QuickBooks sync keeps your clients, estimates, invoices, payments, and costs matched between Handoff and QuickBooks Online, and it runs on its own as records change. Pro and Scale sync in both directions. Flex and Business sync one way, from Handoff to QuickBooks.
Available on the Flex, Pro, Scale, and Business plans. You need permission to edit Company settings to connect QuickBooks or change sync settings. Works on desktop and in the mobile app.
What syncs and in which direction
Clients and customers: sync both ways on every plan, and the setting is always on. Handoff matches a QuickBooks customer to a Handoff client by exact name, not email. If a QuickBooks vendor, employee, or job already uses a client's name, Handoff adds a number to the Handoff client, such as Smith Builders (2).
Projects: go from Handoff to QuickBooks as sub-customers or native QuickBooks Projects, depending on your Project mapping. A project appears there when its first estimate, invoice, or expense syncs.
Estimates and change orders: go from Handoff to QuickBooks after you send them, or after approval if Only sync approved estimates is on.
Invoices: go from Handoff to QuickBooks once sent or manually paid. On Pro and Scale, invoices created in QuickBooks also come into Handoff.
Payments: a Handoff payment becomes a QuickBooks payment applied to the matching invoice. On Pro and Scale, payments recorded in QuickBooks also update the invoice in Handoff.
Vendors: your subcontractor and vendor contacts sync both ways when Vendor sync is on. Requires Pro or Scale.
Cost codes: sync both ways with the Expense and Cost of Goods Sold accounts in your chart of accounts when Cost codes sync is on. Requires Pro or Scale.
Expenses: confirmed project expenses go to QuickBooks, and paid QuickBooks expenses arrive in your Handoff Expenses inbox for review. Requires Pro or Scale and Expense sync.
You choose which of these sync in How to choose your QuickBooks sync settings.
How estimates and invoices appear in QuickBooks
Estimates sync line by line. Each estimate item becomes a QuickBooks line with the group and item title in the description.
Material items use a Product item and everything else uses a Service item. A change order with a negative total syncs as a Credit Memo.
Invoices sync differently. Each invoice posts as one summary line with the invoice title, plus separate Discount and Tax lines.
If your QuickBooks company has sales tax set up, Handoff lets QuickBooks calculate the tax and applies the discount to the line amount instead. Handoff does not send each invoice item as its own QuickBooks line.
Documents are numbered with a prefix: HNDF-EST- for estimates, HNDF-CO- for change orders, and HNDF- for invoices. A sub-customer project is named HNDF-PRJ- followed by the project number and name, under the client's customer.
When sync runs
Handoff syncs a record shortly after it changes. There is no nightly batch.
Draft estimates and draft invoices never sync.
An estimate must be sent, or approved if you require approval. An invoice must be sent or manually paid. With Only sync projects with approved estimates on, a new project waits until one of its estimates is approved.
Paused records and conflicts
Handoff marks sent estimates, sent invoices, and clients that have never synced as Paused when you connect QuickBooks and each time you save sync settings. They are not sent automatically. To sync an estimate or invoice, open its options menu, select QuickBooks sync, and turn on Changes made in Handoff will update in QuickBooks automatically. A client has no sync button of its own: Handoff syncs a paused client when you sync a sent estimate or invoice for that client.
The QuickBooks sync item on an estimate or invoice shows its status: Syncing…, Synced, Paused, Conflict detected, Sync error, or Inactive in QuickBooks. If someone edits a synced estimate or invoice in QuickBooks, Handoff shows Conflict detected and pauses it. Selecting Resume sync and overwrite replaces the QuickBooks version with the Handoff version.
For fixes, see QuickBooks sync errors and how to fix them.