Quickbook Sync

srturner47:

These are mostly innocous. There are some warnings that are given off, but they shouldn't affect operation. Also, please keep in mind that when there are no changes to complete, the default behavior is to error out. Try adding something new -- customer, order, or item, and see if it works. I suspect it will work just fine.

Thanks for the fast response. I wish my problem with the time-out was from having too many customers :smile:, but the site is just in testing, with only about 5 test customers in there. I have a couple of new ones with orders in Zen and those customers and orders have not come over to QB. I just tried adding another customer with order, and the result is the same. I tried deleting the recent customer adds and that didn't change anything either.

I just recently switched to a new Zen certified host to try to avoid performance issues and everything has been going along fine with the switch that was over two weeks ago, so I don't think that's contributing.

It seems to me that there must be some error that's causing the program to loop and causing the time-out. Is there any way to add more error checking anywhere, that might point to where the problem is?

Thanks.

Bill

Ok, I have it working again, but this solution wouldn't work after I'm in business and have real customers and orders.

I deleted all my test orders in ZC, then deleted all my test customers in ZC, then went into phpAdmin and deleted all the entries in zen_quickbooks_customers_record, zen_quickbooks_orders_record, zen_quickbooks_que and zen_quickbooks_sessions.

After doing this I tried a sync and it worked fine, so I added a customer and an order and it again worked perfectly. So, something was out of whack causing the issue, but I just wish I knew exactly what it was in case it happens again in the future when I won't be able to this hack and slash approach.

Glad to hear you fixed it. Not quite sure what happened. This shouldn't happen so obviously something went wrong. But, even though this seems a bit draconian, what you've done should be ok if this ever happens again.

QBSync has a matching feature, so as long as you don't change the item, customer, and order number/names in QB, you should be able to rematch everything up if you drop your quickbooks_items_record, quickbooks_orders_record, and quickbooks_customers_record tables. Then, you'd need to set "quickbooks" in your ZC customers, orders, and items table to 0. This will tell QBSync that these particular items have not been exported yet. But, if matching is on, it will check first, and if it finds it in QB, it will match it instead of exporting it. With matching off, it will just ignore it if its already in QB, which is fine, but continuing sync won't work without items, customers, and orders matched.

Hope that makes sense to you. Its kind of hard to explain. But essentially, QBSync tries to use something called List_ID to identify orders, customers, and items. List_ID is a unique identifier in QB for items, orders, customers, etc... If no List_ID info exists in the customers_record, items_records, or orders_record table it will simply use their names/numbers instead. While this is fine, and will work for most people, there are some distinct advantages to using List_ID over the name/number: 1) If you change the name/number in QB it won't be able to find it anymore. 2) Continuing Sync requires List_ID as well as other information stored in the record tables.

Newly exported items, customers, and orders will always store List_ID as well as other info for continuing sync in the records table. However, old items, orders, and customers exported manually or through some other means will not have this info in the records table. Hence, the matching feature. If you turn matching on, QBSync will check QB to see if it already exists before exporting. Then, if it does, it will create the records table info that is needed including the List_ID and the info needed for continuing sync. The original intention of matching was for users who are just starting to use QBSync -- they can match their current QB file thereby creating the correct info in the records table. Again, this is not required for QBSync to work, but see the two advantages above! If you drop all three records tables and set quickbooks to 0 in ZC's orders, customers and items tables, it will be rebuilt correctly with matching as long as it can find these by name/number. If it can't find them by name/number it will export it to QB.

Please keep in mind that if you ever try something like this, backup QB and ZC first!

QBSync has a matching feature, so as long as you don't change the item, customer, and order number/names in QB, you should be able to rematch everything up if you drop your quickbooks_items_record, quickbooks_orders_record, and quickbooks_customers_record tables.

Hope that makes sense to you.

Yes, it does, and thanks for all the detailed explanation. That's really good info to have and I've stored it away for future reference.

Please keep in mind that if you ever try something like this, backup QB and ZC first!

Thanks. I'm very careful about that.

Bill

Hello,
I'm using zencart 1.3.8 and I was getting ready to launch when I realized that the QuickBooks Merchant Service plugin I was using did not use the web connector to update inventory in quickbooks, it only uses QBMS to process CC transactions (as far as I can tell).

So I did some more searching and found this contribution. Now my question is, can I install this plugin on top of the other (at http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&products_id=852) or do I need to remove the other one first?
Thanks,
Robert

As far as I can see, that mod you linked to is a payment module. Hence, it has nothing to do with exporting order to Quickbooks. To do that you'd need something like QBI or QBSync.

As for inventory management, QBSync doesn't really do this...well, I guess it kinda does, but not really. If you export orders, yes, inventory in QB will adjust accordingly. But, if you purchase more inventory and then add more inventory in ZC, this change won't be reflect in QB. You'd need to change it in ZC and QB when you purchase more inventory. But, be careful to run the Web Connector right before doing this, as recent orders may affect inventory levels.

Thank you, I'm not as concerned about inventory tracking as much as I am that the transactions appear in my client's quickbooks. So it sounds like the module I have will not do that, but will I need to remove it in order to install this one? I suppose that would be the safe thing to do anyway, but if you can tell me for sure that would be great.
Thanks again,
Robert

No, you shouldn't need to remove anything to install QBSync. I would assume the same is true of QBI if you decide to use it instead. They are both good programs that do a similar function in a very different manner, so do a little research on them before you choose one. They also have some different features that may push you toward one or the other.

Hi guys!

I have everything set up perfect. It's working amazing. However, I just have one problem. The installation instructions doesn't give me much info on matching the Discount and Fees from ZC to QB. Anyone want to explain that to me?

I know I have to use the class names for ZC but what accounts would I link them too? The Chart of Accounts? Or do I have to create a new account somewhere?

I tried setting it up using the ZC class linking it to Sales Discounts (Chart of Accounts) but I still get error. I might be wrong doing that.

Thanks for your help! This is an awesome mod.

leilanddale:

Hi guys!

I have everything set up perfect. It's working amazing. However, I just have one problem. The installation instructions doesn't give me much info on matching the Discount and Fees from ZC to QB. Anyone want to explain that to me?

I know I have to use the class names for ZC but what accounts would I link them too? The Chart of Accounts? Or do I have to create a new account somewhere?

I tried setting it up using the ZC class linking it to Sales Discounts (Chart of Accounts) but I still get error. I might be wrong doing that.

Thanks for your help! This is an awesome mod.

OK. I figured it out. Thanks a million!

So I have successfully transferred the customer data and the products. Now what do I need to do to get the orders and payments to convert to sales orders? I don't understand the matching thing.

What is a shipping item?

My orders are being assigned under "Undeposited Funds" and not Web Sales like I set under zen ...

Am i missing a setting somewhere ?

Any help would be apreciated.

srturner47:

No, you shouldn't need to remove anything to install QBSync. I would assume the same is true of QBI if you decide to use it instead. They are both good programs that do a similar function in a very different manner, so do a little research on them before you choose one. They also have some different features that may push you toward one or the other.

Thanks again for your previous advice. I installed this mod well enough to get qb sync logs, but now when I have my client run the QB web connector for the zen cart sync, it gets to 30% and stops making progress, though the requests and responses keep going. I checked the log file and this is the error message (repeated for every item):

There is an invalid reference to QuickBooks Account "Cost of Goods Sold" in the Items. QuickBooks error message: Invalid argument. The specified record does not exist in the list.

The value I set in the Cost of Goods Sold QB Sync config setting was Cost of Goods Sold (as I suppose you could tell be viewing the above message). I viewed their quickbooks and I see several names with a 4 digit number then COGS then a short description, and the "type" of each of those is Cost of Goods Sold. So I tried putting COGS in that config field and got errors, then I tried blanking out the field and I also got a similar error.

Is there a specific way (in QB) to find out what the value of the Cost of Goods Sale account is so I can do matching? Or is there a way to ignore this check in case the QB company file does not use the Cost of Goods Sold account at all or correctly?

Thank you,
Robert

the_ancient:

create a file with

> 
> then look at the "Configure Command" section for  "--enable-soap"
> 
> 
> 
> You should be able to enable it yourself depending on your Servers Setup..
> 
> is PHP run as a apache module or CGI,  this can be found in the "Server AP" of the above script

Okay... I hope you get this or someone can help me.  I had this all set up and running but now we have switched our hosting over to a virtual dedicated server.  I checked the phpinfo and found that --enable-soap was not configured.  Any ideas on how to do this?  Fortunately I do have access to the server via ssh The server is running CentOs

Never mind I figured it out.  I googled and found this site:

<http://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/how-to-install-php-soap-extension-in-apache-linux-php-server-remove-t1756.html>

Now I have soap after restarting the server.  Let me know if you need more info.  I did this on a GoDaddy Virtual Dedicated server

Then I had a little bug that said the security certificate was not valid or something qbwc1048 error code.  I changed the .qwc file to point the APpurl to the phpinfo.php page I created earlier.  Then the app installed fine.  Then I edited the phpinfo.php file and copied the contents of qbserver.php into it.  Worked like a charm.

ONLY PROBLEM IS NOW I get authenticating failed.  XML response invalid or something like that. Any Suggestions:?

bizcatalyst:

Thanks again for your previous advice. I installed this mod well enough to get qb sync logs, but now when I have my client run the QB web connector for the zen cart sync, it gets to 30% and stops making progress, though the requests and responses keep going. I checked the log file and this is the error message (repeated for every item):

There is an invalid reference to QuickBooks Account "Cost of Goods Sold" in the Items. QuickBooks error message: Invalid argument. The specified record does not exist in the list.

The value I set in the Cost of Goods Sold QB Sync config setting was Cost of Goods Sold (as I suppose you could tell be viewing the above message). I viewed their quickbooks and I see several names with a 4 digit number then COGS then a short description, and the "type" of each of those is Cost of Goods Sold. So I tried putting COGS in that config field and got errors, then I tried blanking out the field and I also got a similar error.

Is there a specific way (in QB) to find out what the value of the Cost of Goods Sale account is so I can do matching? Or is there a way to ignore this check in case the QB company file does not use the Cost of Goods Sold account at all or correctly?

Thank you,
Robert

Ensure you have an account called "Cost of Goods Sold" type Cost of Goods Sold

Should fix it.

Stormy:

My orders are being assigned under "Undeposited Funds" and not Web Sales like I set under zen ...

Am i missing a setting somewhere ?

Any help would be apreciated.

Ignore, its a qb thingie, not a zen cart thingie

Im only a web developer, so dont know ins and outs of qb

Stormy:

Ensure you have an account called "Cost of Goods Sold" type Cost of Goods Sold

Should fix it.

Ok, I think that answers my previous question, thank you. However, my client has a different COGS account for each category of items - is there a way to specify multiple COGS accounts, one per category?

Thanks,
Robert

Does this module allow customers to pull past sales reciepts form quick books. I would like be sure this isnt just an admin related addon.

I would like the customer able to query from quick books past orders, even if it is in just pdf form.

NadiaUSA -- No. This mod exports customers, orders, and products from ZC->QB. It can then continue to sync from ZC->QB if changes are made if you so desire. It doesn't do anything else.

bizcatalyst -- No. There is no way to do that. This mod only allows you to choose one account for product sales and one account for product purchases...BUT since presumably most stores don't update their products all that often, all you'd have to do is go into QB after new products have been added and change this manually. I think the new version of QB even has a bulk modify feature that may do this quickly and easily. Don't worry, continuing sync will not continue to sync the accounts for each product, so once its changed, its changed.

Also, I know this has already been sufficiently answered, but just to remind you -- how QB categorizes different accounts can be modified in QB. This should have nothing to do with this mod and can be changed at any time in QB. Just go to "Chart of Accounts" and change the type for each account accordingly. Keep in mind that QB's default accounts (depending on the type of business you have) often include one that is named "Cost of Goods Sold" and a type called "Cost of Goods Sold". QBSync only looks for the name of the account, not the type. So, you can always add products and change the type of the account at a later date. Frankly, you can even change the name of the account and it should be OK, but then you also need to update the name in QBSync settings or FUTURE exports of products will error out.

As for undeposited funds, Stormy is also right. You'll understand this more as you use QB. Basically, since deposits don't generally post the day the sale is made, QB will not deposit a credit card sale automatically. You can then group them up into batches if using credit cards (or just deposit one by one if not) and deposit them by clicking Record Deposits on the Home page.

owenkalu -- Yes. I had the same problem. And the way you handled it was a good idea, but there is a better way. Just create a blank qbServer.php file. Then install the QWC file. The replace the qbServer.php file with the real one. Problem solved. Glad to hear its not just me having this issue. I have no idea why it happens. Posted about it earlier while I was working on v2 changes. I suppose its not that huge of a deal because there is an easy way around it and you only have to install it once, but its annoying. I thought I was the only one!

As for "authenticating failed. XML response invalid or something like that" error, I'd need more info from your logs. But, first try switching to qbServer.php like I suggested.

purepoultry -- We've been emailing, so hopefully I will be able to help you more. But real quick, a shipping item is like UPS or FedEx or USPS, etc... OR you can be real specific like UPS Ground or FedEx Next Day etc... You have to match it to an item in QB. For me, I only have one item that is shipping in QB. So I match "*" with "Shipping Charges". You can get fancier if you so desire, but that's the easy way to do it.