A general question

[theDBguy]

Can Access be linked to QuickBooks?

I think this is possible by using third-party ODBC drivers like this one.

QuickBooks ODBC Driver | Easily Connect to Live QuickBooks Data

The QuickBooks ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from QuickBooks directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity. Access QuickBooks data like you would a database - read, write, and update Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts...

www.cdata.com

 

[Gasman]

At $499 a year !

 

[cheekybuddha]

I think this is possible by using third-party ODBC drivers like this one.

QuickBooks ODBC Driver | Easily Connect to Live QuickBooks Data

The QuickBooks ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from QuickBooks directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity. Access QuickBooks data like you would a database - read, write, and update Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts...

www.cdata.com

Ouch!

 

[cheekybuddha]

I did for some time think that maybe Microsoft would come up with something to which the millions of Access developers could shift over to.

So much hope ...

... so much disappointment

 

[theDBguy]

At $499 a year !

Here's another possible option. I didn't check the pricing on this one either.

How to install and set up the QuickBooks Enterprise ODBC Driver

Learn how to install and set up the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise ODBC Driver.The QuickBooks Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver from FLEXQuarters allows y

quickbooks.intuit.com

 

[Gasman]

I am still using Quicken 2004 .

 

[CJ_London]

re quickbooks, a simple google found this link

Connecting Microsoft Access to QuickBooks Online via ODBC Driver

no idea if it will work, you would have to try it

 

[LarryE]

@Able_Allan:
Do you need help with a table and relationships design?

 

[GPGeorge]

Spoiler:

Absolutely, YES. If you want direct access to Quickbooks, you need to purchase the quickbooks ODBC driver and you have to be running the application on the same LAN as Quickbooks. If you are using one of the Quickbooks versions in the cloud, you are probably SOL for direct access unless QB offers an API. This will not be fun for real time interaction. As indirect access, you can export files from QB that you import into Access and you can export files from Access that can be used to update QB. Again, if your QB is cloud hosted, you have the same problem. You are limited to whatever API they offer. I am not current on any of these methods. I have only worked with local installs that could use the ODBC driver which Access can just link to as it does to any other RDBMS.

I agree with @mike60smart. You couldn't pay me to use a MS template for anything. Let it give you ideas but build your own app from scratch. You don't save yourself any work by using poor examples. The new NorthWind is different since it was developed by Access developers for developers BUT it doesn't do what you want. So, you can get good technical ideas from it but not any application design ideas for the type of system you are building.

Spoiler:

My community is small. Only 60 units so we don't have the bandwidth to manage running the show ourselves. We outsource to a company that handles the day to day work. The HOA board comes up with an annual budget with the management company and we approve the subcontractors who do the lawn, pool, and snow removal. For small fixits, the management company either uses their own staff or hires masons or carpenters or painters for whatever jobs they can't do. Mostly the HOA is responsible for exterior maintenance. We do get involved occasionally for interior jobs that are covered by insurance so a roof leak that causes interior damage would be fixed by us but probably by a subcontractor because the maintenance company wouldn't have the type of skills necessary to do drywall for instance.

Pat is 100% right. Northwind is deliberately not described as a working template for a working database application. It is a showcase of features, built on the best possible foundation we could devise.

In fact, in the initial planning and design of Northwind, a significant amount of time was devoted to this discussion. How much to include. What to include. In any discussion of a working data model, the first step is to understand the business model it will support.

Since Northwind is a fictional company, it has no real-world business model to account for. But even in its role as an example, deciding on what features of a business model it needed to include or exclude comes down to a series of decisions made on the basis of hypotheticals. I could cite several examples of such choices. One of the more obvious is that it does not attempt to handle accounting functions. It assumes every invoice and order is paid "somehow", by "someone". That's not a real world practice. Could we have extended the development period to add it? Probably. Would it have improved the product as a "showcase for Access"? Not that much.

It's a learning tool. Properly used it will help you understand database principles.

 

[Cotswold]

I was never involved with QuickBooks, only SAGE, Pegasus, one other specialist system for construction. Plus a couple of CAD systems.
But I avoided directly posting into any of them. Basically on the principle that if anything went wrong ( i.e. operator error being most likely)
Then I'd have to prove it wasn't my software at fault because I presumed they would just deny and stonewall. Plus, any accounting error would be critical and urgent.
I would prepare data that the accounting systems would validate before importing and I would import their data into my systems when required.
Maybe the QuickBooks 3rd party software is Ok but I wonder how many will pay $500 a year for an Access I/O routine support!!

That way any issues couldn't be laid at my door. I always found creating the I/O routines interesting and satisfying. Except for CAD systems which were a pain because they would secretly amend their side of it and I only found out when their export layout fell over.

I think that the last I/O I did was for OFX and QBO bank files for my own bank reconciliation software, which I much prefer to bank CSV files.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Here's how I use Microsoft's templates: I find one with tables that closely match my needs, then import those tables, without the data into a new database. I adjust the field names as needed and retain any existing joins. I check the indexes and ID's. It's always worked for me and it's very close to being normalized without all the fuss.