Map customers, payments and tax to QuickBooks

Mapping settings tell TruSync how to translate your store’s data into QuickBooks terms. There are three kinds, plus two optional tags for the store — a class and a location — and one optional account for inventory corrections.

Customer mapping

TruSync maps every order from a store to a single QuickBooks customer, chosen when you set up the store — it doesn’t create a separate QuickBooks customer per shopper. Thousands of one-time web shoppers don’t belong in a QuickBooks customer list.

There is one exception, and it’s deliberate. An order paid by a method you’ve marked as invoiced on terms — a trade customer who orders against a purchase order and pays you later — is invoiced to that customer’s own QuickBooks record, not the generic one, because they owe you money and your A/R aging has to show who. TruSync keeps a list pairing each billing company with the QuickBooks customer you invoice it to, and raises a Customer Not Found exception the first time a company isn’t on it, so you choose the customer once rather than TruSync guessing from a name. This applies only to those orders; every other order still posts to the single customer above. You can see that list, correct an entry, add one ahead of time or remove one in Settings → Customers on Terms, which appears only on stores that can invoice on terms; a change applies to orders from then on and never rewrites a document already posted. See Invoice a customer on account.

Payment method mapping

Each payment method your store offers needs two things: a matching QuickBooks payment method, and a deposit account for the money to land in. Orders using an unmapped payment method become an order exception rather than posting with a guessed mapping — TruSync never auto-maps a payment method to a default.

A payment method that takes no money is the exception to the second half. If your trade customers order against a purchase order and you bill them later, set How does this post? to Invoiced on terms — no money received; Deposit To switches off and the row saves without one. Those orders post as invoices to the customer’s own QuickBooks record instead of the generic customer. How does this post? appears only on stores whose platform reports a payment method of that kind — today, BigCommerce. See Invoice a customer on account.

When you first open Settings → Payments, TruSync pre-selects the choices it thinks are right and shows them as suggestions. Nothing is saved until you review them and click Save these mappings. Until you do, orders using those payment methods wait in Order Exceptions.

Some rows arrive with Deposit To left empty and a note explaining why. That’s deliberate, not a loading problem: TruSync couldn’t tell where that payment method’s money settles, and it won’t guess. Pick the account yourself and the row saves like any other.

This step only applies to stores where payment methods matter; marketplace stores like Amazon and eBay skip it, since Invoices don’t carry a payment method.

Shopify orders paid through more than one gateway. If a shopper starts checkout with one gateway and pays with another — for example, begins with PayPal and finishes with a card through Shopify Payments — TruSync uses the gateway that actually took the payment as the order’s payment method, not the first gateway Shopify lists for the order. That is the payment method whose QuickBooks payment method and deposit account the order uses, so map each gateway you accept. For orders with no readable payment transaction, such as manual orders, TruSync falls back to the first gateway Shopify lists. This applies to orders synced from now on; orders already posted aren’t changed.

Wix orders awaiting your confirmation. If a Wix payment is waiting for you to mark it received, such as an offline payment, TruSync still reads the payment method it names, so that method can be mapped before the order is paid. When an order has more than one payment, the method of a payment that has settled is used first, even if a pending payment is larger. Payments still in progress with the payment provider, and canceled, declined or voided payments, never name the method.

Which account a payment method deposits to

The deposit account on each mapping decides which QuickBooks account that payment method’s money lands in. Choosing the wrong one doesn’t stop orders syncing, which is what makes it easy to miss — it puts the money in the wrong register, and that usually surfaces weeks later when a bank reconciliation won’t balance.

What matters is where the money actually arrives, not what the payment method is called.

Card payments — credit and debit cards, and card-backed wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay — deposit to Undeposited Funds. Your processor pays these out to your bank later, in a batch covering many orders, so each receipt waits in Undeposited Funds until the matching Bank Deposit posts against it.

If your accountant has set up a bank-type clearing account for a payment method instead — a holding account of its own, often named like undeposited funds — point the mapping at that account and keep it. TruSync reconciles payouts out of a clearing account with a journal entry rather than a Bank Deposit, so the setup works as intended. See Bank Deposits & payouts.

PayPal-branded payments — PayPal, PayPal Pay Later, PayPal Credit, Venmo, and card payments taken through PayPal checkout — deposit to your PayPal account, because that money lands in your PayPal balance rather than arriving as a bank payout.

A gateway’s name doesn’t tell you which of the two a payment method is. Braintree handles both card payments and PayPal payments, and it names its own QuickBooks payment method “Braintree (PayPal)” even for card charges. If you aren’t sure which flow a payment method belongs to, check where that money actually arrives before choosing.

The payment method’s own name doesn’t tell you either. A method called “BigCommerce Payments” runs on Stripe for some stores and on PayPal for others, and the name is identical in both cases. Names like “Credit Cards” and “Apple Pay” say what the shopper used, not where the money lands — a card taken on PayPal rails still settles into your PayPal balance. Where TruSync has synced orders under a payment method, it reads the settlement from the gateway transaction reference on those orders instead of from the name, and tells you that’s what it did.

When you change payment processors

Switching processors is the one change that can make a correct mapping wrong without anyone touching it. Your store keeps the same payment method names, your mappings keep pointing where they pointed, and the money starts arriving somewhere else.

If you move between processors — or turn on a new one alongside your existing one — re-check the deposit account on every payment method in Settings → Payments afterwards. Ask Trudy to “audit my payment methods” and she’ll compare each mapping against what your recent orders show, which catches this even when the names give nothing away. Trudy tells you which mappings she could confirm, which look wrong, and which she couldn’t check. A payment method you’ve just added has no orders yet, so it comes back as unchecked, and unchecked doesn’t mean correct. A PayPal-style payment reference shows that PayPal processed the payment, not which account the money lands in, so it can’t confirm a deposit account by itself; a payout that carried those orders can.

QuickBooks class

If you use class tracking in QuickBooks, TruSync puts a class on every document it creates for the store — sales receipts, invoices, credit memos, refund receipts, and the journal entries and Bank Deposits it posts for payouts. You’ll find the setting in Settings → Account Mapping, and it also appears during setup on the Account Mapping step.

One store is one sales channel, so it’s one class. A store selling direct through Shopify might be Direct, while a wholesale channel is Wholesale. There’s no per-product or per-payment-method class.

TruSync picks a class for you when you connect QuickBooks. If your company tracks classes, TruSync looks at the classes you’ve defined and preselects the one that reads as a direct sales channel — whether you call it Direct, Retail, DTC, Online or Ecommerce. It only does this for stores that don’t already have a class, so it never overwrites a choice you’ve made.

If none of your classes clearly reads that way, TruSync leaves the store unclassified rather than guessing. An unclassified document is obvious and easy to fix; one filed under the wrong class quietly skews your profit and loss by class instead.

The preselection is a starting point, not a rule. Change it in Settings → Account Mapping any time, or just tell Trudy — “set this store’s class to Wholesale” works. To check which class a store is on, ask Trudy. On the Account Mapping tab, the suggested prompts What QuickBooks class is this store tagged with? and Change this store’s QuickBooks class do this for you. A B2B or wholesale storefront is the usual case where the preselected direct-sales class is the wrong one.

The QuickBooks Class panel only appears when class tracking is turned on in your QuickBooks company. If you don’t see it, either the setting is off in QuickBooks (Settings → Account and settings → Advanced → Categories) or the company has no classes yet. Turn it on in QuickBooks, then reload the page in TruSync — the panel reads the setting live. If the company simply has no classes yet, ask Trudy to create one — “create a class called Wholesale” — and she’ll add it to QuickBooks for you (see below).

TruSync follows your QuickBooks setting for where the class goes. If your company records one class per transaction, the class goes on the document; if it records one class per line, the class goes on each line. Journal entries and Bank Deposits always carry the class on their lines, because QuickBooks has no class field on those documents themselves.

Leaving the class as — Not classified — is fine. Documents already posted aren’t reclassified when you pick a class — the setting applies to documents TruSync creates from then on.

QuickBooks location (Department)

QuickBooks has a second tag alongside the class, and your company decides what it’s called. In Settings → Account and settings → Advanced → Categories you can turn on Track locations and choose the label — Business, Department, Division, Location, Property, Store or Territory. Whichever you picked is the name TruSync uses everywhere, so if your books say Store, TruSync’s panel says QuickBooks Store and Trudy says “store” too.

If you track it, TruSync puts it on every document it creates for the store — sales receipts, invoices, credit memos, refund receipts, and the journal entries and Bank Deposits it posts for payouts. The setting sits in Settings → Account Mapping, underneath the class, and also appears during setup on the Account Mapping step.

One store is one value, the same as the class. The two are independent: a store can have a class and no location, a location and no class, both, or neither.

TruSync does not preselect this one. It preselects a class, because a class name usually reads as a sales channel and TruSync can recognise one. A location name says where a sale belongs — “Alstonville”, “Japan”, “Main Street” — and nothing about your storefront tells TruSync which is right. So a new store starts with none and it’s yours to pick. Until you do, documents post without one and won’t appear in your reporting by location.

The panel only appears when location tracking is turned on in your QuickBooks company. If you don’t see it, either the setting is off or the company has no active locations yet. Turn it on or add one in QuickBooks, then reload the page in TruSync — the panel reads the setting live.

If your company tracks locations but has none yet, ask Trudy to create one — “create a location called Fairyland” — and she’ll add it to QuickBooks. Trudy uses your company’s own word, so if your books say Store, ask for a store. She creates only the entry: tagging a store with it is a separate step she’ll offer afterwards.

Trudy checks the spelling with you first, because QuickBooks never fully deletes a class or location — removing one only makes it inactive and renames it with “(deleted)” on the end. A name with a colon, like “Sales:Direct”, means “Direct, inside Sales”: Trudy creates the inner one only if the outer one already exists, and asks you what you meant otherwise.

Trudy can create one only if tracking is already on in QuickBooks. Otherwise nothing could use it.

TruSync can’t turn location tracking on for you. That preference is read-only to apps, so you switch it on in QuickBooks yourself.

If you set a location while tracking is switched off, QuickBooks accepts the change and silently discards it — there’s no error to see. That’s why Trudy refuses to set one for a company that isn’t tracking them, and tells you why instead of confirming something that wouldn’t happen.

Journal entries are the one place the location sits differently. QuickBooks only keeps a location on a journal entry’s lines, not on the entry itself, so that’s where TruSync puts it. Every other document carries it on the document.

Documents already posted aren’t retagged when you pick a location — the setting applies to documents TruSync creates from then on.

Inventory adjustment account

When TruSync changes an item’s quantity on hand in QuickBooks, it posts an Inventory Quantity Adjustment. Changing a quantity changes what your inventory is worth, so the difference has to post to an account.

Unless you choose one, QuickBooks picks, and on a standard chart of accounts it picks Inventory Shrinkage — a cost-of-goods-sold account. That reads correctly for a correction downward and oddly for one upward: TruSync’s adjustments go both ways, and finding stock QuickBooks didn’t know about isn’t shrinkage.

Choose the account in Settings → Account Mapping → Inventory Adjustment Account. You can pick a cost-of-goods-sold, expense, other expense, income or other income account. QuickBooks won’t accept your Inventory Asset account here — that’s the account the adjustment moves value out of, so it can’t also be where the value lands.

Leaving it unset is a working setup, not a gap. The row shows Default rather than a warning, and TruSync says nothing to QuickBooks about the account, so QuickBooks uses its own exactly as it did before this setting existed. Set it only if you want adjustments somewhere specific — your accountant may well have an opinion here.

Adjustments already posted aren’t moved when you set it. The choice applies to adjustments TruSync writes from then on.

You can also just ask Trudy — “post inventory adjustments to Inventory Adjustments instead of shrinkage” works, and she’ll check the account against your chart of accounts before saving it.

Tax jurisdiction mapping

Sales tax works differently than the other two: TruSync controls the tax amount on each order (using your store’s own tax calculation), but the destination account the tax lands in is determined by which QuickBooks tax rate you map a jurisdiction to. Each QuickBooks tax rate is tied to a tax agency, and that agency owns the liability account — TruSync doesn’t set a liability account directly. Mapping a jurisdiction to the right tax rate is what routes the money correctly.

This step only appears for stores where you handle sales tax yourself. Marketplace stores skip it, since the marketplace already collects and remits tax as a facilitator.

FAQ

Can I map more than one payment method to the same QuickBooks payment method? Yes, if that’s how you want them grouped in QuickBooks.

My customers pay me on invoice, not through the store. What do I put in Deposit To? Nothing — set How does this post? to Invoiced on terms — no money received instead and the field switches off. See Invoice a customer on account.

Which deposit account should I choose? Card payments — including Google Pay and Apple Pay — deposit to Undeposited Funds, because your processor pays them out to your bank in batches. PayPal-branded payments, including cards taken through PayPal checkout, deposit to your PayPal account. A gateway’s name doesn’t decide it: Braintree handles both kinds. If your accountant has given a payment method its own bank-type clearing account, choose that instead and leave it — TruSync reconciles payouts out of a clearing account with a journal entry. See Bank Deposits & payouts.

Why is the deposit account blank on one of my payment methods? Because TruSync couldn’t tell where that payment method’s money settles, and it won’t fill in a guess — a wrong deposit account is harder to find later than an empty one. Check your processor’s payout settings for where that money actually arrives, then pick the matching account in Settings → Payments. Orders using the payment method wait in Order Exceptions until you do.

I changed payment processors. Do I need to do anything? Yes — re-check the deposit account on every payment method in Settings → Payments. Your payment method names don’t change when your processor does, so existing mappings keep pointing at the old processor’s account and orders quietly post to the wrong place. Asking Trudy to “audit my payment methods” compares each mapping against what your recent orders show, and tells you which ones she couldn’t check.

What happens if I pick the wrong deposit account? Orders still sync, but the money posts to the wrong QuickBooks account and your bank reconciliation won’t balance. Fix the mapping in Settings → Payments and new orders follow it. Documents already posted aren’t changed retroactively — see Why deposits don’t match order totals.

Why don’t I see the QuickBooks Class panel? Because class tracking is switched off in your QuickBooks company, or the company has no classes yet. Turn it on in QuickBooks under Settings → Account and settings → Advanced → Categories, then reload the page in TruSync. If the company has no classes yet, ask Trudy to create one, or add it in QuickBooks yourself. The panel checks the setting live, so you don’t have to wait.

Can Trudy create a new class or location in QuickBooks? Yes, if your company already tracks that tag. Ask for it by name, in your own word (a class, or a location, store or division, whatever your books call it). Trudy confirms the spelling first, since QuickBooks only ever makes a removed entry inactive rather than deleting it, and she creates just the entry. She’ll then offer to tag your store with it as a separate step. If tracking is off in QuickBooks she can’t create one, and TruSync can’t switch it on for you.

Will TruSync reclassify the documents it already posted? No. The class applies to documents TruSync creates after you set it. Existing documents keep whatever class they have, so if you’ve been classifying them by hand there’s nothing to undo.

TruSync picked a class I didn’t choose. Why? Because your QuickBooks company tracks classes and the store had none, so TruSync preselected the class that reads as a direct sales channel rather than leaving every document unclassified. Change it in Settings → Account Mapping, or ask Trudy to set it to the class you want — she’ll check the name against your company’s own classes before saving it.

Can TruSync turn class tracking on in QuickBooks for me? No. That setting is read-only to apps, so you have to switch it on yourself in QuickBooks under Settings → Account and settings → Advanced → Categories. Once it’s on, add at least one class and the TruSync panel appears.

Why don’t I see the QuickBooks location panel? Because location tracking is switched off in your QuickBooks company, or the company has no active locations yet. Turn it on in QuickBooks under Settings → Account and settings → Advanced → Categories — that’s also where you choose whether it’s called Location, Store, Department, Division, Property, Territory or Business — then add at least one and reload the page in TruSync.

Why does TruSync pick a class for me but not a location? Because a class name usually says what kind of sale it is, and TruSync can recognise a direct sales channel by name. A location name says where a sale belongs, and nothing about your storefront tells TruSync which of your locations is right. Guessing would quietly file revenue in the wrong place, so TruSync leaves it for you and flags that it’s unset.

I set a location but my documents still don’t have one. Why? The usual cause is that location tracking is switched off in QuickBooks. QuickBooks accepts the value and discards it without an error, so nothing looks wrong until you check a document. Turn tracking on under Settings → Account and settings → Advanced → Categories, then set the location again in Settings → Account Mapping.

Can I use a class and a location at the same time? Yes. They’re independent tags and TruSync sets both on the same document when your company tracks both.

Where does the value of an inventory quantity adjustment post? To whatever account you pick in Settings → Account Mapping → Inventory Adjustment Account. If you pick nothing, QuickBooks uses its own adjustment account — normally Inventory Shrinkage on a standard chart of accounts — which is what happens by default. That’s worth changing if you mind corrections upward reading as shrinkage, since TruSync’s adjustments go both ways. Adjustments already posted aren’t moved. See Inventory sync.

Why can’t I choose my Inventory Asset account for inventory adjustments? Because QuickBooks refuses it. An inventory quantity adjustment moves value out of your Inventory Asset account, so that same account can’t also be where the value lands. Pick a cost-of-goods-sold, expense or income account instead.

What happens if I don’t map a tax jurisdiction? Orders from that jurisdiction become an order exception until you map it. If your store already charges tax — for example prices that include VAT or GST — the first taxed order is held this way, so it’s better to map the tax rate during setup than to skip the step.

Should I turn on QuickBooks’ automated sales tax calculation? No — TruSync already calculates tax using your store’s own tax engine and tells QuickBooks not to recalculate it. Turning on QuickBooks’ automated calculation on top of that would double up the tax logic.