---
title: "How to connect QuickBooks Online to Cleo Pay"
description: "An admin can connect QuickBooks Online in Cleo Pay under Accounting, then Integrations: click Connect and sign in to QuickBooks. Cleo Pay then pulls in your vendors, accounts and classes, and can send bills back to QuickBooks."
url: https://cleo-pay.com/help/connect-quickbooks-online
category: "QuickBooks Online"
audience: [business]
updated: 2026-10-22
support: support@cleo-pay.com
---

# How to connect QuickBooks Online to Cleo Pay

> An admin can connect QuickBooks Online in Cleo Pay under Accounting, then Integrations: click Connect and sign in to QuickBooks. Cleo Pay then pulls in your vendors, accounts and classes, and can send bills back to QuickBooks.

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:

| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Auto-create bills | Creates a bill in QuickBooks for each bill in Cleo Pay |
| Auto-create bill payments | Records the bill payment in QuickBooks when you mark a bill paid |
| Auto-create vendors | Creates 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](https://cleo-pay.com/help/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.

| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Connected | Everything is syncing |
| Connecting... | The connection is being set up |
| Connection Expired | QuickBooks needs you to approve the connection again |
| Connection Error | QuickBooks rejected a request. Email support |
| Disconnected | QuickBooks was disconnected |
| Not Connected | QuickBooks 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.