Please note - we cannot link to QuickBooks Self Employed products.

The way the integration works between the two software's is a one-way synchronisation. 

Any changes you make on GES will then sync with the accounting software, but changes you make on the accounting software will not sync over to GES. 

✅ GES ➡ sync ➡ Accounting Software

❌ GES ⬅ sync ⬅ Accounting Software

Any new customers/invoices will automatically and organically sync across to the accounting software as you do them - nice and easy! 😄

Unfortunately, your existing customers/invoices will not sync across until you edit them, as is this what triggers the new sync process to happen. 

The following guide will walk you through the integration with QuickBooks and assumes you already have a working account with them. If you haven't done so already then it is advised you do this first before going ahead. It is also highly recommended that you add your bank account to your accounts package before enabling the integration. You will be asked to select the account where you want payments to go when you setup and authenticate GES with QuickBooks.

The integration is a paid add-on that you can cancel it at any time should you wish.

GES can sync your customers, invoices, and payments.

Before enabling your integration, you should know that if any of your customers in Gas Engineer Software already exist on your accounting package then there may be some additional steps to follow to get up and running - please see the troubleshooting below.

If you already have existing data on your accounting package then please contact us and we can speak about the best options available to ensure the smoothest setup.

Keep in mind that it is not currently possible to prevent the duplication of any existing invoices that may already exist on your accounting package. If some of your existing invoices in Gas Engineer Software have already been manually created under your accounting package, you could end up with duplicates in your accounts package in some circumstances.

If you have yet to add any data to your accounting package then the above does not apply to you.

You will first need to subscribe to the integration by heading to the Gas Engineer Subscription Details. You will need to upgrade to the Growth Plan if you are not already. The growth plan includes the Accounts Integration.

The next step is to select which bank account you wish invoice payments from GES to be linked to. Select the appropriate bank from the drop down menu and click the Save button.

If you have not added your bank account yet, it is highly recommended that you do so now, before Authenticating. If there is no bank account, a dummy one will be created for payments. If payments get made to this account, you can only move them from it individually to another bank account at a later date. This is avoidable if you add your bank first.

After this step has been completed your GES account will then be linked with your accounting software. The status indicator on your Integration Settings page should now indicate that the link is now active.

The tick boxes will change the behaviour of the integration. If, for example, the Sync customers option is checked then any new customers you create will automatically be synced to your accounting package.

Alternatively if the 'Sync invoices' option is also checked, then both your customers and invoices will automatically be synced to your accounting package.

If any issues occur while the integration is active, they will be logged on
your integration settings page. Typically these errors will be thrown back
by the service itself and not by Gas Engineer Software, and unfortunately at times these
messages can be vague.

Gas Engineer Software will often provide you links to the record in question
that was being synced when the fault occurred but the below will walk you
through what each message might possibly mean.

"The name supplied already exists"
This is indicating that the customer name is already on your QuickBooks database. You will need to manually alter the display name of the contact within QuickBooks to allow GES to create the customer. Then, edit and re-issue the invoice in GES to redo the syncing process.

Once the customer has synced over to QuickBooks, you can then change the display name back to the original. You'll need to ensure that the display names match as this will prompt you to merge the two contacts. You'll only need to do this the once.
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​"The customer you have specified has been deleted."
The invoice that you are trying to edit is linked to a customer that has been deleted.
​
It is possible to restore your deleted customers

"Invalid Reference Id"
The invoice that you are trying to sync has had the customer archived within GES. You will need to restore them to continue.

"Business Validation Error"
This occurs when a deleted QuickBooks customer has been edited in GES. It is not possible to edit a customer after they have been deleted.
​
It is possible to restore your deleted customers

"Stale Object Error"
This error occurs ff there are multiple users editing a single record, or a single customer at the same time. Through normal use of our software, this won't be an issue.

"Duplicate Document Number Error"
An invoice that GES has attempted to sync to QuickBooks shares an invoice number with an existing record that is already in QuickBooks. You will need to adjust your invoice numbering from your GES Settings to ensure that the invoice numbers are unique

It may be necessary to make the customers display name unique prior to syncing your existing data (for example adding 2019 to the end of their name) for the initial sync to go through. This will then enable QuickBooks to create the new contact, rather than generating an duplicate contact error. You can then merge the two contacts in QuickBooks by the changing the customers display name to match each other. You will be asked if you would like to merge the contacts.

Doing this will keep the existing invoices of both under one. The key is to merge the existing QuickBooks contact to the newly synced/created GES contact. This is because invoices for this contact will be linked to the GES version of this contact.

How do I disconnect from QuickBooks and stop the integration?

You open the Subscription Settings, and remove it from there by clicking on the "Manage Subscription" button.

How can I sync my historical or older invoices?

The only way to sync older records is to open the individually on the web portal, and then quickly edit and re-issue the invoice. This will update the invoices timestamp, and sync it over immediately. This is the same for contacts/customers. Any edits to a contact not already in QuickBooks, will sync that contact over immediately.

When and how does data sync occur? Is it manual, automatic, on login, in real-time? Are there any settings related to synchronising?

Syncing occurs usually straight away, but there can be delays depending on connection congestion etc. The sync is automatic - if you issue an invoice, it will automatically sync the invoice and the customer. There are only 2 settings for the synchronization once you have setup and authenticated; sync customers, and sync invoices. You must have sync customers enabled before invoices can be synced as well.

Duplicate Contacts when Syncing

If you find that you have created a duplicate contact in the syncing process, you can merge the two contacts together in QuickBooks, and keep the existing invoices of both under one. The key is to merge the existing QuickBooks contact to the newly synced/created GES contact. This is because invoices for this contact will be linked to the GES version of this contact. You can always undo this process as well.
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​QuickBooks CIS

On Gas Engineer Software you can mark invoices as CIS if needed, however, QuickBooks doesn't automatically recognize this as a Construction Industry Scheme ledger item. You will need to change this manually. Once the invoice has synced across, you can edit the invoice from QuickBooks, go to the line item and change the account ledger it has been allocated to and save.