Does QuickBooks do EDI? How EDI works with QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks doesn’t send or receive EDI files by itself. Here is what a retailer’s EDI requirement means for a QuickBooks business, and how orders, invoices and payments reach your books.
QuickBooks Online is where your invoices and payments live. EDI is how a retailer sends you orders and expects your invoices back. They don’t speak the same language, so the question isn’t whether QuickBooks does EDI, but what connects the two.
Key takeaways
- QuickBooks Online does not create, send or receive EDI files on its own. A retailer that requires EDI needs an EDI service between you and them.
- The EDI service exchanges the files with your retailer; an integration then records them in QuickBooks, so nobody retypes orders or payments.
- With Weredi, an incoming
850becomes a client invoice, an incoming820a client payment, and the810you send is recorded as an invoice.
Is QuickBooks Online EDI compliant?
Not by itself. QuickBooks Online has no X12 reader or writer and no AS2 or SFTP connection to a retailer, so it cannot receive an 850 purchase order or send an 810 invoice in the format your buyer requires. Being EDI capable takes an EDI service that handles the files and the connection. QuickBooks stays your accounting system.
What goes from EDI into QuickBooks Online?
| EDI document | Direction | Recorded in QuickBooks Online as |
|---|---|---|
850 purchase order | From your customer | A client invoice |
820 payment / remittance | From your customer | A client payment |
810 invoice | To your customer | A client invoice |
810 invoice | From your supplier | A supplier bill |
820 payment | To your supplier | A bill payment |
One sale, one invoice in your books A single sale often involves both documents: the retailer’s 850 comes in, and your 810 goes back out. Each can be recorded as a client invoice, so pick one per trading partner to avoid counting the sale twice. Choose the 850 to have the invoice in QuickBooks as soon as the order arrives, or the 810 to have it match exactly what you shipped and billed, after partial shipments, substitutions or price corrections.
Each flow is switched on per trading partner and per document. A default mapping places the customer, lines, quantities and prices; where your retailer’s item or store codes differ from your QuickBooks names, a lookup table translates them.
Does it work in both directions?
No, and that is deliberate. EDI documents are written into QuickBooks Online; nothing is read back out of it. Your ship notices and invoices to the retailer are built in Weredi from the order, checked against the retailer’s guide, and then recorded in QuickBooks. QuickBooks stays the record of your books, and Weredi the record of what your trading partners sent and received.
Which plan?
The QuickBooks Online connection is part of Weredi Plus and Enterprise, and is on during the 14-day free trial. More on all four systems in connecting EDI to your accounting and on the ERP and accounting integration page.
Questions
Can QuickBooks Online send EDI invoices?
Not by itself. QuickBooks Online has no EDI format or connection. An EDI service builds the 810 invoice, sends it to the retailer and records it in QuickBooks Online.
Does an EDI purchase order show up in QuickBooks Online?
With Weredi Plus and the flow switched on, each incoming 850 from that partner is recorded as a client invoice in QuickBooks Online.
Should the 850 or the 810 become the invoice in QuickBooks Online?
One of them, per trading partner, never both, or the sale is counted twice. The 850 puts the invoice in QuickBooks when the order arrives; the 810 makes it match what you actually shipped and billed.
Does my retailer need to approve QuickBooks?
No. Retailers test your EDI files and your connection. The accounting system behind them is your choice.
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Weredi Plus records EDI orders, invoices and payments in QuickBooks Online. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card.