An Accountant's Tips for Using ServiceTitan and QuickBooks
If your construction company uses both ServiceTitan and QuickBooks for managing operations and finances, you may have faced challenges when trying to connect the two systems. You're not alone in this struggle.
Integrating ServiceTitan with QuickBooks can be tricky and frustrating, especially if you get stuck and can't easily find a solution.
Our team has experience helping companies integrate both platforms and resolving errors that come up in the process.
Let’s chat about some of the common technical issues (and solutions) we've encountered integrating ServiceTitan software with QuickBooks to help your process go as smoothly as possible.
First Things First…
Before we start, you want to check that your subscription for ServiceTitan includes QuickBooks integration and that you have enabled integration in ServiceTitan and connected it to your QuickBooks account.
Linking the software properly is an integral step before you start integrating data between the two platforms.
You'd be surprised by how often we find companies don't have the software linked properly, which can cause technical problems and other bookkeeping issues.
Configure Integration Overview
Once you've linked the software, the next step is to configure integration settings, which may be considered the most challenging step in the process.
Configuring integration involves mapping your data from ServiceTitan to QuickBooks. Think of it like wiring a house- you must connect the correct two wires together to create electricity.
Similarly, when integrating the two platforms, you must match your ServiceTitan data to the correct corresponding accounts in QuickBooks.
For example, revenue accounts in ServiceTitan need to align with the correct income accounts in QuickBooks. Map accounts incorrectly, and you won't have accurate financial data.
If done correctly, you can circumvent errors and other issues and have confidence in the accuracy of the data displayed on your dashboard. But if you make mistakes with mapping, you can find yourself with a load of problems and errors requiring resolution.
We'll discuss the most common technical mapping challenge we see companies face when integrating ServiceTitan and QuickBooks and provide you with valuable insight if you encounter any difficulties during this step in the process.
Let's get into it.
The Mapping Challenge: Different Naming Conventions
Why do companies find mapping challenging?
A lot of the issues that companies run into with configuring software integration come about because the two platforms use different terms to refer to the same thing.
For example, in regards to payments, Payment ID, Check No., and Auth Code in ServiceTitan all refer to Reference in QuickBooks.
For journal entries, GL Account in ServiceTitan is the same as Account in QuickBooks. Even small things like terms for general ledger account categorization differ between the two platforms.
In ServiceTitan, a general ledger account has a Type and a Subtype, but those categorizations do not exist in QuickBooks Online. Instead, QBO has Type and Detail Type. To configure mapping correctly, you must be cognizant of the differences in verbiage to ensure the data between the two aligns.
One specific issue arises with the difference in terms of what we commonly think of as departments.
ServiceTitan uses the term Business Unit, whereas QuickBooks uses Class. You can create different Business Units in ServiceTitan and map them to a single Class in Quickbooks.
Your dashboard in ServiceTitan maps sales and revenue based on Business Unit and in QuickBooks, you can run profit and loss statements based on the different Classes you have set up.
To map the two together, you have to set up the Class first in Quickbooks. Then, assign the Class to a Business Unit in ServiceTitan under Business Unit settings. Because you are required to key in the Class under the Business Unit in ServiceTitan, you need to be careful to type the Class name in correctly so they can match up when you export. You will encounter errors if you add an extra letter somewhere or use the wrong sequence of characters.
On their website, ServiceTitan has a list of terms used in their software and the corresponding term in QuickBooks that can be used as a guide during the mapping process.
Get Help With Your QuickBooks and ServiceTitan Integration
If you run into problems during this step in the process, remember mapping between the platforms is like wiring a house. For it to be done properly, you need to connect the right components together. Link two wrong wires together, and you'll find that you can't turn on the lights. It is imperative to understand how the two platforms map together to ensure integration is done properly and you don't run into a plethora of technical difficulties.
The technical challenge with mapping we discussed above may only be one of the problems you may encounter when trying to integrate the two platforms. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for companies to have even more challenges when using both QuickBooks and ServiceTitan together. This is where our team at Atlas Accounting Group can step in and help.
As a business owner, you should be focused on operating and growing your business and not worrying about bookkeeping issues with your company's software. Our team of experienced accountants can take away these frustrations and help with the software integration.
If you have challenges integrating your ServiceTitan and QuickBooks software or want to ensure it was done correctly, get in touch with us to see how we can help!
