NOTE: We recommend that you create a back-up of your QuickBooks Online (QBO) data before integrating with any third party application, including MONE$Q. Depending on the version of QBO your firm uses, you may be able to create a data file back-up directly from QBO. If the version of QBO you are using does not offer this feature, there are several solutions available online.
MONE$Q Integration Overview
Integrating QuickBooks Online (QBO) with MONE$Q is fast, easy, saves time, and reduces the potential for errors. QBO Integration extends the power of MONE$Q and enables you to manage all invoicing and payment workflows from a single platform without manual duplicate entries in multiple systems to keep them in sync.
Integrating MONE$Q Invoicing and payment activity with QBO also enhances the financial reporting accuracy of QBO.
MONE$Q invoice and payment activity syncs one way to QBO. Any invoice and payment activity recorded in QBO will not sync back to MONE$Q. Therefore, after completing this integration, use MONE$Q to manage contacts, invoices, and payments.
Let’s get started!
Step 1:
Importing Contacts
When you link your QBO account in MONE$Q, all Clients from your QBO account will automatically be imported into MONE$Q as new Contacts in MONE$Q. This import saves time and reduces the need for manual data entry. After the initial import is complete, we will only sync new Contact (Client) data from MONE$Q into QBO. New Clients (Contacts) created in QBO, will not automatically be added to MONE$Q. We strongly recommend that MONE$Q become the system of record for managing Contact (Client) data once the QBO integration has been setup.
Noteworthy - MONE$Q supports Clients that are both Individuals and Entities. It is not uncommon for MONE$Q users to send invoices to billing Contacts within an organization being represented by the law firm -- i.e., the entity is the Client. All Clients are Contacts, but not all Contacts are Clients. MONE$Q uses the term “Contact” for all Contacts, including those Contacts that are Clients.
When the initial synchronization is complete, a summary screen will appear to confirm the number of Contacts that were successfully added to MONE$Q as well as the number of Contact records that failed the automated import. After the QBO Integration process has been completed, you can manually add missing Contacts to the MONE$Q system if necessary.
Click “Continue” to advance to Step 2 or “Cancel” if you wish to cancel the integration setup.
Noteworthy - If you intend to use the Trust Accounting features in MONE$Q, you must first setup QBO integration.
Step 2:
Mapping Bank account & Service items
To ensure that invoicing and payment transactions in MONE$Q are automatically recorded in the correct GL accounts in QBO, please complete the following mappings:
Map to Operating Account
For MONE$Q invoices and payments going to the Law firm Operating account, please select the appropriate bank account in QBO from the drop-down list on the right. If you do not see the Law Firm operating bank account in the dropdown menu, verify that the account exists in the QBO Chart of accounts. If the Law Firm Operating account does not appear in the QBO Chart of Accounts, you must first link your bank account with QBO before continuing with the MONESQ integration setup.
If the account exists in QBO but does not appear in the drop-down menu, please contact customer support at support@monesq.com
Map Invoice Service Items
Invoices created in MONE$Q will be automatically pushed to QBO. MONE$Q Invoices can include three different Service Items (services that you sell), they are:
- Time entries
- Flat Fee items
- Expense entries
Please map the following MONE$Q Service Items to corresponding QBO Service Items using the drop-down lists on the right.
If you do not see a corresponding Service Item in the drop-down list (or do not wish to map that MONE$Q service item to another QBO Service Item), you may need to open QBO and create the appropriate Service item before proceeding with the mapping exercise.
For assistance with creating Service Items in QBO, please contact either your accountant or QBO customer support.
When finished, click “Continue” to advance to Step 3 or “Cancel” if you wish to cancel the integration setup.
Step 3:
Mapping Discounts, Refunds & Merchant fees
Mapping Discounts
There is a 'Discounts' feature in QBO that will apply discounts to a designated Discount account – which is typically associated with an income account within your chart of accounts. MONE$Q will auto-detect whether this feature is ON or OFF in your QBO instance.
When this feature is ON in QBO, MONE$Q will automatically apply discounts to the GL account associated with the discount feature within QBO. No further action is required on your part.
When this feature is OFF in QBO, MONE$Q will automatically turn it on and insert a new income GL account in your QBO chart of accounts called “Discounts given”. No further action is required on your part.
If you wish to verify or change which GL account is associated with the discount feature in QBO, please contact your accountant or QBO customer support.
Mapping Refunds
Depending on your accounting practices, you may already have a Service Item defined in QBO devoted to handling Refunds. If this is the case, please select the Refund Service Item from the drop-down list on the right.
If you do not have a dedicated Refund service item in QBO, please select the Service Item against which Refunds should be applied.
If you are unsure which service item to select or would like to set up a Refund service item in QBO please contact your accountant or QBO customer service for guidance.
Mapping Merchant Fees
When Contacts pay invoices using eCheck or credit card payment methods, a merchant processing fee is applied to those transactions. Please select the expense account to which these fees will be charged.
If the account exists in QBO but does not appear in the drop-down menu, please contact customer support at support@monesq.com
When finished, click 'Continue' to advance to Step 4 or 'Cancel' if you wish to cancel the integration setup.
Step 4:
Trust accounting Integration
Map Trust Bank Account
Use MONE$Q Trust Accounting features to help you manage your IOLTA Trust account. MONE$Q currently supports only one linked Trust bank account.
Select your firm’s IOLTA bank account from the drop-down list on the right.
If you do not see your IOLTA bank account in the drop-down menu, verify that the account is linked with QBO. For help linking your IOLTA account to QBO, please contact your accountant or QBO customer support.
If the IOLTA account is linked but does not appear in the drop-down menu, please contact MONE$Q customer support at support@monesq.com for additional assistance.
Owed to Operating
A unique and powerful feature in MONE$Q Trust Accounting is called amount “Owed to Operating” abbreviated as OTO. With stringent rules pertaining to disbursements from IOLTA accounts and the consequences of not complying, law firms can have peace knowing exactly:
- What they can disburse from the IOLTA account for invoices that have been paid with a transfer from the trust account
- How to record those transactions accurately in QBO
A law firm can easily “Receive Payment” on an invoice using the MONE$Q ‘Transfer from trust’ payment method, which will place that amount in the OTO asset account until a check is written to physically transfer funds out of the Trust account and into the Operating account. The trust account balance is reduced at the same time that the transfer from trust is used to pay the invoice. Writing the check from the trust account to the operating account clears the OTO balance.
The OTO feature requires that MONE$Q insert a new asset GL account in your QBO chart of accounts called “Owed to Operating”.
Upon completion of this integration – you should verify that the account was inserted correctly by reviewing the Chart of accounts in QBO. If the account was not successfully inserted, please contact MONE$Q customer support at support@monesq.com for additional assistance.
Trust Deposit Service Item
MONE$Q supports the ability to create Trust Deposit Invoices to collect client trust deposits into the Trust account. Since trust deposits do not belong to the firm, each deposit has a corresponding liability. Typically, firms have a “client Deposits Liabilities” GL account (or something similar) in QBO to offset the funds received into Trust.
Select your “Trust Deposit” Service Item. If your firm already collects Trust Deposits, chances are you already have a similar ‘Deposit’ item set up in QBO. If so, please select it from the drop-down menu to the right.
If you do not yet have a ‘Deposits’ Item defined in QBO, you will need to do so before completing this integration.
For assistance in creating a new Item in QBO that links to a liability account, please contact your accountant or QBO customer support.
Liability Account for Trust Deposits
Payments or deposits of any kind into a Trust account must be offset by a liability account – typically an account called ‘Client Deposit Liability' or something similar. Please select this liability account from the dropdown list on the right.
If you have not yet created a ‘Client Deposit Liability’ account in QBO, you will need to do so before completing this portion of the integration.
For assistance, please contact your accountant or contact QBO customer support.
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.