When QuickBooks Isn’t Enough: EDI Requirements

QuickBooks is one of the most widely used accounting systems for small and mid-sized businesses. But as your company begins trading with large partners, you’ll likely face EDI(Electronic Data Interchange) requirements.

At EDI2XML, we help growing businesses integrate QuickBooks with EDI efficiently, and without the need for in-house IT teams. Our Web EDI Portal connects to QuickBooks and allows your business to automate invoicing while managing all EDI documents in one secure location.

What is QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is accounting software developed by Intuit. It’s used by millions of companies to manage their finances. It helps users:

• Invoicing and payments
• Expense tracking
• Payroll and employee management
• Financial reporting
• Purchase orders and inventory (in some versions)

These are core functionalities of QuickBooks. Different versions (e.g., QuickBooks Online, Desktop, Enterprise) offer varying levels of features, including more robust inventory and purchase order management in higher-tier or industry-specific versions.

It simplifies accounting for non-accountants, and it’s especially popular with retail, e-commerce, distribution, and service-based businesses.

Did you know? While QuickBooks is often compared to Excel, it’s much more than a spreadsheet — it’s a full accounting system with real-time reporting, automation, and compliance tools.

Thus, while Excel can be used for basic financial tracking, QuickBooks is a dedicated accounting system with built-in accounting principles, automated processes (like reconciliation and recurring transactions), and tools to help with tax compliance and generating standard financial statements. It provides a structured and integrated approach to managing finances that Excel simply doesn’t offer as a general spreadsheet program.

The Problem: EDI Isn’t Built Into QuickBooks

While QuickBooks is powerful for accounting, it doesn’t offer built-in EDI functionality. That means businesses working with EDI-mandated partners still have to:

• Manually send and receive purchase orders or invoices
• Enter the same data in multiple systems
• Risk delays, errors, or non-compliance

QuickBooks + EDI Portal: The Best of Both Worlds

At EDI2XML, we offer Web EDI Portal that can be integrated with your QuickBooks environment.

Here’s how it works:

• Your accounting team continues using QuickBooks to create invoices.
• Those invoices are automatically converted into EDI 810 format and sent to your trading partners through the portal.
• Other EDI documents — such as Purchase Orders (850), Advance Ship Notices (856), or Remittance Advice (820) — are received, viewed, and managed directly within the EDI2XML portal.
• All EDI activity is centralized in one dashboard.

This approach keeps your accounting process simple while making your business fully EDI-compliant.

Thus, rather than forcing QuickBooks to do something it wasn’t built for, we offer a hybrid model that gives you the best of both worlds:

• Your team continues using QuickBooks for accounting

You keep creating invoices, managing payments, and reconciling data the way you’re used to.

• We integrate QuickBooks with the EDI2XML Web Portal

Our portal connects securely to your QuickBooks (Online or Desktop) to extract invoice data automatically.

• We convert that data into EDI format (EDI 810)

Invoices are transformed into the correct EDI format and sent directly to your trading partners from the portal – no manual re-entry needed.

• You receive other EDI documents directly in the portal

All inbound documents like Purchase Orders (EDI 850), ASNs (EDI 856), Remittance Advice (EDI 820), and more are received, displayed, and stored in your EDI2XML Portal.

Key Benefits of EDI + QuickBooks Integration

Here’s how companies benefit from integrating QuickBooks with EDI through a provider like EDI2XML:

• No disruption to your current accounting workflows
• Accurate invoice conversion from QuickBooks to EDI
• All documents are stored and tracked in one easy-to-use portal
• Faster order-to-cash cycle and reduced errors
• Fully managed integration – no IT headaches
• Compliance with your partners’ EDI standards

Our goal is to help you keep using the tools you know — like QuickBooks — while automating the complex world of EDI.

We map, transform, and securely transmit the data to meet your trading partners’ specifications.

FAQ: QuickBooks and EDI Integration

Q: What is QuickBooks used for?
A: QuickBooks handles day-to-day accounting: invoicing, payments, payroll, reporting, and expense tracking.

Q: Can QuickBooks integrate with EDI?
A: Not natively. But with a provider like EDI2XML, QuickBooks can be connected to a Web EDI Portal for invoice automation.

Q: Is QuickBooks like Excel?
A: Not quite. QuickBooks is a full accounting system with automation, reporting, and integrations — much more powerful than spreadsheets.

Q: Does QuickBooks support sales orders or ASNs?
A: Not directly. That’s why we manage those documents in our EDI portal, separate from QuickBooks.

Q: Can QuickBooks integrate with other software?
A: Yes. Through APIs or middleware, QuickBooks can integrate with EDI portals, CRMs, ERPs, and more.

Why Choose EDI2XML for QuickBooks EDI Integration?

With 25 years of experience in EDI and system integration, we specialize in helping growing businesses become EDI-compliant without replacing their core tools.

We bring:

• Expertise in EDI standards like X12, EDIFACT, and XML
• Real-world integration experience with QuickBooks, SAP, Oracle, Sage, and more
• Bilingual support (English/French) for our clients
• Dedicated onboarding and continued assistance

Ready to Automate Your Invoicing and Simplify EDI?

You don’t have to choose between QuickBooks and EDI. With EDI2XML, you can keep your accounting workflow exactly as it is, while ensuring full EDI compliance and visibility through our EDI Web Portal.

Contact us today to see how easy QuickBooks EDI integration can be.