The Outbound Sync Queue covers the same problem space as the Payment Sync Queue — Biller Genie trying to push changes back to your accounting software (QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or Xero) and something going wrong — except this queue is specifically about line items that need to be added to existing invoices. The two most common cases: a late fee that Biller Genie assessed needs to be added as a line on the original invoice in QBO/Xero, or a technology fee (surcharge / dual pricing fee) that was applied at payment time needs to be appended.
Why this report matters: if a late fee or technology fee shows up on the Biller Genie side of an invoice but is missing from the same invoice in your accounting software, this is where the answer lives. Same model as the Payment Sync Queue — every row here is a fee Biller Genie collected but couldn't append to your books, and the error message tells you what to fix.
Where to find it
From the main menu, click Reports > Outbound Sync Queue. The page has two panels:
- Sync Queue (top) — line items currently stuck. Your daily action list.
- History (bottom) — line items that have already either synced successfully or been dequeued.
What ends up in this queue
- Late fee line items — Biller Genie's Late Fee Manager Add-On assessed a late fee on an invoice. The fee line needs to be appended to the same invoice in your accounting software so your books reflect it.
- Technology Fee line items — when a customer paid by credit card and you have Surcharging or Dual Pricing on, the surcharge / dual-pricing fee gets added as a line item that needs to flow back.
- Returned check / ACH fees — when a check or ACH payment rejects, the returned-check fee gets added as a line item.
- Invoice updates — when something on a Biller-Genie-local invoice needs to push to your accounting software.
Note: payments (not line items) flow through a different queue — see Payment Sync Queue and History. The two reports work the same way but cover different kinds of changes.
What's on the Sync Queue
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Sync ID | Links to the underlying Transaction, Invoice, or Customer record depending on the item type. For deleted invoices, the column falls back to plain text. |
| Sync Action | What Biller Genie is trying to do. Example: Updated Invoice: 1024 - Late Fee (or "Sync Invoice: ..." on the History side). |
| Created On | When the queue entry was created. |
| Last Sync Attempt | When Biller Genie last tried to push it. If this is recent and the item is still on the queue, the push is failing repeatedly. |
| Error Desc | The error message returned by the accounting software. The most useful column — tells you what's wrong. |
| Actions | A Dequeue button on rows that link to an invoice. Dequeue removes the row — it does NOT retry. |
How retries work
Same model as the Payment Sync Queue. Background jobs run on a schedule:
- QuickBooks Online and Xero: every 5 minutes.
- QuickBooks Desktop: every 2 minutes when the Web Connector is running.
There's no fixed retry budget that gives up after N attempts on QBO or Xero — the queue keeps retrying as long as the row is there. QuickBooks Desktop has one exception: line items that fail with the "invoice closed" error (code 3171) auto-dequeue after 3 retries, on the assumption that the period isn't going to be reopened. Stale rows (over 365 days old) get auto-dequeued daily at 9:00 AM with the Error Desc "Automatically dequeued due to age."
Common error messages and how to fix them
"Make sure the Biller Genie [late fee / technology fee] item is active in your QuickBooks Account"
What it means: Biller Genie adds late fees and technology fees to your invoices using a dedicated BG Late Fee or BG Technology Fee item in your accounting software's Products & Services list. That item has been deleted, renamed, or set to inactive in your accounting software. QuickBooks Online error code 2500.
How to fix it: Open your accounting software and re-activate the BG item:
- QuickBooks Online: Settings > Products and Services. Find "BG Late Fee" or "BG Technology Fee," click it, toggle Active back on.
- QuickBooks Desktop: Lists > Item List. Find the BG item, right-click > Edit, uncheck "Item is inactive."
- Xero: Accounting > Chart of Accounts (or Inventory Items). Find the BG account/item, set status back to Active.
After re-activating, the next sync cycle picks up the queued items automatically — no need to dequeue.
"The invoice contains a line item with an invalid format for either the quantity or unit price (rate) field"
What it means: One of the existing line items on the invoice in your accounting software has bad math — the quantity times the unit price doesn't equal the line amount, or one of those fields has an invalid format. QuickBooks Online error code 6070. The fee line itself is fine; the problem is an existing line on the invoice that QBO won't accept when we try to update.
How to fix it: Open the invoice in QBO. Look at every line. Find the one whose quantity × unit price doesn't match the line amount, or whose unit price has unusual characters. Fix it. Save. The next sync cycle picks it up.
"Transaction has been deleted" / "Object not found"
What it means: The invoice we're trying to add the fee line to was deleted in your accounting software. QuickBooks Online code 6240; QuickBooks Desktop code 3120; Xero "Invoice not of valid status for modification."
How to fix it: Either recreate the invoice in your accounting software and let Biller Genie sync the fee line, OR dequeue. If you dequeue, the fee is still recorded in Biller Genie but won't appear on the invoice in QBO/Xero — you'd need to add it manually if you want both systems to match.
For QuickBooks Desktop, this auto-dequeues after 3 failed retries.
"Stale Object" / "Stale Reference"
What it means: The invoice was edited in your accounting software at the same moment Biller Genie was trying to add the fee line. QuickBooks Online code 5010. Transient.
How to fix it: Wait for the next sync cycle. Self-resolves.
"Closed transaction cannot be edited" / period locked
What it means: The accounting period containing the invoice is closed. Your accounting software won't allow any modification including adding a line item. QuickBooks Online code 6000; QuickBooks Desktop code 3171.
How to fix it: Either reopen the period briefly in your accounting software, let sync run, then re-close — OR accept that this specific fee won't make it to the historical invoice. If you dequeue, the fee remains in Biller Genie's records but the AS invoice won't show it.
For QuickBooks Desktop, this auto-dequeues after 3 failed retries (BG assumes you don't want to reopen the period).
"Authentication Failed" / OAuth disconnect
What it means: Biller Genie's connection to your accounting software is broken — same as on the Payment Sync Queue. QuickBooks Online code 3200; Xero "AuthenticationUnsuccessful" / "Forbidden."
How to fix it: Reconnect from Add-Ons. Queued items resume on the next cycle.
"Account could not be found" / "Account code 'XYZ' is not a valid code" (Xero only)
What it means: The Xero account that the BG fee item maps to no longer exists or has been renamed.
How to fix it: Go to Add-Ons > Xero and review the account mapping for BG Late Fee / BG Technology Fee. Re-select the correct account in Xero, save, and the queued items will sync on the next cycle.
Dequeue, not retry
When dequeueing is the right move
- You've manually added the line item to the AS invoice already.
- The invoice was deliberately deleted / voided in the AS and you don't want to recreate it.
- The period is closed and you don't want to reopen it (BG and AS will permanently disagree on that one invoice's total — accept this).
When NOT to dequeue
- Transient errors (Stale Object, timeout) — let the next cycle retry.
- "BG Late Fee item is inactive" — re-activate the item; the queue clears itself.
- Authentication failures — reconnect; the queue clears itself.
- Anything you don't fully understand — contact support@billergenie.com first.
Why your two systems can disagree on totals if you dequeue
Biller Genie tracks fees as line items applied at the BG side of the invoice. If a fee can't sync to your accounting software AND you dequeue it, the Biller Genie invoice total will be higher than the accounting software invoice total by the fee amount. This is mostly fine for occasional one-off issues but can become a real reconciliation headache if it happens frequently — for example, if you have a customer base with lots of late fees and the BG Late Fee item keeps getting deactivated.
Recommendation: review the Outbound Sync Queue weekly. A consistently growing queue is a sign that one of two things needs attention: (1) a configuration issue (fee item deactivated, period locked too tight, integration disconnected), or (2) the fee strategy itself needs adjustment.