This article will guide you through the process of setting up QuickBooks Desktop and CoreBridge to prepare for a data sync.

Sync Requirements

• QuickBooks Desktop for Windows 2018 or newer.
• The Summary Sync export method is being used.
• QuickBooks Desktop is installed on a local computer. The software required for the sync will be installed on the same computer that QuickBooks is installed on. The sync software running on a hosted server is not supported. 
• Your system must be live.
• One or more Completed orders.
• One or more reconciliations that contain income. 

• One or more reconciliations that contain payments.

  
  

STEP 3 – Perform a CoreBridge Reconciliation

In CoreBridge, navigate to Accounting Module > Reconciliation > Reconcile Accounts. 

Each Reconciliation contains the data that will be used to create the QuickBooks journal. Without Reconciliations, there will be no data to export. The data will sync to QuickBooks as a journal and will contain income, payments, and other financial data needed to manage your books. For each Reconciliation in CoreBridge, there will be a corresponding Journal in QuickBooks.

Reconciliations should be performed at the end of each business day to capture that day's data and to catch any payment entry errors. If wrong payment amounts are captured on the Reconciliation the wrong amounts will sync to QuickBooks.

Note: If you are not comfortable performing this step, please review this support article:  Reconciliations - Completing, Viewing, Reporting, or reach out to our support team. 

STEP 4 – Select an Accounting Export Option in CoreBridge 

1. In CoreBridge, navigate to Accounting Module > Accounting Export.
2. Select the following options:
   • Select Export Type: Sync with Desktop Application
   • Application Name: QuickBooks
   • Sync Type: Lump Data Sync
   • Lump Sync and Summary Sync are the same things.
3. Click the Save button. A warning dialogue may appear. Since you have never synced you can safely click OK.

STEP 5 – Choose Sync Options

Using the information below, decide which sync option you would like to choose.

Group Tax Agencies

This option controls whether or not CoreBridge sales tax gets posted to a single account (Lump Tax Agencies) or multiple accounts (Sync Tax Agencies). 

1. In CoreBridge, navigate to Accounting Module > Accounting Export > Account Setup tab.
   
2. Click Lump Tax Agencies if ANY of the following apply.
   • You are using 3rd party tax integrations or eCommerce.
   • Sales tax is paid to a single taxing authority.
3. Click the Sync Tax Agencies button and wait for the page to refresh.
   Note: The Sync Tax Agencies option will ONLY appear if Lump Tax Agencies is not selected. 
   • This pulls in all Tax Agencies from the Management Module with rates higher than 0%.
   • If no Tax Agencies exist or they all have a 0% rate nothing will happen. 
   • Tax Agencies with rates need to be pulled into this window so that they can be matched to a G/L account.

Ignore non-completed orders 

This option is a one-time choice before your 1st sync.  If you want WIP and BUILT values in QuickBooks you need to have starting balances. 

1. In CoreBridge, navigate to Accounting Module > Accounting Export > Account Setup tab.

        2. Click the Ignore non-completed orders button to see WIP, BUILT, and Non-Completed Order values in QuickBooks

STEP 6 – Match Reconciliation Accounts

1. In CoreBridge, navigate to Accounting Module > Accounting Export > Account Setup tab.
   The collection of accounts displayed here are referred to as Reconciliation Accounts. These accounts must match to QuickBooks accounts.
   • My CoreBridge Accounts
     The section titled "My CoreBridge Accounts" contains the internal names for the accounts along with the account type. The account type noted needs to match the account type in QuickBooks. Don't use this section to match accounts to QuickBooks. This is for reference only.
     

     ACCOUNT TYPE CROSS-REFERENCE
     IN COREBRIDGE	IN QUICKBOOKS
     Expense	Expense (not Other Expense)
     Accounts Receivable	Accounts Receivable
     Liability	Other Current Liability
     Tax	Other Current Liability

     
     
   • My CoreBridge Software Accounts
     This is the section of the page where you will match CoreBridge to QuickBooks under the Account Setup.
     • Reconciliation Account matching: Account number, account name, account type, and account hierarchy have to match exactly between CoreBridge and QuickBooks for the sync to be successful.
       Note:  If there is an account in CoreBridge that does not exist in QuickBooks, it will be created automatically to match exactly in QuickBooks during your 1st sync so there is no need to add it manually.
     • Account Naming and Structure: Special characters may cause sync errors. Please use only letters and numbers for account names. Each account must have a unique account name.
2. Match each account in CoreBridge to an account in QuickBooks.
   • The accounts listed under "My Accounting Software Accounts" must be matched exactly to QuickBooks.
   • If a CoreBridge account needs to be changed, click edit, make any needed changes, then click save.
   • If the account being matched is a child account be sure to follow the directions on the page to properly match the account hierarchy. The parent/child hierarchy for Reconciliation accounts follow the QuickBooks method of using a colon to delineate parent and child accounts.
     • For example, if Account2 was a child of Account1, the account would read Account1:Account2
       
   • Undeposited Funds account
     • When matching the Undeposited Funds account between CoreBridge and QuickBooks, the account in QuickBooks must be the built-in system account designated by QuickBooks.
     • If the account is not the system account, you will not be able to record deposits in QuickBooks.
       
     • How to tell if it's the system account when in QuickBooks: Edit the account.
       •  If the Account Type is grayed out, it's the system account. 
       • If the Account Type is not grayed out, it's not the system account.
3. OPTIONAL – If you want to keep your CoreBridge accounts separate from existing accounts you can create new accounts. This can be helpful if you are in the process of closing out a previous POS system and don't want to combine numbers in a single account , like CB A/R instead of Accounts Receivable.
4. Proceed to Step 6: Install the QuickBooks Desktop Sync Tool. 

Only pertinent for VAT Systems

Commercial Tax vendor assignment: 

• For the purpose of this article, we use the term "sales tax" to represent the accrued liability owed to a taxing entity. Various countries have their own unique term. For example VAT, GST, HST, QST, SST, ICMS, Commercial Tax, Consumption Tax, Revenue Tax, Turnover Tax
• QuickBooks Desktop supports assigning a Sales Tax Agency Vendor on journal entries.  A Sales Tax Agency Vendor may be assigned manually to the appropriate G/L liability account once the journal entry has synced.

Sales Tax Liability G/L account: 

• Before matching a CoreBridge sales tax liability account to a General Ledger account in QuickBooks, confirm that the Other Current Liability account in QuickBooks is not associated with any Sales Tax Agency vendor. 
• If an G/L account is associated with a Sales Tax Agency vendor, QuickBooks will require additional fields to be used on the journal entry for the liability account. These additional fields are not supported by the sync and typical required fields that are not supported are NAME and TAX ITEM. Required fields and names may vary by country. If a G/L account is associated with a Sales Tax Agency vendor, QuickBooks will set the account as a System account.
• If a tax liability account in QuickBooks is a System account, the account should not be matched to CoreBridge.

To determine if a tax liability account is a QuickBooks System account:

• In QuickBooks, edit the account
• Look at Account Type
• If the drop-down is grayed out where Account Type cannot be changed, the account is a System account
• If all of the sales tax liability accounts in your Chart of Accounts are associated with a Sales Tax Agency vendor, please create a new G/L account or accounts to match to CoreBridge that will never be associated with a Sales Tax Agency vendor at the vendor level.
  
  (Screenshot from QuickBooks showing liability accounts assigned on a Sales Tax Agency vendor)
• If you un-assign the tax liability account on all Sales Tax Agency vendors in order to use the account to match to CoreBridge, please be sure to reach out to your accountant or to QuickBooks support for guidance before doing so. Un-assigning an account may not be reversible.

STEP 7 – Installing and Configuring the QuickBooks Desktop Sync Tool

Please complete ALL the steps below to install and configure the QuickBooks Desktop Sync Tool. If you have any questions during either the installation or the configuration please do not hesitate to reach out to [email protected] or chat with us from the Support Site. 

How to Install the QuickBooks Desktop Tool 

1. Navigate to the computer where QuickBooks is installed. This is where you will want to install the sync tool and where you manually run the sync from. Keep in mind the following:
   • The software is Windows only. MAC OS is not supported.
   • If Windows does not have the required .NET Framework installed you will be prompted to download and install it from a Microsoft website.
   • QuickBooks must be installed before installing the sync tool. It will look for QuickBooks and fail if it can't be found. 
   • If your QuickBooks is hosted, please review this support article: QuickBooks Desktop Hosted – Important Information
   • If downloading or installing the sync tool requires contacting technical support from your hosting provider, it is likely that the sync tool will not work even if it is able to be installed. A different export method will need to be chosen. 
2. Open CoreBridge in Chrome or Firefox.
   Note: Internet Explorer and Edge are not supported browsers. Your installation file may show as corrupted if you use those browsers to download.  CoreBridge Support will not be able to diagnose browser, firewall, or permissions settings preventing file downloads. 
   
3. Navigate to Accounting Module > Accounting Export
4. Click on Download Desktop Client. The download will start.
   • The location of the downloaded installation file will be based on your browser's settings. The typical location is a folder named Downloads in your Windows user profile directory.
   •  If you cannot find the downloaded file, you can search for filename CoreBridgeQuickBooksInstaller.exe using the search functionality in Windows.
   • If the sync tool is already installed and running, please completely close it. To do that, open Windows Task Manager (typically by pressing  Ctrl + Alt + Delete at the same time), select the process named CoreBridgeDesktop and end that task.
5. Open/Run the installation file named CoreBridgeQuickBooksInstaller.exe. 
   • If you encounter messages such as Windows preventing the installation because it is an unrecognized app, you can safely choose to run/install anyway. If Windows Defender displays a popup window, choose More Info, then choose Run Anyway as shown below.
   • If the sync tool is already installed, you'll encounter a window asking whether to Repair or Remove CoreBridge QuickBooks Sync. Choose the Repair option.
6. Click Finish.
   • If you're presented with a window asking "Do you want to allow this app from an unknown publisher to make changes to your device?" choose Yes.
   • Proceed through the installation steps. 
7. On the final installation step, select the option Launch CoreBridge QuickBooks Sync if it is not already selected.
8. Click Close. The sync tool will then display on your desktop.
9. A desktop shortcut named CoreBridge QuickBooks Sync will also be created.

Note: For more detailed steps on how to configure the settings please review this article: QB Desktop - Sync Tool Download

How to Configure the QuickBooks Desktop Tool 

1. Open QuickBooks.
2. Open the QuickBooks company file that you will sync CoreBridge data to.
3. Sign in to the company with Administrator rights.
4. Open the sync tool and click Settings.
   Note: If not already selected, click the General tab.
5. In the CoreBridge Username field, enter a CoreBridge username that has the Allow QuickBooks Sync option selected in their CoreBridge User Access Rights. This will typically be your accountant or the owner.
6. Enter the password associated with the CoreBridge username from Step 4 in these two fields:
7. In CoreBridge navigate to Accounting Module > Accounting Export > Integration Information.
   • In CoreBridge, copy the text string from the field labeled "API Tag >" and paste the string into the sync tool field labeled CoreBridge API Tag.
   • In CoreBridge, copy the text string from the field labeled "API URL >" and paste the string into the sync tool field labeled CoreBridge API URL.
8. Set the Sync Start Date using one of the options below:
   • IF YOU'VE NEVER SYNCED BEFORE AND YOUR COREBRIDGE SYSTEM IS NEW
     • The Sync Start Date will be the date of your first Live Reconciliation. If CoreBridge support created the first Reconciliation on your system, choose the date of the first one that was performed by one of your users and not the one from CoreBridge support.
     • If you are unsure of the date please contact support.
       
       
   • IF YOU'VE NEVER SYNCED BEFORE AND YOU TOOK OVER AN EXISTING SYSTEM
     • The Sync Start Date will be the date of the first Reconciliation that contains your data. 
     • In this case, the prior owner should have performed a final Reconciliation that "belonged" to them in order to give you a clean break. If there are Reconciliations that contain data from both the prior owner and from you as the new owner, you will need to pick which Reconciliation to start with. You may need to work with your CPA to back out data in QuickBooks that is from the prior owner.
     • If you need help determining the date please contact support.
       
       
   • IF YOU'RE INSTALLING ON A NEW COMPUTER USING THE SAME QUICKBOOKS COMPANY FILE
     1. Disassociate the old sync tool from your QB company file.
        • In QuickBooks go to Edit > Preferences > Integrated Applications > Company Preferences.
        • Select CoreBridge Desktop Client and click Remove.
     2. Make note of the last Journal Entry that was synced to QuickBooks (Example: CB-Rec-23, dated 3/6/20XX).
     3. Set the Sync Start Date as the date of the next Reconciliation from CoreBridge that needs to sync (Example: 3/7/20XX).

9. Once you've completed entering information on the Settings page click Save And Validate Settings.

   • An authorization window from QuickBooks will open. Please select your preferred option and then complete the authorization steps in the subsequent QuickBooks windows.

   • If an error message is displayed in red after you click Save And Validate Settings, either your credentials are not correct or the API Tag and API URL are not correct.

   • A message is displayed in green if all information is entered correctly.

10. Leave your mouse pointer visible on the sync tool. You will see a circle representing Windows activity while the save process is happening. Before proceeding, wait for the circle to go away to signify that the Save process has completed.

11. Close the sync tool by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the program window.

For more detailed steps on how to configure the settings please review this article: QB Desktop - Sync Tool Configuration

Step 8 - Complete Your First Sync

1. Open the Sync Tool on your local computer
   
2. Click "Sync Data to QuickBooks" under the Home tab
   
3. If you do not receive any failed items, you have completed your first sync successfully. 
   If you do receive any failed items, you will need to report them following these directions: QuickBooks Desktop: Summary Sync - reporting sync errors

Related Articles

FAQ & Best Practices - CoreBridge Accounting Sync

How Summary Sync Works 

Accounting Export Options

Reconciliations - Completing, Reporting, Viewing

Reconciliation Account Details

Reconciliations In CoreBridge

QuickBooks Online: Summary Sync - reporting sync errors

Reconciliations - Completing, Viewing, Reporting 

QuickBooks Desktop: Sync Tool Setup - Summary Sync