Integrate with QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is an online platform geared towards small to medium-sized businesses who are looking for real-time views into the day-to-day expenses of their business. Features include expense tracking, data entry, mobile compatibility, and accountant access for a fully rounded software experience. 

Our two-way integration with QuickBooks Online builds and syncs a detailed journal entry into your QuickBooks Online Account. We can pull your chart of accounts directly from QuickBooks Online and use your customized accounts to create a journal entry. There are also options for additional levels of granularity within the entry based on earnings types, Gusto departments, and QuickBooks Online classes.

Gusto Accountant Partners who have clients with QuickBooks Online connected to Gusto can track a payroll budget using payroll to revenue ratio, and how much it will cost their client to hire a new employee with our People Analytics tool.

Map your chart of accounts from QuickBooks Online to Gusto

When setting up your mappings you will be prompted to add:

  • Bank Account
  • Earnings Types (Regular, Bonus, Commission, custom earnings, etc.)
  • Employer Taxes
  • Reimbursements
  • Benefit Expenses
  • Benefit Liabilities
  • Deduction/Garnishment Liabilities
  • Owner's Draw

Click here to learn more about mapping and commonly used pairings.

To properly sync over the payroll details through our integration, each of these payroll items will need to be linked to an account that is pulled directly from the Chart of Accounts in QuickBooks Online.

Once all payroll items are matched with the corresponding accounts, the building blocks are in place for the Journal Entry that Gusto will sync over into your accounting software. 

The more accounts you choose when setting up your integration, the more detail there will be in the line entries on your Journal Entry. More detail in the entry results in more detailed reports in your accounting software (profit and loss report, expense reports, outstanding liability reports etc.).

If you don’t see an account you’d like to use, hop into your QuickBooks Online chart of accounts and create an account. Next, click the Refresh chart of accounts button in Gusto. 

To get started:

  1. In your Gusto admin account, head to the App directory.
  2. Choose QuickBooks Online.
  3. Go to the Mapping tab.
  4. For each payroll category you want to map, click Select. Choose the QuickBooks Online account that the Gusto category corresponds with.
    • By default, we will only display common account types for each category. If you do not see the desired account, start typing the account name to map to the account.
  5. Repeat until you've selected an account for each Gusto category. Your progress is automatically saved as you go. A few tools you can use to map accounts more quickly:
    • Map multiple items to the same account at once: check the box next to each item you want to map. Click Actions and choose Edit account type. Type the account name to select it. Click Submit.
    • Show only unmapped categories: next to "Actions," click the filter icon. Choose Display unmapped accounts only, then click Apply.
    • Clear your selections: Uncheck the box next to an item or click Clear all.
Map benefits and deductions

Since Gusto does not take any money for benefits or deductions, we include a mapping for benefit/deduction liabilities. This will create line items within the journal entry and accrue an amount owed for the benefit/deduction. When the benefit/deduction is then paid to the correct party, in QuickBooks Online you can offset your liability and zero out the amount owed. For more info, check out the "Offset benefit liabilities in QuickBooks Online" section of this article.

Customize journal entries: Group your account mappings and classes

To provide more granularity, you have the option to map your chart of accounts by employee, job, departments, or Gusto Projects (available to companies using Gusto Project Tracking). If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can also assign a class to each of the selected grouping options (optional).

Set up grouped mappings

Important: Review the section below related to the desired grouped mapping option before continuing. These sections contain setup information for each grouped mapping type.

  1. In your Gusto admin account, head to the App directory and choose QuickBooks Online.
  2. Go to the Settings tab.
  3. Next to "Journal entry consolidation," click edit.
  4. Select by employee, projects, jobs, or departments.
    • You can map your chart of accounts by just one category.
  5. Click Submit.

The journal entries will be broken out by the grouped mapping selection the next time you sync payrolls to your accounting integration.

Note: Updating your company’s grouped mapping type will delete any overridden mappings associated with the previous journal entry consolidation type. Your company default mappings will be saved. For example, if you switch from consolidating by job to consolidating by department, any overridden mappings for your company’s jobs will not be retained. A reminder message will be displayed when you switch your journal consolidation method. 

Override default mappings

You have the option to override the default mappings for each employee, department, job, or project. This means you can assign different accounts to payroll items at the employee, department, job, or project level. Overriding your company’s default mappings is not required. The journal entries will be broken out by employee, department, job, or project regardless of whether any accounts have overrides. 

  1. Go to the Mapping tab.
  2. Scroll to the “Mappings by employee, project, job, or department” section. For each section you want to map, click Override
  3. If your company uses QuickBooks Classes, you’ll first have the option to choose a tracking category.
    • When exported, mapped tracking categories will be included on the line items that correspond with the grouping option in which they are assigned. See the "QuickBooks Classes" section below. 
  4. For each line item, choose the QuickBooks Online account you want it to correspond with. 
  5. Your progress is saved as you go. When you’re done mapping, click the x icon to return to the main Mappings page.
  6. Repeat for each section you want to map.
Map your chart of accounts by employee

You can add more granularity by mapping your accounts by employee. You can use different accounts for the different payroll items for each employee and contractor. This means you can have the earnings of each employee go to different accounts. This will expand the entry we send over into the accounting software.

As an example, say you have two employees. Before you enable employee mappings, all regular wages earned are sent to one "Salaries and Wages" expense account. After enabling employee mappings, you will see two line items for employee’s regular wages. You will have the option to use separate expense accounts for each employee. When running reports in your accounting software, you will have this additional breakdown.

If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can also map your employees to Classes. See the "QuickBooks Classes" section below. 

These transactions will be exported by employee to your accounting software account. If any employees are left unmapped, they will sync based on the settings you choose under “Default Company Mappings.” 

To map by employee, make sure you have already:

  1. Connected QuickBooks Online to Gusto with the steps above.
  2. Created employee-specific accounts and classes in QuickBooks Online (optional).
  3. Uploaded and mapped your original chart of accounts to Gusto.
Map your chart of accounts by departments

You can add more granularity by mapping your accounts by department. You can use different accounts for the different payroll items within a department. This means you can have the earnings of one department go to one account and the earnings of a second department go to a different account. This will expand the entry we send over into the accounting software.

As an example, say you have two departments: Design and Marketing. Before you enable department mappings, all regular wages earned are sent to one "Salaries and Wages" expense account. After enabling department mappings, you will see two line items for each department’s earnings. You can use separate expense accounts for each department. When running reports in your accounting software, you will have this additional breakdown.

If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can also map your departments to Classes. See the "QuickBooks Classes" section below. 

These transactions will be exported by department to your accounting software account. If any departments are left unmapped, they will sync based on the settings you choose under “Default Company Mappings.” 

To map by department, make sure you have already:

  • Connected QuickBooks Online to Gusto with the steps above.
  • Created department-specific accounts and classes in QuickBooks Online (optional).
  • Assigned employees/contractors to a department in Gusto.
  • Uploaded and mapped your original chart of accounts in Gusto. 
Map your chart of accounts by job

Job mapping is another way to add additional granularity. This option allows you to map accounts by each unique job title in Gusto. For employees with multiple jobs, each job can be mapped independently, and payroll costs associated with each job will be split out on the synced journal entry. This will expand the entry we send over into the accounting software.

As an example, say you employ cashiers and cooks at your business. Before you enable job mappings, all regular wages earned are sent to one "Salaries and Wages" expense account. After enabling job mappings, you will see two line items for each job’s earnings. You can use separate expense accounts for each job. When running reports in your accounting software, you will have this additional breakdown.

If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can also map your jobs to Classes. See the "QuickBooks Classes" section below. 

Assign employees to jobs

Before you map your chart of accounts by jobs, make sure each employee is assigned to at least one job. Here's how:

Salaried employees: Edit their job title

Hourly employees:

  1. Click the People section and select Team members.
  2. Click your employee’s name.
  3. Go to the Pay tab.
  4. In the "Compensation" section, click Add Earning Type or Pay Rate.
  5. Select the earning type or additional pay rate.
  6. Select a job title from the drop-down list.
    • If the desired job title does not exist, type in a new job title to create a new one.
  7. Add amount, earning period, and default hours per pay period.
  8. Click Save.

Hourly employees can have as many pay rates or jobs as you'd like. If an employee has multiple jobs, their paystub lists each job and its associated earnings. 

For employees who have not been assigned a job title, their expenses are mapped based on the settings you choose under “Default Company Mappings.” 

These transactions will be exported by job to your accounting software account. If any jobs are left unmapped, they will sync based on the default company mappings.

To map by job, make sure you've already:

  • Connected QuickBooks Online to Gusto with the steps above.
  • Created job-specific accounts and classes in your accounting software (optional)
  • Assigned each employee to one or more jobs in Gusto.
  • Uploaded and mapped your original chart of accounts in Gusto. 
Map your chart of accounts by projects

Mapping by projects (as opposed to jobs or departments) is good for businesses with multiple people in the same role and when some employees work hours in one role and other hours in another role. Please note that consolidating by project is available to customers using Gusto Project Tracking.

As an example, say you have employees tracking time to two Gusto Projects. Before you enable project mappings, all regular wages earned are sent to one "Salaries and Wages" expense account. After enabling project mappings, you will see two line items for each project’s earnings. You can use separate expense accounts for each project. When running reports in your accounting software, you will have this additional breakdown.

If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can also map your projects to Classes. See the "QuickBooks Classes" section below. The same expense account can be used for each team and have an assigned QuickBooks Class—this keeps the reports in QuickBooks much cleaner and easier to understand.

These transactions will be exported by project to your accounting software account. If any projects are left unmapped, they will sync based on the settings you choose under “Default Company Mappings.” 

To map by project, make sure you've already:

  • Connected QuickBooks Online to Gusto with the steps above.
  • Created project-specific accounts and classes in your accounting software (optional)
  • Uploaded and mapped your original chart of accounts in Gusto.
  • Set up Gusto Project Tracking.
QuickBooks Classes

If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can map employees, departments, jobs, or Gusto Projects to Classes. Using Classes is optional and must be used in conjunction with the Grouped Account Mapping options. After applying your desired QuickBooks Classes, the payroll entry will tie to your dimensional reporting needs in QuickBooks Online. 

Set Up QuickBooks Classes

  1. Go to the Mapping tab.
  2. Scroll to the “Mappings by employee, project, job, or department” section. For each section you want to map, click Override
  3. At the top, click the dropdown under "Class mapping."
  4. Select the desired tracking category or begin typing to search across your tracking categories. 
    • If you do not see the desired tracking category, click the link to refresh your chart of accounts. 
    • Be sure to tick the "Classes" option when exporting your chart of accounts.
  5. Repeat for each employee, department, job, or project you would like to map.
  6. The next time you sync your payroll, the entry will tie to the appropriate QuickBooks Class.
Grouped mapping options for contractor payments

Consolidating journal entries by employee and department are compatible with contractors.

Consolidating by job and project are not compatible with contractors. Job titles and Gusto Projects are not currently supported with contractor profiles. If your company pays contractors and uses job or project consolidation, contractor payments will be synced based on the default company mappings. 

FAQs

Mapping

If I update my mappings, can I re-sync a payroll to update the journal entry?

Yes.

Do you book the wage expense as gross wages or net wages?

Gross wages — the wage expense will include employee pay, employee taxes, and employee deductions. Employer taxes and employer contributions will have their own expense line item.

How do I break out individual employee wages?

You can change the journal consolidation method to “by employee.” 

How do employee taxes and employee benefit contributions synced to QuickBooks Online?

They’re always included in Gross Wages & Salaries. 

Do you break out individual taxes?

Gusto handles all of your tax payments automatically. Because of this, you do not need to track tax liabilities. When we sync entries, we record employer taxes as expenses. 

You can select for employer taxes to be broken by each individual tax or lump them together. You’ll find this option on the Settings tab. 

At this time, we only support one account mapping which will be used across all employer taxes. 

Employee taxes are not broken out individually for mapping or in journal entries, as these values are included in Gross Wages. 

Can I include employee benefit deductions on the Journal Entry?

Employee deductions are included in the gross wages amounts that are reported on the Journal Entry. These are not tracked separately because they're not an additional expense to the company on top of what's already reported for wages.

Employee deduction amounts are included in the Benefit Liability along with the Employer Contributions (see Benefits & Garnishments above).

How do contractor payments sync over?

You have two options for syncing contractor payments. See step 11 of the "Connect to QuickBooks Online from Gusto" section above for more information.

Do you support QuickBooks Classes?

Yes. Please see the “Customize Journal Entries” section above. 

Can I use more than one tracking category or journal consolidation method? For example, can I consolidate my journal entries by employee and by job?

No, not at this time. You must choose to consolidate by one method (by employee, department, job, or project). Next, you may select one class for each employee, department, job, or project. 

What if I want to break out each employees' payroll information?

You can change the journal consolidation method to “by employee.” 

Can unique reimbursements be broken out through separate mappings?

No, all reimbursements will be pushed over as a lump sum (e.g. Cell Phone Reimbursement + Gym Reimbursement + Office Supplies Reimbursement, etc.).

What if I will not be using one of the payroll items listed?

The item will still need to be mapped to an account. If the payroll item isn't applicable, nothing will come over related to the account that is selected within your entry. Only payroll items that apply to a processed payroll will populate within the synced entry.

The chart of accounts in Gusto does not look correct. What should I do?

First, click the Refresh chart of accounts button in Gusto. If this does not resolve the issue, you may have linked the wrong QuickBooks account. Disconnect the integration and reconnect to the correct QuickBooks account. 

How do I handle checks?

We recommend printing checks from your Gusto account or handwriting them. You can then reconcile the journal entry from Gusto when the checks are cashed by your employees. We do incorporate the amount of each check in our Journal entry.

Syncing

Is there a way to retroactively sync all payrolls once I enable auto-sync?

Auto-sync will only work for the payrolls moving forward from the time it is set up. Any payrolls run before auto-sync was enabled will need to be manually synced.

What does the timestamp indicate?

The exact time Gusto successfully synced a payroll into the accounting software.

Can I re-sync an entry that has already been reconciled?

You will need to un-reconcile an entry before you can re-sync it. This includes unmatching any bank transactions with the Journal Entries. QuickBooks Online considers matching as partial reconciliation.

Can I sync international contractor payments to QuickBooks Online?

Yes, both US-based and non-US based contractor payments can be synced. To do so, go to the Pay section in Gusto and choose Pay history. Go to the Contractor payment history tab and select a payment to sync.

Can I sync Gusto or NEXT insurance invoices to QuickBooks Online?

Not at this time.