooks Desktop.
Runs in the background
The connector runs as a background process and doesn't require any daily interaction by SMB users.
Auto restarts and updates
The connector starts up automatically after a system reboot. And it updates silently in the background.
Auto and manual syncs
Accounting data is synced automatically. SMB users can manually sync their data whenever they want to.
Intuitive user interface
A connector UI enables manual syncs and advanced features, like adding connections to multiple companies.
Initial setup
Before your SMB users can download and install the on-premise connector, you'll need to perform the following tasks in the Codat Portal.
1. Add your branding
Add your company branding: this is used in the Link flow.
From the SMB user's perspective, they'll see the connector app as being owned and branded by Intuit.
2. Enable the connector
Enable the QuickBooks Desktop connector in the Codat Portal.
- Select Settings > Integrations > Accounting.
- Click Set up next to QuickBooks Desktop.
- Select the toggle to set the integration to Enabled.
SMB user flow
Here's how your SMB users interact with the QBD connector.
- The user selects the way they connect QBD at the start of the flow. If they choose the
QuickBooks Desktop appoption, they will download the connector. Selecting any of the other options skips this step because hosted environments already have the web connector installed. - The user downloads and runs the connector installer. This requires the user to have administrator privileges (admin rights), or a different administrator to approve the installation and run the connector.
- The SMB user then downloads and runs the configuration file (as described in Install the QuickBooks Desktop connector). In summary, they'll need to:
- Authorise the connector to access the QuickBooks Desktop company.
- Enter the password into the connector, which is provided during the Link flow.
When installed, the QBD connector doesn’t require any further interaction by the SMB user, and administrator privileges are no longer required.
The connector has a UI that is accessible from the system tray and the Start menu. Your SMB users do not usually need to interact with this, but there is functionality available for advanced users, such as adding connections to multiple companies and adjusting auto-run timings.
Your SMB user isn't able to interact with QBD while the software is syncing data through the connector. This is due to QBD's own limitations and applies to all connectors and syncs.
Your user may need to pause a data sync so that they can interact with QuickBooks Desktop. To support this, implement our Connections SDK that provides this functionality out of the box. See Pause the connector.
System requirements
See QuickBooks Desktop requirements to learn about the supported versions of QuickBooks Desktop, and the hardware, software, environment and networking requirements for running the connector.
Install the connector
See Install the QuickBooks Desktop connector to learn how to set up and enable the connector.