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QuickBooks Integration Setup

ET
Engineering Team
Updated 5 days ago
Sync customers, invoices, and proposals between Pipeline CRM and QuickBooks Online. Create and send invoices directly from Pipeline without switching apps—all financial data stays synchronized automatically.

What You Can Do
  • Sync customer data – Keep contacts in sync between Pipeline CRM and QuickBooks
  • View invoices & proposals – See all QuickBooks financial documents in Pipeline
  • Create & send – Generate invoices and proposals without leaving Pipeline
  • Convert proposals – Turn estimates into invoices with one click
  • Set permissions – Control what team members can do with financial documents
💡 Note: This integration works exclusively with QuickBooks Online (not QuickBooks Desktop).

Before You Begin
Make sure you have:
  • Admin access to both Pipeline CRM and QuickBooks Online
  • An active QuickBooks Online subscription
  • The correct QuickBooks company account ready (if you manage multiple companies)
How to Set Up the Integration
Step 1: Install the QuickBooks App
  1. Go to Settings → Other → App Store
  2. Find QuickBooks and click Install

Step 2: Connect to QuickBooks Online
  1. In the integration settings, navigate to QuickBooks Online API
  2. Click Connect
  3. You'll be redirected to QuickBooks to authorize the connection
  4. Select your company (if you have multiple QuickBooks companies)
  5. Click Connect to grant Pipeline access to your QuickBooks data
You'll be redirected back to Pipeline once the connection is complete.


Step 3: Verify the Connection
  1. Click Save in the integration settings
  2. Click Test Connection to verify everything is working
  3. You should see a success message
✅ Connection established!

Step 4: Configure Settings
Field Mapping
Map Pipeline CRM fields to corresponding QuickBooks fields:
Common mappings:
  • Company Name → Customer Name
  • Email → Primary Email
  • Phone → Phone Number
  • Address fields → Billing Address

Sync Direction
Choose how data flows between Pipeline CRM and QuickBooks:
  • Both (recommended) – Changes sync in both directions automatically
  • Pipeline to QuickBooks – Updates flow from Pipeline to QuickBooks only
  • QuickBooks to Pipeline – Updates flow from QuickBooks to Pipeline only

User Permissions
Set what different team members can do with invoices and proposals:
  • Admins – Always have full access to all actions
  • Basic users:
    • Create estimates
    • Create Invoices
    • Convert estimates to invoices

Estimates and Invoice Visibility
Control who can view which estimates and invoices created directly in Quickbooks:
  • Admin
  • Everyone
  • Installation Owner
Step 5: Importing Customers from QuickBooks
To bring existing QuickBooks customers into Pipeline:
  1. Select the Import tab within the Quickbooks settings.
  2. Click Import 
  3. The import begins immediately
Pipeline will import all QuickBooks customers along with their invoices and proposals. When the import completes, you'll see a summary notification showing what was imported.

What Gets Imported
Customer data – Contact information and company details
Invoices – All associated invoices linked to the customer
Proposals – All estimates linked to the customer

How Contacts Are Matched
Pipeline uses the email address from QuickBooks to match and link customers:
  • If a contact with that email exists in Pipeline → they're linked
  • If no matching contact exists → a new person record is created
  • If no email exists in QuickBooks → that customer cannot be imported
⚠️ Important: QuickBooks customers without email addresses will be skipped during import. Make sure your QuickBooks customers have email addresses before importing.

What Happens to Invoices & Proposals
All invoices and proposals are automatically linked to:
  • The matching person in Pipeline CRM
  • The associated company (if it exists in QuickBooks)
If the company doesn't exist in Pipeline, a new company record will be created automatically.

Understanding Data Sync During Import
How data is handled depends on your sync direction:

When sync direction is QuickBooks → Pipeline (default):
First import (initial linking):
  • QuickBooks and Pipeline records are linked by email
  • Existing Pipeline data is preserved (phone numbers, addresses, custom fields)
  • Empty fields in QuickBooks don't overwrite your existing Pipeline data
Subsequent updates from QuickBooks:
  • Any change to a customer in QuickBooks triggers a sync
  • QuickBooks data overwrites all fields in Pipeline
  • Fields not in QuickBooks (phone, address, website) will be cleared in Pipeline
⚠️ Critical Warning: After the first import, updates from QuickBooks will replace Pipeline data. If QuickBooks has incomplete customer records, you may lose valuable contact details stored in Pipeline.

Example scenario:
  • QuickBooks customer: John Smith ([email protected]) — no phone or address
    • Pipeline contact: John Smith ([email protected]) — has phone: 555-1234, address, website
    • You import → Records link, Pipeline keeps phone/address/website ✓
  • You change name in QuickBooks: Jane Smith → Sync triggers
    • Pipeline now shows: Jane Smith ([email protected]) — phone/address/website are now gone ✗
How to protect your data:
  • Use bi-directional sync ("Both") to keep data flowing both ways
  • Ensure QuickBooks has complete customer information before syncing
  • Review data before running the first import
💡 Tip: You can run imports anytime to bring in new QuickBooks customers or update existing data.

What Happens If You Don't Import Records?
Nothing changes. You can still link Pipeline CRM and QuickBooks records manually. A link is created each time you make a proposal or invoice, and the syncing behavior going forward will depend on your sync direction setting for the linked records.

Step 6: Enable the Integration
Once configuration is complete:
  1. Navigate to App Store
  2. Find QuickBooks
  3. Toggle the integration to Enabled
🎉 The integration is now active!

How Data Syncing Works
Customer Sync Behavior
From Pipeline to QuickBooks:
  • Creating an invoice or proposal for a deal will create a customer in QuickBooks (if they don't already exist)
  • Updating a linked contact syncs changes to QuickBooks
From QuickBooks to Pipeline:
  • Use the Import feature to bring all QuickBooks customers into Pipeline
  • Updates to QuickBooks customers sync back to Pipeline (if bi-directional sync is enabled)
Important Notes
  • New contacts created in Pipeline do not automatically create customers in QuickBooks
  • New customers created in QuickBooks do not automatically appear in Pipeline (use Import feature)
  • All QuickBooks customers can exist in Pipeline (via import)
  • Not all Pipeline contacts will exist in QuickBooks (only those with invoices/proposals)
Why? Pipeline CRM contains all leads and prospects. QuickBooks only needs customers who have financial transactions.

Next Steps
Ready to start using the integration? Learn how to create invoices, send proposals, and manage financial documents:
→ Using the QuickBooks Integration

Need help? Contact support at [email protected]. 
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