QuickBooks Online / Inventory
Inventory software that integrates with QuickBooks Online: what reaches the books
Short answer. Most inventory tools keep quantities to themselves and send QuickBooks the accounting: invoices, bills and cost of goods sold. Cin7 Core and Katana post COGS automatically and suit multichannel sellers and makers. inFlow pushes invoices, bills and COGS and syncs payments both ways. SOS Inventory and Fishbowl are built around QuickBooks; Zoho Inventory suits Zoho users. Check your QuickBooks plan: several need Plus or Advanced.
Check before you connect
- QuickBooks planSeveral tools need QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced, or do not support Simple Start.
- Who owns stockDecide whether inventory lives in the app or in QuickBooks; running both causes duplicate COGS.
- COGS timingSome post COGS daily, some on delivery, some as journals; your accountant should agree the method.
- Currency and regionBase currency and country usually must match between the two systems.
Connections, by situation
Multichannel sellers
Cin7 Core
- →Purchase invoices as bills
- →Sales invoices (per channel)
- →Credit notes, payments, refunds
- →COGS
- ←Open invoices and bills (opening balances)
Cin7 Core exports bills, sales invoices per channel, credit notes, payments and daily COGS, and can consolidate sales into daily journals.
Watch out: Needs QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced; consolidation applies to sales only.
Small manufacturers
Katana
- →Sales orders as invoices
- →Purchase orders as bills
- →COGS journal on delivery
- ←Invoice payment status
Katana turns sales orders into invoices and purchase orders into bills, posts COGS when orders are delivered and pulls payment status back.
Watch out: Bills need QuickBooks Essentials or higher; COGS posts only on delivery.
Stockrooms that want payments in sync
inFlow Inventory
- →Invoiced sales orders as invoices
- →Received purchase orders as bills
- →COGS and inventory value
- ⇄Payments
inFlow pushes invoiced orders as invoices, received purchase orders as bills, COGS and inventory value, and syncs payments both ways.
Watch out: It does not push quantities or serial numbers; records created in QuickBooks do not flow back.
Built for QuickBooks users
SOS Inventory
- ⇄Customers, vendors, items
- →Invoices
- →Shipments as journal entries
SOS Inventory syncs customers, vendors and items both ways and sends invoices and shipment journals to QuickBooks Online.
Watch out: SOS sales orders do not sync, and QuickBooks bundles cause errors.
Warehouses and manufacturing
Fishbowl
- →Inventory adjustments
- →Sales orders as invoices, COGS
- →Customer payments
- →Completed work orders
- ←Items, vendors, customers (initial import)
Fishbowl posts adjustments, invoices, COGS, payments and completed work orders to QuickBooks Online.
Watch out: Supports QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced, and the connection must be re-authorised every 90 days.
Zoho users
Zoho Inventory
- ⇄Chart of accounts
- ⇄Customers
- →Invoices, credit notes, payments
- →Bills and bill payments
- →Inventory asset / COGS journals (optional)
Zoho Inventory exports invoices, credit notes, payments, bills and optional COGS journals, with accounts and customers synced both ways.
Watch out: One QuickBooks organisation only, and line discounts become invoice-level discounts.
Compatibility matrix
| Connection | Built by | Direction | Timing | QuickBooks Online plans | App plans | Region / currency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cin7 Core | Built by the app vendor | ⇄ both ways | Scheduled: COGS exported daily; optional daily consolidation into journals. | QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced (Essentials limited) | Cin7 Core plans | Base currency must match |
| Katana | Built by the app vendor | ⇄ both ways | On each event: Documents sync as orders progress; COGS when fully delivered. | Bills need QuickBooks Essentials or higher | Katana plans | Not stated |
| inFlow Inventory | Built by the app vendor | ⇄ both ways | On each event: Pushes when orders are invoiced or received. | QuickBooks US, Canada, UK and Australia | inFlow plans | US, CA, UK, AU |
| SOS Inventory | Built by the app vendor | ⇄ both ways | When you send it: Initial sync on connection, then “Sync now”. | Not stated on pages checked | SOS plans | Not stated |
| Fishbowl | Built by the app vendor | ⇄ both ways | Scheduled: Exports on a schedule you set (FAQ); newer pages describe posting as work happens. | QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced | Fishbowl plans | Not stated |
| Zoho Inventory | Built by the app vendor | ⇄ both ways | Scheduled: Daily auto-sync from QuickBooks; you choose frequency for exports. | Not stated on pages checked | Zoho Inventory plans | Same country and base currency required |
→ into QuickBooks Online · ← from QuickBooks Online · ⇄ both ways · ? not stated. Directions are per object in the cards above; the matrix shows the overall pattern.
Documented limits
| Connection | Limits the vendor documents |
|---|---|
| Cin7 Core | Not QuickBooks Desktop or Simple Start. Consolidation applies to sales only, not purchases. |
| Katana | COGS is optional and only posts once an order is Delivered. |
| inFlow Inventory | Inventory quantities and serial numbers are not pushed. Records created in QuickBooks do not flow back, except payments. |
| SOS Inventory | SOS sales orders do not sync to QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks bundles are not compatible and cause sync errors. |
| Fishbowl | QuickBooks Online connection must be re-authorised every 90 days, per Fishbowl. |
| Zoho Inventory | One QuickBooks organisation per Zoho Inventory organisation. Line-item discounts become invoice-level discounts. |
One source of truth for stock
When an inventory app is connected, turn off QuickBooks’ own quantity tracking for the items it manages, or follow the vendor’s guidance exactly. Most duplicate-COGS problems come from both systems tracking the same items.
Before you connect
Count stock, match the inventory asset balance in QuickBooks to the app’s valuation, and close old open orders so they are not invoiced twice.
Sources
Other QuickBooks Online integration guides
- QuickBooks Online CRM integrations: what actually syncs between your CRM and your books
- QuickBooks Online ecommerce integrations: Shopify, Amazon and WooCommerce sales in your books
- Expense management integrations for QuickBooks Online: cards, receipts and reimbursements
- Payroll software that integrates with QuickBooks Online: how each one posts payroll
- Time tracking that integrates with QuickBooks Online: for payroll, invoices or both