Before you can connect a Project to QuickBooks, you first need to set up the initial integration between BuildBook and QuickBooks. If you haven't connected QuickBooks yet, start with this article.
Video Tutorial
🚨Before you sync
Before creating a new project or syncing an existing project from BuildBook to QuickBooks, there are a few steps to take in QuickBooks first so that the sync is seamless. (If you're new to Projects in QuickBooks Online (QBO) Projects, this feature gives you a new way to manage job costing and profit/loss reports. More detailed QBO help documentation can be found here.)
The Project you are syncing from BuildBook to QuickBooks Online (QBO) must exist in QBO.
The Customer you are including as the Billing Contact must exist in both QBO and BuildBook.
1. Create the Project in QuickBooks
1. Create the Project in QuickBooks
First, the Projects feature must be enabled in QuickBooks Online.
Click the gear icon in the top right of your QBO account
Go to Account and Settings (/app/accountsettings)
Go to the Advanced tab on the left
Make sure "Projects" is turned on.
Create the Project in QBO
Navigate to the Projects tab in the left menu of QBO
Click New Project in the top right.
Give the project a name (this does not have to match the project name in BuildBook).
Select or create the customer this project is for, then hit Save.
2. Create the Customer in QuickBooks
2. Create the Customer in QuickBooks
If you didn't create the customer when you created the project, go to your Customers in QBO (/app/customers) and add the customer.
3. Add the contact to your People in BuildBook
3. Add the contact to your People in BuildBook
When you return to BuildBook, the Customer and Project will be available when connecting a Project to QuickBooks (either by turning on the QuickBooks Sync toggle when creating a new project or by adding a project to the QuickBooks Sync settings page). Make sure to select the Customer and Project you just created!
Connect a new BuildBook Project
Start by creating a new Project in BuildBook
Fill out the details for the project
Toggle on QuickBooks Enabled?
Billing Contact: Start typing to pull in a contact name in the dropdown
The Billing Contact is the person who will appear as the responsible party on QBO documents. Most of the time, this is your client.
Once the project is added to QuickBooks Sync, you can't edit the billing contact.
The available contacts in the dropdown pull from the People page. If you're not sure how to add someone to People, head here for a quick overview.
Matched QuickBooks Customer: Select the QuickBooks Customer you'd like to associate the project with. We highly recommend selecting the associated QBO Customer here so that you can sync this BuildBook project to an existing QBO project in the next step.
If no customer is selected, BuildBook will create one for you.
Note: If the Billing Contact name is used anywhere else in QuickBooks Online (as a customer, vendor, etc.) and you leave the Matched QuickBooks Customer field blank, there will be an error and the project will not sync. To resolve this problem, create a Customer in QuickBooks Online and manually add the project to that customer in your QuickBooks Online Settings page within BuildBook.
Matched QuickBooks Project / Subcustomer is where you choose the QuickBooks Project to sync your BuildBook Project with. We highly recommend creating this project in QuickBooks per the instructions above so that you can select it in this step.
If you don't choose anything here, BuildBook will create a new subcustomer for you, which is different from Projects.
Once QuickBooks is enabled, you'll see a note in the Project Address. If you plan to sync Invoices to QuickBooks, there must be a valid project address in the format: 123 Main Street, City, ST 00000.
If the address isn't formatted correctly, a message will appear alerting you. If you don't plan to push your invoices or want to do this later in the Project Settings, click Ok to move forward with creating the project.
Connect an existing BuildBook Project
Sync existing BuildBook Projects from your QuickBooks Settings in your Account.
Start by clicking the Projects tab in your QuickBooks Settings, then select Sync a Project.
Select the Project you'd like to sync from the modal that opens
Once all fields are completed, select Sync Project to turn on QuickBooks Sync for the selected project. It may take a moment to enable QBO.
Video: Successful Project sync example
Disconnect a Project
Once a project is added to the QuickBooks Sync list, it can be turned on or off using the Sync toggle on the Manage QuickBooks page in your Account Settings. (Items created while Sync is turned off will go to the Not Synced status in the status log)
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