QuickBooks Integration - User Guide

What is the QuickBooks Integration?

The RentalTide QuickBooks integration automatically syncs your daily sales to QuickBooks Online, eliminating manual data entry and ensuring your books are always up-to-date.

What Gets Synced?

✅ Daily Sales Summaries - All your POS transactions aggregated into one invoice per day

✅ Product Sales - Grouped by product/SKU for easy reporting

✅ Tax Amounts - Sales tax tracked separately

✅ Tips - Recorded as a separate line item

✅ Payment Status - Invoices automatically marked as PAID

What Doesn't Get Synced?

❌ Individual Transactions - We group them into daily summaries for efficiency

❌ Booking Deposits - These are handled separately through your booking system

❌ Refunds/Voids - Manual journal entries may be required

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before connecting QuickBooks, make sure you have:

1. QuickBooks Online Account - Must be an admin or accountant
2. RentalTide Account - With admin access to integrations
3. Products Setup - Your inventory should be configured in RentalTide

Step 1: Connect QuickBooks

1. Go to Settings → Integrations in RentalTide
2. Find QuickBooks in the integrations list
3. Click Connect to QuickBooks
4. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account
5. Click Authorize to allow RentalTide access
6. You'll be redirected back to RentalTide

✅ Success! You should see "Connected" status with your company name.

Step 2: Import Products from QuickBooks (Recommended)

Importing products ensures your RentalTide inventory matches QuickBooks items for seamless invoicing.

1. Go to Integrations → QuickBooks
2. Click Import Products
3. Select the QuickBooks items you want to import
4. Click Import Selected Items

What happens:

• New products are created in RentalTide with "QuickBooks Import" category
• Existing products are updated with QuickBooks pricing and stock levels
• Each product is linked to its QuickBooks Item ID for accurate invoicing

Matching Logic:

• First tries to match by QuickBooks Item ID (most reliable)
• Then tries to match by SKU
• Finally tries to match by product name

💡 Tip: After importing, review products in Inventory to verify pricing and categories.

Step 3: Configure GL Mappings (If Using Numeric Codes)

If you're using RentalTide's numeric GL codes (like 6545, 3055), you need to map them to QuickBooks account names.

1. Go to Integrations → QuickBooks → GL Mappings
2. Click Fetch Chart of Accounts to load your QuickBooks accounts
3. Map each RentalTide code to a QuickBooks account:

1. Click Save Mappings

💡 Tip: If your products already use text-based GL codes (like "Sales Revenue"), you can skip this step.

Daily Workflow

Syncing Your Daily Sales

At the end of each business day:

1. Go to Cashout page in RentalTide
2. Select the date range (usually today's date)
3. Review your sales summary
4. Click Sync to QuickBooks
5. Wait for confirmation: "Daily summary synced to QuickBooks successfully"

What gets created in QuickBooks:

Invoice #INV-001 - Daily Sales Summary 2025-01-15 Customer: RentalTide Daily Sales Date: January 15, 2025 Status: PAID  Line Items: - Bag of Ice (6 units @ $5.00)      = $30.00 - Sunscreen (1 unit @ $15.00)       = $15.00 - Life Jacket Rental (1 @ $20.00)   = $20.00                                       --------                               Subtotal: $65.00                            Sales Tax:   $6.50                               Total: $71.50  Payment: $71.50 (marked as PAID)

Understanding the Invoice

Customer: All daily sales are recorded to a single QuickBooks customer called "RentalTide Daily Sales". This customer is automatically created on your first sync.

Line Items: Your transactions are grouped by product/SKU. For example:

• If you sold 3 bags of ice in Transaction #1
• And 3 more bags in Transaction #2
• The invoice shows: 6 bags of ice total

Payment: The invoice is automatically marked as PAID because you already collected payment at the POS.

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Mixed Payment Types

Question: What if some sales were cash and others were credit card?

Answer: All sales are included in one invoice and marked as PAID. Your QuickBooks bank account is credited with the total.

If you want to track payment methods separately:

• Use QuickBooks payment categories
• Or record separate deposits manually in QuickBooks

Scenario 2: Account Charges (Customer Owes Balance)

Question: What about sales where customers charged to their account?

Answer: Currently, account charges are included in the daily invoice as PAID. For true accounts receivable:

• Create manual invoices in QuickBooks for account customers
• Or use RentalTide's account management to track separately

Scenario 3: New Products Added Mid-Day

Question: I added a new product during the day. Will it sync?

Answer:

• If imported from QuickBooks: ✅ Yes, it will sync correctly
• If created manually in RentalTide: ⚠️ It may be assigned to a "Miscellaneous" item

Best Practice: Import products from QuickBooks first, or create them in QuickBooks and then import.

Scenario 4: Sync Failed

Question: I got an error: "No QuickBooks item found for product"

Answer:

1. Go to Integrations → QuickBooks → Import Products
2. Find the missing product in the list
3. Import it to RentalTide
4. Try syncing again

Alternative: Create a "Miscellaneous" or "Other Sales" item in QuickBooks to catch unmapped products.

Scenario 5: Duplicate Invoices

Question: I accidentally synced the same day twice. What do I do?

Answer:

1. The second sync should show "No unsynced transactions" if it worked correctly
2. If duplicates were created, delete the extra invoice in QuickBooks
3. RentalTide marks transactions as synced to prevent duplicates

Troubleshooting

"QuickBooks integration needs to be reconnected"

Cause: Your connection expired (QuickBooks tokens expire after extended periods of inactivity)

Fix:

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → QuickBooks
2. Click Reconnect to QuickBooks
3. Authorize the connection again

"No unsynced transactions found"

Cause: Either:

• All transactions for this date were already synced
• No transactions exist for this date
• Transactions are filtered (booking deposits, online payments)

Fix:

• Check if transactions show as "Synced" in RentalTide
• Verify the date range
• Check if transactions are of types that get synced

"Product not found in QuickBooks"

Cause: Product in RentalTide doesn't match any QuickBooks item

Fix:

1. Import the product from QuickBooks
2. Or create a "Miscellaneous" item in QuickBooks as a fallback
3. Update the product's GL code to match QuickBooks Item ID

"Invoice shows $0.00"

Cause: Line items may not have proper QuickBooks Item IDs

Fix:

1. Review the error message for specific items
2. Import products from QuickBooks
3. Verify SKUs match between systems

Best Practices

1. Daily Sync Routine

✅ Sync at the end of each day - Don't let transactions pile up

✅ Review before syncing - Check totals match your cash drawer

✅ Keep notes - Record any discrepancies for your accountant

2. Product Management

✅ Import from QuickBooks first - Ensures accurate item mapping

✅ Use consistent SKUs - Match SKUs between RentalTide and QuickBooks

✅ Create Miscellaneous item - Catches unmapped products gracefully

3. Account Reconciliation

✅ Monthly review - Compare RentalTide totals to QuickBooks

✅ Check for gaps - Ensure no days are missing

✅ Verify tax amounts - Tax calculations should match

4. Team Training

✅ Train on product creation - Ensure staff creates products correctly

✅ Document workflow - Write down your sync process

✅ Assign responsibility - One person syncs daily to avoid duplicates

Advanced Features

Purchase Orders

Import QuickBooks purchase orders to receive inventory:

1. Go to Inventory → Purchase Orders
2. Click Import from QuickBooks
3. Select open POs to import
4. Receive items directly into RentalTide inventory

Note: Changes to PO status in RentalTide don't sync back to QuickBooks.

Chart of Accounts

View and refresh your QuickBooks chart of accounts:

1. Go to Integrations → QuickBooks
2. Click Refresh Chart of Accounts
3. Latest accounts are cached for offline access

Use Case: When you add new GL accounts in QuickBooks, refresh to see them in RentalTide mappings.

Manual Transaction Sync

Sync a specific transaction individually:

1. Go to Reports → Transactions
2. Find the transaction
3. Click ⋮ menu → Sync to QuickBooks

When to use:

• Correcting a missed transaction
• Re-syncing after fixing product mappings
• Testing the integration

Note: Manual sync creates a separate entry, not part of daily summary.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this work with QuickBooks Desktop?

No, this integration only works with QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Desktop uses a different API and is not currently supported.

Will this affect my existing QuickBooks data?

No, RentalTide only creates new invoices and customers. It doesn't modify or delete existing QuickBooks data.

Can I sync past days?

Yes! Select any date range in the Cashout page. The integration will sync all unsynced transactions for that period.

What about refunds?

Refunds and voids are not automatically synced. You should create manual credit memos in QuickBooks for refunded transactions.

Can I disconnect QuickBooks?

Yes, go to Settings → Integrations → QuickBooks → Disconnect.

Important: Your GL mappings and settings are preserved, so you can reconnect later without reconfiguring.

How much does this cost?

The QuickBooks integration is included with your RentalTide subscription at no additional cost. You only pay for your QuickBooks Online subscription.

Is my data secure?

Yes!

• Tokens are encrypted with AES-256 encryption
• Connections use OAuth 2.0 (no passwords stored)
• API calls are made over HTTPS
• Data is never shared with third parties

What QuickBooks plan do I need?

Any QuickBooks Online plan works:

• QuickBooks Simple Start
• QuickBooks Essentials
• QuickBooks Plus
• QuickBooks Advanced

Note: Some features like purchase orders require QuickBooks Plus or higher.

Getting Help

In-App Support

Need help? Click the Help button in RentalTide or contact:

• Email: support@rentaltide.com
• Phone: [Your support number]
• Live Chat: Available during business hours

Accountant Access

Need your accountant to review the integration?

1. Invite them to your QuickBooks account (QuickBooks accountant access)
2. Share this guide with them
3. They can review invoices and mappings

Technical Issues

For technical errors:

1. Take a screenshot of the error message
2. Note the date/time and what you were doing
3. Contact support with this information

Appendix

Terminology

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit): Unique identifier for a product (e.g., "BAG_ICE")

GL Code (General Ledger Code): Account number in your chart of accounts

RealmID: Your QuickBooks company identifier (automatically detected)

Invoice: Bill sent to a customer (in this case, the daily sales customer)

Line Item: Individual product on an invoice

Payment: Record of money received (automatically created with invoices)

QuickBooks Permissions Required

The integration requests these permissions:

• Accounting - Create invoices, read chart of accounts, read items
• OpenID - Identify your QuickBooks company

The integration CANNOT:

• Delete data
• Modify existing transactions
• Access bank connections
• Change security settings

Data Retention

RentalTide stores:

• QuickBooks company ID (RealmID)
• Encrypted access/refresh tokens
• Chart of accounts (cached)
• GL mappings
• Last sync date

RentalTide does NOT store:

• Your QuickBooks password
• Bank account information
• Customer financial data
• Historical QuickBooks data

Version History

• v1.0 (2025-01-15) - Initial release

• Daily summary sync
• Product import
• GL code mapping
• Purchase order import

Last updated: 2025-01-18

Updated on: 06/01/2026