Last week, UDA Technologies hosted a live, interactive webinar to highlight Socket, ConstructionOnline’s new desktop assistant tool, which allows for ConstructionOnline integration with QuickBooks Desktop and PlanSwift, as well as other desktop programs in the future.

Socket is available via download, and should be downloaded to the same computer on which QuickBooks and/or PlanSwift is installed to allow for integration. Once, downloaded, it will be time to begin improving your project management process!

To begin with QuickBooks integration, you will need complete the QuickBooks Initial Set Up. The beauty of Socket and UDA’s QuickBooks Integration is the ability to customize the way in which ConstructionOnline and QuickBooks share information, allowing for the consistent practice & application of the industry’s #1 most recognized construction accounting principles.

Pro Tip: Before completing your QuickBooks Initial Set Up, save a back up of your QuickBooks Company File. While this is a general best practice, for sure, it’s important to know - UDA will never overwrite or delete any information from your company file; we will only add to it. 

Once you’ve completed your QuickBooks Initial Set Up, you are ready to begin integrating with QuickBooks! ConstructionOnline will be creating 5 things in QuickBooks upon integration initiation:

• Customer
• Job
• Estimate
• Items
• Accounts

Pro Tip: Develop and implement a ConstructionOnline Estimate Template for the highest quality integration with QuickBooks. Your QuickBooks Items List will mimic the categories in your ConstructionOnline Estimate(s), and sub-items will mimic the subcategories in your ConstructionOnline Estimate(s). Using a consistent template ensures the accuracy of the data you are working with, cuts down on the clutter in QuickBooks, and reduces your margin for error.

You will also notice that Socket allows for you to use data from your ConstructionOnline Estimates to initiate the creation of QuickBooks Invoices and Purchase Orders. Additionally, you are able to pull data from QuickBooks to keep your job costing up-to-date in ConstructionOnline. You can do so by choosing to import Actuals, Invoices, and Committed Costs via Socket.

Pro Tip: Generate and reference the Custom Transaction Report when choose to import actuals from QuickBooks, as this allows you to see exactly how your data is classified in QuickBooks and support better reconciliation with ConstructionOnline data.

It is important to remember that the integration made possible by Socket is to allow for ConstructionOnline to work better together. ConstructionOnline is not an accounting system, and QuickBooks is not a project management system – the two are complimentary collaborators.

To get started with Socket, contact UDA today at 800-700-8321.