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In the dashboard: Business Tools → QuickBooks

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What is the QuickBooks integration?

The QuickBooks integration automatically copies your inspection invoices and payments into QuickBooks Online, so your accounting stays up to date without any manual data entry. Once connected, HiveInspect creates the right records in QuickBooks for you:
  • A Customer for each inspection client
  • An Invoice for each inspection’s services
  • A Payment for each payment you receive
It’s reporting-only. This integration does not change how you get paid. Your existing payment processor still handles every transaction exactly as before — QuickBooks simply receives a copy of the numbers for your books.

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How it works

The sync runs automatically every night. Each evening, HiveInspect looks at the inspections that changed that day and updates QuickBooks accordingly. Your invoices and payments will appear in QuickBooks the next morning. The sync is one-directional: information flows from HiveInspect into QuickBooks. Changes you make directly in QuickBooks are not pulled back into HiveInspect. If you don’t want to wait for the nightly run, you can use the “Sync now” button on the QuickBooks page at any time.

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What gets synced

A few helpful details:
  • Invoice line items carry the name and description of each service you charged for.
  • Invoice totals reflect your service revenue. Payment-processing fees are handled by your payment processor and are not itemized in QuickBooks, so the amount deposited to your bank may differ slightly from the invoice total — this is normal.
  • All services post under a single “Inspection Services” product in QuickBooks, with the specific service shown in the line description. This keeps your Profit & Loss clean while still showing the detail on each invoice.
  • Split bills (when an inspection is paid by more than one person) appear as one invoice with multiple payments — one for each person who paid.
  • When an invoice is fully paid in HiveInspect, the matching QuickBooks invoice shows as Paid.

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Requirements

To use the integration, you’ll need:
  • QuickBooks Online — Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, or Advanced. (QuickBooks Self-Employed and QuickBooks Desktop are not supported.)
  • A US or Canadian QuickBooks company (USD or CAD). HiveInspect reads the company’s country and home currency from QuickBooks automatically; the home currency must match the Country set in your HiveInspect Settings (United States → USD, Canada → CAD).
  • An account with accounting permissions in QuickBooks (typically the admin) to connect.
  • Canada: sales tax must be set up in QuickBooks (Taxes → Set up sales tax) so your GST/HST/PST/QST codes exist.

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Setting up QuickBooks

1

Connect your account

  1. Go to Business Tools > QuickBooks
  2. Click Connect to QuickBooks
  3. Sign in with the QuickBooks account that owns your company file
  4. Review the permissions and approve the connection
Once connected, you’ll see your company name, the date you connected, and your sync settings.
2

Choose your sync settings

On the QuickBooks page, set:
  • Sync start date — Inspections created before this date are never synced. Set this to a recent date so you don’t backfill years of old inspections into QuickBooks.
  • Invoice date — Choose which date your QuickBooks invoices are dated with:
    • Inspection created date — the day the inspection was booked
    • Inspection scheduled date — the day the inspection is scheduled to take place
Click Save settings. That’s it — the nightly sync takes care of the rest.
3

Map your sales tax (Canada, or if your services charge tax)

If any of your HiveInspect services charge a tax (for example HST 15% or GST 5%), a Tax setup card appears on the QuickBooks page.
  • For each Hive tax, choose the matching QuickBooks tax code (e.g. “HST NB” for HST 15%). The rates must agree — HiveInspect won’t let you map a 15% tax to a 13% code.
  • Canadian companies also choose the code used for invoices with no tax (usually Out of Scope or Exempt).
Click Save tax setup. Syncing is never blocked by this: until it’s complete, invoices that include tax post the previous way (tax as a service line) and are listed under Needs attention so you can review them.
4

Optional: choose accounts

In the Accounts card you can pick the QuickBooks Product/Service your inspection lines post under (its income account is shown), a separate Product/Service for add-on services, and a deposit account per payment type (card, e-transfer, cash, …). Leave a deposit account blank to keep QuickBooks’ default, Undeposited Funds.

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Sales tax

Tax you charge in HiveInspect is posted to QuickBooks as sales tax, never as service income, using the tax codes you mapped:
  • Canada — each invoice line carries your mapped tax code (GST, HST, GST/PST, GST/QST…), and the invoice’s tax detail matches the amount HiveInspect charged to the cent, so your Sales Tax report in QuickBooks lines up with what you collected. Invoices without a Hive tax use your “no tax” code.
  • United States — lines are marked taxable and the invoice uses the mapped tax code with the amount HiveInspect charged. With Automated Sales Tax, map to your state’s automated code (its listed rate is only the state base; QuickBooks adds local rates) and QuickBooks records the exact amount HiveInspect charged.
  • If QuickBooks ever records a different total than HiveInspect (for example its own tax engine adds tax), the inspection is flagged under Needs attention so you can review it.
The QuickBooks invoice total still equals the HiveInspect invoice total (services + tax), so payments reconcile to a zero balance exactly as before.

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What’s not synced

To keep things safe and accurate, a few situations are not handled automatically and are flagged for you to review:
  • Refunds are not automatically pushed to QuickBooks. If you issue a refund, adjust the QuickBooks record manually.
  • Canceled or deleted inspections are not automatically voided in QuickBooks. If an invoice was already synced and the inspection is later canceled, void the QuickBooks invoice yourself.
  • Invoices synced before you mapped your taxes are not changed retroactively. Tax codes apply to invoices synced from that point on.
When the integration needs your attention on one of these, it lists the inspection under Needs attention on the QuickBooks page with a plain-language note.

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Disconnecting

You can disconnect QuickBooks at any time from the Business Tools > QuickBooks page.
  • Disconnecting stops all future syncing.
  • Your existing QuickBooks data is not removed — invoices and payments already synced remain in QuickBooks.
  • You can reconnect later; syncing resumes from your sync start date.

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Frequently asked questions

No. The integration is reporting-only. Your clients pay exactly the same way they do today, through your existing payment processor. QuickBooks just receives a copy of the invoice and payment for your books.
The sync runs overnight, so new invoices and payments appear the next morning. Use Sync now if you’d like them sooner.
QuickBooks invoices show your service revenue. Payment-processing fees are deducted by your payment processor before the money reaches your bank, so the deposit may be slightly different. This is expected and normal.
To keep your Profit & Loss reporting simple, every line posts under a single “Inspection Services” product, with the specific service named in the line description. You still see full detail on each invoice.
You’ll see one invoice in QuickBooks with a separate payment for each person who paid. Once all payments are in, the invoice shows as Paid.
Yes. HiveInspect detects a Canadian company automatically (CAD home currency) and posts your GST/HST/PST/QST as native QuickBooks sales tax using the tax codes you map under Tax setup. Make sure your Country in HiveInspect Settings is Canada so both sides bill in CAD.
Your HiveInspect services charge a tax (or your QuickBooks company is Canadian) and a QuickBooks tax code hasn’t been chosen yet. Syncing continues in the meantime: invoices that include tax post the previous way (tax as a service line) and appear under Needs attention. Open Business Tools > QuickBooks, complete the Tax setup card, and click Save tax setup — from then on tax posts as QuickBooks sales tax.
The rate in HiveInspect and the rate of the QuickBooks tax code must match, otherwise QuickBooks’ tax reports would disagree with what you collected. Either pick the code with the same rate, or create one in QuickBooks under Taxes.US companies on Automated Sales Tax are the exception: QuickBooks shows one automated code per state whose listed rate is only the state base (for example “WV 6%”), and adds county or city rates per address. Map your Hive tax to that automated code even if your rate is higher — QuickBooks records the exact amount HiveInspect charged.
Refunds are not synced automatically, to avoid incorrect accounting entries. Record the refund directly in QuickBooks. The integration will flag the inspection so you know it needs a manual adjustment.
  • Confirm you’re connected on the Business Tools > QuickBooks page (you should see your company name).
  • Check your sync start date — inspections created before it won’t sync.
  • Make sure the inspection has a generated invoice in HiveInspect.
  • If you recently connected, remember the sync runs overnight — use Sync now to test immediately.
Use the in-app chat or reach our support team at support@hiveinspect.com.

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Getting started

  1. Connect QuickBooks under Business Tools > QuickBooks
  2. Set a recent sync start date so you don’t import old inspections
  3. Choose your invoice date preference
  4. Run “Sync now” once to confirm everything looks right in QuickBooks
  5. Let the nightly sync keep your books up to date from there
Tip: Set your sync start date to the beginning of the current month or quarter. This keeps your QuickBooks clean and avoids pulling in historical inspections you’ve already accounted for elsewhere.
Tip: After your first Sync now, open QuickBooks and confirm a customer, invoice, and payment look the way you expect. Once you’re happy, you can rely on the nightly sync and rarely need to think about it again.

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Last modified on October 10, 2026