• Integration benefits me because...
• Prepare QuickBooks for Financial Exchange with Point of Sale
• OK, how do I do an exchange?
• So what is shared anyway?

Integration Benefits Me Because...

Why integrate the two? Because it combines each product's best features into a single retail management powerhouse. For example, use Point of Sale for your day-to-day retail operations such as ringing up sales and tracking inventory. QuickBooks Premier Retail Edition 2006, in contrast, lets you manage your business's back office financial chores, such as paying employees. And, by swapping data, you can run dozens of reports ranging from customer demographics to balance sheets.

Use	When you want to:
Point of Sale (Retail)	Add and track inventory items
	Order and receive merchandise
	Ring up sales and collect sales taxes
	Run sales and merchandise reports
	Add customers and vendors
QuickBooks Retail 2006 (Financial)	Track cost of goods and expenses
	Pay bills and sales tax
	Invoice customers
	Process payroll
	Run financial reports
	Do banking
Table 1. Craft a retail management powerhouse

Quick Tip: What if I use another POS system?
QuickBooks integrates with POS systems other then QuickBooks Point of Sale. For a list of QuickBooks-compatible POS solutions see the Intuit Marketplace. For integration strategies, consult your POS software's user manual and/or help content.

Prepare QuickBooks for Financial Exchange

Before your first Financial Exchange you need to prepare QuickBooks. Follow these steps in your QuickBooks company file:

Step 1: Turn on inventory tracking in QuickBooks

• From the Edit menu, select Preferences > Purchases & Vendors > Company Preferences.
• Select the "Inventory and purchase orders are active" checkbox.

• From the Edit menu, select Preferences > Integrated Applications > Company Preferences.
• Uncheck the box next to "Don't allow any applications to access this company file."

1. From the Lists menu select Chart of Accounts. Make sure you see the following accounts:

Account Name	Account Type
Cost of Goods Sold	Cost of Goods Sold
Accounts Payable	Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable	Accounts Receivable
Undeposited Funds	Other Current Asset
Inventory Asset	Other Current Asset
Sales Tax Payable (if you collect taxes)	Other Current Liability
Table 2. Check your Chart of Accounts

2. If necessary, create any missing accounts by selecting Ctrl+N.

• From the Edit menu, select Preferences > Sales Tax > Company Preferences.
• Select Yes in "Do You Charge Sales Tax."

• Find the lists you want to review from the Item List and Customer and Vendor Centers.
• Select the item you want to remove.
• From the Edit menu select Delete or Make Inactive.

Quick Tip: Get your lists right the first time
Take your time when reviewing your QuickBooks lists. By ensuring accurate, up-to-date lists upfront you will dodge needless trouble later.

OK, How Do I Do an Exchange?

The easiest way to exchange QuickBooks and Point of Sale data is to include the Financial Exchange option in Point of Sale's End of Day procedure. Doing so ensures both products receive timely data on a regular, predictable schedule.

Working in Point of Sale, you first run the QuickBooks Connection Wizard to connect the products. Then you set up Financial Exchange in your End of Day procedure. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Run the QuickBooks Connection Wizard

• Select Financial Center from the Financial menu.
• Be sure to also open your QuickBooks company file.
• Under the Summary section select Set Up QuickBooks Connection Now.
• Follow the QuickBooks Connection Wizard's instructions.

• Be sure to open your QuickBooks company file.
• Select End of Day from the Point of Sale menu.
• Select the "Transfer your day's transactions, and other new information to QuickBooks" checkbox.
• Select any other End of Day options necessary.

Quick Tip: Manual exchanges
You can also initiate a Financial Exchange manually at any time from within Point of Sale. A manual exchange works just like an automatic exchange; both methods transmit all unsent data to QuickBooks. Use this feature, for example, for mid-day billings from QuickBooks to ensure you have up-to-the-minute Point of Sale sales data. Simply select Update QuickBooks from Point of Sale's Financial menu.

So What Is Shared Anyway?

What information is exchanged between QuickBooks and Point of Sale? Table 3 shows the answer.

Data Type	Point of Sale to QuickBooks	QuickBooks to Point of Sale
New and updated customers	X	X
Payments on account	X	X
Customer account balances and limits	X	X
New and update vendors	X	X
Vendor payment terms	X	X
Inventory itemss	X	Optional; one-time from QuickBooks to Point of Sale
Sales receipts, deposits, and sales taxes collected	X
Receiving vouchers (receipts of merchandise from vendors)	X
Voucher billing information	X
Inventory adjustments (quantity or costs)	X
Cash drawer pay-outs	X
Inventory transfers: freight charges only (Pro Multi-Store)	X
Table 3. Information exchanged between QuickBooks and Point of Sale

• Employees
• Purchase orders (see below)

Quick Tip: Manually re-enter purchase orders in Point of Sale
You can manually re-enter existing QuickBooks purchase orders in Point of Sale. Doing allows for:

• Coordinated tracking of purchases
• Better reporting capabilities
• The ability to create receiving vouchers from these purchase orders when the merchandise arrives

Try It

Once setup the exchange process will run smoothly — and automatically — each time you run your End of Day procedure. Best of all, by integrated QuickBooks with Point of Sale you tap into a powerful retail management system. For a next step, prepare a list combining important reports to run daily, weekly, monthly from both programs. Happy retailing.


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