QuickBooks Integration
Payments & AccountingWhat It Does
QuickBooks is the leading small business accounting software that helps real estate professionals track income, manage expenses, categorize transactions, generate financial reports, and prepare for taxes—all without needing an accounting degree. For agents and brokerages, QuickBooks serves as the financial system of record: logging commission income as it arrives, categorizing business expenses (marketing, mileage, home office, professional fees), tracking client invoices, generating profit & loss statements, and preparing year-end tax documents like 1099s for contractors and W-2s for employees.
Why Real Estate Professionals Use It
Real estate professionals have unique accounting challenges: income is lumpy (four $15k commission checks in Q1, one $8k check in Q2), expenses span dozens of categories (marketing, MLS fees, licensing, E&O insurance, mileage), and tax deductions are complex (home office, vehicle depreciation, client entertainment). QuickBooks is built for this. It tracks mileage automatically via mobile app ($.67/mile deduction adds up fast), categorizes expenses to maximize deductions, and generates reports that show 'I spent $18k on marketing this year and earned $145k in commissions—what's my ROI per channel?'
AI Solutions for Payments
CTO's Guide to AI Implementation
Security, compliance, and vendor evaluation frameworks for AI operations
AI Transaction Coordinator
Automate document collection, deadline tracking, and stakeholder updates
Commission & Pipeline Tracker
Real-time dashboard showing deal progress and expected commissions
Key Features for Real Estate
Discover how QuickBooks powers real estate automation workflows
Automated Bank and Credit Card Syncing
Connect bank accounts and credit cards to automatically import transactions daily. QuickBooks learns your categorization patterns and auto-categorizes recurring expenses. Review and confirm categories via mobile app or web dashboard in minutes.
Connect your business credit card. QuickBooks imports: Zillow ad charge → suggests 'Marketing' category. MLS monthly fee → suggests 'Subscriptions'. Starbucks → suggests 'Meals'. Approve suggested categories in 30 seconds vs manually entering each expense. Saves 5+ hours/month on bookkeeping.
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Automation Workflows
Ready-to-deploy workflows powered by QuickBooks + NextAutomation
Auto-Create Invoice When Deal Closes
When a deal closes in your CRM, this workflow automatically creates a QuickBooks invoice for your commission, marks it as 'Paid' if funds received, calculates brokerage split expense, and updates year-to-date commission tracking—eliminating manual invoice creation and ensuring every closed deal is recorded in your accounting system.
1CRM webhook fires when deal status changes to 'Closed'
2n8n extracts deal data: property address, sale price, commission amount, close date, buyer/seller name
3Calculate commission: If sale price $500k and commission 3%, commission = $15,000
4n8n calls QuickBooks API to create invoice: Customer = [Buyer/Seller Name], Item = 'Real Estate Commission', Amount = $15,000, Date = [Close Date]
Every closed deal automatically recorded in accounting system within seconds. No risk of forgetting to invoice or log commission. Accurate YTD income tracking for tax planning and goal monitoring. Agent sees real-time net income after splits. Accountant gets complete records at tax time without chasing missing invoices. Brokerage has clean P&L showing gross revenue, agent payouts, and net profit.
Triggers & Actions
Connect QuickBooks to your workflows with powerful triggers and actions
Triggers
New Invoice Created
Fires when a new invoice is created in QuickBooks (manually or via automation).
When commission invoice created after deal closes, trigger workflow to send agent confirmation email and update commission tracking dashboard.
Invoice Paid
Fires when an invoice status changes to 'Paid' (payment received).
When commission payment received from escrow and invoice marked paid, trigger workflow to calculate agent's net after brokerage split and send payment notification.
New Expense Added
Fires when a new expense transaction is logged in QuickBooks.
When marketing expense logged, check if it exceeds monthly budget and alert agent if spending trending over target.
Bank Transaction Imported
Fires when a new transaction is imported from connected bank account or credit card.
When bank transaction imported, attempt to auto-categorize based on vendor name and historical patterns. Flag uncertain transactions for manual review.
Actions
Create Invoice
Creates a new invoice in QuickBooks for a customer with line items, amounts, due date, and terms.
When deal closes in CRM, create QuickBooks invoice: Customer = Buyer, Item = 'Real Estate Commission', Amount = $12,000, Terms = 'Due on receipt'.
Create Expense
Logs an expense transaction in QuickBooks with vendor, category, amount, date, and optional receipt attachment.
When Stripe charges processing fee ($290), create QuickBooks expense: Vendor = Stripe, Category = 'Payment Processing Fees', Amount = $290, Date = today.
Create Bill (Accounts Payable)
Records a bill you need to pay in the future. Tracks amounts owed to vendors, due dates, and payment status.
When photographer invoices you for $500, create QuickBooks bill: Vendor = ABC Photography, Amount = $500, Due = 15 days from now. Track unpaid bills, pay when due.
Create Customer
Adds a new customer record to QuickBooks for invoicing and revenue tracking.
When deal closes with new client, create QuickBooks customer record with name, email, address. Link future invoices to this customer for revenue tracking by client.
Get Report (P&L, Balance Sheet, etc.)
Retrieves a specified financial report from QuickBooks with custom date range and filters. Export as JSON, PDF, or CSV.
On 1st of month, retrieve previous month's P&L report, export as PDF, and email to agent with AI-generated insights.
Create Payment
Records a payment received against an invoice, updating invoice status to 'Paid' and creating bank deposit entry.
When escrow company pays commission via wire transfer, create payment in QuickBooks linking to commission invoice, mark invoice paid, deposit to bank account.
Update Transaction Category
Edits the category of an existing expense or income transaction.
When bank transaction imported as 'Uncategorized', AI analyzes vendor name and suggests category. If confidence >90%, auto-update category to 'Marketing - Digital Ads'.
Search Transactions
Queries QuickBooks for transactions matching criteria (date range, vendor, category, amount).
Search all transactions from 'Zillow' vendor in last 12 months to calculate total annual ad spend and ROI per lead generated.
Setup Guide
Get started in approximately 25 minutes for basic setup and bank connections; 1 hour to configure OAuth, chart of accounts, and first automation; ongoing 15 min/week for transaction review
Prerequisites
- QuickBooks Online account (Self-Employed, Simple Start, or higher tier)
- Business bank account and credit card to connect for transaction syncing
- QuickBooks API access (OAuth 2.0 app created in Intuit Developer portal)
- n8n instance with QuickBooks node available
- Basic understanding of accounting categories (income, expenses, assets, liabilities)
Create QuickBooks Account and Choose Plan
Sign up at quickbooks.intuit.com. Choose plan: Self-Employed ($15/month, for solo agents), Simple Start ($30/month, for small teams), or Essentials ($55/month, for brokerages needing multiple users). Start with 30-day free trial. Provide business details: name, address, industry (Real Estate).
Self-Employed works for solo agents who just need income/expense tracking. Simple Start or higher required for invoicing, 1099 filing, and multi-user access. Most agents start with Simple Start.
Connect Bank Accounts and Credit Cards
In QuickBooks, go to Transactions → Banking → Link Account. Connect business bank account and credit card. QuickBooks imports last 90 days of transactions and continues syncing daily. Review and categorize imported transactions to train the auto-categorization AI.
Separate business and personal finances for cleaner books. If you use personal account for business, create rules to exclude personal transactions from QuickBooks. Otherwise, tax prep becomes messy.
Set Up Chart of Accounts and Categories
QuickBooks provides default categories. Customize for real estate: Add 'Commission Income', 'Marketing - Zillow', 'Marketing - Facebook Ads', 'MLS Fees', 'Professional Photography', 'Transaction Coordinator Fees', 'Mileage', etc. Align with IRS Schedule C categories for easy tax prep.
Don't over-complicate. Start with 10-15 key categories, expand as needed. Ask your accountant for their preferred category structure to make their job easier at tax time.
Create QuickBooks OAuth App for API Access
Go to developer.intuit.com, sign in, create new app. Name it 'n8n Automation'. Request 'Accounting' scope for full QuickBooks access. Copy Client ID and Client Secret. Add OAuth redirect URL (your n8n instance URL + /oauth-callback).
OAuth setup is technical. If overwhelmed, ask a developer for 30 minutes of help. Once configured, credentials last indefinitely (refresh tokens auto-renew).
Connect QuickBooks to n8n via OAuth
In n8n, add QuickBooks node. Click 'Create New Credentials', select 'OAuth2'. Enter Client ID, Client Secret from developer portal. Click 'Connect' and authorize n8n to access your QuickBooks account. Test by retrieving company info or listing invoices.
Save credentials as 'QuickBooks - Production'. OAuth credentials need to be refreshed every 6 months—QuickBooks will email you a reminder. Re-authorize in n8n when prompted.
Configure Products/Services for Common Line Items
In QuickBooks, go to Products & Services. Create items for recurring invoice line items: 'Real Estate Commission' (income account), 'Buyer Consultation Fee', 'Property Management Fee', etc. When creating invoices via automation, reference these items by name.
Set default prices for items if consistent (e.g., Consultation Fee = $500). Automate invoice creation by referencing item names. Update prices in one place if they change.
Enable Mileage Tracking in Mobile App
Download QuickBooks mobile app (iOS/Android). In app settings, enable Mileage Tracking. Choose auto-detect mode (GPS tracks all trips, you classify business vs personal) or manual mode (tap Start/Stop for business trips only). Test by driving around the block.
Auto-detect mode is easiest but requires end-of-week review to classify trips. Manual mode is more work but cleaner data. Most agents prefer auto-detect and spend 5 min/week reviewing trips.
Build Your First Workflow: Deal Close → Invoice Creation
Create n8n workflow: CRM Trigger (deal closed) → Extract commission amount → QuickBooks Create Invoice → Mark as Paid → Send confirmation email. Test with fake deal in CRM. Verify invoice appears in QuickBooks with correct amount and customer.
Start simple: Just create invoice. Once working, layer in complexity (commission split calculation, 1099 tracking, reporting). Incremental complexity prevents debugging nightmares.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about QuickBooks integration
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