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Learn how to set up and enable the QuickBooks Online integration in Sync2Books.

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Prerequisites

Before setting up the QuickBooks Online integration, ensure you have:
  • ✅ Sync2Books account - An active Sync2Books account
  • ✅ QuickBooks Online account - A QuickBooks Online account (or sandbox account for testing)
  • ✅ Intuit App - A registered Intuit app (see below)

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Step 1: Create an Intuit App

To connect to QuickBooks Online, you need to create an app in the Intuit Developer Portal.
  1. Go to Intuit Developer Portal
  2. Sign in or create an account
  3. Click Create an app
  4. Select QuickBooks Online as the product
  5. Fill in your app details:
    • App Name: Your application name
    • Redirect URI: https://api.sync2books.com/companies/quickbooks/callback (or your callback URL)
    • Scopes: Select the required scopes (see below)
  6. Save your app credentials:
    • Client ID (App ID)
    • Client Secret (App Secret)

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Required scopes

For expense management, you need the following scopes:
  • com.intuit.quickbooks.accounting - Access to accounting data
  • com.intuit.quickbooks.payment - Access to payment data (if needed)

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Step 2: Configure your Sync2Books application

This step is required before auth-url will work. If you skip it, POST /companies and GET /companies/{companyId}/auth-url still return a 200 response, but the authUrl they return is missing client_id and redirect_uri — it will silently fail to redirect anywhere useful. There is no error telling you credentials are missing, so this is the most common reason a first integration attempt gets stuck.
You can configure credentials from the Sync2Books Dashboard (Applications → select your application → Integrations → QuickBooks Online), or directly via the API:
Use "server": "sandbox" while testing against an Intuit sandbox company, or "production" once you are connecting real QuickBooks Online accounts.

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Step 3: Test the connection

  1. Create a test company in Sync2Books
  2. Get the authorization URL for QuickBooks Online
  3. Complete the OAuth flow
  4. Verify the connection is created successfully

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Example: Create company and get auth URL

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Step 4: Connect a company

  1. Open the authUrl in a browser
  2. Sign in to QuickBooks Online
  3. Authorize the connection
  4. You’ll be redirected back to your application
  5. The connection is automatically created

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Verify connection

You should see a connection with integrationKey: "quickbooks" and status: "connected".

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Sandbox vs Production

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Sandbox (Testing)

  • Use for development and testing
  • Connect to QuickBooks Online sandbox companies
  • No real financial data
  • Faster rate limits

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Production (Live)

  • Use for live customer connections
  • Connect to real QuickBooks Online companies
  • Real financial data
  • Stricter rate limits

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Troubleshooting

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Connection fails

  • Verify your Intuit app credentials are correct
  • Check that redirect URI matches your app configuration
  • Ensure required scopes are selected

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OAuth flow doesn’t complete

  • Check redirect URI configuration
  • Verify callback URL is accessible
  • Check browser console for errors

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Connection status is ERROR

  • Check connection details in Sync2Books Dashboard
  • Verify OAuth token hasn’t expired
  • Reconnect the company if needed

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Next steps

Once your integration is set up:
  1. Configure expense mapping - Set up default accounts and tax rates
  2. Create your first expense - Sync an expense transaction
  3. Upload receipts - Attach files to expenses