QuickBooks integration for watch dealers

Two systems, one answer

If your accountant lives in QuickBooks and your deals live in WatchFlow, the risk is two sets of numbers that quietly disagree. This integration is built to make disagreements visible and to resolve them with a decision, not an overwrite. For the invoicing side, see invoicing for watch dealers.

Setup mode: read first, send later

When you connect QuickBooks, WatchFlow starts in setup mode, which is read-only. It reads your QuickBooks to show what is there and does not send, change or delete anything in it. The QuickBooks page shows a "Setup mode · read-only" badge, and the Send, Sync and Update buttons are not offered while it is on.

Settings, Connections, QuickBooks holds a Match from QuickBooks checklist that walks through your history one step at a time: customers and vendors, invoices, payments, bills, card charges and classes. Each step shows its own counts, such as matched, to review and still to do, and an Open button that takes you to the screen where that step is done. A step for a tool that is not switched on for your team is shown as off.

Two-way sending is switched on by WatchFlow once your history is matched and checked; there is no switch for it inside your account. If you reconnect QuickBooks later, the connection goes back to setup mode.

One status, everywhere

An invoice's QuickBooks state is worked out by one rule on the server and painted the same on the Invoices list, the invoice page, the deal cards, the deal page and the row menu: Not sent, Needs sync, In QuickBooks, Needs review, Changed in QuickBooks or both changed. Attention states are red, and the button beside them says what to do (Send, Sync, Pull or Review). After any action every badge repaints, so none goes stale. When an invoice needs review, a plain sentence says why, for example that QuickBooks has a payment WatchFlow does not.

Payments entered in QuickBooks

A payment recorded inside QuickBooks can be pulled in with the Check QuickBooks payments button. WatchFlow matches each payment to a sale and records the exact date and amount; anything it is unsure about waits for you to review. The pull never changes anything in QuickBooks. Once recorded it is one payment that shows on the invoice, the deal, the payments list and tracker, the sold watch and your receivables, and the invoice returns to In QuickBooks.

A price changed in QuickBooks

When QuickBooks holds a different total, the compare panel shows a preview first: the invoice old to new, the deal's remaining balance, and profit for seats that may see profit. You confirm, and the change goes through the same path as repricing a sale by hand, with an automatic reason such as "Price changed in QuickBooks (invoice number) on the date". It is refused, with the reason in plain words, if both sides changed, closed books are involved, there is tax, shipping or more than one line, or the new price would be below what is already paid.

Choose which version to keep

The compare panel offers equal buttons: Use QuickBooks price, Take QuickBooks dates, Use the WatchFlow version (which sends WatchFlow's version to QuickBooks) and Decide later. When both sides changed you must choose; nothing is overwritten from the Review button alone.

It says where it came from

Every note, deal-timeline entry, activity entry and payment row written by a pull carries a green QuickBooks chip and plain wording, such as "Payment of $17,500 entered in QuickBooks". A normal WatchFlow payment gets no mark.

Due date sent as due on receipt

A blank due date in WatchFlow is sent to QuickBooks as due on receipt. If QuickBooks holds a date set on its own side, the panel labels it as set by QuickBooks and you can take it.

Match QuickBooks customers to your contacts

Once QuickBooks is connected, the Contacts page gets a QuickBooks view. It reads your QuickBooks customers (read only, nothing is changed in QuickBooks) and links each one to the matching contact. Exact name or exact email matches that are unique are linked for you; weaker matches, such as a name that differs only by LLC or the same phone number, wait on a "Needs a look" tab where you confirm or say "not the same".

For linked contacts, empty fields (email, phone, company, address) are filled from QuickBooks. Where both sides have a different value, you see both and choose "Use QuickBooks" for one contact or for all. Customers that exist only in QuickBooks can be brought in as contacts, all or just the ones you tick. Every change can be undone with "Undo last", and the Activity log names who made it.

Availability

You connect QuickBooks from Settings, Connections; the owner and admins can, and a bookkeeper seat can be allowed to. Like other advanced WatchFlow features, it is switched on per team and is off by default. WatchFlow does not replace your accounting package: it keeps invoices and payments consistent with it.