Stop Typing Invoices Twice: Syncing Your Shop with QuickBooks or Sage
Double entry between shop software and accounting costs hours and causes errors. How a sync works, what to map, and how to keep your books and shop matched.
By the OneSoftWay team 3 min read
At many shops, the day ends the same way: someone sits at the back-office computer and types the day’s invoices into QuickBooks. Customer name, invoice number, parts, labour, tax, payment method. It takes an hour or more, it is boring, and it is exactly the kind of work where typos happen. It is also completely unnecessary.
What double entry costs you
- Time. An hour a day is over 250 hours a year spent re-typing information that already exists.
- Errors. A transposed number or a wrong tax code means your books and your shop disagree. Finding the difference at month end takes even longer.
- Late numbers. If invoices only reach accounting once a week, you are always looking at old information.
- Bookkeeping fees. If your bookkeeper does the typing, you are paying professional rates for data entry.
How a sync works
Your shop software connects to your accounting software. When an invoice is finalised in the shop, it is sent to accounting automatically, with the customer, the lines, the tax and the total. When the customer pays, the payment is recorded against that invoice.
You do the work once, in the shop. The books follow.
What to map when setting it up
The sync is only as good as the setup. Before you turn it on, sit down with your bookkeeper or accountant and agree on:
- Income accounts. Where labour, parts, tires, sublet work and shop supplies each go. Separating labour from parts income makes your margins visible.
- Tax codes. Map each tax in the shop to the matching code in accounting. In Canada that means GST, HST, or GST plus PST depending on the province. In the United States, some states tax labour and others only parts.
- Payment methods. Card, cash, cheque, and online payments, each going to the right account so bank reconciliation works.
- Customers. Whether each shop customer becomes an accounting customer, or whether walk-in sales go to a single “cash sales” customer.
Then test: create a handful of invoices covering different tax situations, a card payment, a cash payment and a refund, and check that each lands correctly.
Keep the two sides matched
- Make changes to invoices in the shop software, not in accounting, so the two do not drift apart.
- Check the sync status weekly for anything that failed to send.
- Reconcile card deposits against payments recorded in the shop. Card processor fees are often where small differences hide.
QuickBooks or Sage?
Both are common among independent shops. QuickBooks Online is widespread in both Canada and the United States, some shops still keep their books on QuickBooks Desktop, and Sage 50 is common with Canadian accountants. Use whichever your accountant is comfortable with; a good shop system should work with it rather than forcing a change.
How AutoSoftWay helps
AutoSoftWay syncs invoices, payments and customers to QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop, and connects to Sage 50 and Sage Accounting with your Sage tax codes mapped. Payments taken in the shop are matched to the invoice, so the books reflect the shop without anyone typing it twice. See our post on taking payments in the shop and the full list of integrations.
The short version
Typing invoices into accounting at the end of the day wastes hours and causes errors. Connect your shop software to QuickBooks or Sage, map income accounts, tax codes and payment methods with your bookkeeper, test before you switch it on, and make changes in the shop so both sides stay matched.
Frequently asked questions
What should sync from shop software to accounting? +
Usually invoices, payments and customers. Some shops also sync parts purchases. Payroll and expenses unrelated to repair orders typically stay in the accounting software.
Do I still need a bookkeeper if my shop software syncs to QuickBooks? +
Most shops do. The sync removes data entry, but a bookkeeper or accountant still reconciles bank accounts, handles payroll and tax filings, and catches anything unusual. They will spend their time on that instead of retyping invoices.
How do I handle sales tax in the sync? +
Map each tax in your shop software to the matching tax code in your accounting software, per province or state. Test a few invoices with different tax situations before turning the sync on for everything.