How to Integrate Salesforce and QuickBooks Together

QuickBooks is an accounting software package for small businesses. As a financial management system, QuickBooks applications give businesses the ability to track income and expenses, accept payments, pay bills, track inventory, and manage payroll. For even better business results, the QuickBooks software can be integrated with third-party tools to enhance its accounting functions and be integrated more into the business.

Salesforce is the #1 cloud enterprise platform that empowers businesses to run their enterprise in the cloud. Cloud-based apps can save small businesses big money when it comes to investing in new technologies for storing, maintaining, and analyzing large amounts of customer data.

Companies prefer to integrate their Salesforce and Quickbooks together for the purposes of:

• Having data readily available from either application.
• Ensure data quality.
• Automate internal processes.
• Increased time it takes to quote and collect cash.
• much more as you will see listed below.

Sharing Sales

By combining the QuickBooks accounting applications with Salesforce gives field sales representatives the ability to access and analyze sales data when they need it, businesses are finding it easier to increase their sales opportunities. The cloud computing solutions that Salesforce offers also contribute to keeping businesses in touch with their customers in their efforts to improve customer loyalty and retention, and increase profitability.  

Developing Marketing Strategies

By collecting and analyzing customer feedback and learning consumer preferences, businesses are gaining the advantage of serving their customers better. Knowing what customers want aids businesses in developing more effective marketing strategies, including advertising campaigns, customer loyalty programs, and special sales promotions that can help drive their business growth.

Sharing Data

Integrating QuickBooks with Salesforce provides users with a practical way to connect customer information with the financial aspects of a business. The process allows businesses to share key data, including sales information. By integrating the two applications, a business has access to all kinds of financial and customer information, making it easier to create invoices and accounts receivable, track orders, and manage inventory.

Organizing Customer Data

Salesforce offers customer relationship management (CRM) applications – valuable business tools that give businesses an advantage in strengthening and maintaining customer relationships. CRM applications, which focus on sales, marketing, and support, allow businesses to organize customer data and keep customer histories in one place, eliminating the need to enter data more than once.

What Are Third-Party Apps

A third-party application is a program that adds functionality and advanced features to another program. Integration requires combining two software components into a system that shares or exchanges data, allowing each of the applications to communicate with the other. In this case, integrating Salesforce and QuickBooks together creates an environment where the two applications are connected and able to pass data back and forth.

How to Integrate Salesforce and QuickBooks Together

In order to integrate Salesforce and QuickBooks together the two applications have to accept each other with their web services.  A web service is a secure connection between web-based applications.  Think of it like a secret hand shake.  With web services applications are able to pass data back and forth successfully.  In order for Salesforce and QuickBooks to integrate with each other web services needs to be a part of the solution.  Although QuickBooks previously provided a solution to easily  integrate with Salesforce, they no longer directly support this integration. However, there are third-party apps that are available which will provide a way to integrate information between Salesforce and QuickBooks, thus enabling a business to track sales leads, manage customer accounts, synchronize tasks, and manage customer relationships.

Popular Apps for a Successful Salesforce and QuickBooks Integration

Below is a list of popular apps to consider:

• Breadwinner ** our recommended solution
• Scribe
• DB Sync
• Workato
• Boomi
• Zapier
• MuleSoft

When selecting the right third-party app to integrate your Salesforce and QuickBooks together you need to look at the features and capabilities.  Each of them will have an annual or monthly subscription fee based on a number of factors such as the amount of data you wish to pass back and forth, how often you want the applications to connect, the notification features and much more.

The Roles of a Salesforce Partner

Businesses have different needs; therefore, it makes sense to have a Salesforce partner, such as Galvin Technologies, to assist in choosing the app that will work best for your particular business. Successful integration depends on your requirements, data quality, workflows and automations, the version of QuickBooks and Salesforce a business uses and other internal applications.

Problems can also arise if the two applications contain incompatible or missing value fields. Installing an app takes multiple steps to complete; therefore, it helps to know that an app is compatible beforehand. Other factors to consider include whether the system will update records in real time or on a set schedule, potential security issues, and if a one-way or two-way integration would be more beneficial to a business.
Salesforce and Quickbooks integration can increase a business’ productivity, but the process needs to be completed efficiently to result in a positive impact on the day-to-day operations.