Finale Inventory offers the ability to sync sales transactions—including income, COGS, and invoices—directly into QuickBooks Online (QBO).
However, whether or not you should sync sales data depends on how your orders originate, how payments are collected, and how you manage accounting workflows.

This article explains the most common scenarios and provides guidance on when syncing sales data from Finale to QBO is recommended.

Why Syncing Sales Data Matters

Syncing sales information ensures that:

• Revenue and COGS are captured automatically

• Manual entry and double entry are avoided

• Invoices flow cleanly into QBO

• Financial reporting stays aligned with fulfillment activity

However, not every business will sync every order, and some circumstances call for syncing while others do not. Below are the most common cases.

When You Should Sync Sales Data

When You Create Manual Sales Orders Directly in Finale

If you enter orders manually inside Finale, syncing sales data is strongly recommended.

Why?

Because Finale is the source of truth for the order.
Syncing ensures:

• Income and COGS automatically flow into QBO when the order ships

• No duplicate data entry

• Accounting stays aligned with operational activity

• Historical audit trails are consistent between systems

If Finale is where the order originates, Finale should also be what sends the financial record to QuickBooks.

When External Orders Are Invoiced After the Customer Places the Order

Many marketplaces and sales channels do not generate the invoice at the moment of order placement. In these cases, Finale can automatically create the invoice and sync it into QBO.

Benefits of Syncing These Orders

• Finale creates and syncs the invoice on your behalf

• COGS is recorded accurately at shipment

• Accounts Receivable is tracked properly

• No need to manually re-enter or re-create invoices in QBO

This workflow creates a clean financial handoff for businesses that invoice after fulfillment.

When You May Want to Sync Sales Data

When Orders from External Channels Are Paid at the Time of Order

Many ecommerce marketplaces (Amazon®, Shopify®, Walmart®, Etsy®, etc.) collect payment immediately at checkout.

For these channels, Finale can sync:

• Income and COGS as individual transactions, or

• Daily or monthly consolidated journal entries

Considerations

Because the payment already exists in your sales channel, you will need to reconcile the income data pushed from Finale with the payment deposit received from the channel. Most businesses use a Payment Clearing account in QBO for this purpose.

Why Sync at All?

You may choose to sync this data from Finale instead of your channel because:

• Finale provides more accurate COGS.

• Marketplaces cannot calculate your true COGS, especially when:

  • You purchase inventory in multiple batches

  • Costs vary over time

Finale has full visibility into your inventory valuation, making its COGS postings more accurate and audit friendly.

When You May Choose Not to Sync Sales Data

You may opt not to sync orders from certain sales channels if:

• Your accounting team prefers to import financial summaries directly from the channel

• You already rely on a marketplace accounting tool (e.g., A2X)

• You only need inventory updates from Finale, not financial entries

Additional Reasons You May Not Want to Sync Certain Channels

Some marketplaces—most notably Amazon, Faire, and others—charge additional fees for:

• Order processing

• Payment processing

• Fulfillment and logistics

• Advertising or promotional placement

• Commissions and referral fees

Finale does not import or sync these marketplace fees into QBO.

This means:

• The revenue and COGS posted from Finale will not match the net payout deposited by the marketplace

• Additional reconciliation steps are required to match Fees vs. Sales vs. Deposits

• Many businesses prefer to let an external accounting connector (like A2X) pull detailed fee reports directly from the marketplace, since these tools capture:

  • Marketplace fees

  • Chargebacks

  • Shipping adjustments

  • Promotions

  • Payout grouping

  • Settlement timing

For marketplaces with extensive fee structures, using an external accounting connector can simplify reconciliation and reduce monthly accounting labor.

Summary: Which Orders Should Sync?

Order Source / Scenario	Should You Sync?	Why
Manual orders created in Finale	Yes	Finale is the source of the order; avoids double entry; accurate income + COGS.
External orders invoiced after order placement	Yes	Finale can auto-create invoices; supports AR; accurate revenue + COGS.
External orders paid at order placement	Optional	Finale provides accurate COGS; requires clearing account reconciliation.
External orders where marketplace fees are significant (Amazon, Faire, etc.)	Optional / Often No	Marketplace fees are not imported; A2X or similar tools handle fee-level accounting more accurately.
External orders managed entirely through marketplace accounting tools	Optional / No	Some businesses prefer importing all financial data from the channel directly.

If you’re unsure which approach is best for your accounting workflow, we’re happy to help.
Contact us at service@finaleinventory.com for personalized guidance.

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