Quickbooks / MaxxTraxx Integration Setups
Quickbooks has two types of software that they offer to small businesses throughout the world. The one that is most familiar is the Desktop version that runs locally on your PC. There is a newer Online version that they are attempting to push with the majority of their marketing that runs online from the Internet. It is called Quickbooks Online.
This set of instructions is offered for the Desktop version of Quickbooks with the goal of setting up both Quickbooks Desktop and MaxxTraxx to properly synchronize their files for import into Quickbooks.
The instructions for Quickbooks Online integration with MaxxTraxx are identical except for one small difference. That difference is that you must download and run a "middleware" application called "Guru Importer" in order to be able to upload the MaxxTraxx transaction file to the Online version of Quickbooks. There is a small cost for "Guru Importer" on a monthly basis that will have to be paid by your shop, however, it is much more affordable than any other import utility that we have found.
For years, MaxxTraxx has had a built-in Quickbooks export utility that works exceptionally well for exporting compatible transactions that can be imported into the QuickBooks Desktop or Online versions. That being said, QuickBooks makes it extremely challenging from their side to properly set up the synchronization so that it works each and every time. Years ago, it was easier in all versions of QuickBooks, however, in the QuickBooks 2019 version and all subsequent versions, Intuit added a significant amount of data inspection functionality that caused almost all previous import formats to no longer work. The problem was not just with MaxxTraxx, but also with nearly all other integrations from companies around the world.
After much experimentation and programming time spent testing in Quickbooks 2019, MaxxTraxx now works with the new versions of Quickbooks with no reported problems.
Facts that will help you understand how MaxxTraxx and Quickbooks work together.
- MaxxTraxx will export all Repair Orders and Parts Sales transactions that have been created in MaxxTraxx into the Quickbooks accounting system. Those invoices will be imported with customer information for each transaction, however, there will be no customer record created in Quickbooks. That will stay in MaxxTraxx only.
- MaxxTraxx will handle the individual Accounts Receivables (customers that owe you money) and export only the transaction totals with customer information into the Quickbooks General Ledger. Customer data will be exported to Quickbooks with each transaction, however, no customer record will be created in Quickbooks. This leaves Quickbooks clean and keeps the customer information where it is best used, in MaxxTraxx. There is no need to be duplicating data in each program.
- MaxxTraxx will handle the parts inventory detail tracking completely. No individual parts data will be exported to Quickbooks. The only items that will be exported to Quickbooks will be the disbursements and transactions from sales that includes the money that parts were sold for in MaxxTraxx and the cost of those parts. MaxxTraxx will write the proper transactions to the Quickbooks Inventory Asset accounts, the Parts Sales Accounts, the Cost of Goods Sold Accounts and the money accounts where you keep your Quickbooks Undeposited Funds.
- MaxxTraxx will handle all Inventory adjustments within MaxxTraxx and keep adjustment history in each MaxxTraxx part record but will only export the General Journal Transaction and disbursements to Quickbooks in order to handle the proper changes to your Inventory Asset accounts and your Inventory Loss expense accounts.
- MaxxTraxx will export all Parts Invoices that you have purchased from your Parts Vendors into Quickbooks and will assign each Vendor invoice transaction to the proper Vendor. Since you are using Quickbooks and therefore the Quickbooks check writing functions, we determined that Quickbooks would need all the Vendor Invoices so that you could then pay them through Quickbooks and keep each Vendor account paid and up to date. To make this work properly, it is of utmost importance that the Vendor record in Quickbooks and the Vendor record in MaxxTraxx are spelled identically. Quickbooks is strict with this requirement in order for this function to work properly. See Below.
In summary, MaxxTraxx handles pretty much all your shop functions except the accounting and check-writing. That includes Appointment Scheduling, Repair Order writing, Parts Invoice writing, Inventory ordering and tracking, Inventory adjustments, Customer and Vehicle History, Customer charges, deposits, and payments, Accounts Receivables statements, Customer follow-up and a whole slew of other stuff that you will learn and appreciate each and every day.
Quickbooks will be handling the basic accounting functions. It will track your accounting through the General Ledger, allow you to make General Journal transactions to move money around and keep your accounting straight, to pay vendors with checks and credit cards, run payroll and pay employees and lastly allow you to run up to date accounting reports for Profit and Loss or Balance sheets.
We have summarized the steps that must be followed for the synchronization and importing of transactions to work properly. The steps are not difficult, however, they must be followed exactly if you want your imported transactions to work without flaw. It doesn't matter if you are trying to import into an existing copy of Quickbooks or from an existing copy of MaxxTraxx, the results can be successful and the time saved will be well worth it. Of course, it is always better to start with a clean version of both Quickbooks and MaxxTraxx in the beginning, but that isn't necessary or in many cases even possible.
Setup instructions that must be accomplished prior to attempting your first export from MaxxTraxx and import into Quickbooks.
I. You must duplicate the Chart of Accounts in both programs.
A. In Quickbooks, you must first turn on "Use Account Numbers" in the Edit/Company Preferences/Accounting section. This is imperative as MaxxTraxx will be exporting all transactions using account numbers from the Chart of Accounts and they must correspond with existing account numbers in Quickbooks.
B. Determine what account numbers you want to use for your accounting system. If you have an existing company set up in Quickbooks and already have an existing Chart of Accounts in Quickbooks, then you can use those. The MaxxTraxx Chart of Accounts can be modified, deleted or added to match your Quickbooks accounts. It is necessary that the account numbers in MaxxTraxx match exactly the account numbers in Quickbooks. You can also go the other way around and use the MaxxTraxx account numbers and import those into a clean copy of Quickbooks. We offer a Chart of Accounts import file that can be used to pre-populate the Quickbooks Chart of Accounts to match the default MaxxTraxx Chart of Accounts. The MaxxTraxx Chart of Accounts has been designed specifically for the automotive industry and used extensively over the last 30 years by thousands of shops with great success. This is the easiest route for shops that are starting from scratch. However, if you have an existing Quickbooks setup and want to use your Quickbooks Chart of Accounts, you can manually add, edit or delete the default MaxxTraxx Chart of Accounts to match your current Quickbooks.
C. If you choose to use your Quickbooks Chart of Accounts and modify MaxxTraxx to match those accounts, you will also then have to go to the Accounting Setups in MaxxTraxx and edit the Default Account Posting data to match the new accounts in MaxxTraxx that you have created. This is necessary because they were originally set up to use the MaxxTraxx Chart of Accounts. The Default Account setups are used to let MaxxTraxx know what accounts to send all the different types of transactions that occur in MaxxTraxx. This must be done before any business is conducted in MaxxTraxx.
D. If your Accounts Receivable account in Quickbooks is set up as "TYPE: Accounts Receivable" (which it most likely is), it cannot be used during the MaxxTraxx import process of your Accounts Receivable charges, deposits, payments, and statements unless you change settings in MaxxTraxx. We highly recommend that you let MaxxTraxx handle this for you and not rely on Quickbooks to deal with the customers that owe you money. (There is a way to allow Quickbooks to handle this process but it is highly discouraged as it will double your work for each customer that owes you money)
1. If you have existing customers owing you money in your existing Quickbooks and have individual records for each of them, you should determine how to bring their balance to "$0" by posting a credit to their accounts and then "inactivating" them so as to have no customers left in Quickbooks. Then create a manual invoice in MaxxTraxx for each of these customers posting to the proper General Ledger accounts and using the proper dates so that the balance owed has been moved to MaxxTraxx and is no longer in Quickbooks. This is the cleanest method for handling outstanding Accounts Receivables that are in Quickbooks during your transition to MaxxTraxx and will allow you to handle these accounts properly in MaxxTraxx and export them cleanly to Quickbooks. It is the best way but not absolutely necessary. We are happy to help guide you during this process but also recommend you discuss this with your accountant.
2. OLD OPTION for Quickbooks versions prior to 2019: You must inactivate the old Accounts Receivable account and create a new Accounts Receivable account in Quickbooks Be sure to create it as a "TYPE ASSET" and not as a "TYPE ACCT RECEIVABLE". Remember to create a corresponding account or use the existing account in MaxxTraxx with the exact same account number. If you create a new Accounts Receivable account in MaxxTraxx, be sure that you create it as a "TYPE ACCT RECEIVABLE". This is absolutely required and the synchronization between the two programs will not work unless this has been done before any import attempts from MaxxTraxx. Remember... In Quickbooks you want the new Accounts Receivable account to be "TYPE ASSET" and in MaxxTraxx you want it to be "TYPE ACCT RECEIVABLE".
3. NEW OPTION for Quickbooks 2019 or later: Intuit made changes in Quickbooks 2019 and later that allow an alternative method. If you want to use the default Accounts Receivable account (TYPE ACCT RECEIVABLE) in Quickbooks there is nothing to be done other than giving it an account number. We recommend that you match the Account Receivable account number in MaxxTraxx with the Account Receivable account number in Quickbooks. You must also remember to go into Accounts Receivables Setup in MaxxTraxx and click the "Export customer name with AR transactions when exporting to Quickbooks". If this is not done, Quickbooks will not be able to import any AR transactions without an error.
II. You must enter your Vendors identically into both programs. If you already have Vendors in Quickbooks, then you will need to add them to MaxxTraxx and spell the Vendor Name EXACTLY like it is in Quickbooks. This is absolutely necessary. If you don't do this, then Quickbooks will take any Vendor Transactions that are imported and automatically create a new vendor with the misspelled name and then post the transaction to this newly created vendor. This is a mess that can be fixed if you are properly trained in Quickbooks, but is a total pain to do each time. Remember... it is unnecessary to have to fix these problems if you just make sure that the Vendors in both programs are spelled the same.
That is it... If you have followed those simple instructions, your Quickbooks and MaxxTraxx are ready for synchronization.
III. In order to make deposits to your bank accounts in Quickbooks please note: You must use the Quickbooks supplied "Undeposited Funds" account that comes with Quickbooks in order to successfully deposit money received in MaxxTraxx to your Quickbooks bank accounts. Do not try to rename or delete the "Undeposited Funds" account, it is a required account in Quickbooks. Instead, just give it the same account number that is used in the MaxxxTraxx Default Account Setups for "Funds Ready for Deposit (Safe)". This will ensure that all money collected in MaxxTraxx is pushed to the proper holding account in Quickbooks, "Undeposited Funds", so that it may then be deposited into the proper bank accounts through the Quickbooks "Make a Deposit" function under "Banking".
IMPORTANT: To add QuickBooks as the accounting method to MaxxTraxx you must do the following:
- In MaxxTraxx go to Setups
- Company Information
- This will open the Store Information setups. Half way down under Accounting Export Setups, click the down arrow by Select The Accounting System Used and select QuickBooks.
- Now Export to QuickBooks will be visible under Accounting
Now you can run your business through MaxxTraxx and start reaping the benefits of a fully integrated shop program with a painless and inexpensive integration to your Quickbooks program. Create Repair Orders, buy parts, make appointments, receive payments, etc., etc., and when ready, click on the Accounting Menu item on top of MaxxTraxx then click Export to Quickbooks and MaxxTraxx will create your Quickbooks compatible export and save it with all the necessary information in your Export sub-folder under the MaxxTraxx folder. To import that file into Quickbooks, you will go to the Utility section of Quickbooks and choose Import "iif" file. Then browse to the Export folder under the MaxxTraxx folder and choose the appropriate "iif" file to import. Of course we recommend you experiment with this process while using the Sample database.
Of course if this is too difficult, you should consider using the MaxxTraxx Corporate Edition with fully integrated accounting. It's simple and easy with minimal setup and everything is posted real-time.
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