This section gives an overview of Order Transfer 3.0 operations and features.
Order Transfer is used to import ShopSite orders into QuickBooks. There are many options and features in Order Transfer that allow you to configure the importing process according to the accounting system and practices that you have set up in QuickBooks. After installation, it is recommended that you step through the Preferences settings in Order Transfer to become acquainted with the configuration options that are available.
Order Transfer is installed with a single-store license that allows you to connect to and download orders from one ShopSite store. If you need to download orders from multiple ShopSite stores, you can purchase and install a multiple-store license. A product license is installed from the Help menu.
If you upgraded from Order Transfer 2.0 with multiple store connections, your Order Transfer 3.0 will already have a multiple-store license installed along with your current connection settings.
If you are using Order Transfer for the first time, it is recommended that you start with a newly created QuickBooks company file instead of the one you are using for your business. This will allow you to freely experiment with Order Transfer's options and features and to become familiar with the order importing process. When you create the new file, you should make it the same industry type as your business company file but don't add any items or customers to it, except for sales tax setup if you collect sales tax in ShopSite orders.
Run Order Transfer with your newly created file and import a number of orders with different products, customers and localities. Since the company file is initially empty of ShopSite products and customers, you will experience a number of prompts for information required or actions needed to import the orders. Some of the responses to prompts are saved in the program's registry settings, so as you import more orders you will see fewer prompts.
Once you have Order Transfer running smoothly with your experimental company file, you should next make a copy of your business company file and run Order Transfer with it. This will allow you to see if Order Transfer is ready to work with your actual company file or if there are any problems that need to be resolved.
For users of previous versions of Order Transfer, it is suggested that you make a copy of your current company file and use it to experiment with in the new version of Order Transfer. Most of the settings for the old version are transferred over to the new version when it is installed, but not all of them are transferred because of options that have changed or have been removed. Examine the settings in Preferences to make sure they are correct and reset those that are missing or are incorrect. Then see if orders can be imported successfully into your copied company file and resolve any problems that occur.
To import data into QuickBooks, Order Transfer must first open what is called a QuickBooks session. The first step is to establish a connection to QuickBooks. This is done through an application programming interface (API) provided by QuickBooks and which is built into Order Transfer.
The next step is to open a company file or request access to a company file that is already opened in QuickBooks. When Order Transfer requests access to a company file for the first time, or when access has previously been revoked, the QuickBooks administrator must grant access permissions. The administrator also chooses what access rights Order Transfer will have to read and modify data in the company file, including sensitive information such as social security numbers, credit card information, and personal data.
Another important access right is whether Order Transfer is allowed to log in automatically even when QuickBooks is not running. If automatic login is allowed, Order Transfer will be able to start QuickBooks running in the background (non-interactive mode) and open a company file. Within Order Transfer you will be able to navigate to and select the company file to open.
Order Transfer 3.0 supports Remote Data Sharing (RDS), which allows Order Transfer to communicate with QuickBooks company files on other computers in a network (typically a LAN). The Order Transfer setup includes options to install the RDS software which is required for remote data sharing to work. This software consists of two components: the RDS client and the RDS server. The RDS client is installed with Order Transfer, while the RDS server is installed separately on the computers where QuickBooks is installed.
To import ShopSite orders into QuickBooks, the orders must first be downloaded from the ShopSite server. There are two ways in which you can download orders:
Either method allows you to specify the range of orders to be downloaded or imported. You can also specify the download version, which is important if you want to include new order information that has been added in a ShopSite release or upgrade.
In Order Transfer 3.0, when you set up an HTTP connection to ShopSite for order downloading and data syncing, you will first be asked to select the method you use to log in to ShopSite. This determines the authentication method required for the connection to work.
Prior to ShopSite version 11, Basic Authentication (user name and password) was the only method supported. In version 11, a new authentication method called OAuth was added. This method makes it possible for client applications such as Order Transfer to connect to ShopSite stores hosted on servers that use an authentication system other than Basic Authentication.
Also in ShopSite version 11, a new login method called ShopSite Login was implemented that does not use Basic Authentication. Client applications that want to connect to stores with ShopSite Login enabled must now use OAuth as the authentication method.
When you begin setting up a new ShopSite connection in Order Transfer, you will see two images displayed in a pop-up window. One image represents Web Server Login with user name and password, and the other image represents ShopSite Login. Underneath the images are links you click on to select the method you use to log in to ShopSite. If you select Web Server Login, a Basic Authentication configuration window will appear, and if you select Shopsite Login, you will get an OAuth configuration window.
A third link is provided for any other login method. When this link is clicked, you are asked if your store is running on ShopSite version 11.0 or later. If you answer "Yes", an OAuth configuration window will appear because OAuth allows Order Transfer to authenticate directly with ShopSite instead of going through the host server's authentication system.
If your ShopSite version is older than version 11 and the host server is not using Basic Authentication, Order Transfer will not be able to connect to your ShopSite store. Order Transfer can still be used to import orders into QuickBooks, but you will have to download the orders manually from the ShopSite Backoffice and then import them.
To set up an HTTP connection using OAuth, you must first register Order Transfer in the ShopSite Backoffice. This is done by navigating to ShopSite > Utilities > Applications and clicking Add to add an application. When you are done registering, copy and paste the required information into the HTTP connection's OAuth configuration settings.
If you charge sales tax in ShopSite orders, it is important that you have Sales Tax enabled in your QuickBooks company file and that sales tax items are created for use in order transactions. Each of these sales tax items must have the tax agency specified for whom you collect sales tax.
As new customers are added from ShopSite orders, you can choose to have the default (most common) sales tax item automatically selected for them, or you can choose to manually select the sales tax item for each new customer. You can also create new sales tax items as needed during the order importing process.
ShopSite computed sales tax is included as a line item in the sales transaction instead of in the Tax field where QuickBooks normally puts it. The Tax field shows "Precomputed" as the name of the sales tax item with 0.0% as the tax rate. However, the sales tax amount shown in the line item is still applied to the customer's sales tax item (and tax agency).
Alternatively, you can choose to have the sales tax appear in the Tax field as usual instead of as a line item. If you choose this option, QuickBooks re-computes the sales tax for the whole transaction and uses its result as the tax amount. In most cases, the result will be the same as the ShopSite computed tax. But there is a possibility that in some orders they may differ slightly due to differences in calculation methods for discounts, coupons, gift certificates, etc. and where these items appear relative to other line items in the transaction.
All items sold require an income account. As new items are imported from ShopSite orders, you can choose to have a default item type and a default income account automatically selected for them, or you can choose to select these manually for each new item. Make sure that you have an income account in your QuickBooks company file that you want to be used for ShopSite products.
If you are using inventory tracking in QuickBooks, you must have a COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) account and an inventory asset account in addition to the income account for inventory items. If you want to import ShopSite products as inventory items, make sure that these accounts exist in your QuickBooks company file.
A secure (SSL) connection is required for downloading credit card and other payment information in ShopSite orders. Additionally, a merchant key is required if credit card information is stored in ShopSite orders using asymmetric encryption.
Order Transfer 3.0 does not save or update credit card payment information in customer records unless you choose the option to do so.
As Order Transfer imports orders, it tries to match ShopSite order items with QuickBooks items in your company file. It does this by searching for item names that match ShopSite product names or SKUs. When matches are not found, you can choose to have Order Transfer automatically add new items to your company file, or instead allow you to manually select existing QuickBooks items to use for the order items.
When you manually select QuickBooks items to use for order items, these match-ups are saved locally so you won't have to do them again in subsequent imports. However, you should eventually upload this information to ShopSite so it can be saved in the products database instead. Not only does this allow you to free up disk space used for local storage, but it also establishes links between ShopSite products and QuickBooks items when the identifiers used for them are not the same. Establishing these links is necessary if you want to sync QuickBooks item prices and quantities on hand with their product counterparts in the ShopSite database.
Another option allows you to select a single QuickBooks item to be used for all ShopSite products imported as order items. This option is useful if you don't need or want ShopSite products added to your company file. ShopSite unit prices and item descriptions are still used in the sales transactions, even though the same QuickBooks item is referenced for the ShopSite order items.
Other order item matches are recorded in Order Transfer registry settings. Examples of these are shipping methods, payment methods, discount items, coupons, surcharges, etc.
For ShopSite customers, you can choose to have Order Transfer match on customer name or company name when searching for the QuickBooks customer to use for an order it is importing. If a match is not found, you can have Order Transfer either add a new customer automatically, or display a list of customers from which you can select the one to use. When you match a ShopSite customer to an existing QuickBooks customer, the match is saved locally so you will not need to do it again in subsequent orders for the same customer.
If a new customer is added and you find later on that an existing customer should have been used instead, you can merge the two together.
Another option allows you to choose a single QuickBooks customer record to use for all ShopSite customers if you don't need or want ShopSite customers added to your company file. All customer information from ShopSite orders is still used in the sales transactions created for the imported orders.
In Order Transfer 3.0 you can import data from ShopSite to add new items to QuickBooks or to update item prices and quantities on hand for existing QuickBooks items. You can also sync item prices and inventory levels for ShopSite products by exporting QuickBooks data and uploading it to ShopSite.
For the exporting process to work, however, QuickBooks items must be linked to ShopSite products. They are linked implicitly when QuickBooks item names match ShopSite product names or SKUs. Explicit links are needed when they differ. There are two ways in which explicit links are created:
In either case, explicit links must be saved in the products database. If you create them in Order Transfer while importing orders, you should upload the links to ShopSite. If you create the links in the Backoffice, they are saved automatically.
When finding a ShopSite product to sync with a QuickBooks item, explicit links are examined first for a match. If one is not found, an implicit link is looked for where the QuickBooks item name matches either the ShopSite product name or SKU. If a link is still not found, the QuickBooks item is ignored.
If you are initially starting out with no ShopSite products in your QuickBooks company file, you can either have the products added to your company file as orders are imported, or you can import them from an XML product download. For the latter option, go into the ShopSite Backoffice and select the products that you want to add to your company file. Download these products in XML format, and then in Order Transfer select the downloaded file for importing.
When you import products into QuickBooks this way, you can choose to have either the ShopSite product name or the SKU used as the item name. When an SKU is used as the item name, the product name is used as the item description. The item type and income account for new QuickBooks items come from the defaults selected in Preferences [Items 1].
Whenever you open a company file for the first time in Order Transfer, it is recommended that you go to Preferences from the Edit menu to customize the settings so that Order Transfer uses your current accounting system setup as much as possible. The most important settings to look at are in [Items 1], [Transactions 1], and [Customers 1].
Preferences are stored separately for each company file. Therefore, if you have multiple files in which you import ShopSite orders, you will need to customize your preferences for each file.
If Order Transfer needs more information as it imports orders, pop-up windows will appear asking you for the
information. Actions will often be required to add new items or new customers to your company file, which you
can do within Order Transfer. As more orders are imported and Order Transfer saves your responses, there will be
fewer prompts and the importing process will run smoother and quicker.
Note: |
QuickBooks shipping managers do not appear able to accept countries in the address field. If you are using a QuickBooks shipping manager, do not select the 'Include Country' check box on [Customers 2]!
|
QuickBooks allows you to add and customize templates for invoices, sales receipts and sales orders. In conjunction with this, Order Transfer allows you to specify what order information you want to appear in certain header fields or column fields of a sales transaction. Unused fields can be customized in this manner to include order information that normally wouldn't appear in them but are helpful in order fulfillment or other purposes. In QuickBooks you can change the titles of these fields to better describe the information that they now contain.
The best thing you can do to avoid most problems is to go into Order Transfer Preferences and examine all of the settings, particularly those in [Items 1], [Transactions 1], and Customers 1]. Make sure that the settings are all correct for your QuickBooks accounting system. Transaction settings that have "default" or "select" in them should be changed to specific values. If you use inventory tracking in QuickBooks, make sure that COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) and Asset accounts are set up correctly.
An importing problem that is commonly encountered is when Order Transfer needs to add a new item but the item name given for it is already in use. All QuickBooks items share the same name space, so names must be unique even for items of different types.
Sometimes name conflicts occur with inactive items, which are normally hidden and don't appear in any item lists. To resolve a name conflict, you may need to enable showing inactive items in QuickBooks so you can find the one that is causing the problem. When you find it, either rename the item or delete it if it is no longer in use. If you cannot do either of these actions, then use a different name for the new item that is being added.
When a problem occurs importing an order, depending on the severity, you can cancel the import for that order and continue importing other orders. Afterwards, you can go back and resolve the problem with the canceled order and try importing it again.
If you have many or all orders failing to import, and you cannot determine the cause from the error messages, it may help to create a new company file to experiment with and see if you can import the same orders into that file. If they do import successfully, then that indicates a problem in your original company file that needs to be investigated further.
On the other hand, if you are still unable to import orders into the newly created company file, then there is either a problem with the Order Transfer configuration, or with the type of company file you are using, or with the order download data. In this case, you may need assistance from ShopSite support to help resolve the problem.