How to connect QuickBooks Online to Cleo Pay

For businesses using Cleo PayUpdated

Browse help topics

An admin can connect QuickBooks Online in Cleo Pay. In the sidebar, under Accounting, click Integrations, then Connect, and sign in to QuickBooks. Cleo Pay then pulls in your vendors, chart of accounts and classes, and can create your bills in QuickBooks.

Before you start

  • You need to be an admin on a Cleo Pay account with an active, paid plan. Anyone else sees "Access Restricted" on the Accounting page.
  • You need to sign in to QuickBooks Online as a user who can connect apps to the company.
  • Cleo Pay works with QuickBooks Online. It doesn't connect to QuickBooks Desktop.

How to connect

  1. Sign in at app.cleo-pay.com. In the sidebar, under Accounting, click Integrations.
  2. Click Connect. You're sent to Intuit to sign in to QuickBooks.
  3. Pick the QuickBooks company you want to connect and approve the connection.
  4. You come back to Cleo Pay. The page shows "Initial sync in progress" while your data comes in.

If something goes wrong you'll see "Failed to connect QuickBooks. Please try again." Try once more, and if it fails again, email support@cleo-pay.com.

What syncs

The first sync brings in your vendors, accounts and classes from QuickBooks, plus departments if you use them. After that, changes you make in QuickBooks come into Cleo Pay on their own. If something looks missing, click Sync now.

Going the other way, three settings decide what Cleo Pay creates in QuickBooks:

SettingWhat it does
Auto-create billsCreates a bill in QuickBooks for each bill in Cleo Pay
Auto-create bill paymentsRecords the bill payment in QuickBooks when you mark a bill paid
Auto-create vendorsCreates the vendor in QuickBooks when you add a new vendor in Cleo Pay. Off until you turn it on

For a bill you paid through Cleo Pay, check that the payment reached QuickBooks: open the bill, and if the QuickBooks card doesn't show the bill payment as synced, click Sync to QuickBooks. What syncs with QuickBooks explains each case.

Match your vendors and bank accounts

After the first sync, the Synced Data section shows how many records came across and whether any "need attention". Click Review on a row to fix them.

In Vendor Reconciliation, start with the Suggestions tab. It lists Cleo Pay vendors that match, or look close to, vendors already in QuickBooks. Select the right pairs and click Map Selected. A vendor that exists only in Cleo Pay can be added to QuickBooks with Create Vendor.

Bank Account Reconciliation lets you match the bank accounts in Cleo Pay to the bank accounts in QuickBooks.

Matching vendors before you pay keeps you from ending up with the same vendor twice in QuickBooks.

Connection status

The status at the top of the Accounting page tells you whether the connection is working.

StatusWhat it means
ConnectedEverything is syncing
Connecting...The connection is being set up
Connection ExpiredQuickBooks needs you to approve the connection again
Connection ErrorQuickBooks rejected a request. Email support
DisconnectedQuickBooks was disconnected
Not ConnectedQuickBooks has never been connected

If you see Connection Expired or Connection Error, email support@cleo-pay.com and we'll help you reconnect. Don't disconnect to fix it. Disconnecting deletes your matches.

How to disconnect

On the Accounting page, click the trash icon. Type REMOVE QBO to confirm and click Disconnect. This deletes everything Cleo Pay synced from QuickBooks, including your vendor matches and every category imported from QuickBooks. It can't be undone.

Learn more: Cleo Pay and QuickBooks Online

Still need help?

Send us a message and a person on the Cleo Pay team will reply by email.

Contact support