Before connecting your QuickBooks Online account and going live with your integration, it’s essential to complete the following configuration steps. These settings significantly impact how data flows between Descartes Finale and QuickBooks Online.
You can find these general integration settings in your Application Settings under the Accounting tab. Once there, select the QuickBooks Online tab to view and edit your integration preferences. (See reference image below.)
General Sync Settings
The first two key settings are Sync Period and Enable Date.
Sync Period
The sync period defines how far back Descartes Finale will look for changes in transactions when syncing to QuickBooks Online. This setting helps prevent modifications to older, finalized transactions from posting to QuickBooks. This is a great tool for people that close their books after finishing the monthly review.
Keep in mind that any transaction dated outside the defined sync period will not post to QuickBooks Online.
Enable Date
The enable date serves as your cutover date, determining how far back Descartes Finale will search for transactions to post to QuickBooks Online. This is usually used in the onboarding phase, and then your sync period remains in place as future transactions flow into your account.
Typically, this is set at the start of a month and marks your go-live date for data synchronization. It’s also acceptable to use a backdated enable date if needed.
Accounts Payable
The Accounts Payable section has several key settings mostly related to how you want to handle your bill flow between Descartes Finale and QuickBooks Online. Most of the following settings are defined on the page in your account, but here is another outline from a more detailed perspective.
Import Suppliers
This setting is most useful during the onboarding phase if you’d like to import your existing supplier catalog from QuickBooks Online into Descartes Finale.
In most cases, this option is used only during initial setup. Once your integration is live, new suppliers are typically created directly within Descartes Finale as part of the standard Purchase Order workflow. Because every Purchase Order must be linked to a supplier, managing new supplier entries in Finale helps maintain clean and accurate data flow between the two systems.
Import Bill Payments
Descartes Finale can import bill payments that are linked to a single bill in QuickBooks Online which has previously synced with Finale. This works in both directions:
Finale can be the source of the bill that synced to QuickBooks Online.
QuickBooks Online can be the source of the bill applied to a Purchase Order that was synced from Finale.
Note: This setting is less commonly used because Descartes Finale does not manage payment processing. Most clients prefer to handle payments entirely within QuickBooks Online.
However, enabling this setting can be useful if multiple departments are involved in the payment process and you want better visibility of bill payments across your organization.
Keep in mind that a bill payment applied to multiple bills will not sync into Descartes Finale.
Export Purchase Orders
Descartes Finale can create Purchase Orders in QuickBooks Online based on Purchase Orders originally created in Finale.
This functionality is useful when you need a record of the Purchase Order in QuickBooks Online to match against the supplier’s bill.
Important: For the workflow to function correctly, the bill in QuickBooks Online must be linked to the Purchase Order that was exported from Finale. This link allows the bill to sync back into Descartes Finale seamlessly.
While this workflow is less commonly used, it provides additional flexibility. Most users prefer to create both the Purchase Order and the bill in Descartes Finale and let the bill sync into QuickBooks Online.
Import Bills
This setting controls whether bills created in QuickBooks Online are imported into Descartes Finale.
Important: Descartes Finale can only import bills if you are using the Export Purchase Orders function.
To successfully import a bill, you must first create the bill in QuickBooks Online from a Purchase Order that was previously synced from Descartes Finale. This establishes the connection between the two systems, enabling Finale to recognize and import the corresponding bill.
Wildcards
The "Wildcards" setting is rarely used, as accounting data typically requires precise mapping. In most cases, wildcard mapping is already configured in the Pull Sales task within your integration settings if you need specific adjustment accounts to be used, so there’s no need to duplicate it here.
Wildcards can be used to map specific data patterns to an account or to prevent certain transactions from being imported. For example, you might map all coupon codes beginning with “COUP” to a general discount account.
Default Adjustment
The Default Adjustment setting defines which adjustment account should be used for imported transactions (bills) from QuickBooks Online that do not match an existing adjustment in Descartes Finale.
If Finale detects an adjustment that matches one already configured, this default setting will not apply. Otherwise, the system will assign the unmatched adjustment to the account specified here.
Income and Accounts Receivable
Default Customers
The first setting specifies a default customer for invoices that do not have a customer assigned. This is particularly useful for high-volume sales where capturing detailed customer information is not necessary.
Import Customers
This setting is most useful during the onboarding phase if you’d like to import your existing customer catalog from QuickBooks Online into Descartes Finale.
In most cases, this option is used only during initial setup. Once your integration is live, new customers are typically created directly within Descartes Finale as part of the standard Sales Order workflow. Because every Sales Order must be linked to a customer, managing new customer entries in Finale helps maintain clean and accurate data flow between the two systems.
Define Sales Source for Income
Select the sales sources you want Descartes Finale to push as income to QuickBooks Online. Regardless of this setting, Finale will still be able to push inventory valuation and COGs information. This is only specific to income.
It is common to push manual sources or sources for which you plan to create invoices where payments were not processed already on a website. Some clients, however, may choose not to push income from e-commerce sources if they already track that income through other systems or methods.
Sync Transaction Memo
Invoices imported into QuickBooks Online include a note linking back to the original Descartes Finale invoice.
Note: This link will appear on the statement if one is generated in QuickBooks Online. Many users choose not to import this note to avoid it showing on the statement.
Custom Field Mapping
Descartes Finale can map certain fields that do not normally sync to QuickBooks Online custom fields. A common example is Finale’s Customer PO field, which many users choose to map to QuickBooks Online for better tracking.
Important: Only three fields can be mapped. This means you can use only the first three custom fields listed in your QuickBooks Online account.
Export Terms
Descartes Finale can export terms to QuickBooks Online invoices. If a term with the same name does not already exist in QuickBooks Online, the export process will automatically create a new term using the Finale term name and due date.