Sage Construction Management and QuickBooks Online integration overview

The Sage Construction Management and Intuit QuickBooks Online (QBO) solution is comprised of three application components all working together to automate the entire estimating, project management, job costing, and general accounting functions.

Sage products / User personas

Product	Application type	User personas	Purpose
Sage Construction Management	Cloud-based	Estimators	Estimating
Sage Construction Management	Cloud-based	Project managers Superintendents Engineers Coordinators Accounting staff	Documentation Correspondence Scheduling Contract administration Procurement Time tracking Job costing Budget tracking
AccountingLink for QuickBooks Online	Cloud-based	Accounting staff	Transfers records from Sage Construction Management to QuickBooks Online
Intuit QuickBooks Online	Cloud-based	Accounting staff	General accounting

Data integration overview

Sage Construction Management(SCM)	Post from SCM to QBO	Export from QBO to SCM	Additional functionality	QuickBooks Online	Comments
Contact management
Companies	>>>	<<<		Customers	Existing customers in QBO are not automatically copied into SCM because contractors typically have only one project per client. However, any new clients and their associated projects created in SCM will be exported to QBO if the prime contract in SCM is marked as Approved with a status date. If you need to import selected customers into SCM, use the Import Selected Customers function.
Companies	>>>	<<<		Vendors	Contractors typically use QBO for some time before implementing SCM, so many of their vendors are already documented in QBO. Because these firms might be involved in future projects, the AccountingLink for QBO provides an option in the Contact Management tab to import selected or all active vendors into SCM. New suppliers or subcontractors created in SCM will be exported to QBO automatically when they’re referenced on an approved bill or subcontract invoice.
Employees	>>>	<<<		Employees	Similar to vendors, active employees can be copied from QBO into SCM because they might participate in future projects.
Projects and contracts
Company referenced on prime contract	>>>			Customers	When a project has been awarded in SCM, management or accounting staff will use the built‑in wizards to set up the project directory, job cost codes, prime contract, and budgets. After this setup is complete, you can run the AccountingLink Sync Wizard to create the customer and sub‑customer in QBO. The customer referenced in the approved prime contract details form will be the company that's exported.
Project / prime contract	>>>			Sub-customer	In construction, a customer typically signs the contract before the contractor purchases materials or mobilizes field staff. SCM mirrors this workflow by requiring a prime contract for each awarded project. In some cases, a project might have multiple prime contracts. For example, a design‑build firm might maintain separate prime contracts for the design and construction phases. In these situations, both prime contracts will generally reference the same customer. When SCM is integrated with QBO, the prime contract is what links the project to the customer: sub‑customer record in QBO. The Sync Wizard automatically exports a project’s prime contract when it's marked as approved and include a status date.
Accounts payable
Bills	>>>			Bills Credit Card Check	Based on the Bill Type mapping set in the Sync Preferences, an approved SCM bill will be exported to QBO as either a bill, credit card transaction, or check. If the SCM bill has a negative (–) total, the transaction will be sent to QBO as a credit.
Subcontract invoices	>>>			Bills	In SCM, subcontracts can be either Fixed Lump Sum, Cost Plus, or Unit Price agreements. This determines how their invoices are processed. Subcontracts can also include change orders (SCOs) and retainage or holdbacks might need to be tracked. When subcontract invoices are marked as approved, they can be exported to QBO as bills. If the total amount of a subcontract invoice is negative (–), the transaction will appear as a credit in QBO.
Employee miscellaneous expenses	>>>			Credit Card Check	Based on the Expense Type mapping set in the Sync Preferences, approved employee miscellaneous expenses will be exported to QBO as either credit card or check transactions.
Accounts receivable
Prime contract invoices	>>>			Invoices	Similar to subcontract invoices, the billing method for a prime contract invoice depends on the contract type. These invoices can also include change orders (COs) and retainage or holdbacks. After a prime contract invoice is marked as approved, it can be exported to QBO through the Sync Wizard. If the invoice total is negative (–), the transaction will appear as a credit in QBO.
Time tracking
Labor timecards	>>>			Time Trackings	A key capability of SCM is that estimators and project team members can enter their own timecards. This allows the accounting department to restrict access to QBO, because timecards can be imported directly from SCM using the Sync Wizard.
Other
Tax codes		<<<	Linked	Tax Codes	Accounts payable and receivable transactions can reference tax codes, which determine how tax is calculated. For this reason, it’s essential that tax codes are properly linked in both systems and that their rates match. Otherwise, discrepancies will occur in the calculated tax amounts. If tax codes are already set up in QBO, it’s recommended to import them into SCM during implementation. This option is available in the Tax Code section of the Sync Preferences.
Job cost codes			Linked	Items	In QBO, all financial transactions, such as bills, checks, credit card charges, invoices, and labor timecards, require a service item that has an associated GL Account. In SCM, however, all Contract Administration, Procurement, and Time Tracking transactions require a job cost code. Because SCM sends project financial transactions to QBO, the Sync Preferences in AccountingLink determine how SCM job cost codes map to QBO items. This mapping removes the burden on accounting staff to select the correct item manually during export and helps prevent discrepancies between systems.
Resource type (M/L/E/S/O) Project classification and options Internal job cost code division			Linked	Classes	QBO classes offer an additional way to track financial information in a format that's meaningful to the business. Examples include categorizing by business office (SCM project classification), project type (SCM project classification), or cost resource.