Next Steps: Connect Open Pantry to QuickBooks Online (QBO)

This guide explains how Open Pantry and QuickBooks Online (QBO) work together, what gets synced, how matching works (products + customers), and what we need from you to go live smoothly.

How Open Pantry + QBO work together

Open Pantry is your operational source of truth for:

• Products (SKU / pack size / descriptions)
• Customer-specific pricing and price tiers
• Ordering workflow and order history

QBO remains the financial source of truth for:

• Invoicing + accounts receivable
• Reconciliation
• Financial reporting and tax reporting

Typical workflow

1. A restaurant places an order in Open Pantry
2. Open Pantry exports the order into QBO as an Invoice (unsent)
3. You review in QBO and send/finalise the invoice from QBO

In QBO, an Invoice is used when the customer pays later; a Sales Receipt is used when the customer pays immediately. QuickBooks+1

Seeding your integration (recommended first step)

If you already have an established QBO file, seeding helps reduce duplicates and makes matching more reliable.

What we can seed:

Option A — Pull from QBO into Open Pantry

• Seed Customers from QBO
• Seed Products & Services (items) from QBO

Option B — Seed via export

• You export customers/items from QBO and we use the file to align matches

If you’ve been invoicing from QBO for a while and have a long product list, seeding is usually worth it.

What gets sent from Open Pantry to QBO

Commonly synced:

• Customers (matched or created)
• Products & Services items (matched or created)
• Orders exported as Invoices
• Line items: quantity, unit price, description
• Tax treatment (taxable / non-taxable + rate)
• Freight/fees (if applicable)

Usually not synced:

• Inventory/COGS journals (unless explicitly part of your setup)

Income accounts (GL) mapping in QBO

In QBO, each Product/Service item has an Income account. QuickBooks

If you want your existing GL structure

If you want items mapped to specific income accounts (and/or freight to a different account), tell us what you want and we’ll configure it.

In QBO you typically manage/confirm item income accounts via Settings (gear) → Products and services → Edit item → Income account. QuickBooks+1

Tax mapping (taxable vs tax-free + rates)

QBO sales tax is managed in the Sales Tax Center (Taxes → Sales tax), where you set up tax agencies/rates and defaults. QuickBooks+1

What we need to map:

• Your tax-free / non-taxable handling (for tax-free products or customers where applicable)
  
• Freight tax treatment (taxable vs non-taxable, if different)Note - Your standard taxable sales rate (e.g., GST) will be determined in QBO based on your location.

Default behaviour

• If you already have taxable and tax-free set up in QBO, we can map Open Pantry’s taxable/non-taxable products accordingly.
  
• If you want specific rules (e.g., “all new items non-taxable” or customer defaults), confirm your preference.

QBO supports default sales tax settings, including options like marking new customers/products taxable and selecting a default sales tax. QuickBooks

Product matching (Open Pantry → QBO “Products & Services”)

In QBO, items live under Products and Services and are used on invoices/sales forms. QuickBooks+1

Matching Hierarchy

Open Pantry matches each product to QBO using this order:

1. Previously linked QBO Item ID (most reliable)
2. SKU / Item Code (recommended)
3. Exact name match (fallback)
4. If no match → Create a new Product/Service item in QBO (if auto-create is enabled) A product will be created with fields: Type=Inventory, Quantity_on_hand = 1.

We suggest creating items(products) in Open Pantry and letting it sync to QBO, however if an item is created in QBO

It will be created with:

• Name + SKU/Item code (where supported)
• Income account (default unless you provide a mapping)
• Taxable/non-taxable setting (based on your mapping)

Customer matching (Open Pantry → QBO “Customers”)

In QBO, customers live under Sales → Customers and use a display name. QuickBooks+1

Matching Hierarchy

1. Previously linked QBO Customer ID
2. Email match (if unique)
3. Account/Customer number (if you use one)
4. Exact name/display name match
5. Search by customer address
6. If no match → Create a new Customer in QBO (if auto-create is enabled)

Notes on names and IDs

• QBO uses a customer Display name across sales transactions. QuickBooks+1
• Once linked, we rely on QBO’s internal customer/item IDs to prevent mismatches (merges/deletes in QBO may require re-linking).

How often new Open Pantry products sync to QBO

Open Pantry checks for new products added in Open Pantry and pushes them to QBO every 24 hours otherwise upon invoice.

What we need from you (QBO setup checklist)

Please send:

1. QBO file/organisation name (and which region/version if relevant)
2. Confirm export type: Invoices (unsent) (default)
3. Default Income account for sales
4. Sales tax setup:
   • Taxable rate (e.g., GST)
   • Tax-free / non-taxable mapping
   • Freight tax treatment
5. Auto-create preferences:
   • Auto-create missing Products & Services items? Yes/No
   • Auto-create missing Customers? Yes/No
6. Any special mapping rules (different income accounts by category, freight rules, etc.)

Go-live checklist

• ✅ Integration connected
• ✅ Seeding completed (if required)
• ✅ Test export with 1–2 orders
• ✅ Confirm:
  • correct customer match/creation
  • correct product match/creation + income accounts
  • correct taxable vs tax-free behaviour
• ✅ Team aligned: invoices are sent from QBO
• ✅ Go live