QuickBooks Online and Xero sync
Send invoices, credit notes, bills and payments to QuickBooks Online or Xero once each, under your own numbers, with every total checked against yours.
What it is
If your accountant keeps the books in QuickBooks Online or Xero, Cash Flow Inventory can send them your documents as you work. Invoices, credit notes, bills, customer payments and supplier payments go across every 15 minutes, and when an order is invoiced or paid. Each document is sent once, under your own number, and the total there is compared with yours after each post.
Cash Flow Inventory stays the stock master: QuickBooks and Xero receive the sales and purchase documents, not a second stock valuation.
Both links have been tested against the provider's sandbox: the badge Verified in sandbox means every stage passed against a test copy of the provider's documented interface. They have not yet run against a real QuickBooks sandbox company, a Xero demo company or a live company.
Who it is for
- Businesses whose accountant works in QuickBooks Online or Xero.
- Bookkeepers who want sales and purchases there without re-keying.
- Owners who run stock, sales and buying here and the statutory books there.
Before you start#
- An app on the provider's developer site: developer.intuit.com (Accounting scope) for QuickBooks, or developer.xero.com (Web app) for Xero.
- The integrations right.
- Decide the start date: only approved documents dated from the day you connect (or the start date you set) are sent. Older history belongs in the opening balances there.
Step by step#
- Open Integrations and choose QuickBooks Online or Xero.
- Copy the redirect address shown on the page into your app on the provider's developer site.
- Press Connect and paste the client ID and secret (QuickBooks: production or sandbox).
- Press Sign in with QuickBooks or Sign in with Xero and choose the company on their screen.
- Back on the page, press Choose from QuickBooks / Xero to read the company's accounts, tax codes and items into the settings lists.
- Set the accounts and tax code, then press Send now or wait for the next run.
What is sent#
| Here | QuickBooks Online | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice | Invoice | Sales invoice (approved) |
| Credit note | Credit Memo | Credit note |
| Bill | Bill | Bill |
| Customer payment | Payment against its invoice | Payment against its invoice |
| Supplier payment | Bill payment | Bill payment |
The customer or supplier is found by name, or created first. Product lines carry the product: QuickBooks gets a non-inventory item on your company's own income and cost accounts, Xero gets the item code.
Settings#
- QuickBooks: deposit / bank account (needed for supplier payments), tax code, the item for lines without a product, start date.
- Xero: sales account, purchases account, bank account (needed to send payments), tax rate, start date.
The page shows what was sent, what waits, totals to check, and the last 10 runs. Pause stops sending until Resume.
How it posts to the books#
- Nothing already posted is edited there.
- A document voided here is voided there. A QuickBooks bill has no void, so a reversing vendor credit numbered
<number>-Ris posted instead. - Every write carries an idempotency key, so a retried run cannot post twice.
- After each post the total there is compared with yours. A difference (usually the tax code or account mapping) is kept as "to check" and listed — never silently accepted. Correct those in QuickBooks or Xero; nothing here changes.
- Tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive pricing is read from each document's totals, and foreign-currency documents carry their currency and rate.
Limits and what is not there yet#
- Not yet proven against a live QuickBooks or Xero company.
- Documents dated before the start date are not sent; bring older balances in as opening balances there.
- A company already connected to another business is refused.
- If the connection is unused for about 100 days (QuickBooks) or revoked, runs say "reconnect": press Reconnect. Reconnecting the same company keeps what was already sent.
Questions#
Will my old invoices be sent?
No. Only approved documents dated from the day you connected, or the start date you set, are sent.
What happens if a total does not match?
It is listed as "to check". Usually the tax code or account mapping differs; correct it in QuickBooks or Xero.
Can a document be sent twice?
No. Each document carries an idempotency key, so a second run sends nothing.
Does QuickBooks value my stock?
No. Products go as non-inventory items; stock is valued only in Cash Flow Inventory.