Qbox Blog

A Complete Guide to Spreadsheet Sync in QuickBooks

Written by Sharissa Barnett | Apr 12, 2024 5:03:42 PM

QuickBooks online spreadsheet sync is a feature in QuickBooks Online Advanced that lets you switch data between Excel and QuickBooks. It’s ideal for large, small, or medium-sized businesses that sometimes prefer using spreadsheets like Excel for basic data entry. 

For example, accountants can use Excel to create a list of income and expenses or to perform simple calculations. After data entry, they can do a QuickBooks sync for journal entries or perform a more advanced accounting analysis. 

QuickBooks online spreadsheet sync is a feature that allows you to use spreadsheets and QuickBooks simultaneously to save time, increase accuracy, and improve accounting efficiency.

Here is a complete guide to spreadsheet sync in QuickBooks.

Benefits of Spreadsheet Sync QuickBooks Online Advanced

Integration is a powerful feature in any application that lets users work with their favorite tools. QuickBooks Online Advanced also lets you integrate with Excel to perform basic accounting functions. 

Excel is an application that can do many things, and a lot of people are familiar with it. But it can fall short in complex accounting, such as raising invoices faster, accurately tracking payments, reconciling bank statements, and managing your taxes. 

Even businesses that prefer using spreadsheets have to ensure they correctly input the formulas; otherwise, they’ll get the wrong results. That’s why QuickBooks Online Advanced introduced QuickBooks spreadsheet sync to bring the power of Spreadsheets and the capabilities of QuickBooks together. 

These are the benefits of QuickBooks spreadsheet sync.

Keeps Accounting Data Insync

With QuickBooks online spreadsheet sync, accounting applications like QuickBooks ensure sensitive finance information is secure, up-to-date, and accurate, which makes collaboration easier. Team members can quickly edit files and use Qbox to share accurate information for informed decision-making that will benefit a business. 

For example, if you have large volumes of data in a spreadsheet and need to make some changes, you can edit the spreadsheet and sync the QuickBooks files. The spreadsheet sync QuickBooks online advance feature is easy to use and ensures your team and customers access accurate and error-free information quickly. 

Offers Deeper Accounting Insights

The capability of switching between Excel and QuickBooks lets you leverage Excel features to customize business reports that offer deeper accounting insights. It allows you to accurately analyze and report information to make important decisions. 

QuickBooks spreadsheet sync offers the reliability that business leaders and other stakeholders need to confidently decide on business matters like governance, investing, or lending.

Information Management

QuickBooks online spreadsheet sync lets you update information on QuickBooks online and desktop sync to ensure your data is safe and accurate. 

For example, if you have a custom list of vendors, customers, and items, you don’t have to retype them in QuickBooks. You can switch this information in QuickBooks files and share it with your team, which is a great way to save time and eliminate errors.

Backup and Restore Your Data

It’s not enough to sync data or move it between two applications. It’s also important to ensure information is safe and you can recover it should anything happen. 

QuickBooks Online Advanced enables you to sync data with QuickBooks spreadsheet sync. It also ensures the data is backed up and safe. Your clients can use the backup restore and upgrade feature to restore data whenever the need for data recovery arises.

QuickBooks Online Sync for Multicompany Reporting

QuickBooks sync enables you to create custom reports that let you see information from all companies in a single spreadsheet. For example, an accountant or an accounting firm may want to see a consolidated report of multiple entities.

The spreadsheet syncs QuickBooks online advanced, ensuring the information on the custom spreadsheet is automatically updated. That means information in the reports is linked to different QuickBooks company files, and any updates in these company files get updated in the custom reports. 

The updates ensure you share accurate information with team members, including business managers, who perform quick analyses and make critical business decisions. It’s a process that eliminates errors that can occur when you manually check QuickBooks company files to update an Excel multi-company report. 

Here are some businesses that will find QuickBooks online spreadsheet sync helpful for their multi-company reporting. 

Professional Accounting Firms

QBO spreadsheet sync is great for professional accounting firms that offer accounting services to multiple clients. They can use it to analyze the profitability of multiple entities quickly. 

Moreover, they can create multiple QuickBooks company files and accurately track all of them using a single spreadsheet, which saves time. The QuickBooks spreadsheet sync makes updating, sharing, and tracking accurate information with team members secure and easy.

Accountants in Medium and Small Businesses or Non-profit Organizations

Accountants managing the finances of businesses with various projects or non-profit organizations may want to analyze the profitability of projects separately. 

With QuickBooks spreadsheet sync, they can see all the analyses on one spreadsheet, which makes comparison easier. 

Multi-corporations and Franchise Owners

Finance professionals who manage businesses in different locations or countries can want to compare reports of each business. They can use QuickBooks online spreadsheet sync to ensure reports are accurate. 

These reports enable the analysis of data that offers insights for franchise owners to make important decisions. 

For example, they can decide to increase resources in an area that’s performing well or close businesses in countries with low profit margins.

QuickBooks Vs. Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets like Excel have great features such as shortcuts and templates. They’ve also served as a go-to place for small business owners and accountants to make quick financial calculations. 

However, the problem is that spreadsheets like Excel are not financial applications, and one small mistake in writing a formula can have devastating consequences for a business. However, you can combine the power of Excel and accounting applications to effortlessly manage complex financial information. 

For example, features like QuickBooks online spreadsheet sync in QuickBooks lets you:

  • Track income and expenses 
  • Accurately calculate your taxes
  • Forecast budgets and future earnings
  • Invoice your customers
  • Integrate with other business applications like Qbox and Shopify for better information management.

Getting Started with QuickBooks Spreadsheet Sync

Before you begin, ensure you have Office 365 of Microsoft Excel, and then go to the QuickBooks Advanced dashboard. 

  • Next, sign in to QuickBooks spreadsheet sync. 
  • Follow the instructions on your screen to open Excel.
  • On the Excel application, select “spreadsheet sync” and enter your credentials to sign in.
  • Select run reports to start pulling data to your spreadsheet. 
  • You’ll also need to select the company and company data you want to work on, and then you can start editing and running reports.

Conclusion

Spreadsheets and QuickBooks are helpful tools. However, QuickBooks seamlessly integrates with other business apps like Qbox to offer secure file sharing and collaboration. Sign up, and new users will get the first 30 days free.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I sync data in QuickBooks?

To sync data in QuickBooks, click Refresh in the spreadsheet tab. There are several refresh options in the QuickBooks spreadsheet sync tab. 

Depending on the action you want to take, you can do the following:

  • Quick refresh on a current worksheet, which refreshes an open spreadsheet according to filters you set earlier.
  • Advanced refresh refreshes an open spreadsheet according to the filters you choose.
  • Automatic refresh will refresh your workbook or a spreadsheet every time you open it or log in.

Yes. Here is how you link Excel to QuickBooks.

  • Make sure you’re using Office 365, then go to settings and choose spreadsheet sync.
  • To open Excel, follow the instructions on your screen.
  • On the home tab, choose “spreadsheet” again and log in using your credentials.

Can Excel pull data from QuickBooks online?

Yes, it can. Make sure you are an admin in QuickBooks Online Advanced. 

  • Next, go to the Spreadsheet sync panel and create a report.
  • Select the company you’ve been assigned from the drop-down list to pull data and start processing it.

Why is QuickBooks better than a spreadsheet?

Although you can use Excel to manage basic bookkeeping activities, accounting applications like QuickBooks have more advanced automation features. They let you perform complex functions like automated bank reconciliation and produce robust reports quickly, accurately, and more efficiently. 

Does QuickBooks app sync with desktop?

No. You cannot sync QuickBooks online with a desktop application. 

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QuickBooks online spreadsheet sync lets you switch data between Excel and QuickBooks to save time, increase accuracy, and improve accounting efficiency.