QuickBooks Desktop Playbook
Table of Contents
Best Practices for Syncing QuickBooks Desktop
There are limitations with QuickBooks Desktop and any integration that are out of anyone’s control, but there are steps that can be taken to set the computer up for the best chance to AutoSync. Biller Genie does not need to sync all day long every day. If there is one good sync per day, that will catch everything up between QuickBooks and Biller Genie.
- The computer that has the QuickBooks company file stored and the Biller Genie sync manager setup needs to stay on and always connected to the internet. If the computer is shut down, put in hibernation mode, or goes to sleep, this will result in a sync failure and timeout error in Biller Genie.
- Check the computer’s power & sleep settings to make sure that sleep is set to ‘Never”.
- At the end of the day, make sure all users are signed out of QuickBooks Desktop. If this is not already happening in the business, establish an end-of-day procedure to set the computer up for success.
- The computer where the QuickBooks company file is stored should have QuickBooks Desktop open, but not signed into the company file. This will allow for the fastest and most successful sync attempt.
If the computer is shut down over the weekend, this will also prevent any syncing from happening.
- If the computer with the company file is scheduled for a regular nightly restart or backup (Server), this can possibly prevent a successful sync attempt.
- After a restart, the computer needs to be setup to automatically sign back into Windows after the restart.
- QuickBooks Desktop needs be added to startup so it automatically launches after the restart.
- Windows user needs to be logged in -
Pop-up messages should be turned off in QuickBooks Desktop under the Admin user where the Biller Genie Sync Manager is setup.
How to check:
Step 1
Log into QuickBooks as the Admin user.
Step 2
Click the “Edit” menu at the top.
Step 3
Click on “General” in the left side menu.
Step 4
Under the “My Preferences” tab, make sure the checkbox next to “Turn off pop-up messages for products and services” is checked. If not, check it and click the blue “OK” to save the change.
Step 5
If the company file is stored on a computer that gets used daily by different QuickBooks users, there may be times Biller Genie cannot sync due to the other users not having enough permissions in QuickBooks Desktop.
Step 6
If a manual or auto sync is being attempted from Biller Genie and the user currently logged into QuickBooks where the company file is stored does not have enough QuickBooks permissions, have the user log out/close the company file.
- Leave QuickBooks open and on the default screen with no company files opened.
- Reattempt the manual sync from Biller Genie.
Step 7
If the QuickBooks Desktop Admin user that was used to setup the Biller Genie Sync Manager logs into other computers throughout the day when a sync is attempting, it will fail due to the Admin user being logged into another workstation of QuickBooks. The Admin user can only be logged into QuickBooks on one workstation at a time.
Biller Genie will reattempt to sync again on the next auto-sync interval.
Installing QuickBooks Desktop for Versions 2014 to 2021 R3
Before getting started, check to make sure that the QuickBooks Desktop version is supported for integration with Biller Genie.
Supported U.S editions of QuickBooks Desktop:
- QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions (2015 – 2021 R3)
- QuickBooks Premier (2015 – 2021 R3)
- QuickBooks Pro (2015 – 2021 R3)
Pro Tip:
If the QuickBooks file is saved on a local computer, the installation should take place on that computer.
Installation & Syncing
Step 1
Log into the Biller Genie merchant portal.
Step 2
Click on Add-ons Marketplace in the left side menu.
Step 3
Click Accounting Software in the feature list on the left.
Step 4
Click QuickBooks Desktop Versions 2014 to 2021 E3.
Step 5
Install the app.
Step 6
Once the add-on is installed, click the blue “Download Now” button under step 1. This will download the to start the installation process for the the Biller Genie Sync Manager onto the computer where the company file is stored.
Step 7
Once the Biller Genie Sync Manager has been successfully installed on the computer, it will display that it is not connected.
Step 8
Go back to the QuickBooks Desktop add-on in Biller Genie and click the blue “Generate” button under setup step 2. An agent token will be generated. Click the button below the token to copy it to the clipboard.
Step 9
Navigate back to the Biller Genie Sync Manager App, right click and hit paste in the empty “Agent Token” field in the middle of the App. Then click the blue save button to the right of the pasted token. The Biller Genie Sync Manager will use the token to connect to QuickBooks Desktop. The Biller Genie Sync Manager App status should update to “Connected” when it is ready to be used. It may take a couple of minutes for the status to change from logged in to connected.
Step 10
Now that the Biller Genie Sync Manger App is connected, navigate back to Biller Genie. Click on Add-ons, then click on QuickBooks Desktop. Under setup step 3, click the blue “Connect” button to prompt Biller Genie to connect with QuickBooks Desktop for the first time. As the first connection is happening, a small pop up window will appear to navigate back to QuickBooks Desktop to finish the setup process.
Step 11
Open QuickBooks Desktop and there should be a “Application Certificate” pop up on the screen. The next few steps will give the Biller Genie Sync Manager the authorization to connect with the QuickBooks Desktop Company File. In the application certificate screen, check the third box that says “Yes, always; allow access even if QuickBooks is not running”.
Step 12
After checking the third box in the application certificate screen, a small authorization screen will pop up. Click “Yes” to proceed.
Step 13
After clicking yes in the authorization pop up, the “Application Certificate” screen will open again. Click the drop down under “Login as” below the third option chosen previously and choose the QuickBooks Desktop admin user. Then click continue. The admin user needs to be chosen here to allow Biller Genie to sync automatically even when QuickBooks is closed. If another user is chosen here, it may prevent successful syncing from occurring.
Note: If there is only one QuickBooks Desktop user and it is the admin, there will not be a drop down to choose a user as only one user exists in QuickBooks.
Step 14
After clicking continue in step 12, a “Access Confirmation” dialog box will open. Click done to confirm the chosen user from the previous step.
Step 15
Navigate back to Biller Genie and the QuickBooks Desktop add-on screen should show that it is connected to a company file and a sync is pending. The sync should start shortly. Refresh the browser (Sometimes it takes 5 – 10 minutes), and the green sync button will start to spin as it is starting the process of syncing.
Installing QuickBooks Desktop for Versions 2021 R4 & Later
Step 1
Log into the Biller Genie merchant portal.
Step 2
Click on Add-ons Marketplace in the left side menu.
Step 3
Click Accounting Software in the feature list on the left.
Step 4
Click QuickBooks Desktop Versions 2021 R4 and Later.
Step 5
Install the app
Step 6
Once the app is installed in Biller Genie, log into QuickBooks Desktop as the admin user in single user mode on the computer where the company file is stored.
See Appendix A. which shows how to confirm single-use mode is being used.
Step 7
In QuickBooks Desktop click the “File” menu in the upper left corner, from there click “App Management” towards the bottom, and then click “Manage Web Apps”.
Step 8
Now that the “Web Apps” screen is open, in the search apps field, type Biller Genie. Once the Biller Genie Web app is shown on the list, click “Set Up” on the right side.
Step 9
Once the screen loads, a prompt to log into Biller Genie appears. Enter the Biller Genie merchant portal credentials and click “Log In”.
Step 10
Once successfully logged in, QuickBooks will prompt an Application Certificate dialog box. Under “Do you want to allow this application to read and modify this company file?” check the last option “Yes, always; allow access even if QuickBooks is not running”.
Step 11
After checking the box in step 10, a “Biller Genie – Authorization” dialog box will open. Click yes.
Step 12
After clicking yes in step 11, the “Application Certificate” dialog box will be open again. Click the drop down under “Login as” and choose the admin user. Then click continue.
Step 13
After clicking continue in step 12, a “Access Confirmation” dialog box will open. Click done.
Step 14
After clicking done in step 13, the Biller Genie web app will load with the configured settings.
Note: It’s possible to timeout during the loading process. If that occurs, close the web apps window and restart from step 7.
Step 15
Go back to the Biller Genie merchant portal. The QuickBooks Desktop Add-on should still be on the screen. If it isn’t, click Add-ons on the left side menu, then choose QuickBooks Desktop. Click refresh on step 4.
Step 16
After clicking refresh in step 15, the screen will update, and Biller Genie will be attempting to sync with QuickBooks Desktop.
Step 17
If you have multiple Biller Genie accounts connecting to multiple company files stored on the same QuickBooks Desktop instance on the same computer, please continue to the next steps. If you have a single Biller Genie account connected to a single company file, you are finished.
Step 18
Return to the first Biller Genie merchant portal that has been connected and navigate to the new QuickBooks Desktop add-on. Click Add-ons on the left side menu and the click QuickBooks Desktop.
Step 19
Scroll down to the “QuickBooks Desktop Settings” section. To the right of the Multi-File Mode Enabled setting, click on the toggle to change it from No to Yes, then click Save Settings in the bottom right.
Step 20
When updating the additional Biller Genie accounts and respective company files stored on the same computer, please repeat steps #2 - #27 for each account and file.
Step 21
Once step #27 is completed for each Biller Genie account and the QuickBooks Desktop company file for each has synced, return to the first Biller Genie account that was connected. Navigate to the new QuickBooks Desktop add-on. Scroll down to the “QuickBooks Desktop Settings” section. Highlight, right click, and copy the key to the right of the Multi-File Mode Key setting.
Step 22
Navigate to each of the other Biller Genie accounts and proceed to the QuickBooks Desktop add-on. Scroll down to the “QuickBooks Desktop Settings” section. Enable Multi-File Mode Enabled by toggling from No to Yes. Highlight and delete the existing Multi-File key. Then paste the copied key from the first connected Biller Genie account by right clicking in the empty Multi-File Key field then select paste. Click Save Settings in the bottom right to save the new key.
Step 23
After step #22 is completed for each connected Biller Genie account, the process is complete. It is critical to make sure that each of the Biller Genie accounts connected to different company files on the same QuickBooks Desktop instance on the same computer all have the same Multi-File Key. If they do not, the company files will not be able to autosync.
Appendix A
How to know QuickBooks Desktop is signed in as single-user mode.
- In QuickBooks Desktop, click the “File” menu in the upper left corner. Once the file menu opens mid-way down the menu it will show “Switch to Multi-user Mode”. This means the company file is signed in as single-user mode which is what is needed to get the Biller Genie web app set up.
How to switch from multi-user mode to single-user mode in QuickBooks Desktop.
- In QuickBooks Desktop, click the “File” menu in the upper left corner. Once the file menu opens mid-way down the menu click “Switch to Single-user Mode”.
- Once the switch is competed, QuickBooks will acknowledge this with a dialogue box. Click ok and the company file will be signed in as single-user mode.
Upgrading QuickBooks Desktop to WebConnector3.0
Pre-Check
Before any steps are taken, it is important to make sure that the QuickBooks Admin user has access to the Web Apps Marketplace.
Right Networks
- Is the QuickBooks Desktop hosted on Right Networks? If no, continue to the pre-check steps. If yes, please connect with the Right Networks support team by phone or email to have them add the WebConnector 3.0 executable in the startup folder then run it once manually. This is necessary to allow QuickBooks Desktop and Biller Genie to connect using the QuickBooks Desktop WebConnector 3.0. Once this has been completed, move on to the pre-check steps below.
Servers (Not Right Networks)
- Click here to complete the server steps before moving on to the pre-check.
QuickBooks Desktop Update
- Open QuickBooks Desktop, before logging into the company file click “Help” at the top of the screen and then click “Update QuickBooks Desktop”. Click the “Update Now” tab, check the “Reset Update” box, and then click “Get Updates”. Once the Update Complete message appears, you need to close the QuickBooks software. Reopen QuickBooks Desktop, on the computer screen there may be a pop-up message to “install update”, click "Yes”. Once the installation process has completed, restart the computer. QuickBooks Desktop is now updated to the latest version.
Pre-Check Steps
Step 1
Log into QuickBooks Desktop as the admin user in single user mode on the computer where the company file is stored.
Step 2
Once logged in, click the “File” menu in the upper left corner, from there click “App Management” towards the bottom, and then click “Manage Web Apps”.
Step 3
Once the Web Apps opens, search for Biller Genie. Once the Biller Genie Web App is shown on the list, click the blue “Set Up” button on the right side.
Note: If the Web Apps marketplace does not appear and an Intuit login screen is shown, login with the Intuit account credentials. This means that there is no Intuit account associated with the QuickBooks Desktop Admin user. If It is not possible to log into the Web Apps Marketplace, please contact Inuit to ensure the Intuit account with primary admin access is connected to the QuickBooks Desktop admin user. Intuit account credentials are required to access the Web App Marketplace and setup the Biller Genie web app.
Step 4
Once the screen loads, if a prompt to log into Biller Genie appears, then the pre-check has passed and access to the Web App marketplace is available, and the Web Connector 3.0 is running.
Step 5
After seeing the Biller Genie login screen, proceed to the upgrade steps on the next page.
Upgrading the Biller Genie Sync Manager
Step 1
Log into the Biller Genie merchant portal.
Step 2
Click on Add-ons in the left side menu.
Step 3
Click on the QuickBooks Desktop add-on.
Step 4
Click the yellow Disconnect button under step 3 to disconnect from QuickBooks Desktop.
Step 5
Once the add-on is disconnected, it will need to be uninstalled. On the left side menu, click on Add-ons Marketplace, and then click Accounting Software from the featured list on the left.
Step 6
Click on the QuickBooks Desktop option that is highlighted in green and is labeled as installed.
Step 7
On the next screen, click Uninstall at the bottom right corner.
Step 8
After this is uninstalled, the new QuickBooks Desktop integration add-on will need to be installed. Head back to the Add-ons Marketplace by selecting it on the left side menu again.
Step 9
Click Accounting Software in the featured list on the left.
Step 10
Click QuickBooks Desktop Versions 2021 R4 and Later.
Step 11
Install the app.
Step 12
Once the app is installed in Biller Genie, log into QuickBooks Desktop as the admin user in single user mode on the computer where the company file is stored.
See Appendix A which shows how to confirm single-user mode is being used.
Step 13
In QuickBooks Desktop click “Edit” on the top menu, then click preferences.
The preferences dialog box will open, click “Integrated Applications” on the left side menu and then click the “Company Preferences” tab at the top of the dialog box.
Step 14
The preferences dialog box will open, click “Integrated Applications” on the left side menu and then click the “Company Preferences” tab at the top of the dialog box.
Step 15
Click once on the “Biller Genie Sync Manager” to select it, and then click “Remove”.
Step 16
A dialog box will pop asking to confirm the removal of the Biller Genie Sync Manager application. Click “Yes”.
Step 17
The Biller Genie Sync Manager will now be removed from the application list in the company preferences. Click the blue “OK” button in the upper right corner to exit the preferences menu.
Step 18
In QuickBooks Desktop click the “File” menu in the upper left corner, from there click “App Management” towards the bottom, and then click “Manage Web Apps”.
Step 19
Now that the “Web Apps” screen is open, in the search apps field, type Biller Genie. Once the Biller Genie Web app is shown on the list, click “Set Up” on the right side.
Step 20
Once the screen loads, a prompt to log into Biller Genie appears. Enter the Biller Genie merchant portal credentials and click “Log In”.
Step 21
Once successfully logged in, QuickBooks will prompt an Application Certificate dialog box. Under “Do you want to allow this application to read and modify this company file?” check the last option “Yes, always; allow access even if QuickBooks is not running”.
Step 22
After checking the box in step 10, a “Biller Genie – Authorization” dialog box will open. Click yes.
Step 23
After clicking yes in step 11, the “Application Certificate” dialog box will be open again. Click the drop down under “Login as” and choose the admin user. Then click continue.
Step 24
After clicking continue in step 12, a “Access Confirmation” dialog box will open. Click done.
Step 25
After clicking done in step 13, the Biller Genie web app will load with the configured settings.
Note: It’s possible to timeout during the loading process. If that occurs, close the web apps window and restart from step 7.
Step 26
Go back to the Biller Genie merchant portal. The QuickBooks Desktop Add-on should still be on the screen. If it isn’t, click Add-ons on the left side menu, then choose QuickBooks Desktop. Click refresh on step 4.
Step 27
After clicking refresh in step 15, the screen will update, and Biller Genie will be attempting to sync with QuickBooks Desktop for the first time with the new add-on.
Step 28
Make sure to uninstall the Biller Genie Sync Manager application on your computer as the new add-on now requires it.
Step 29
On most computers click the search/magnifying glass icon on the task bar. Then type “Apps” in the search field and the “Apps & features” system settings option will then appear, click “Open”.
Step 30
The Apps & features dialog box opens. In the search field type “Bill” and the Biller Genie Sync Manager app will appear. Click on it to show options and then click “Uninstall”.
Step 31
After clicking “Uninstall”, a small confirmation dialog box will open. Click “Uninstall”.
Step 32
The Biller Genie Sync Manager will then be removed from the computer.
Step 33
If you have a single Biller Genie account connected to a single company file, you are finished. If you have multiple Biller Genie accounts connecting to multiple company files stored on the same QuickBooks Desktop instance on the same computer, please continue to the next steps.
Multifile Additional Steps
Step 34
Return to the first Biller Genie merchant portal that has been connected and navigate to the new QuickBooks Desktop add-on. Click Add-ons on the left side menu and click QuickBooks Desktop.
Step 35
Scroll down to the “QuickBooks Desktop Settings” section. To the right of the Multi-File Mode Enabled setting, click on the toggle to change it from No to Yes, then click Save Settings in the bottom right.
Step 36
When updating the additional Biller Genie accounts and respective company files stored on the same computer, please repeat steps #2 - #27 for each account and file.
Step 37
Once step #27 is completed for each Biller Genie account and the QuickBooks Desktop company file for each has synced, return to the first Biller Genie account that was connected. Navigate to the new QuickBooks Desktop add-on. Scroll down to the “QuickBooks Desktop Settings” section. Highlight, right click, and copy the key to the right of the Multi-File Mode Key setting.
Step 38
Navigate to each of the other Biller Genie accounts and proceed to the QuickBooks Desktop add-on. Scroll down to the “QuickBooks Desktop Settings” section. Enable Multi-File Mode Enabled by toggling from No to Yes. Highlight and delete the existing Multi-File key. Then paste the copied key from the first connected Biller Genie account by right clicking in the empty Multi-File Key field then select paste. Click Save Settings in the bottom right to save the new key.
Step 39
After step #38 is completed for each connected Biller Genie account, the process is complete. It is critical to make sure that each of the Biller Genie accounts connected to different company files on the same QuickBooks Desktop instance on the same computer all have the same Multi-File Key. If they do not, the company files will not be able to autosync.
Appendix A
1. How to know your QuickBooks Desktop is signed in as single-user mode.
- In QuickBooks Desktop, click the “File” menu in the upper left corner. Once the file menu opens mid-way down the menu it will show “Switch to Multi-user Mode”. This means the company file is signed in as single-user mode which is what is needed to get the Biller Genie web app set up.
2. How to switch from multi-user mode to single-user mode in QuickBooks Desktop.
- In QuickBooks Desktop, click the “File” menu in the upper left corner. Once the file menu opens mid-way down the menu click “Switch to Single-user Mode”.
- Once the switch is competed, QuickBooks will acknowledge this with a dialogue box. Click ok and the company file will be signed in as single-user mode.
Server Steps for QuickBooks Desktop WebConnector 3.0
If the QuickBooks company file is stored a server, the WebConnector executable file needs to be in the computer’s startup to run automatically allowing Biller Genie to connect to QuickBooks Desktop. The specific file that needs to run on startup is called Intuit.QBDT.WebConnector.Application.exe.
This file is most likely located in one of two locations:
- C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\CommonFiles\Intuit\QuickBooks\QBWebConnector3.0
- C:\Program Files (x86)\CommonFiles\Intuit\QuickBooks\WebConnector3.0
Locate the WebConnector executable file and note which path the file is located in as it will be needed for a step below.
Steps to add the startup folder as a shortcut
Step 1
Open the Windows “Run” dialog box which can be done multiple ways.
- Click on the Windows start menu and search for "Run" or use the search button next to the start menu and open the dialog box.
- Right click on the Windows start button and then click “Run” to open the dialog box.
- Press the "Windows key + R" to open the Run dialog box.
Step 2
Once the “Run” dialog box is open, type or copy & paste "shell:startup" in the “Open:” field and press enter. This will open the Startup folder for the current user. Click “OK” to proceed.
Step 3
In the Startup folder, right-click and select "New" and then click "Shortcut".
Step 4
In the "Create Shortcut" window, copy and paste the file path where the WebConnector executable file was located into the empty field. Use the below provided correct path as the executable file has been added to the end of it.
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intuit\QuickBooks\QBWebConnector3.0\Intuit.QBDT.WebConnector.Application.exe
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intuit\QuickBooks\WebConnector3.0\Intuit.QBDT.WebConnector.Application.exe
Step 5
Click "Next" and give the shortcut a name, such as "Intuit.QBDT.Webconnector.Application.exe" and then click finish.
Step 6
Please double-click the shortcut to run it once so that a reboot is not required immediately to get it to work. Once the shortcut is created, the QuickBooks WebConnector 3.0 process will run automatically on startup, allowing QuickBooks Desktop to connect to Biller Genie for the first sync and subsequent syncs.
Step 7
Return back to the pre-check and continue.