The QuickBooks Online (QBO) integration connects Perk to your QBO account so that accounting data stays consistent across both systems.
Within QBO, Classes and Departments (tracking categories) are only available on QBO Plus and Advanced plans. If your QBO account is on Simple Start or Essentials, tracking categories are not available and the Classes and Departments mapping does not apply to your account.
What the integration does
The QuickBooks Online integration keeps expense data in sync between Perk and QBO. Once connected, admins can import accounting master data from QBO into Perk, sync employees between the two platforms, and export expenses from Perk back into QBO. The integration is designed for company admins and finance users who manage expense accounting in QBO.
How data flows between Perk and QBO
Data moves in two directions between Perk and QBO:
- Import (QBO → Perk): Accounting categories, tax rates, and tracking categories are pulled from QBO into Perk to keep your master data consistent.
- Sync (QBO ↔ Perk): Employees in Perk are matched to vendors in QBO by email address.
- Export (Perk → QBO): Approved expenses are pushed from Perk into QBO, including category, tax, cost object, and attachment data.
The integration uses OAuth to authenticate, so no passwords are shared between systems. Each company connects its own QBO account separately, and disconnecting QBO doesn't affect historical data already exported.
Importing accounting data from QBO
Perk imports three types of master data from QBO.
Accounting categories
QBO's Chart of Accounts is the source for Perk's expense categories. All account types are available to import, with expense-type accounts pre-selected by default. Bank accounts are excluded. Admins choose which accounts to include.
Tax rates
Perk imports tax rates from QBO by their QBO ID. Tax rate import is most relevant for non-US accounts — US QBO accounts don't include purchase tax rates, so you can skip this step if your company operates in the US only.
Tracking categories (Classes and Departments)
QBO uses two tracking dimensions: Classes and Departments. QBO also refers to Departments as Locations, Divisions, or Business Units depending on your account settings. You can import both into Perk, where they map to different fields:
- Classes map to Perk cost objects.
- Departments map to Perk custom fields.
The table below shows the full set of attributes imported from QBO and where they appear in Perk.
| Object | Perk field | QBO field |
|---|---|---|
| Expense category | Name | Account name (Chart of Accounts) |
| Expense category | Account reference code | Account number (AcctNum) |
| Expense category | Active / inactive | Active status |
| Tax rate | Name | Tax rate name |
| Tax rate | Rate | Rate value |
| Tax rate | Active / inactive | Active status |
| Cost object | Name | Class name |
| Custom field | Name | Department / Location / Division / Business Unit name |
Note: Importing Classes from QBO does not automatically assign a cost object owner in Perk. After import, cost object owners must be assigned manually in Perk.
Syncing employees between Perk and QBO
The employee sync links QBO vendors to existing Perk user accounts — it does not create users in Perk. Employees must already exist in Perk before the sync can match them to QBO vendors.
Perk matches employees by comparing vendor email addresses in QBO to user email addresses in Perk. When a match is found, Perk links the user to the corresponding QBO vendor. Vendors without an email address in QBO can't be matched and won't sync.
Admins can provision users in Perk in 3 ways: automatically via a SCIM integration, via an HRIS integration such as BambooHR or Workday, or manually.
Note: The employee sync does not determine line manager assignment. After employees are matched to QBO vendors, line managers must be assigned in Perk — either through a connected HRIS integration or manually by an admin.
Exporting expenses to QBO
These expense types can be exported from Perk to QBO:
- Private paid expenses
- Card expenses
- Travel expenses
- Credit notes
Note: To export card expenses, set up a transfer account in Settings > Expense settings > Travel bookings before export.
Each exported expense carries the following data into QBO:
| Perk field | QBO field |
|---|---|
| Expense category | Account (Chart of Accounts) |
| Tax rate | Tax rate |
| Cost object | Class |
| Custom field (tag) | Department / Location / Division / Business Unit |
| Currency | Transaction currency |
| Receipts and attachments | Attachments |
Credit notes support both Classes and Departments in exports — both fields appear on credit note exports.
Multi-currency
QBO accounts can operate in single-currency or multi-currency mode, and Perk handles both:
- Single-currency QBO account: expenses are always posted in the company's base currency.
- Multi-currency QBO account: expenses can be posted in any currency. The posting currency is controlled by the Posting currency setting in Perk at Settings > Companies > Company > Spend company settings > Posting currency.
Receipt attachments are exported alongside expenses automatically — no extra steps are needed.
For setup instructions, see Set up the QuickBooks Online integration.