Working with Projects in QBO
How do Projects in DesignSmart differ from Projects in QBO?
In DesignSmart, we use the term "Projects" to identify the job, or project, that your firm is undertaking for a specific client. A project in DesignSmart will have these kinds of basic pieces of data:
- A project address
- A client's name
- A billing address
- The sales tax rate
- Ship to addresses
And much, much more.
QuickBooks Online also uses Projects, although they don't contain as much specific data as DesignSmart's projects. However, using projects in QBO is essential for tracking the profit and loss for each project.
QBO Projects Let You Track Profit and Loss More accurately
The main benefit of using projects in QuickBooks Online is for reporting and tracking purposes. Specifically, if a client has more than one project with your firm, you can treat each project separately. Importantly, this means each project can have its own Profit and Loss Report.
Projects in DesignSmart need to be linked to the equivalent project in QBO
For DesignSmart and QBO to communicate efficiently, the project in DesignSmart has to be “linked” to the equivalent project in QBO. Fortunately, this is really easy to do.
How to know if a project in DesignSmart is linked to a project in QBO?
Go to the Project Detail view. If you see three green QB icons, as shown below, then the project is linked to QBO.
How to push projects from DesignSmart and create them in QBO
There are two ways that you can push projects from DesignSmart so they automatically create the equivalent project in QBO:
#1. Let DesignSmart push the project in QBO for you
#2. Manually “push” the project from DesignSmart to QBO
#1. Let DesignSmart create the project in QBO for you
If the project doesn't already exist in QBO, the most straightforward process is to let DesignSmart automatically create the project in QBO for you.
Step 1: Create the project in DesignSmart. For more information, see Project Setup.
Step 2: When you create the first client deposit, or the first invoice, or the first purchase order for the project, DesignSmart will automatically create the project in QBO for you when it sends in one of these transactions.
Just let DesignSmart do the work for you
For most firms, it will be most efficient to let DesignSmart push the project to QBO when it creates to first transaction in QBO.
#2. Manually “push” the project from DesignSmart to QBO
If the project doesn't already exist in QBO, you can manually “push” it to QBO.
Step 1: Create the project in DesignSmart. For more information, see Project Setup.
Step 2: On the Project Detail View, click on QuickBooks Actions and select the Push Project to QuickBooks”/
When there are three green QB icons on the Core Details, then you know the project is linked to the equivalent project in QBO.
When would Push a project to QBO?
It is hard to imagine a scenario in which you would use the push action. It doesn't hurt anything to do this, but it takes a bit more time and DesignSmart will do this for you automatically as explained above.
How to Link projects already in QBO to projects in DesignSmart
Use this method when the project is already in QBO!
Sometimes it might be necessary to enter the client and the project in QBO before designers need to add the project in DesignSmart. When this occurrs, then you will not push the project from DesignSmart into QBO as that would be duplicating data and causing confusion. The best practice in this scenario is to manually add the client and project in DesignSmart, then link to two projects together.
Assumption:
The project and client have already been set up in QBO
Step 1:
Create a New Project in DesignSmart and give it the same name as the one you assigned in QBO. Be sure to enter the client's information as well. In this example, the project name will be Jackson Guest House.
Step 2:
Click the QuickBooks Action menu, then select Link to QuickBooks Project
Step 3:
Click the check box next to the appropriate project, then click Connect selected Project
When you see the three green qb icons, that is confirmation that the projects are linked.