Quickbooks Desktop Integration

How to Setup

Discovery supports Quickbooks Desktop by way of exporting Vendor Invoices and Journal Entries for import by Quickbooks Desktop. To setup QuickBooks Desktop with Discovery, please follow these steps:

1
Set your accounting system to QuickBooks Desktop.

a
Go to your Accounting Integrations screen. If this link does not work, you may need to contact your Tenant's Administrator.
b
Select QuickBooks Desktopas your Accounting Systemand then select Save.
2
Add your GL Accounts

a
At the bottom of the Accounting Integrations screen, click on the GL Accounts tab.
b
Enter a GL Account name into the New Account Name box and click the Add Account button to add it to your list of available GL Accounts.
IMPORTANT: The GL Account name you enter must match exactly with the full account name in QuickBooks.

For example, if you have a GL Account in QuickBooks named "Rent" and it's a sub-account of a GL Account named "Occupancy Costs", you must enter it into Discovery as "Occupancy Costs:Rent".

To prevent typos, we recommend against typing in your GL Accounts by hand and instead using this technique:
  • In Quickbooks, export to Excel the "Account Listing" report and copy the account name from the spreadsheet, then paste it into the New Account Name box in Discovery.
3
Set your A/P and A/R GL Accounts.

At the top of the Accounting Integrations screen, use the Accounts Payable (GL Account) dropdown and Accounts Receivable (GL Account) dropdown to assign a GL Account to each, then click the Save button.
4
Assign GL Accounts to Line Item Categories.

Go to your Line Item Categories screen and repeat these steps for each Line Item Category:

a
Click the Edit button on the category.
b
Select a GL Account from the Cost GL Account dropdown list.
c
Select a GL Account from the Revenue GL Account dropdown list.
d
Click the Save button.
5
Assign GL Accounts to Receipt Locations.

Note: Skip this step if you don't have any Receipt Locations entered yet.
Go to your Receipt Locations screen and repeat these steps for each Receipt Location:

a
Click the Edit button on the location.
b
Select a GL Account from the GL Account dropdown list.
c
Click the Save button.
6
Assign GL Accounts to Sales Taxes.
Note: Skip this step if you don't have any Sales Taxes entered yet.
Go to your Sales Taxes screen and repeat these steps for each Sales Tax:

a
Click the Edit button on the tax.
b
Select a GL Account from the GL Account dropdown list.
c
Click the Save button.
7
Add your QuickBooks Vendors.

a
At the bottom of the Accounting Integrations screen, click on the Vendors tab.
b
Enter a Vendor name into the New Vendor box and click the Add Vendor button to add it to your list of available Vendors.
IMPORTANT: The Vendor Name must match EXACTLY with the Vendor Name as it reads in QuickBooks.

The correct name to use can be found in QuickBooks by clicking Edit on a vendor record and copying the text from the VENDOR NAMEbox as shown below ( DO NOT use the COMPANY NAME field):

To avoid typos, it's advisable not to manually type accounting vendor names. Instead, copy the Vendor Name from QuickBooks and paste it into Discovery.

In addition to accessing vendor names individually from their Edit Vendor window as shown above, a list of all vendor names can be exported to Excel from QuickBooks by clicking on Excel > Export Vendor List from the Vendors window:

8
Assign QuickBooks Vendors to your Discovery Vendors Go to your Vendors screen and repeat these steps for each vendor:
a
Click the Editbutton on the vendor.
b
Select a Vendor from the External Accounting Id dropdown list.
c
Click the Save button.

How to Export Vendor Invoices

To export Vendor Invoices to QuickBooks, please follow these steps:

1
In Discovery, "Post" the vendor invoices that you want to export.
2
Create the .iif formatted export file.

a
Go to the QuickBooks Desktop > Vendor Invoices tab screen.

This screen shows a list of the vendor invoices that have been marked as posted but not yet exported to an .iif file.
b
Click the Create New Export button.

Discovery generates an .iif file containing the vendor invoices that were listed on the screen.
3
Download the .iif export file.

a
Go to the QuickBooks Desktop > Exports tab screen.

This screen shows a list of every export file generated, sorted by when they were created with the newest at the top.
b
Click the Download button for the export file that was generated.
4
Import the .iif file into QuickBooks.

a
In your QuickBooks Desktop app, go to File > Utilities > Import > .IIF Files and select the file that was downloaded to your local machine.
More info on .iif files can be found in this QuickBooks support article

How to Export Journal Entries

Discovery uses journal entries to export fiscal data from client invoices and payments. Here's how to export journal entries to QuickBooks.

1
Create the .iif formatted export file.

a
Go to the QuickBooks Desktop > Journal Entries tab screen.

This screen shows a list of the journal entries that have not yet been exported to an .iif file.
b
Click the Create New Export button.

Discovery generates an .iif file containing the journal entries that were listed on the screen.
2
Download the .iif export file.

a
Go to the QuickBooks Desktop > Exports tab screen.

This screen shows a list of every export file generated, sorted by when they were created with the newest at the top.
b
Click the Download button for the export file that was generated.
3
Import the .iif file into Quickbooks. In your QuickBooks Desktop app, go to File > Utilities > Import > .IIF Files and select the file that was downloaded to your local machine. More info on .iif files can be found in this QuickBooks support article