Smokeball Billing integrates with QuickBooks Online for your accounting system for back-office and general ledger. The integration is a one-way sync from Smokeball Billing to QuickBooks Online. Smokeball Billing only sends over monetary transactions.
How the QuickBooks Online integration works
When signing up for QuickBooks Online, any subscription OTHER than the Self-Employed plan will work for the integration. The Self-Employed plan in QuickBooks does not allow you access to a chart of accounts, which is required for the integration. Make your QuickBooks Online purchase based on the other accounting features you need.
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What WILL sync to QuickBooks Online |
What WILL NOT sync to QuickBooks Online |
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Transactions that are entered into Smokeball Billing will be sent to QuickBooks Online only AFTER the integration is turned on. Transactions prior to turning on the sync will not be sent to QuickBooks.
When to enable the QuickBooks Online integration
If you are brand new to Smokeball Billing, use the following as a guideline for the best time to turn on the QuickBooks Online integration.
- If you are new to QuickBooks online, you may want to turn the integration on right away. This way, all deposits into Trust or Operating Retainer will also be sent to QuickBooks Online and may help with the initial setup of your new QuickBooks account. Please check with your accountant first.
- If you are an existing QuickBooks Online user, please wait to turn on the sync until you have entered all previously existing funds in Trust and Operating Retainers into Smokeball Billing. If you turn on the sync too early, your accountant may have extra journal entries to contend with.
Set Up the QuickBooks Online Integration
- Navigate to Firm Settings in the Smokeball Web App.
- Under QuickBooks, select Connect to QuickBooks.
- Sign in to QuickBooks Online and follow the prompts to authorize the integration.
- Once you have authorized the integration, choose the appropriate accounts to integrate and save. Please submit a support ticket if you have any questions about the Trust integration.
- Below is a description of each account to integrate. Note: "Non-profit Income" means reimbursed expenses, not the income generated by a non-profit organization.
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Account Name |
Category |
Detail (Tax Income Form in QuickBooks Online) |
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Operating Bank Account |
Bank |
Checking |
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Legal Fees Account |
Income |
Service Fee Income |
|
Client Expenses Account |
Income |
Sales of Product Income (this is a non-taxable income account). |
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Operating Liability Account |
Liability |
Current Liability |
| Operating Check Expense Account | Expense | Supplies & Materials |
|
Trust Bank Account |
Bank |
Trust Account |
|
Trust Liability Account |
Liability |
Current Liability |
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Surcharge |
Income or Liability |
Sales Tax |
The following transactions in will appear as Journal entries in QuickBooks Online Reports and Bank Registries:
- Trust Account Deposits
- Operating Deposits
- Deposit Reversals
- Invoice Payments to Invoices
- Individual Payments
- Split Payments
- Invoice Payment Reversals
- Invoice Overpayment to Relevant Retainer
- Operating Checks for Expenses
- Trust Checks for Settlement Disbursal, Expenses, Client Refunds
How to use with QuickBooks Online
Due to the nature of the one-way sync between Smokeball and QuickBooks Online, you should divide your billing and financial tasks the following way:
| Smokeball | QuickBooks |
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- Time Recording - Billing - Expenses - Invoicing - Receipts - Trust or Operating Check Printing - Debtor Management - Trust Deposits and Payments - Trust Account Reconciliation - Trust Reports - Firm Reports |
- General Ledger - Profit & Loss - Payroll - Back-office transactions including rent, expenses, etc. |
FAQ
Q: Is the accounts receivable from an individual invoice pushed to QuickBooks Online?
A: Invoices are not pushed to QuickBooks Online as unpaid income. Only movement is sent to QuickBooks Online, not potential money earned (amounts owed).
Q: Can I map the Client Expenses Account to Other Current Assets?
A: You can map hard costs to other assets. To do so, navigate to Firm Settings > QuickBooks. For recovering costs, use the Client Cost Recovery - Hard Costs dropdown menu and select the asset you wish to map to. For writing these costs from Smokeball, use the Operating Check Expense Account - Hard Costs dropdown menu.
After you save your settings, an invoice with a hard cost expense will be mapped to the QBO as the asset you selected. Any invoice payment will be displayed as credit; an invoice reversal will display as debit.