I have the QuickBooks desktop app as well as a Zoho CRM subscription. The thing is I am new to QuickBooks and would like to have my data in sync across both of these. I use node.js most of the time but PHP is also an option.
Remember, I need to do it bidirectionally.
I looked up the web connector thing and yet I have no idea where to start.
Please provide a few pointers and libraries I could use.
All development for the desktop will need to be done through the QBXML SDK.
https://developer.intuit.com/v2/docs/0250_qb
To connect to a web application, you will need to use the QB Web Connector (QBWC) included with QB desktop. There is a QBWC server sample included in the SDK along with programmer guides for QBXML and QBWC.
If you are using PHP, there is an open source project available that has the server built and sample requests.
http://consolibyte.com/quickbooks-open-source/
Related
I have developed one mediator which syncs data from my Volusion site to QuickBooks. During this operation system need to access the company file. For that, I have used webconnector. But for some reason, I'm not able to use it so I need an alternative to it. So please suggest me some alternatives to webconnector. I'm using QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Edition.
Intuit documents alternatives here:
https://developer.intuit.com/app/developer/qbdesktop/docs/get-started/get-started-with-quickbooks-web-connector#alternative-option-to-qb-web-connector
It basically boils down to: Autofy
But what you should really be doing here is telling us why the Web Connector doesn't work for you, so we can help you/understand the context.
Very shortly I will be required to do an integration between Quickbooks Desktop and a PHP website. I'm aware that there exists a PHP QuickBooks class that helps with integrating, but to my knowledge that only works when the PHP site is the one to initiate contact with the Desktop application. It's required of me that when a Purchase Order and/or Product is created on QuickBooks, it will automatically (and instantaneously) send the information over to my website using a REST API. Considering there will be multiple instances of QuickBooks Desktop that will be connected (we will allow customers to use a QuickBooks application that we will build), it is not practical to have to constantly check if ALL of those QuickBooks Desktop instances have any new Purchase Orders or Products that have been created since the last time we checked.
Is there a way to somehow add code to QuickBooks to send Purchase Orders and Products (upon creation) to my website using a REST API?
Thank you
QuickBooks itself doesn't really have any reliable method of catching events like you're talking about, and also doesn't have any way to then relay those events to an external REST API. So, you're not going to find exactly what you're looking for - it isn't possible.
With that said, you CAN get close by having an external application that polls QuickBooks periodically (as often as every few seconds) to grab new data from it, and then relays that data up to your REST API.
The easiest way to do this is via the Web Connector. It can poll as frequently as 1 minute, and is very capable of doing exactly what you're talking about. If you want to go with the Web Connector, your best bet is probably this open-source QuickBooks PHP DevKit (disclaimer: I'm the author). You could start with the Web Connector quick-start guide.
The harder way, but more flexible way is to write a custom QuickBooks SDK application that sits alongside QuickBooks, polls QuickBooks periodically, and relays that data up to your app. If you want to do this, you should check out the QuickBooks SDK - it has some C# and VB.NET examples in it which should prove useful.
Some specific notes:
but to my knowledge that only works when the PHP site is the one to initiate contact with the Desktop application.
Actually no - it only works when the Web Connector (which runs alongside QuickBooks) initiates the communication. But you can set it to run every 1 minute, which makes it pretty much constantly run and push data up to your app.
it will automatically
This is easily do-able with either the Web Connector or a custom SDK app.
(and instantaneously)
This isn't do-able. QuickBooks isn't even fast-enough performing to instantaneously relay data. You will never get instant data transfers from QuickBooks, so just forget about it now. (This is especially the case when you realize that there are lots of things in QuickBooks that can completely lock integrated applications out of even connecting to the data file - single-user mode, QuickBooks automatic updates, QuickBooks not being running, too many users in QuickBooks, etc.)
send the information over to my website using a REST API.
If using the Web Connector, your website receives the data, and you can then transform it and send it to your REST API.
If using a custom SDK app, you can write custom code to do that no problem.
it is not practical to have to constantly check if ALL of those QuickBooks Desktop instances have any new Purchase Orders or Products that have been created since the last time we checked.
Are you sure? We do this every day for thousands and thousands of people on ridiculously under-powered hardware.
I have a Windows Azure subscription.
My requirement is to run a PHP script on my server. This PHP script will create a JSON file.
This JSON file will be downloaded by my iOS app. (Some kind of authentication is an added bonus)
How would I go about doing this? Should I create a "Mobile Service" or should I create a "Website" or something else like "Cloud Services"?
As far as I have researched, I think the only way to do this would be the old school website way. Any input on this will be really helpful. Thanks.
Mobile services are great if you want to create a quick CRUD layer for an app with a backend cloud storage such as Azure SQL DB. It also provides support for scheduled tasks and push notification. But for what you're after (producing a JSON file), you may find it easier to go with Azure Web Sites or Azure Cloud Services (PaaS). Azure Web Sites has a model that you'll likely find easier and with the free/shared tiers, provides a lower cost point for many models. If you want something that gives you a bit more control, then Cloud Services might be a good alternative as well. But given the simple example you've provided, you should be able to accomplish this fairly quickly using Web Sites.
I'm tasked with coming up with an e-commerce solution for a small, local business. My client uses Intuit/Quickbooks point of sale software. I've just discovered that Intuit has a series of PHP 5+ classes that allow interoperability (link for anyone else that may stumble on this: https://code.intuit.com/sf/sfmain/do/viewProject/projects.php_devkit).
The website will be hosted on shared hosting, so the two systems are split quite literally. Her desktop does have internet access.
So, my questions:
Is there a way for me to connect to her desktop via curl?
If so, is there a way for me to do it securely if I can't create a VPN on my host?
Now that I think about it, is there a VPN service I could use?
Any other security things I should be aware of?
Payment processing will be handled through Stripe (http://www.stripe.com). This is really just for inventory/order synching.
Your best bet is the QuickBooks Web Connector, along with that set of PHP classes you mentioned. See my specific comments below:
I've just discovered that Intuit has a series of PHP 5+ classes that allow interoperability (link for anyone else that may stumble on this: https://code.intuit.com/sf/sfmain/do/viewProject/projects.php_devkit).
It's worth noting that that library is NOT developed by Intuit (disclaimer - I'm the developer of that library). Intuit hosts our Subversion repository, but we're a separate company, and Intuit does not contribute to the actual PHP code. Intuit provides a Windows COM-based API only, we provide the actual PHP components so you can talk to QuickBooks from a remote server via the Web Connector, without the need to muck with COM.
We have a ton of information on our QuickBooks integration wiki which might be helpful - specifically the QuickBooks integration with PHP section and this overview of the QuickBooks Web Connector.
Consider grabbing the latest nightly build from the link you posted, and taking a look at this file:
* docs/example_web_connector_point_of_sale.php
It illustrates exchanging data between PHP and QuickBooks Point of Sale.
The website will be hosted on shared hosting, so the two systems are
split quite literally. Her desktop does have internet access.
This ^^^ is just fine, and a typical scenario. It's exactly what the Web Connector was designed for. The Web Connector essentially acts as a "dumb proxy" between a PHP SOAP service, and QuickBooks itself - it relays messages from your PHP app, over HTTP(S), to QuickBooks.
Is there a way for me to connect to her desktop via curl?
Not with Curl, no (though you could build one... but why reinvent the wheel?). The Web Connector is SOAP based, but your PHP components will be the SOAP server half, not the SOAP client half.
If so, is there a way for me to do it securely if I can't create a VPN on my host?
The Web Connector can use SSL via HTTPS to keep the data secure while in transit across the net.
Now that I think about it, is there a VPN service I could use?
Just buy an SSL certificate, it's easier. :-)
Any other security things I should be aware of?
Not beyond the typical web application security guidelines that you could find elsewhere on Stackoverflow.
If you're going to sync to a system like Quickbooks, don't do it real-time, do it in a batch process that is resilient to things like her desktop being turned off, the crappy office internet (compared to a datacenter) being slow or down, etc.
This ^^^ is great advice, and is exactly how the Web Connector works.
If you need real-time, Quickbooks running on a desktop is NOT the way to go.
In fact, if you need real-time, QuickBooks period is not the way to go. QuickBooks is a great small to medium business accounting software... but is slow and not reliable enough for consistent real-time communication. With that said... what you're talking about does not require real-time communication, so this shouldn't bother you.
Batching the orders isn't a problem, but how would I make even a batch process resilient?
The PHP code uses a queue with a status, so you can track what got processed, what didn't, what you got back from QuickBooks as a response ("Added a customer successfully!" vs. "Ooops, failed to add a customer because ..."), what error messages QuickBooks threw, etc. and then react appropriately with your code, or manually.
You won't need cron - the Web Connector can be scheduled to run, and it'll relay all errors and a ton of other information back to you so that you can handle errors, send out warnings, build reports to show to people about what failed/succeeded, etc.
Looking at the Quickbooks API I only see options to sync users. I may just need to export the fields I need directly from the database? Just hoping someone had some scripts/templates to work with this already. I am not too worried about sync as long as the client could manually import web transactions at the beginning of the day
The QuickBooks SDK has the ability to import and export inventory items, including quantity on hand and cost information. Just to be clear, I speaking here about the classic SDK and not the Partner Platform. Using the SDK it is possible to connect to a QuickBooks online company using XML over SSL, or to a desktop company file (still the most popular option for most users) using XML or Intuit's QBFC framework, which is compatible with .NET.
There is no way to access the QuickBooks "database" directly. QODBC give you the ability to run SQL against QuickBooks company file data via ODBC, but it is implemented using the SDK. QODBC is the best way to get up and running fast with QuickBooks, and it's also great for custom reporting. But for most sync applications, the actual data access is a minor part of the overall scope, and the control that you get from going directly to the SDK and bypassing QODBC is worth it.
Most developers who have experience with QuickBooks have a library to help with common SDK tasks. There are also some offerings at code.intuit.com. In addition to library code, it also helps to understand the behavior of both QuickBooks and the SDK. The SDK is well documented and if you haven't visited the SDK section of the Intuit Developer site I would highly recommend it.