Connecting QuickBooks to EDI: A Guide for Small Business Suppliers

Most small suppliers who start selling to major retailers are running QuickBooks as their primary business system. The gap between EDI and QuickBooks — where orders arrive in one system and need to be manually entered into another — is one of the most common pain points we hear about.

The Manual Process Problem

Without integration, the typical QuickBooks EDI workflow looks like this:

1. EDI 850 arrives
2. Someone reads the PO from the EDI portal
3. They manually enter a sales order in QuickBooks
4. When the order ships, someone creates the ASN manually
5. When invoicing, someone manually sends the EDI 810

This process is slow, error-prone, and doesn’t scale. With even a modest order volume, it becomes a full-time job.

How QuickBooks-EDI Integration Works

Spring Systems’ QuickBooks integration creates a direct link:

Inbound flow:

• EDI 850 arrives → automatically creates a customer order in QuickBooks
• EDI 860 (PO change) → automatically updates the order

Outbound flow:

• QuickBooks marks order as shipped → automatically generates and sends 856 ASN
• QuickBooks creates invoice → automatically generates and sends 810

QuickBooks Desktop vs. QuickBooks Online

Spring Systems supports both QuickBooks Desktop (Enterprise, Pro, Premier) and QuickBooks Online. The integration approach differs slightly:

• QuickBooks Desktop: Uses a local connector application
• QuickBooks Online: Uses QuickBooks’ API for a cloud-native connection

What You Need to Get Started

• Active QuickBooks subscription
• Your customer records configured for each retailer
• Spring Systems EDI account

Setup typically takes 3–5 business days.