How to connect QuickBooks
Linking QuickBooks Online takes one pass through the admin menu, and after that customers, invoices, estimates, payments, and price book items stop being typed into two systems. This guide covers the connection, the sync switches, and the first full sync.
Open the integrations page
Where to clickAdminIntegrationsQuickBooks Online
Press Admin at the bottom of the left sidebar, then pick Integrations from the admin menu that appears. Every connection Pillar offers is a card on this page.
The QuickBooks Online card sits first in the grid. Press Connect on it, or press the card itself, to open the QuickBooks settings page.
Connect to QuickBooks
Where to clickAdminIntegrationsQuickBooks OnlineConnect to QuickBooks
The page is headed QuickBooks Online Integration, and until it is linked the Connection Status card reads Connect QuickBooks Online. Press Connect to QuickBooks to start.
Pillar hands you to Intuit, where you sign in and choose which QuickBooks company to link. You come back to a Connection Successful message, then land on the settings page with a green Connected badge and the QuickBooks company name on it.
Choose what syncs and which way
Where to clickAdminIntegrationsQuickBooks OnlineSync ConfigurationSave Settings
A Sync Configuration card appears under the connection details once you are linked. Auto-Sync sits at the top and starts switched on, so changes go across as they happen.
Under Entity Sync Settings each record type has its own switch: Customers, Invoices, Payments, Price Book Items, and Estimates. Three of them print a fixed direction under the label: invoices and estimates are Pillar to QuickBooks only, payments are QuickBooks to Pillar only.
Customers and Price Book Items get a dropdown instead, offering Pillar to QuickBooks, QuickBooks to Pillar, or Both Directions. Press Save Settings after any change.
Two more settings live further down the card. Conflict Resolution decides which copy wins when the same record changes in both systems, and Default Accounts holds the Default Income Account and Default Tax Code that synced invoices land on.
Run the first full sync
Where to clickAdminIntegrationsQuickBooks OnlineRun Full SyncStart Full Sync
Auto-sync only carries changes made from now on, so the records you already have need one push. Scroll to the Sync Actions card at the bottom of the same page, press Run Full Sync, and confirm with Start Full Sync.
A progress bar tracks the run on that card and you can press Cancel at any point. A big set of books takes several minutes.
Sync History and Sync Errors sit next to the sync button. Anything that fails lands in Sync Errors with a Retry button, and Pillar retries on its own schedule for a while before it leaves the record for you.
Common questions
Who can connect QuickBooks?
The whole admin area is owner only, so connecting QuickBooks, changing the sync switches, and starting a sync are all owner actions. Everyone else carries on in Pillar as normal while it runs in the background.
Which way does each record travel?
Invoices and estimates are Pillar to QuickBooks only, and payments are QuickBooks to Pillar only. Customers and price book items are your call: Pillar to QuickBooks, QuickBooks to Pillar, or Both Directions.
What happens if the same record is changed in both systems?
Conflict Resolution settles it, and it starts on Pillar Wins. Switch it to QuickBooks Wins if your bookkeeper should have the last word, or to Manual Review if you would rather look at each clash yourself.
Can I connect Xero or Sage?
Not yet. Both have cards on the Integrations page marked Coming Soon, and QuickBooks Online is the accounting system Pillar links to today.
What happens if I disconnect?
Syncing stops and nothing already in either system is changed. Pillar keeps the record mappings, so reconnecting later picks up where you left off instead of starting from scratch.