Connecting QuickBooks to Reportly: a 5-minute setup

Before you start

You need three things: a QuickBooks Online account (see the Desktop question in the FAQ below), admin permissions on that QuickBooks account (the OAuth authorisation requires them), and a Reportly account on any plan. Have your QuickBooks login handy; the authorisation happens in a QuickBooks window, not a Reportly one, which means your QuickBooks credentials are never entered into or seen by Reportly.

Step-by-step setup

1. Open Integrations in Reportly. From your dashboard, open the Integrations screen. You'll see the available data connections.
2. Select QuickBooks Online. Click the QuickBooks tile and start the connection.
3. Authorise in the QuickBooks window. A QuickBooks-hosted window opens. Sign in with your QuickBooks credentials and approve the connection. This is standard OAuth: you're telling Intuit to grant Reportly read access, and you can revoke it from QuickBooks at any time.
4. Choose the company file. If your QuickBooks login has access to several companies, pick the one to connect.
5. Map your chart of accounts. Reportly imports your account list and proposes a mapping into its reporting categories. Review it; the section below explains what to check.
6. Set the sync schedule. Choose how often actuals refresh. You can also trigger a manual sync anytime.

That's the whole setup. The first sync begins immediately; how long it takes depends on how much history you have.

What syncs

Just as important is the direction: data flows one way, from QuickBooks to Reportly. Nothing you do in Reportly (budgets, forecasts, report edits, even disconnecting) writes back to QuickBooks or alters your books in any way.

Mapping your chart of accounts

This is the step where new users most often get stuck, and where five careful minutes save hours later, because every report, budget comparison, and forecast inherits this mapping.

Reportly proposes a mapping automatically, and for a conventional chart of accounts the proposal is mostly right. Check three things. First, that revenue accounts are actually mapped as revenue; custom-named income accounts ("Consulting - retainers - legacy") sometimes land in the wrong bucket. Second, that COGS is separated from operating expenses, since gross margin, one of the first numbers you'll watch, depends entirely on this split. Third, that accounts you no longer use are excluded rather than mapped, so old noise stays out of new reports.

If your QuickBooks chart is genuinely messy (duplicated accounts, inconsistent naming, everything in "Other Expenses"), the mapping screen will make that visible fast. You can still map it usefully in Reportly, but it's also a good moment to tidy the source; the mapping only has to be done once, and it's easier on a clean chart.

Verifying the connection

Before relying on the reports, reconcile one month. Pick a recently closed month, run the P&L in QuickBooks and the same period in Reportly, and compare the totals: revenue, COGS, each major expense category, net income. They should match to the dollar. If a category differs, it's almost always a mapping choice (an account bucketed differently), not missing data, and the mapping screen will show you where. Five minutes of checking here buys permanent confidence in everything the connection produces.

Troubleshooting

Permission errors during authorisation. Your QuickBooks user isn't an admin on the company file. Either get admin rights or have an admin perform the authorisation; the connection belongs to the workspace, not to the individual who authorised it.

Duplicate accounts after mapping. Usually two similarly named accounts in QuickBooks itself, both syncing. Merge or deactivate the redundant one in QuickBooks and re-sync.

Missing history. If older months look empty, check the history window in the connection settings and confirm the transactions are in the connected company file, not a different one.

Connection stopped syncing. OAuth tokens occasionally need renewing, typically after a QuickBooks password change or security event on the Intuit side. Reconnect from the Integrations screen; your mapping and history are preserved.

Frequently asked questions

Does Reportly work with QuickBooks Desktop?

The direct integration is for QuickBooks Online. If you're on Desktop, contact us and we'll help you find the best route across.

How far back does history sync?

The import brings in your historical months so forecasts can see seasonality; import as much as your plan allows.

Is my data secure?

The connection uses OAuth (your QuickBooks credentials are never shared with Reportly) and data is encrypted in transit and at rest. The full picture, including access controls and what happens if you leave, is in our security overview.

Can I disconnect later?

Yes, at any time, from Reportly's Integrations screen or from your QuickBooks connected-apps settings. Disconnecting stops the sync; it doesn't change anything in QuickBooks.

Does syncing change anything in QuickBooks?

No. The connection is read-only: Reportly pulls data out and never writes anything back, so your books, transactions, and settings stay exactly as they are.

Connected? The onboarding checklist takes you from first sync to a board-ready report in four weeks, and the integrations page shows everything else you can plug in. Reports built specifically on QuickBooks data live at QuickBooks reporting.