QuickBooks Online Integration Guide for Production Scheduling with SkyPlanner APS

QuickBooks Online is one multi-tenant cloud product, and every company runs the same Accounting API. It is a REST API, version v3. Each call addresses one company by its realm ID: https://quickbooks.api.intuit.com/v3/company/{realmId}/{entity}, with a separate sandbox host for testing. Requests and responses are JSON, and a minorversion parameter selects the schema version. (source)

The entities a scheduler needs:

• Master data: Customer, Item (Inventory, NonInventory, Service), Employee, Vendor.
• Demand: Estimate (TxnStatus Accepted, lines, ShipDate), and for shops that bill first, Invoice or SalesReceipt.
• Supply: PurchaseOrder (POStatus Open, lines with items and quantities), Bill.
• Write-back: Estimate, Invoice, TimeActivity, InventoryAdjustment.

Reads use the query endpoint, for example select * from Estimate where MetaData.LastUpdatedTime > '2026-10-01'. Updates can be sparse, so SkyPlanner sends only the fields it changes. There is no sales order, routing, work center or production order entity in the Accounting API.

QuickBooks webhooks notify the app when data changes in a connected company. “Webhooks automatically notify you whenever data changes in your end-user’s QuickBooks Online company files.” (source) The entities that matter for scheduling:

• Customer, Item, Employee
• Estimate, Invoice, SalesReceipt
• PurchaseOrder, Bill
• TimeActivity

Operations include Create, Update, Delete, Merge and Void. A notification carries the entity name, ID, operation and last-updated time, not the full record. The receiver reads the record afterwards.

Change data capture (GET /cdc?entities=...&changedSince=...) returns everything that changed since a timestamp, for a recent look-back window. SkyPlanner uses it for a nightly reconciliation, so a missed webhook never leaves a stale order. TimeActivity is not covered by change data capture, so it is reconciled with a query. (source)

1. Initial master data load. Page through customers, items, employees and open purchase orders with the query endpoint. Create SkyPlanner customers with the QuickBooks ID as external_identifier, and products and materials with the item ID as the key. Then build what QuickBooks does not hold: workstations, process steps per product, shifts, leave and setup times. CSV or Excel import is the fastest route for process steps.

2. Order sync. Subscribe to Estimate, Invoice, Item and PurchaseOrder webhooks. When an estimate turns Accepted, SkyPlanner reads it and creates an order with the estimate number as external_order_number and the ship date as delivery_date. Each line becomes jobs through the product’s process steps. Open purchase order lines become incoming material, so jobs wait for the delivery. Nightly change data capture catches any missed event.

3. Schedule and completion write-back. Four calls put the results into QuickBooks:

• A sparse update on the Estimate writes ShipDate, so the promised date in QuickBooks follows the plan.
• When the order is completed, POST /invoice creates the invoice with the estimate’s lines and a LinkedTxn to the estimate. Intuit allows one invoice link per estimate, so partial deliveries are agreed in scoping.
• POST /timeactivity records each operator’s logged hours against the employee, the customer and a service item. Billable hours can then be added to the invoice in QuickBooks.
• POST /inventoryadjustment raises finished goods and lowers used materials. Intuit offers this entity on QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced in the US. (source)

4. Shop-floor confirmations. Operators log work with SkyPlanner Mobile Confirmations, Production Timer or Quick Log Mode. Progress updates the schedule at once, and Autopilot replans the rest. Hours go to QuickBooks as time activities. If a shop keeps QuickBooks Time for payroll, pick one channel for job hours in scoping.

5. Ownership and conflict rules. Write them down before go-live:

• Sales orders stay in the QuickBooks screens. Plus and Advanced have sales orders in the app, and the integration reads accepted estimates, or invoices for bill-first shops. Agree on one trigger, so every order enters the same way.
• No routings in QuickBooks. Keep process steps per product in SkyPlanner, keyed to the QuickBooks item.
• One invoice per estimate link. Split deliveries need a rule, such as one estimate per delivery.
• Inventory adjustments by plan and region. Plus and Advanced in the US support them. Elsewhere, agree with your accountant how finished goods reach QuickBooks.
• Intuit Enterprise Suite manufacturing orders. If you use them, decide which system owns builds and component reservations.
• Bundles are read-only for the API. Group items cannot be created through the API, so keep bundles in QuickBooks.
• Refresh token rotation. Store the newest refresh token after every refresh, or the connection drops.