Please note: This feature is only available on inFlow for Web

Creating the CSV template

To begin, you’ll need to create a CSV import template. You can do this by exporting a blank template from inFlow, or you can manually add the headings to your spreadsheet. 

Exporting a product group CSV template 

1. From the inFlow Homepage, click on the Main menu, then Export.
2. In the Data type list, select Product group.
3. Click Export and save the file to your computer. 
4. Open the CSV in the spreadsheet software of your choice. 

Creating your own product group CSV template

On a spreadsheet, add the following product group headings

• ProductGroupName (Required) 
• ProductGroupCategory
• Product

You can import up to six variant options into the CSV file. Add the headers for the number of options needed. 

• Option1
• OptionValue1
• Option2
• OptionValue2
• Option3
• OptionValue3
• Option4
• OptionValue4
• Option5
• OptionValue5
• Option6
• OptionValue6

You might have noticed that the headings don’t have any spaces. Leaving the headings like this will enable inFlow to read the information from the CSV more efficiently. 

Editing the CSV template

1. Once you have a CSV file with the appropriate headings, fill in the rows and columns, starting with ProductGroupName. 
2. To import variant options, fill out the Option1 field with the name of the option, followed by filling out OptionValue1 with the available values, for example, size or color. 
3. Repeat the previous step by adding the remaining options and option values. 
4. When done, save the file as a CSV file to import into inFlow. 

The Product Group Name field is required and can’t be left blank. This field also serves as a “unique identifier,” so the name must be different from other products and product group names. 

Example import file

Below is an example of an import file containing one product group and two variant options. 

The import file above creates the following products:

×1 product group: 

• T-Shirt

×9 Product variant products: 

• T-Shirt – Small – Red
• T-Shirt – Small – Green
• T-Shirt – Small – Blue
• T-Shirt – Medium – Red
• T-Shirt – Medium – Green
• T-Shirt – Medium – Blue
• T-Shirt – Large – Red
• T-Shirt – Large – Green
• T-Shirt – Large – Blue

Import field breakdown

Sample variant CSV files 

If you’d like to take a look at a CSV template with sample data, download the CSV file below to view what the import template should look like. This template includes sample data from this article for importing a T-shirt with two options and their corresponding option values.

If you’d like to review a larger CSV import file, download the CSV file below, which includes four variant options and corresponding option values. In this example, one product group has been created, along with 26 product variants.

Because of the number of options in the CSV, inFlow can generate up to 124 variants based on the options provided. inFlow will create placeholders in the product group for the additional variant options, which will display No product assigned, indicating that there is no matching product in inFlow for that exact variant.

If you’d like inFlow to generate the remaining variant options, scroll to the bottom of the product group and select Add new product(s) to fill this group.

Importing to inFlow

If you have your import file ready to go, read on for how to import your file into inFlow.

1. Click on Main Menu>Import.
2. In the Data type drop-down menu, select Product groups.
3. Below, select the CSV file from your computer, then click Next.
4. A preview of your import file will appear at the top of the import settings, showing the number of line products in your file.
5. Below match the inFlow fields on the left to the fields in your CSV file that are in the drop-down menus.
6. Once you’re satisfied that all the necessary fields match, click Import.
7. A confirmation message will be displayed, noting that your import is in progress. You’ll receive an email when the import is complete. 

The post How to import variants/product groups to inFlow appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

What’s Zapier?

Zapier is a handy tool that helps you automate repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on the more essential aspects of your business. 

You create “Zaps,” which are automations that tell Zapier what to do based on the conditions you set, known as triggers and actions.

• Triggers are the event that starts your Zap (such as saving a sales order). 
• Actions are the tasks you want Zapier to complete once a trigger has happened (such as emailing your colleague a copy of the new sales order).

Hundreds of different apps can complete actions, so the possibilities are endless!

What can inFlow & Zapier do? (Example workflows)

• Automatic order routing: Update the sales order fulfillment location to match the zip code or postal code of your customer’s shipping address. 
• Send an email via Gmail with the link to the invoice when it’s past due.
• Receive a Slack notification about an unconfirmed order and confirm it from within Slack. 
• Connect inFlow to other solutions such as ShipStation and Salesforce. 

Using Zapier

To use this integration, you will need a Zapier account. If you don’t already have one, you can sign up for an account while connecting to inFlow in the steps below.

Zapier offers several plans, ranging from lower-tier options with limitations to enterprise-level options. Take a look at Zapier’s plan to learn more.

Connecting inFlow to Zapier

1. With an inFlow Admin account, go to inFlow’s integration settings (From the Main Menu, click on the Integrations icon at the bottom left-hand side of the screen). 
2. Click on the Zapier icon. 
3. If needed, sign up for an account or log in to continue. 
4. inFlow is already in the Connect this app field. Select the app you want to connect with by selecting it in the with this one field. 
5. If any of the sample workflows below work for you, select Use this workflow.
6. Click Close when done. 

Building Zaps

You can find a complete guide on building Zaps here. 

Other helpful links:

• Zapier’s Help Center
• Intro to apps on Zapier
• What is a Zap?
• Setting up Zap actions
• Zapier apps

Zapier templates for inFlow

We’ve put together a collection of ready-made Zaps to help you automate more tasks in your daily routine. Refer to the Zapier templates guide for further details. 

Available inFlow triggers (events):

In Zapier, a trigger is an “event” that will start a Zap. The following events are available to be used in your Zaps: 

• New or updated sales orders 
• New or updated sales quotes
• New or updated purchase orders
• New or updated purchase quotes
• New or updated manufacture orders
• New or updated stock transfers
• New or updated stockroom scans
• New or updated stock adjustment
• New or updated stock counts
• New or updated count sheets
• New or updated customers
• New or updated vendors
• New or updated products

Available actions

Create actions 

Create actions allow you to push information from third-party apps to inFlow to create any of the following in inFlow: 

• Creating sales orders
• Converting a sales quote to a sales order
• Creating purchase orders
• Convert a purchase quote to a purchase order
• Creating manufacture orders
• Creating stock transfers
• Creating stockroom scans
• Creating customers
• Creating vendors
• Creating products
• Creating stock adjustments
• Creating stock counts
  • Creating count sheets

Update actions

Update actions are when a third-party app can update an existing order or product in inFlow.

• Update sales orders or sales quotes
• Update purchase orders or purchase quotes
• Update manufacture orders
• Update stock transfer
• Update stockroom scans
• Update customer
• Update vendor
• Update product
• Update stock adjustment
• Update stock counts
  • Update Sheets (count sheets can’t be updated if it is completed or empty)

Find actions

Find any order or product that exists in inFlow, such as:

• Find sales orders or sales quotes
• Find purchase orders or purchase quotes
• Find manufacture orders
• Find stock transfers
• Find stockroom scans
• Find customers
• Find vendors
• Find products

Find or Create actions

• This option searches for an order or product; if it doesn’t find one, it creates it in inFlow.
• Find by productId, SKU, or name
• Find or create customers
• Find by customerId or name. If neither matches, then create a new record.
• Find or create vendors
• Find by vendorId or name
• Find or create products

The post Connecting inFlow to Zapier appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Where to view QuickBooks Online alerts

If you are having trouble using QuickBooks Online with inFlow, go to inFlow’s Integration settings and look at the error messages that are preventing your orders from syncing. (Main Menu > Options > Integrations.)

We currently support QuickBooks Online US, Canada, UK and AUS.

What if the product exists in inFlow but not in QuickBooks Online?

If a product on an order doesn’t exist in QuickBooks Online, inFlow will create the product in QuickBooks Online as a non-inventory item when an invoice/bill is pushed. Depending on which setting you enable, it’ll also fill in either of these checkboxes in QuickBooks Online:

• “I sell this item” and sets the income account for this product to the same one that is mapped in the inFlow setup. 
• “I purchase this item,” and set the expense account for this product depending on the inFlow product type:
  • stocked products: Inventory Asset account
  • non-stocked products: Adjustments / Other Costs account
  • service products: Adjustments / Other Costs account

At the moment there isn’t an option for inFlow to push all product information to create new products in QuickBooks Online. New products can only be made when invoices/bills are pushed from inFlow.

Does this sync inventory quantities?

No – the integration only pushes purchase orders, sales orders, total Cost of Goods Sold, and total Inventory value from inFlow to QuickBooks Online. 

If I make changes to an order, product, vendor, or customer in QuickBooks Online, will it be updated in inFlow?

No – the integration is one-way. All data is pushed from inFlow to QuickBooks Online (no data gets pushed back from QuickBooks Online to inFlow, with the exception of payments with the Push and pull payments option). 

Seeing duplicate payments?

Duplicate payments can happen if payments are made directly into inFlow and QuickBooks Online (or another software integration) when the payment settings are set to Push payments. See the steps below to correct this issue.

1. Go to the inFlow’s integration settings and click on QuickBooks Online.
2. Select Sales orders, Purchase orders, and inventory values.
3. Under Payment settings, select Push and pull payments. This setting makes sure payments stay in sync between inFlow and QuickBooks Online to avoid discrepancies.
4. Click Save.

How to create new accounts & make accounts inactive in QuickBooks Online

To connect inFlow with QuickBooks Online, it’s important to have all the right accounts set up in your QuickBooks chart of accounts. Check out the video below for steps on creating a new account and how to make any accounts inactive if you don’t need them anymore.

The inFlow team does not offer official support for QuickBooks Online. For the most current instructions, refer to the QuickBooks Online support center.

Creating a new account

1. In QuickBooks Online, click on Settings, then Chart of Accounts. 
2. Click New, then fill out the fields on this screen. 
3. Click Save when done. 

How to remove an account

1. In QuickBooks Online, click on Settings, then Chart of Accounts. 
2. On the chart of accounts screen, locate the account you want to make inactive, then select the down arrow to the right of the screen and select Make inactive. 
3. On the confirmation screen, select “Yes, make inactive.”

How to enable shipping for sales in QuickBooks Online

1. Click on the settings icon > Account and Settings.
2. Select the Sales tab.
3. In the Sales form content section, select the toggle next to Shipping.
4. Click Done.

How to set the accounting period in QuickBooks Online

1. Click on the Settings icon
2. Account and settings, then click on Advanced
3. Select the toggle next to Close the books, and select the Closing date below.
4. Click Save, then click Done.

Common alerts/errors

If you have saved orders in inFlow and you don’t see those orders in QuickBooks Online, check inFlow’s Integrations screen to see what is causing the orders not to sync. You can also look below for common errors and how you can fix them.

Once you have made the changes, click on the Retry all button to sync your orders.

[Product] has different SKUs in inFlow and in QuickBooks Online. The SKU in inFlow is [xxxx], and the SKU in QuickBooks Online is [xyxy].

Reason: inFlow and QuickBooks have the same product, but there are different SKUs. 

Solution: Correct the SKU in either inFlow or QuickBooks Online so that the product has the same SKU in both systems.

Customer [Name here] has spaces at the start or end of the name, which QuickBooks Online does not allow. Please remove the extra spaces and try again.

Reason: An extra space at the end of the customer name prevents the order from being pushed to QuickBooks Online.

Solution: Go to the customer profile, remove the extra space, and save the customer record. When you’re done, click the Retry button.

Business Validation Error: Enter a transaction amount to continue.

Reason: This can happen when multiple transactions make changes to the same accounts receivable/accounts payable account (saving an order multiple times or multiple edits).

Solution: Check if the inFlow order has created a matching invoice/bill in QuickBooks Online. If it has, and payments/changes also push to QuickBooks Online, then you can click the Dismiss button from inFlow’s Integration settings.

The QuickBooks Online payment must have only one invoice/bill selected.

Reason: Multiple invoices/bills were paid at the same time in QuickBooks Online.

Solution 1: Remove the bulk payment in QuickBooks Online and process payments on the outstanding invoices/bills individually.

Solution 2: Go to the following QBO url where 1234 = the payment number shown in the error and ensure the payment is only applied for one invoice/bill.

• For invoice payments, go to https://qbo.intuit.com/app/recvpayment?txnId=1234
• For bill payments, go to https://qbo.intuit.com/app/billpayment?txnId=1234

Product/Service assigned to this transaction has been deleted. Before you can modify this transaction, you must restore [Product name]

Reason: The product on this inFlow sales order has been deleted or marked inactive in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: Log into QuickBooks Online and make this product active/available in order to sync this sales order.

The “[Name]” Payment Term details in inFlow and QuickBooks don’t match

Reason: The Days Due in inFlow and QuickBooks are different.

Solution: In the inFlow Windows app, check the Days Due by going to

1. Main Menu>Options>Settings>References>Payment Terms (Windows). Or go to the inFlow Order settings and click on Payment terms (Web).
2. Besides the terms that aren’t syncing, check the Days Due. Now in QuickBooks, go to Settings>All lists>Terms>Click edit beside the term you just checked for in inFlow that the Days Due match. If they don’t update them, too.

The name supplied already exists. : Id=X

1. This is a generic QuickBooks Online error that may be caused by a vendor with the same name as a customer (QuickBooks Online doesn’t allow this).

Solution: Check if you have a customer or vendor in QuickBooks Online with the same name as the customer or vendor on the order you’re trying to sync. If you do, QuickBooks Online recommends adding an indication to the names so it can handle them as two different entries: E.g., DebraC (C for customer) and DebraV (V for vendor).

2. This error can also occur if the Product name, Customer name, Categories, or Payment Terms have extra spaces in between or after them.

Solution: Please check your Product List/Customer/Vendor in inFlow and see if you can find that extra space at the end of the name. Once found, remove it, save the product/customer/vendor, and retry the error.

If there are several products in the same order, you can also check it through an export. If there are extra spaces, please remove them and import the products back again with the updated CSV file (of course, you could also do the same process manually in every product on your account). The system should recognize the changes, and you can then retry the error on the Integration page.

3. There are some characters that QuickBooks does not accept. For example, product names containing the colon “: ” will cause this error.

Solution: Go through the Product names, Customer names, and Categories to see if there are characters other than the accepted ones listed by QuickBooks Online.

The name supplied already exists. Another product or service is already using this name. Please use a different name.

Reason: If a product on your inFlow order has a different name than the product in QuickBooks Online, e.g., there is an extra “space” at the end of the name like “Apple ” vs. “Apple,” QuickBooks Online reads it as a different product.

Solution: check the product in the affected sales order in inFlow to see if there is an extra “space” at the end of the product name.

The name supplied already exists. Another customer, supplier, or employee is already using this name. Please use a different name.

Reason: If a customer’s name in inFlow is different from the name in QuickBooks Online. e.g., the customer name in inFlow has an extra “space” at the end of it, like “John” vs “John “, QuickBooks Online reads it as a different customer.

Solution: check the customer in the affected sales orders in inFlow to see if there is an extra space at the end of the customer name.

Business Validation Error: You must set a transaction amount.

Reason: This error appears whenever there is a payment entry for either a Sales Order or Purchase Order with the value of 0 as the payment amount/amount applied.

Solution: On the order page, click on Paid, and on the Payment Details page, then delete that row. After that, you can retry the error on the Integration page, and the error should disappear.

Element contains invalid characters.

Reason: This error means you have an invalid character either in your company name, Customers, Suppliers, Products and Services, or the Chart of Accounts.

Solution: Please check and remove any special characters. You can check for QuickBooks Online acceptable characters here.

String length specified does not match the supported length.

Reason: Some fields have limited character lengths in QuickBooks, but no limit in inFlow. If there is a field on the inFlow order that has reached the character limit for the matching field in QuickBooks Online, the sync will fail.

Solution: The error will specify a field’s character limit in QuickBooks (there is a list of their fields and character limits here). Check the corresponding field in inFlow to see that it hasn’t exceeded this character limit.

Object Not Found: Something you’re trying to use has been made inactive. Check the fields with accounts, customers, items, vendors, or employees.

Reason: There’s a customer, product, or vendor on the order that has been deactivated in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: check to see if the customer or product in the affected sales order in inFlow has been deactivated in QuickBooks Online and then reactivate them before retrying the sync.

 Business Validation Error: You are not allowed to modify the quantity of an inactive stock item.

Reason: A product or service on the inFlow order is inactive in QuickBooks.

Solution: Check that the products or services that are on the inFlow order are not deactivated in QuickBooks Online and activate them if necessary. You can find more details here.

Invalid account type: You can’t associate a product or service with accounts of certain types (such as Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable). If the product or service is something you sell, use an income account. If the product or service is something you buy, use an expense account.

Reason: Products inside QuickBooks Online have an account associated with them. An item on the affected order has an account associated with it that is not allowed.

Solution: Check the accounts that are set up for the items on the affected order in QuickBooks Online. The accounts should be set up as income and/or expense accounts (depending on whether it’s a sales order or a purchase order). Here’s how you can change the account associated. 

This transaction has been deposited. If you want to change or delete it, you must edit the deposit it appears on and remove it first.

Reason: This error may be due to an inFlow sales order that had previously synced with QuickBooks Online, and the payment was marked as deposited, but the payment was updated in inFlow after the initial sync to QuickBooks Online.

Solution: Remove the payment deposit in QuickBooks Online or click “dismiss” on the error in the integration page to clear it.

Email Address does not conform to the syntax rules of RFC822.

Reason: There are issues with the syntax/format of the email in question. (e.g., extra white spaces or rogue symbols like “,com” instead of “.com”)

Solution: check the specific sales order, and look at the email of that order to see if there are any obvious extra spaces or incorrect email symbols. (easier to see on the Windows application)

Product has a duplicate SKU in QuickBooks Online.

Reason: QuickBooks Online allows different products to have the same SKU, while inFlow does not. When a sales order is pushed to QuickBooks Online, inFlow will look at items on the order to see if they already exist in QuickBooks Online by matching the SKU in both programs first. If you have more than one product with the same SKU in QuickBooks Online, inFlow doesn’t know which product it should match. Instead, it will match the first product in QuickBooks Online that has the corresponding SKU, which may be incorrect.

Solution: Check QuickBooks Online to see what items have the same SKU as the one in the inFlow error. Make sure that you don’t have duplicate SKUs in QuickBooks Online. You will also need to correct any sales orders that were pushed to QuickBooks Online with the item listed in error and swap out the incorrect product for the intended one.

Business Validation Error: there is no account associated with “[Product name]”. Is it marked for purchase, and has an account associated with it?

Reason: QuickBooks Online requires confirmation that the product or service is allowed to be sold or purchased.

Solution: Go to the item’s settings in QuickBooks Online and make sure the item is marked for sale and/or purchase. You can do this by checking the appropriate box: “I purchase this product/service from a supplier” and/or “I sell this product/service to my customers” in the item’s settings.

Transactions with inventory (QOH) products can’t be dated earlier than the Inventory Start Date for the product.

Reason: Only Inventory type items in QBO have an Inventory Start Date. This means that some items on the sales order are set as Inventory type in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: You’ll need to delete the original item in QBO (mark it as inactive), then click Retry on the error in inFlow. This should prompt inFlow to create a new version of the item in QuickBooks Online automatically.

You can only use one foreign currency per transaction.

1. Sales order: QuickBooks Online only allows one currency per customer. If a customer already has transactions in a specific currency (e.g., USD), you won’t be able to push transactions in a different currency (e.g., CAD) for that same customer, and vice versa.

Solution: Make sure each customer only has transactions in one currency. If you need to work with a different currency, you’ll need to create a new customer in both inFlow and QBO with the correct currency.

2. Purchase order: This error can happen when a vendor in inFlow has a currency different from your default QBO currency (e.g., EUR, GBP), but multi-currency wasn’t enabled in QuickBooks Online at the time of sync. As a result, QBO creates the vendor and their bills using the default currency (e.g., USD).

Later, if multi-currency is enabled in QBO, inFlow will try to push new orders using the vendor’s actual currency, but QBO doesn’t allow changing a vendor’s currency after they’re created.

Solution: Create a new vendor in both inFlow and QuickBooks Online using the correct currency. This new vendor should be used for all future transactions, and syncing should work without issues.

Change this transaction currency to match what you use for your accounts receivable and accounts payable.

Reason: In inFlow, you can create sales or purchase orders for the same customer or vendor in different currencies. However, QuickBooks Online doesn’t support this — each customer or vendor can only be set up with one currency in QBO.

Solution: You’ll need to make sure that each customer or vendor in inFlow uses only one currency for all their orders. That currency should match the one set for them in QBO. If you need to use a different currency with a customer or vendor, please create a new customer or vendor record for that specific currency. This way, each one will have only one currency assigned to it, as required by QBO.

Invalid Reference Id : An item in this transaction is set up as a category instead of a product or service.

Reason: This error shows up when an invoice/bill in inFlow tries to sync to QuickBooks Online, but one or more of the item names on the invoice/bill match a Category type in QBO.

In other words, the item is being used as a regular product/service in inFlow, but in QBO it’s set up as a Product or Service Category, not an actual item. For example, if you’ve set up a category in QBO called “Delivery”, you can’t also use “Delivery” as a line item on an inFlow invoice/bill — QBO won’t accept it.

Solution: Double-check your Product and Service categories in QuickBooks Online, and compare them to the item names on your inFlow invoice. If you spot a category name that matches an item name on your invoice/bill, you have two options:

Option 1: Go to inFlow and rename the item to something slightly different (e.g., add a letter or number).

Option 2: Rename the category in QBO instead.

Parent Reference Invalid: Select a category.

Reason: This error likely appears because one or more of the items on the invoice or bill in inFlow is not assigned to any category in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: Check each item from the invoice or bill in inFlow and make sure that all of them are assigned to a category in QBO.

Business Validation Error: You need to activate this item before updating the quantity.

1. This error can happen if the item in inFlow is trying to sync with a product in QuickBooks Online that has been deactivated.

Solution: Check if the item in QBO is deactivated. If it is, reactivate it and then try syncing again.

2. It can also happen if multiple items in QBO have the same name or SKU, but with different types (Inventory and Non-Inventory). This confuses the sync, and inFlow may try to match to the wrong one.

Solution: If the item isn’t deactivated, check for any other items in QBO with the same name or SKU. If there are duplicates, rename them slightly so inFlow can match the correct one during the sync.

No matching A/P account found for currency of this Purchase Order.

Reason: QuickBooks Online creates a foreign currency Accounts Payable (AP) account only after a bill is created in that currency. In inFlow, a bill is sent to QBO only when the order is fulfilled or partially fulfilled. So, if nothing has been received yet, the bill won’t be created, and the AP account won’t exist in QBO.

Solution: You have two options:

Option 1: Partially fulfill the order in inFlow (e.g., receive one or two items). This will trigger the bill to be created in QBO, and the AP account will be set up automatically.

Option 2: Manually create a bill in QBO using that vendor and the correct currency. This also forces QBO to create the AP account for that currency.

The account period has closed. Txn Date=xx/xx/xxxx is before book closing date=xx/xx/xxxx

Reason: This error appears when an invoice you’re trying to sync from inFlow has a date that falls within a closed accounting period in QuickBooks Online. QBO doesn’t allow changes in periods that are already closed.

Solution: You’ll need to temporarily reopen the closed period in QBO so the transaction can sync. After syncing, you can re-enter the closing date to close the books again. You can find the steps on how to reopen the closing period in QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Online bill payment must have only one bill selected. Your inFlow payment still exists, if you need to remove it, please do so manually

OR

QuickBooks Online payment must have only one invoice selected. Your inFlow payment still exists, if you need to remove it, please do so manually

1. This error can occur if a payment originally pushed from inFlow is edited in QuickBooks Online and applied to multiple invoices or bills, or if the payment was directly applied in QBO to multiple invoices or bills. inFlow only supports payments linked to one invoice or bill at a time, so syncing will fail if the payment is spread across more than one.

Solution: To fix this, go to QBO and edit the payment so that it’s applied to only one invoice or bill.

1. It can also happen if you refund an invoice in full. This brings the invoice total to $0 in QBO, and any linked payments become unapplied, which can also trigger the error.

Solution: Please double-check for any discrepancies between the invoices or bills in QuickBooks Online and inFlow. If anything is missing, manually adjust the payments. If everything looks correct, you can safely dismiss the error.

Business Validation Error: Not a valid product or service name. Names must have at least one character and cannot include tabs, newlines or ‘:’.

Reason: This error usually occurs when one or more of your items in inFlow have disallowed characters (such as ‘:’) in their names.

Solution: Go to the orders with errors and check the names of all the items. If you find an item with a colon ‘:’ in its name, go to that item in inFlow and update its name. Avoid using ‘:’ in the item’s name when syncing with QBO.

The customer you have specified has been deleted. You cannot create or edit a transaction with a deleted customer.

Reason: This error occurs when the customer associated with the order has been deactivated or merged with another customer in QuickBooks Online

Solution: Check for any merged or deleted customers in QBO and reactivate them. After reactivating, retry the sync.
Note: If the customer was merged, the reactivated customer will not have any transaction history.

Business Validation Error: Select an account for this transaction.

Reason: This error is likely caused by some accounts not being mapped in the integration settings (for example, “Payments (Credit Card)” account) for both sales and purchase orders.

Solution: Go to the QBO settings on the Integrations page in inFlow. Ensure that all accounts are properly mapped and that no fields are left empty — each should have an account assigned.

Tax Inclusive transactions are not supported in US QuickBooks editions.

Reason: This error can occur if the pricing scheme (for sales orders) or vendor (for purchase orders) is set to tax inclusive in inFlow.

Solution: Check the pricing scheme (sales) or vendor (purchase) settings in inFlow and make sure the tax-inclusive option is disabled. If clicking the Retry button doesn’t push the order to QBO, follow these steps:

For Sales Orders:

1. Open the sales order linked to the error.
2. Change the pricing scheme to a different one.
3. Save the changes.
4. Change the pricing scheme back to the correct one.
5. Save again.
6. If needed, click Retry on the Integrations page.

For Purchase Orders:

1. Open the purchase order linked to the error.
2. Change the vendor to a different one.
3. Save the changes.
4. Change the vendor back to the correct one.
5. Save again.
6. If needed, click Retry on the Integrations page.

Sales Shipping is disabled in QuickBooks but specified in the inFlow transaction.

Reason: QuickBooks Online needs to have Shipping enabled so shipping information can be synced from inFlow to QuickBooks Online.

Solution: In QuickBooks Online, find the cogwheel on the top right. Click Account and Settings. Click Sales on the left bar. Edit the Sales form content section so that the Shipping setting is on.

QuickBooks Online can’t connect

If too many sales orders are saved in inFlow at the same time (for example, while importing sales orders), you may get an error saying: “Cannot connect to QuickBooks Online at the moment.” This error will also be accompanied by a red exclamation mark on the top right-hand corner of the QuickBooks Online image and a warning on the inFlow for Windows app.

Don’t panic! QuickBooks Online has a system that prevents too many orders from being synced at once, so your orders are still able to sync. You’ll just need to wait a little, then click the Retry all button to sync again.

 If the Retry all option doesn’t work, please contact the inFlow team so we can further assist you.

The post QuickBooks Online order sync troubleshooting appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Setup

How does this work?

With inFlow, you can easily create new sales and purchase orders that can be seamlessly sent to QuickBooks Online. Plus, you have the flexibility to make payments within inFlow or QuickBooks Online using the handy two-way sync payments option.

If there are missing records in QuickBooks Online, inFlow can create new products, customers, and vendors for you. Currently, records made in QuickBooks Online can’t be pushed to inFlow.

As soon as the purchase order push is enabled, inFlow will push your inventory value to QuickBooks Online. Your inventory value must be accurate in inFlow and QuickBooks Online before enabling the integration.

Before setup checklist

We currently support QuickBooks US, Canada, UK and AUS.

• ✅ Are your product quantities and costs accurate in inFlow? If you intend to push purchase orders, ensure your stock levels and product costs are accurate! The integration adjusts Quickbook’s total inventory value to match inFlow’s, so you’ll want to ensure they match before you begin. See the “Push purchase orders and inventory” tab for details!
  
• ✅ Does your home currency in inFlow and QuickBooks Online match? Make sure that your main currency in both systems is the same. If you use more than one currency in your inFlow orders, turn on the Multicurrency setting in QuickBooks Online.
  
• ✅ Are your taxes in both systems? Ensure that your inFlow taxes are also in QuickBooks Online.
  
• ✅ Is your QuickBooks Online account using non-inventory product types? inFlow can only use QuickBooks Online’s non-inventory products.
  
  If your QuickBooks account uses inventory type, it will conflict with the integration and may cause double entries as both systems try to update the stock value.
  
  Make sure products are non-inventory types before connecting inFlow to QuickBooks Online to avoid making several corrections after the fact. If you have inventory-type products in stock, check the Adjust Inventory Items section of this QuickBooks Online guide to remove the product quantities.
  
  If you’re using inventory-type products in QuickBooks Online, you must make them inactive and re-create them as non-inventory products

QuickBooks Online doesn’t have an option to convert inventory products to non-inventory products.

• ✅ Does your inventory include serialized products? At the moment, QuickBooks Online doesn’t support tracking serialized products, so serial numbers won’t be pushed to your QuickBooks Online invoices or bills.
  
  When inFlow pushes a sales or purchase order with a serialized product, the product is sent to QuickBooks Online without the serial number information. There won’t be any errors in inFlow or QuickBooks mentioning the missing serial details.
  
• ✅ Creating an inFlow Adjustments account – inFlow must connect to a Cost of Goods Sold account (COGS) and a different COGS-based account to track adjustments. During the QuickBooks Online setup, select Create inFlow Adjustments account in QuickBooks.

• ✅ Do your inFlow customers have the correct currency settings? You can’t change the customer currency settings in QuickBooks after a sales order has been pushed. Verify that the currency set up in the inFlow customer profile matches one of the currencies set up in QuickBooks.
  
  To check, open inFlow and go to the Main Menu > Sales > Customer list. Open the customer profile and select the correct currency from the Pricing/currency drop-down menu.

QuickBooks Online explainer & setup webinar

Please note: the above webinar was recorded before the payment sync feature was added to this integration.

Exporting products from QuickBooks Online to inFlow

Connecting inFlow to QuickBooks Online is simple! You don’t need all your products ready in both systems first. inFlow will generate non-inventory-type products as needed. If you have products in QuickBooks Online, import them into inFlow to centralize your inventory management. Watch the video below for the complete steps!

1. In QuickBooks Online, click on Sales, then Products & Services.
2. Before exporting, make sure all of your products are Non-inventory type for the inFlow integration to work correctly with QuickBooks Online. 
3. When ready, click Export and save the file to your computer. 

Connecting inFlow to QuickBooks Online

1. With an Admin account, log in to inFlow’s integration settings. (Main Menu > Options > Integrations. )
2. Under Core integrations, click on QuickBooks Online.
3. In the pop-up, select Connect to QuickBooks.
4. Your browser will direct you to your QuickBooks Online account for authorization. If you have multiple QuickBooks accounts, select the account with which inFlow should connect. 
5. Click Connect to allow inFlow to view and update your QuickBooks data.

Sales orders push integration settings

1. Your browser will redirect to inFlow’s QuickBooks Online integration setup with the Sales order push setting toggled on. This means sales orders from inFlow will be pushed to QuickBooks Online as an invoice. 

2. In the General section, select the Product Income Account that inFlow should connect to.
   
   Typically, this is the account in QuickBooks Online you use to receive money for products sold. This account will be set as the Product income account for products created via inFlow in QuickBooks Online. Select the appropriate QuickBooks Online account from the drop-down. The Product Income account for existing products in QuickBooks Online will not change.
3. Select the customer name setting you prefer. When a sales order is pushed to QuickBooks, you can choose whether to include or exclude the customer name as part of the address in the resulting invoice in QuickBooks.

Sales order payment settings

1. Next are the Payment settings. When the Sync payments setting is toggled on, you can choose how you would like to manage and process payments. Select your preferred option. See the table below to learn about each payment option.

2. The Refund setting is toggled on by default. This allows you to process refunds in inFlow, and the refund information will be sent to the matching QuickBooks Online invoice. Toggle this setting off if you don’t want refunds sent to QuickBooks Online. Any refunds will need to be processed in inFlow and QuickBooks Online separately.
3. Next, select the Payments account from the drop-down menu. This is the account that updates when payments have been made on inFlow sales orders and QuickBooks invoices.

Sales order tax setup

1. At the bottom of the setup are the tax settings. Similar to mapping your accounts, you’ll need to map the taxes that are in inFlow to the tax rates that are in QuickBooks.
   
   Match the inFlow taxes to the QuickBooks Online taxes in the drop-down menu. If you see No matches found, please create one in QuickBooks and check again; it means QuickBooks doesn’t have a matching tax. Create the tax in QuickBooks Online, then click on Check again before you proceed.

2. Click Next to continue the Payment order and inventory value push integration settings.

QuickBooks has released an Automated Sales Tax feature that can calculate the taxes on your invoices for you based on shipping addresses and other order information on your invoices. If your account has this feature enabled, you won’t have to map any taxes, and the window will say, “Tax setup is complete”. Click Next to complete the setup.

Sales order push account setup breakdown

Purchase order and inventory value push settings

1. At the top of the screen, you’ll see that Purchase order and inventory value push settings are toggled on.
   
   This setting will push purchase orders from inFlow to QuickBooks Online as bills. In addition to creating a bill, inFlow will update the Inventory Assets and Cost of Goods Sold accounts in QuickBooks.

2. In the General settings, select the appropriate accounts inFlow should connect to. For the Adjustments/Other Costs account, we recommend that you select Create inFlow Adjustments account in QuickBooks to create a dedicated account for inFlow to make adjustments where needed. Don’t select the same QuickBooks Online account for more than one setting.

Purchase order payment settings

1. Next in the setup is Payment settings. The Sync payments setting gives you the option of how you would like to manage payments. Select your preferred option. See the table below for a breakdown of each option.

2. The Refund setting is toggled on by default. This allows you to process refunds in inFlow, and the refund information will be sent to the matching QuickBooks Online bill. Toggle this setting off if you don’t want refunds sent to QuickBooks Online. When this setting is inactive, refunds will need to be processed in inFlow and QuickBooks Online separately.
3. Next, select the Payments (Check) account and the Payments (Credit Card) account from the drop-down menus. These are the accounts that will be used for paying bills to your vendors in QuickBooks Online.

4. When done, click Complete, then click Done. And now inFlow is connected to QuickBooks Online.

Purchase order push account setup breakdown

If no payment method is selected on the purchase order in inFlow, then that payment will be deducted from the selected QuickBooks payment account.

inFlow to QuickBooks account flowchart

For a visualization of how inFlow connects to your various QuickBooks Online accounts, take a look at the flowchart below.

Push sales orders

Now that inFlow and QuickBooks Online are connected, you can begin processing sales orders and push them to QuickBooks Online. 

How to push a sales order to QuickBooks Online

In inFlow, when a sales order is marked as invoiced (meaning you’ve notified your customer that they owe you for the order), inFlow will push the order to QuickBooks Online as an invoice.

You can change the sales order status to invoiced when a sales order is partially paid or paid in full, or when you select the Mark invoiced button. 

You can mark a sales order as invoiced in the following ways:

1. Printing a sales invoice. 
2. Emailing a sales invoice. 
3. Select the Mark invoiced button.  

Printing and emailing

Printing and emailing invoices are actions used to inform your customers that they owe money for this order. When clicking on these buttons, inFlow will automatically mark the sales order as invoiced. 

Mark invoiced button

If you want to mark the order as invoiced but don’t need to print or email it, you can click on the down arrow next to Mark paid to select Mark Invoiced. 

Which transactions will inFlow sales orders be in QuickBooks Online?

Sales orders pushed from inFlow will be created in QuickBooks Online as invoices, credit memos, journal entries, and payment transactions.

New to accounting? Take a look at QuickBooks Online’s common accounting terms to learn more. 

Where can I find invoices and other transactions in QuickBooks Online?

When your sales orders are invoiced, partially paid, or paid in inFlow, they can be found in the Sales section of QuickBooks Online (qbo.intuit.com/app/sales.)

You can click on any of the headings in the table to sort the view of your orders. Select Edit or View to look at the invoice. 

inFlow’s sales order number will show up as the Invoice number in QuickBooks, making information tracking simple. Payments, refunds, and adjustments will create different line items in your sales transactions list.

inFlow won’t push historical sales orders or quotes to QuickBooks Online. However, changing a historical uninvoiced sales order to invoiced or adding a payment in inFlow will push that order to QuickBooks.

QuickBooks Online’s Audit log is a handy way to see many transactions at once. 

Which sales order fields push to QuickBooks Online?

• Customer name
• Customer billing address
• Shipping address
• Invoice/Order date
• Invoice/Order number
• Products/SKUs sold
• Quantity of products purchased
• Payment details
• Payment terms
• Due date
• The subtotal on the sales order
• Freight
• Taxes on the sales order
• Balance left on on sales order
• Sales order remarks

Which fields won’t push to QuickBooks Online?

• P.O #
• Sales rep
• Location of items
• Non-customer costs
• Payments made by credit
• Custom fields
• Requested ship date
• Credits 

What customer fields push to QuickBooks Online?

Currently, inFlow only pushes your sales order with QuickBooks, not your customer records. When you save an order in inFlow with a customer that isn’t in QuickBooks, the push will create a new customer profile in QuickBooks, and inFlow will set the following fields:

• Name
• Billing Address
• Shipping Address
• Phone Number
• Email
• Currency

Other customer fields will need to be inputted in QuickBooks manually.

After a customer has been initially created, inFlow will not update the customer profile in QuickBooks Online, so if there are any changes, please enter them directly into QuickBooks and inFlow.

How will the products sync to QuickBooks Online?

The way products are pushed to QuickBooks Online will depend on the information available for the product in inFlow and QuickBooks Online. The matching priority happens automatically, but it goes as follows:

1. Matching by inFlow SKU to a QuickBooks Online SKU.
2. Matching by inFlow Product Name to a QuickBooks Online Product (SKU must be empty in at least one system)
3. If there is no match, inFlow will create a new non-inventory product in QuickBooks Online, matching your product name and SKU field (if a SKU exists in inFlow.)

Processing payments

When setting up the inFlow to QuickBooks integration settings, you can choose whether to process payments with the sales order push integration settings or not. 

If the Sync payments setting is active, there are three payment options to choose from: 

1. Push and pull payments
2. Push payments
3. Pull payments. 

Take a look below to learn how you can apply payments for each payment setting.

Push and pull payments

This is a two-way payment sync option. You can process payments in inFlow or QuickBooks online, and the payment will be pushed to the other system for you.

In this example, the payment was made in inFlow and the payment was pushed to QuickBooks Online. 

Paying multiple orders/invoices

In inFlow, you can pay for multiple sales orders at once, and the payments will be pushed individually to QuickBooks Online.

When using QuickBooks Online, paying multiple invoices with a single payment isn’t supported. Each invoice must have its own payment.

Push payments

With this payment option, payments can only be made on inFlow sales orders, and the payment information will be sent to the matching QuickBooks Online invoice. 

If a payment is added to the QuickBooks Online invoice, inFlow will not receive the payment information on the matching sales order. 

Pull payments

With this setting, payments are only added to the QuickBooks Online invoice, and the payment information will be sent to the matching inFlow sales order. 

If a payment is added to an inFlow sales order, QuickBooks Online will not receive the payment information on the matching invoice.

How are refunds handled? 

With this integration, refunds need to be processed from the sales order in inFlow. How you process the refund changes the transactions that you’ll see in QuickBooks Online. 

Refund options:

1. Returning/refunding products on an existing paid sales order. 
2. Returning/refunding products on a blank unpaid sales order. 

Returning/refunding products on an existing paid sales order

When processing refunds on sales orders, inFlow will push that information, and QuickBooks will track this in the form of a journal entry. 

1. To start, process the refund/return in inFlow. 
2. In QuickBooks, the matching invoice will show the refunded product, and the order total will be updated. 
3. When you look at your sales transactions you’ll see both the original full payment and a journal entry for the refunded amount. 

Returning/refunding products on a blank unpaid sales order

If processing a refund on a blank unpaid sales order, inFlow will push that information, and QuickBooks will track the refund as a QuickBooks credit memo. 

1. To start, process the refund/return in inFlow. 
2. In QuickBooks, a (debit) journal entry will be made with an accompanying credit memo with the matching order number will be created with the refunded product and funds.

To learn more about debits and credits, take a look at this QuickBooks Online blog post.

Customer Credits

Credits used in inFlow sales orders cannot be pushed to QuickBooks Online. If you need to issue a credit on a sales order, you will need to manually adjust your invoice in QuickBooks.

This also applies when a customer pays for a sales order with a credit. This information won’t be pushed and needs to be adjusted manually.

If a customer uses credit as payment in either inFlow or QuickBooks Online, the other system will only register a payment without noting that the customer used credit as the payment method.

Because inFlow and QuickBooks Online have different credit systems, both solutions may have different customer and vendor credits that will have to be managed.

Push purchase orders

Now that inFlow and QuickBooks Online are connected, you can start processing purchase orders and pushing them to QuickBooks Online. 

How to push purchase orders and inventory value to QuickBooks Online

When a purchase order is fully or partially received, inFlow creates a bill in QuickBooks Online. In addition to sending this information, your inventory value will also be pushed.

1. To push a purchase order, click the fulfill button, or select the go to the Receive tab to partially receive the order. 
2. Once the purchase order is partially or fully received, it will be sent to QuickBooks Online as a bill. 

When a purchase order is unfulfilled and is partially or fully paid in inFlow creates an expense until the purchase order is fulfilled.

Partially received purchase orders

For partially received orders, when the order is pushed to QuickBooks, it will only include items that have been received. As the remaining items are marked as received in inFlow, the same QuickBooks Bill will be updated to include those items.  

If you’d like to create separate QuickBooks bills when partially receiving items in inFlow, you’ll need to split the order by received items to create two separate purchase orders in inFlow.

Which purchase order fields are pushed to QuickBooks Online?

• Vendor name
• Purchase order number
• Purchase order date
• Products/SKUs sold
• Quantity of products purchased
• Payment details
• Payment terms
• Due date
• The subtotal on the purchase order
• Balance left on the purchase order
• Freight
• Taxes on the Purchase order
• Purchase order remarks

Which purchase order fields won’t push to QuickBooks Online?

• Vendor billing address (QuickBooks will use the address in the Quickbooks vendor profile)
• Shipping address 
• Vendor order #
• Location of items
• Non-Vendor costs
• Credits
• Payments made by credit
• Custom fields
• Requested ship date

Why don’t I see my vendor address in QuickBooks Online? 

When inFlow sends vendor information to QuickBooks Online for the first time, it transfers most of the vendor details from inFlow. However, inFlow isn’t able to update vendor records in QuickBooks. If inFlow sends vendor information without an address the first time, that address will stay blank in QuickBooks. You will have to add the address to your vendor records manually.

Pushing total inventory value 

inFlow calculates the inventory value by adding up all of the costs of the items you currently have in stock. When a purchase order is pushed from inFlow to QuickBooks, inFlow will update QuickBooks’s inventory asset account with the new inventory value.

As soon as purchase order sync is enabled, inFlow will sync inventory value. It’s important that your inventory value is accurate in inFlow before enabling the sync. Otherwise, the inventory value that is synced to QuickBooks Online will be inaccurate.

To check the current inventory value in inFlow, run the Inventory Details report with “Total Cost Value” selected as a column.

Your total inventory value in inFlow is affected by:

How does inFlow push the Cost of Goods Sold?

inFlow calculates the Cost of Goods Sold using a number of factors. When a sales order is marked Fulfilled, inFlow will update QuickBooks’s Cost of Goods Sold account with the Cost of Goods Sold value for that order. 

inFlow’s Cost of Goods Sold will update the QuickBooks Cost of Goods Sold account.

Note: if you disable sales order push, the invoice will not be created in QuickBooks, but the Cost of Goods Sold will still be pushed if you have enabled purchase order & inventory value push.

Which transactions will inFlow purchase orders be in QuickBooks Online?

Purchase orders pushed from inFlow will be created in QuickBooks Online as bills and bill payments or expenses if the payment is made on an unreceived purchase order.

To make the inFlow integration available to most of our customers, inFlow creates a bill instead of a purchase order. Purchase orders are available on select QuickBooks Online plans.

Where can I find bills and other transactions in QuickBooks?

When purchase orders are partially or fully received, inFlow pushes them as a bill, which you can find in the Expenses section of QuickBooks Online (qbo.intuit.com/app/expenses.)

You can click on any of the headings in the table to sort the view of your orders. Select Edit or View to look at the invoice.

How will the products sync to QuickBooks Online?

The way products sync to QuickBooks Online will depend on the information available for the product in inFlow and QuickBooks Online. 

The product matching priority happens automatically, but it goes as follows:

1. Matching by inFlow SKU to a QuickBooks Online SKU.
2. Matching by inFlow Product Name to a QuickBooks Online Product (SKU must be empty in at least one system)
3. If there is no match, inFlow will create a new non-inventory product in QuickBooks Online, matching your product name and SKU field (if a SKU exists in inFlow.)

Processing payments

When setting up the inFlow to QuickBooks integration settings, you can choose whether to process payments with the purchase order push integration settings.

If the Sync payments setting is active, there are three payment options to choose from: 

1. Push and pull payments
2. Push payments
3. Pull payments. 

Take a look below to learn how you can apply payments for each payment setting.

Push and pull payments

This is a two-way payment sync option. You can process payments in inFlow or QuickBooks online, and the payment will be pushed to the other system for you.

Paying multiple orders/invoices

In inFlow, you can pay for multiple purchase orders at once, and the payments will be pushed to QuickBooks Online.

When using QuickBooks Online, paying multiple bills with a single payment isn’t supported. Each bill must have its own payment.

Push payments

With this payment option, payments can only be made on inFlow purchase orders, and the payment information will be sent to the matching QuickBooks Online bill. 

If a payment is added to the QuickBooks Online bill, inFlow will not receive the payment information on the matching purchase order. 

Pull payments

With this setting, payments are only added to the QuickBooks Online bill, and the payment information will be sent to the matching inFlow purchase order. 

If a payment is added to an inFlow purchase order, QuickBooks Online will not receive the payment information on the matching bill.

Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble using QuickBooks Online with inFlow, go to inFlow’s Integration settings and look at the error messages that are preventing your orders from syncing. (Main Menu > Options > Integrations.)

We currently support QuickBooks Online US, Canada, UK and AUS.

What if the product exists in inFlow but not in QuickBooks Online?

If a product on an order doesn’t exist in QuickBooks Online, inFlow will create the product in QuickBooks Online as a non-inventory item when an invoice/bill is pushed. Depending on which setting you enable, it’ll also fill in either of these checkboxes in QuickBooks Online:

• “I sell this item” and sets the income account for this product to the same one that is mapped in the inFlow setup. 
• “I purchase this item” and sets the expense account for this product depending on the inFlow product type:
  • stocked products: Inventory Asset account
  • non-stocked products: Adjustments / Other Costs account
  • service products: Adjustments / Other Costs account

At the moment there isn’t an option for inFlow to push all product information to create new products in QuickBooks Online. New products can only be made when invoices/bills are pushed from inFlow.

Does this sync inventory quantities?

No – the integration only pushes purchase orders, sales orders, total Cost of Goods Sold, and total Inventory value from inFlow to QuickBooks Online. 

If I make changes to an order, product, vendor, or customer in QuickBooks Online, will it be updated in inFlow?

No – the integration is one-way. All data is pushed from inFlow to QuickBooks Online (no data gets pushed back from QuickBooks Online to inFlow with the exception of payments with the Push and pull payments option). 

Seeing duplicate payments?

Duplicate payments can happen if payments are made directly into inFlow and QuickBooks Online (or another software integration) when the payment settings are set to Push payments. See the steps below to correct this issue.

1. Go to the inFlow’s integration settings and click on QuickBooks Online.
2. Select Sales orders or Purchase orders and inventory values.
3. Under Payment settings select Push and pull payments. This setting makes sure payments stay in sync between inFlow and QuickBooks Online to avoid discrepancies.
4. Click Save.

How to create new accounts & make accounts inactive in QuickBooks Online

To connect inFlow with QuickBooks Online, it’s important to have all the right accounts set up in your QuickBooks chart of accounts. Check out the video below for steps on creating a new account and how to make any accounts inactive if you don’t need them anymore.

The inFlow team does not offer official support for QuickBooks Online. For the most current instructions, refer to the QuickBooks Online support center.

Creating a new account

1. In QuickBooks Online, click on Settings, then Chart of Accounts. 
2. Click New, then fill out the fields on this screen. 
3. Click Save when done. 

How to remove an account

1. In QuickBooks Online, click on Settings, then Chart of Accounts. 
2. On the chart of accounts screen, locate the account you want to make inactive, then select the down arrow to the right of the screen and select Make inactive. 
3. On the confirmation screen, select “Yes, make inactive.”

How to enable shipping for sales in QuickBooks Online

1. Click on the settings icon > Account and Settings.
2. Select the Sales tab.
3. In the Sales form content section, select the toggle next to Shipping.
4. Click Done.

How to set the accounting period in QuickBooks Online

1. Click on the Settings icon
2. Account and settings, then click on Advanced
3. Select the toggle next to Close the books and select the Closing date below.
4. Click Save, then click Done.

Common alerts/errors

If you have saved orders in inFlow and you don’t see those orders in QuickBooks Online, check inFlow’s Integrations screen to see what is causing the errors not to sync. You can also look below for common errors and how you can fix them.

Once you have made the changes, click on the Retry all button to sync your orders.

[Product] has different SKUs in inFlow and in QuickBooks Online. The SKU in inFlow is [xxxx], and the SKU in QuickBooks Online is [xyxy].

Reason: inFlow and QuickBooks have the same product, but there are different SKUs. 

Solution: Correct the SKU in either inFlow or QuickBooks Online so that the product has the same SKU in both systems.

Customer [Name here] has spaces at the start or end of the name, which QuickBooks Online does not allow. Please remove the extra spaces and try again.

Reason: An extra space at the end of the customer name prevents the order from being pushed to QuickBooks Online.

Solution: Go to the customer profile, remove the extra space, and save the customer record. When you’re done, click the Retry button.

Business Validation Error: Enter a transaction amount to continue.

Reason: This can happen when multiple transactions make changes to the same accounts receivable/accounts payable account (saving an order multiple times or multiple edits).

Solution: Check if the inFlow order has created a matching invoice/bill in QuickBooks Online. If it has, and payments/changes also push to QuickBooks Online, then you can click the Dismiss button from inFlow’s Integration settings.

The QuickBooks Online payment must have only one invoice/bill selected.

Reason: Multiple invoices/bills were paid at the same time in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: Remove the bulk payment in QuickBooks Online and process payments on the outstanding invoices/bills individually.

Product/Service assigned to this transaction has been deleted. Before you can modify this transaction, you must restore [Product name]

Reason: The product on this inFlow sales order has been deleted or marked inactive in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: Log into QuickBooks Online and make this product active/available in order to sync this sales order.

The “[Name]” Payment Term details in inFlow and QuickBooks don’t match

Reason: The Days Due in inFlow and QuickBooks are different.

Solution: in the inFlow Windows App check the Days Due by going to

1. Main Menu>Options>Settings>References>Payment Terms (Windows.) Or go to the inFlow Order settings and click on Payment terms (Web.)
2. Besides the terms that aren’t syncing, check the Days Due. Now in QuickBooks, go to Settings>All lists>Terms>Click edit beside the term you just checked for in inFlow that the Days Due match. If they don’t update them too.

The name supplied already exists. : Id=X

1. This is a generic QuickBooks Online error that may be caused by a vendor with the same name as a customer (QuickBooks Online doesn’t allow this).

Solution: Check if you have a customer or vendor in QuickBooks Online with the same name as the customer or vendor on the order you’re trying to sync. If you do, QuickBooks Online recommends adding an indication to the names so it can handle them as two different entries: E.g., DebraC (C for customer) and DebraV (V for vendor).

2. This error can also occur if the Product name, Customer name, Categories, or Payment Terms have extra spaces in between or after them.

Solution: Please check your Product List/Customer/Vendor in inFlow and see if you can find that extra space at the end of the name. Once found, remove it save the product/customer/vendor, and retry the error.

If there are several products in the same order, you can check it also through an export. If there are extra spaces, please remove them and import the products back again with the updated CSV file (of course, you could also do the same process manually in every product on your account). The system should recognize the changes, and you can then retry the error on the Integration page.

3. There are some characters that QuickBooks does not accept. For example, product names containing the colon “: ” will cause this error.

Solution: Go through the Product names, Customer names, and Categories to see if there are characters other than the accepted ones listed by QuickBooks Online.

The name supplied already exists. : Another product or service is already using this name. Please use a different name.

Reason: If a product on your inFlow order has a different name than the product in QuickBooks Online, e.g., there is an extra “space” at the end of the name like “Apple ” vs. “Apple,” QuickBooks Online reads it as a different product.

Solution: check the product in the affected sales order in inFlow to see if there is an extra “space” at the end of the product name.

The name supplied already exists. : Another customer, supplier, or employee is already using this name. Please use a different name.

Reason: If a customer name in inFlow is different from the name in QuickBooks Online. e.g., the customer name in inFlow has an extra “space” at the end of it, like “John” vs “John “, QuickBooks Online reads it as a different customer.

Solution: check the customer in the affected sales orders in inFlow to see if there is an extra space at the end of the customer name.

Business Validation Error: You must set a transaction amount.

Reason: This error appears whenever there is a payment entry for either a Sales Order or Purchase Order with the value of 0 as the payment amount/amount applied.

Solution: On the order page, click on Paid, and on the Payment Details page, then delete that row. After that, you can retry the error on the Integration page, and the error should disappear.

Element contains invalid characters.

Reason: This error means you have an invalid character either in your company name, Customers, Suppliers, Products and Services, or the Chart of Accounts.

Solution: Please check and remove any special characters. You can check for QuickBooks Online acceptable characters here.

String length specified does not match the supported length.

Reason: Some fields have limited character lengths in QuickBooks but no limit in inFlow. If there is a field on the inFlow order that has reached the character limit for the matching field in QuickBooks Online, the sync will fail.

Solution: The error will specify a field’s character limit in QuickBooks (there is a list of their fields and character limits here). Check the corresponding field in inFlow to see that it hasn’t exceeded this character limit.

Object Not Found: Something you’re trying to use has been made inactive. Check the fields with accounts, customers, items, vendors or employees.

Reason: There’s a customer, product, or vendor on the order that has been deactivated in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: check to see if the customer or product in the affected sales order in inFlow has been deactivated in QuickBooks Online and then reactivate them before retrying the sync.

 Business Validation Error: You are not allowed to modify the quantity of an inactive stock item.

Reason: A product or service on the inFlow order is inactive in QuickBooks.

Solution: Check that the products or services that are on the inFlow order are not deactivated in QuickBooks Online and activate them if necessary. You can find more details here.

Invalid account type: You can’t associate a product or service with accounts of certain types (such as Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable). If the product or service is something you sell, use an income account. If the product or service is something you buy, use an expense account.

Reason: Products inside of QuickBooks have an account associated with them. An item on the affected order has an account associated with it that is not allowed.

Solution: Check the accounts that are set up for the items on the affected order in QuickBooks Online. The accounts should be set up as income and/or expense accounts (depending on if it’s a sales order or a purchase order). Here’s how you can change the account associated. 

This transaction has been deposited. If you want to change or delete it, you must edit the deposit it appears on and remove it first.

Reason: This error may be due to an inFlow sales order that had previously synced with QuickBooks Online, and the payment was marked as deposited, but the payment was updated in inFlow after the initial sync to QuickBooks Online.

Solution: remove the payment deposit in QuickBooks Online or click “dismiss” on the error in the Cloud integration page to clear it.

Email Address does not conform to the syntax rules of RFC822.

Reason: There are issues with the syntax/format of the email in question. (e.g., extra white spaces or rouge symbols like “,com” instead of “.com”)

Solution: check the specific sales order, and look at the email of that order to see if there are any obvious extra spaces or incorrect email symbols. (easier to see on the Windows application)

Product has a duplicate SKU in QuickBooks Online.

Reason: QuickBooks Online allows different products to have the same SKU, while inFlow does not. When a sales order is pushed to QuickBooks Online, inFlow will look at items on the order to see if they already exist in QuickBooks Online by matching the SKU in both programs first. If you have more than one product with the same SKU in QuickBooks Online, inFlow doesn’t know which product it should match. Instead, it will match the first product in QuickBooks Online that has the corresponding SKU, which may be incorrect.

Solution: Check QuickBooks Online to see what items have the same SKU as the one in the inFlow error. Make sure that you don’t have duplicate SKUs in QuickBooks Online. You will also need to correct any sales orders that were pushed to QuickBooks Online with the item listed in the error and swap out the incorrect product for the intended one.

Business Validation Error: there is no account associated with “[Product name]”. Is it marked for purchase, and has an account associated with it?

Reason: QuickBooks Online requires confirmation that the product or service is allowed to be sold or purchased.

Solution: Go to the item’s settings in QuickBooks Online and make sure the item is marked for sale and/or purchase. You can do this by checking the appropriate box: “I purchase this product/service from a supplier” and/or “I sell this product/service to my customers” in the item’s settings.

Transactions with inventory (QOH) products cant be dated earlier than the Inventory Start Date for the product.

Reason: Only Inventory type items in QBO have an Inventory Start Date. This means that some items on the sales order are set as Inventory type in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: You’ll need to delete the original item in QBO (mark it as inactive), then click Retry on the error in inFlow. This should prompt inFlow to create a new version of the item in QuickBooks Online automatically.

You can only use one foreign currency per transaction.

1. Sales order: QuickBooks Online only allows one currency per customer. If a customer already has transactions in a specific currency (e.g., USD), you won’t be able to push transactions in a different currency (e.g., CAD) for that same customer—and vice versa.

Solution: Make sure each customer only has transactions in one currency. If you need to work with a different currency, you’ll need to create a new customer in both inFlow and QBO with the correct currency.

2. Purchase order: This error can happen when a vendor in inFlow has a currency different from your default QBO currency (e.g., EUR, GBP), but multi-currency wasn’t enabled in QuickBooks Online at the time of sync. As a result, QBO creates the vendor and their bills using the default currency (e.g., USD).

Later, if multi-currency is enabled in QBO, inFlow will try to push new orders using the vendor’s actual currency—but QBO doesn’t allow changing a vendor’s currency after they’re created.

Solution: Create a new vendor in both inFlow and QuickBooks Online using the correct currency. This new vendor should be used for all future transactions, and syncing should work without issues.

Change this transaction currency to match what you use for your accounts receivable and accounts payable.

Reason: In inFlow, you can create sales or purchase orders for the same customer or vendor in different currencies. However, QuickBooks Online doesn’t support this — each customer or vendor can only be set up with one currency in QBO.

Solution: You’ll need to make sure that each customer or vendor in inFlow uses only one currency for all their orders. That currency should match the one set for them in QBO. If you need to use a different currency with a customer or vendor, please create a new customer or vendor record for that specific currency. This way, each one will have only one currency assigned to it, as required by QBO.

Invalid Reference Id : An item in this transaction is set up as a category instead of a product or service.

Reason: This error shows up when an invoice/bill in inFlow tries to sync to QuickBooks Online, but one or more of the item names on the invoice/bill matches a Category type in QBO.

In other words, the item is being used as a regular product/service in inFlow, but in QBO it’s set up as a Product or Service Category, not an actual item. For example, if you’ve set up a category in QBO called “Delivery”, you can’t also use “Delivery” as a line item on an inFlow invoice/bill — QBO won’t accept it.

Solution: Double-check your Product and Service categories in QuickBooks Online, and compare them to the item names on your inFlow invoice. If you spot a category name that matches an item name on your invoice/bill, you have two options:

Option 1: Go to inFlow and rename the item to something slightly different (e.g., add a letter or number).

Option 2: Rename the category in QBO instead.

Parent Reference Invalid : Select a category.

Reason: This error likely appears because one or more of the items on the invoice or bill in inFlow is not assigned to any category in QuickBooks Online.

Solution: Check each item from the invoice or bill in inFlow and make sure that all of them are assigned to a category in QBO.

Business Validation Error: You need to activate this item before updating the quantity.

1. This error can happen if the item in inFlow is trying to sync with a product in QuickBooks Online that has been deactivated.

Solution: Check if the item in QBO is deactivated. If it is, reactivate it and then try syncing again.

2. It can also happen if multiple items in QBO have the same name or SKU, but with different types (Inventory and Non-Inventory). This confuses the sync, and inFlow may try to match to the wrong one.

Solution: If the item isn’t deactivated, check for any other items in QBO with the same name or SKU. If there are duplicates, rename them slightly so inFlow can match the correct one during the sync.

No matching A/P account found for currency of this Purchase Order.

Reason: QuickBooks Online creates a foreign currency Accounts Payable (AP) account only after a bill is created in that currency. In inFlow, a bill is sent to QBO only when the order is fulfilled or partially fulfilled. So, if nothing has been received yet, the bill won’t be created, and the AP account won’t exist in QBO.

Solution: You have two options:

Option 1: Partially fulfill the order in inFlow (e.g., receive one or two items). This will trigger the bill to be created in QBO, and the AP account will be set up automatically.

Option 2: Manually create a bill in QBO using that vendor and the correct currency. This also forces QBO to create the AP account for that currency.

The account period has closed. Txn Date=xx/xx/xxxx is before book closing date=xx/xx/xxxx

Reason: This error appears when an invoice you’re trying to sync from inFlow has a date that falls within a closed accounting period in QuickBooks Online. QBO doesn’t allow changes in periods that are already closed.

Solution: You’ll need to temporarily reopen the closed period in QBO so the transaction can sync. After syncing, you can re-enter the closing date to close the books again. You can find the steps on how to reopen the closing period in QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Online bill payment must have only one bill selected. Your inFlow payment still exists, if you need to remove it, please do so manually

OR

QuickBooks Online payment must have only one invoice selected. Your inFlow payment still exists, if you need to remove it, please do so manually

1. This error can occur if a payment originally pushed from inFlow is edited in QuickBooks Online and applied to multiple invoices or bills, or if the payment was directly applied in QBO to multiple invoices or bills. inFlow only supports payments linked to one invoice or bill at a time, so syncing will fail if the payment is spread across more than one.

Solution: To fix this, go to QBO and edit the payment so that it’s applied to only one invoice or bill.

1. It can also happen if you refund an invoice in full. This brings the invoice total to $0 in QBO, and any linked payments become unapplied, which can also trigger the error.

Solution: Please double-check for any discrepancies between the invoices or bills in QuickBooks Online and inFlow. If anything is missing, manually adjust the payments. If everything looks correct, you can safely dismiss the error.

Business Validation Error: Not a valid product or service name. Names must have at least one character and cannot include tabs, newlines or ‘:’.

Reason: This error usually occurs when one or more of your items in inFlow have disallowed characters (such as ‘:’) in their names.

Solution: Go to the orders with errors and check the names of all the items. If you find an item with a colon ‘:’ in its name, go to that item in inFlow and update its name. Avoid using ‘:’ in the item’s name when syncing with QBO.

The customer you have specified has been deleted. You cannot create or edit a transaction with a deleted customer.

Reason: This error occurs when the customer associated with the order has been deactivated or merged with another customer in QuickBooks Online

Solution: Check for any merged or deleted customers in QBO and reactivate them. After reactivating, retry the sync.
Note: If the customer was merged, the reactivated customer will not have any transaction history.

Business Validation Error: Select an account for this transaction.

Reason: This error is likely caused by some accounts not being mapped in the integration settings (for example, “Payments (Credit Card)” account) for both sales and purchase orders.

Solution: Go to the QBO settings on the Integrations page in inFlow. Ensure that all accounts are properly mapped and that no fields are left empty — each should have an account assigned.

Tax Inclusive transactions are not supported In US QuickBooks editions.

Reason: This error can occur if the pricing scheme (for sales orders) or vendor (for purchase orders) is set to tax inclusive in inFlow.

Solution: Check the pricing scheme (sales) or vendor (purchase) settings in inFlow and make sure the tax inclusive option is disabled. If clicking the Retry button doesn’t push the order to QBO, follow these steps:

For Sales Orders:

1. Open the sales order linked to the error.
2. Change the pricing scheme to a different one.
3. Save the changes.
4. Change the pricing scheme back to the correct one.
5. Save again.
6. If needed, click Retry on the Integrations page.

For Purchase Orders:

1. Open the purchase order linked to the error.
2. Change the vendor to a different one.
3. Save the changes.
4. Change the vendor back to the correct one.
5. Save again.
6. If needed, click Retry on the Integrations page.

Sales Shipping is disabled in QuickBooks but specified in the inFlow transaction.

Reason: QuickBooks Online needs to have Shipping enabled so shipping information can be synced from inFlow to QuickBooks Online.

Solution: In QuickBooks Online, find the cogwheel on the top right. Click Account and Settings. Click Sales on the left bar. Edit the Sales form content section so that the Shipping setting is on.

QuickBooks Online can’t connect

If too many sales orders are saved in inFlow at the same time (for example, while importing sales orders), you may get an error saying: “Cannot connect to “QuickBooks Online at the moment.” This error will also be accompanied by a red exclamation mark on the top right-hand corner of the QuickBooks Online image and a warning on the inFlow for Windows app.

Don’t panic! QuickBooks Online has a system that prevents too many orders from being synced at once, so your orders are still able to sync. You’ll just need to wait a little, then click the Retry all button to sync again.

 If the Retry all option doesn’t work, please contact the inFlow team so we can further assist you.

The post Connecting QuickBooks Online to inFlow appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

The easiest way to create your import file is to export your existing product details. This feature is only available for products with a bill of materials. Learn more below. 

Please note: Importing manufacture settings is only available is only available on inFlow Manufacturing for Web.

Before getting started

1. Make sure you import your product details into inFlow first. 
2. Create or import the bill of materials for products to which you want to add manufacture settings.

Exporting product details CSV from inFlow

1. Go to Main Menu>Export. 
2. Select Product details from the Data type section. 
3. Click Export to save the CSV file to your computer. 

Editing the product details CSV

1. Open the product details CSV. 
2. Scroll to the right to the end of the CSV and look for the CombineQuantityBuildable and AutoManufacture columns. 
3. In CombineQuantityBuildable, enter TRUE if you want the buildable quantity to be included with this product’s available quantity.
   
   Enter FALSE if you don’t want inFlow to include the buildable quantity with this product’s available quantity.
   
4. For the AutoManufacture column, enter TRUE if you want inFlow to build this product with a manufacture order automatically when added to a picked/fulfilled sales order. 
   
   enter FALSE if you don’t want inFlow to build this product with a manufacture order automatically when added to a picked/fulfilled sales order. 
5. Save the file as a CSV to import to inFlow. 

Importing the CSV to inFlow 

1. Go to Main Menu > Import data.
2. In the Data type drop-down menu, select Product details. Click Select a file to upload your CSV to inFlow, then click Next.
3. A preview of your product details will appear. If you would like to edit the way the fields are mapped from your spreadsheet, click Edit Data Mapping.
4. Match the inFlow product name field (to the left) to the product name field in the drop-down menu. 
5. Match the inFlow AutoManufacture and CombineQuantityBuildable fields to the matching fields in the drop-down menu. 
6. Click Import. The import will run in the background, and you’ll be emailed the results when done. 

The post How to import bundle products in bulk (manufacture settings) appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Import file

Please note: Importing manufacturing operations is only available on inFlow Manufacturing for Web.

Creating the CSV

To start, you’ll need to create a CSV import template. You can export a blank template from inFlow or manually add the headings to your spreadsheet. 

How to export an operations CSV 

1. From the inFlow Homepage, click on the Main menu, then Export.
2. In the Data type list, select Operations.
3. Click Export and save the file to your computer. 
4. Open the CSV in the spreadsheet software of your choice. 

Create the CSV manually 

On a spreadsheet, add the following headings:

1. ProductName
2. OperationType
3. OperationPerUnitCost
4. OperationPerHourCost
5. OperationEstimatedDurationSeconds
6. OperationInstructions

Note: You might have noticed that the headings don’t have any spaces. Leaving the headings like this will allow inFlow to read the information on the CSV faster. 

Editing the operations CSV

Once you have a CSV file with the appropriate headings, fill in the rows and columns, starting with ProductName. 

The product name field is required, meaning it must be filled out and cannot be left blank. This field also serves as a “unique identifier,” so the name must be different from other product names.

Import field breakdown

Adding multiple operations for a product

To add multiple operations, copy the product name to another row and complete the remaining columns for that row. 

The operations listed in the CSV will be displayed in the same order as they appear in the Manufacturing tab of the product record. 

At the moment, there isn’t an option to change the order of operations. You can reimport the CSV file to change the display order.

Import steps

Importing to inFlow

If you have your import file ready to go, read on for how to import your file into inFlow.

1. Click on Main Menu > Import.
2. In the Data type drop-down menu, select Operations.
3. Below, select the CSV file from your computer, then click Next.
4. A preview of your import file will appear, indicating the number of line items you have in your file.
5. To edit the mapping of CSV columns to inFlow fields, click on Edit data mapping.
6. Match the inFlow fields on the left to the fields in your CSV file that are in the drop-down menus.
7. Once you’re satisfied that all the necessary fields match, click Import.
8. A confirmation message will be displayed, noting that your import is in progress. You’ll be emailed the import results when it’s done.

The post How to import manufacturing operations to inFlow appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Before connecting

How does inFlow connect to Shopify?

When you connect your Shopify store to inFlow, you’re creating a link for both systems to stay up-to-date for all orders and product information. 

See below for a basic overview of how inFlow and Shopify will work together. 

Shopify orders 

• Shopify orders will create an inFlow sales order where you can manage the fulfillment of the order. 
• inFlow will send shipping updates to the matching Shopify orders. 

Shopify & inFlow products 

• When products are updated in inFlow, that data will sync to your Shopify products.
• New products created in Shopify will also be made in inFlow. (New products made in inFlow cannot be created in Shopify)
• Product changes made in inFlow are sent to Shopify to keep products in both systems updated with the same details. 

Before you connect 

Below is some good-to-know information about inFlow and Shopify.

Product matching
If you have products in both inFlow and Shopify, the product SKUs in inFlow must exactly match those of the products in Shopify.

If there are no product SKUs in inFlow, the product names in inFlow must exactly match those in Shopify.

We recommend using SKUs in both inFlow and Shopify to reduce inaccuracies.

If you don’t have any products in inFlow, this integration lets you pull products from your Shopify store into inFlow.

Pricing Schemes
By connecting inFlow to Shopify, you’ll have the option of inFlow updating your product prices and sending the updated prices to matching products in Shopify. For this to work, you’ll need to connect the Shopify Price (and the optional Compare at price) to a matching pricing scheme in inFlow. 

If you don’t have pricing schemes in inFlow before connecting to Shopify, you can create them during the setup by clicking on +Pricing scheme. For more information on pricing, take a look at this pricing scheme article. 

Currencies 
It’s recommended that inFlow and Shopify be set to the same default currency. If you’ll be accepting multiple currencies in Shopify, you can make sure that the setting is active from these Shopify steps. 

Locations
When you connect Shopify to inFlow, you can select which inFlow location should be used for order fulfillment and product inventory. 

If you don’t have locations created in inFlow before connecting to Shopify, you can create them during the setup by clicking on +Location. If you prefer to add your locations before setting up, then take a look at the tracking inFlow locations article. 

When setting up, you can choose for inFlow to use inventory from all your locations or choose a specific inFlow location to push product data to Shopify. It’s recommended that if you have multiple locations in Shopify, you select specific inFlow locations to avoid any inventory inaccuracies. 

Are you using Shopify POS? If yes, you can connect inFlow to your Shopify store. However, make sure to turn off order archiving to allow inFlow to pull orders from your Shopify.

Connecting inFlow to Shopify

To connect inFlow to Shopify, you’ll need to access the Shopify App Store and your Shopify Store Admin settings. 

1. Log in to your Shopify store, and select the store you want to connect to inFlow. 
2. In Shopify, click on Apps and search for “inFlow Connector”. 
3. A new tab or window will open, taking you to the Shopify App Store. Click on inFlow Connector. 
4. Click on Add app if it hasn’t already been installed. Then select Install app on the next screen.
   
   
   
   
5. If you’re not logged into inFlow, you’ll be asked to log into your inFlow account.
6. Once logged in, you may be redirected to a permissions screen if you’re connecting Shopify to inFlow for the first time. Click on Yes, Allow.
   
7. You’ll be directed to the Shopify integration setup page.
8. Click Connect for any shop location you wish to pull orders from and push inventory to (optional), along with the remaining settings. 

Refer to the Setup tab for a complete guide on connecting inFlow to Shopify. 

inFlow Connector Setup

Shopify webinar

Watch the webinar below to learn more about integrating inFlow with Shopify.

Locations

Once you’re in the inFlow Connector App settings, the first thing you’ll need to set up is the locations. This is to set which inFlow location(s) you’ll connect to your Shopify store location(s). 

1. You’ll see a list of your Shopify store locations. Click Connect for the locations you want inFlow to have access to. 

2. You can choose which inFlow location to connect to your Shopify store. Select either Connect to one location or Connect to all inFlow locations.

If you don’t have all locations created in inFlow before connecting to Shopify, you can create them during the setup by clicking on +Location in the drop-down menus. This will create the location directly in inFlow from the inFlow Connector app. 

Note: If you haven’t personalized inFlow before setting up this integration, you can connect the Default location to connect to Shopify. At a later time, you can rename this location to match the name of your inventory location.

When done, click Next to continue to the Product Sync tab. 

Product sync

On this tab, you’ll be able to choose how you’d like inFlow to handle updating products for both inFlow and Shopify.

Pricing settings

The first setting in this section is the pricing settings. This is for connecting your Shopify prices to your inFlow pricing schemes*. This will apply to both pushing and pulling from Shopify. 

*Pricing schemes are different pricing options such as retail, wholesale, etc. that you can add to your inFlow products.

1. Price is what your products normally sell for in your Shopify store. In the drop-down menu, select a matching inFlow pricing scheme.
2. Shopify has the option to show a discount price, too. If you want to use this option, map the Compare at price to a different inFlow pricing scheme from the drop-down menu.

If you want to add more price options to inFlow, you can click on the +Pricing scheme button to add product pricing from this setup screen. 

Helpful inFlow pricing scheme articles: 

• How to add pricing schemes to inFlow.  
• How to import multiple product prices to pricing schemes. 
• How to mass-adjust product prices for a pricing scheme. (inFlow Inventory for Windows only)

Push settings (inFlow to Shopify)

“Pushing” is the act of sending information from one system to another. In this case, data is sent from inFlow to Shopify to update products.  

This means you can make changes to your products in inFlow, and inFlow will send those changes to Shopify. This will reduce the need for double-entry for updating your products in both systems. 

inFlow can push stock levels, images, weight, dimensions, and pricing. To use this feature, toggle on the product details you want inFlow to push. 

Note: inFlow will only update the quantity levels that match the products in the location(s) you’ve set in the Location tab. 

Additional information 

If a product isn’t found in Shopify

This is a setting designed to alert you about products that inFlow has but are missing in your Shopify store. You can choose Let me know or Don’t let me know. Take a look below for explanations for both options. 

Note: inFlow isn’t able to create new products in Shopify.

Product pull settings (Shopify to inFlow)

“Pulling” is the act of getting information from another system. For example, inFlow will collect data from Shopify. This means new orders and products made in Shopify will be created in inFlow. 

This pull setting can only be done once per product. After the product is pulled into inFlow, you can add more information to that product from the inFlow side, and if the product push settings are enabled, those changes will be sent to Shopify to keep everything up-to-date with products with a matching product name/SKU. 

If you want inFlow to create products from Shopify, click on the Activate button under Pull settings. When this setting is active, the new Shopify products will be added to inFlow. This includes quantity available, images, barcode, weight, price, compare at price (optional), and cost.

Note: If you’re setting up Shopify with an empty inFlow database, you can use the pull option to add products from Shopify at the end of the setup.

Using FIFO/ LIFO & connecting to Shopify

When using FIFO or LIFO costing in inFlow, products pulled from Shopify won’t pull the product costs. The costs are only updated when a purchase or manufacture order is created in inFlow.

Updated product costs in inFlow can then sync back to Shopify based on the cost push settings. You will receive an alert when products are pulled without a cost.

Additional information

Which products will inFlow push to Shopify?
For inFlow to push product details, the product must exist in both systems. This means the product SKU in inFlow must be the same as the product SKUs in Shopify. If there is any difference, inFlow won’t be able to find the product in Shopify. 

Can inFlow create products in Shopify?
inFlow doesn’t create new products in Shopify. If a new product is added to inFlow, the product will need to be added manually to Shopify.

If you make a new product in Shopify, the integration can pull the new product into inFlow, so you don’t have to manually add the product to both systems.  

What product type will products pulled from Shopify be?
All products pulled from Shopify to inFlow were pulled as stocked products. If you want a product to have the product type of serialized, non-stocked, or service, you will have to create the product in inFlow first. Once made, create that product in Shopify with a matching SKU.

Click Next to proceed to the Orders tab. 

Orders sync

This tab is where you can choose settings related to how Shopify orders are pulled into inFlow. inFlow will be able to pull only open/unfulfilled orders from the last 365 days.

Set Customer name from

This setting is where you can choose how you’d like the customer information to pull from Shopify to inFlow. Select one of the following options for how the customer name will display on inFlow sales orders. 

Import order numbers

This setting is where you can set the naming for orders that are created from Shopify to inFlow. You can choose for the order numbers to pull: As is or Add prefix. 

The prefix option lets you add the store name, should you wish to have a quick way to see which sales orders are created from Shopify and which have been made from inFlow directly. 

Import orders into inFlow as

This setting determines how inFlow should import your orders.

• As is: inFlow will match the fulfillment status of the Shopify order. 
• As Fulfilled: This will mark all pulled orders as fulfilled, regardless of their status in Shopify. 

Push shipping information 

Once inFlow pulls orders from Shopify, they’ll be processed and fulfilled in inFlow. When the order is processed, the shipping information will be sent to the matching sales order in Shopify. 

To enable shipping updates, click on Activate  

Click Next to proceed to Order conflicts. 

Order conflicts

There are times when there could be differences between inFlow and Shopify, which can cause conflicts. You can set how inFlow will treat conflicts with the settings on this tab.

Tax conflicts

Can’t find a matching taxing scheme
The setting Can’t find a matching taxing scheme can occur if inFlow pulls a Shopify order that has different taxing settings (taxing schemes) than inFlow has. You can choose from the options below for how you’d like inFlow to handle this situation. 

Pricing scheme conflicts

Can’t find a matching pricing scheme

In Shopify, there aren’t any pricing scheme settings like inFlow has. So, what inFlow will do is take a look at the currency that Shopify has on the order and match it with a pricing scheme with the same currency. 

If inFlow has multiple pricing schemes that match the currency on the Shopify order, then inFlow will choose either the inFlow default of that currency or use the pricing scheme that is set on the inFlow customer record. 

If there isn’t a matching currency/pricing scheme from Shopify to inFlow, you can choose from the following options for how you’d like inFlow to handle this situation. 

Customer record conflict

Can’t find a matching customer
When inFlow pulls orders from Shopify, it checks the customer name on the Shopify order to ensure a match in inFlow. If there isn’t a matching customer record, you can choose how you’d like inFlow to handle this conflict.

inFlow and Shopify calculations

If the imported order total doesn’t match inFlow’s calculations 
There are times when calculations between systems will yield a different result. Because of this, you can set how inFlow should handle these situations. 

Shopify setup complete

Once you’ve gone through all the tabs, you can click Complete. inFlow will now connect to your Shopify store going forward. When you want to proceed, click the Pull now button.

If you choose to pull products, then both products and Shopify orders (open and pending orders from the last 365 days) will be pulled to inFlow.

If you’re not pulling products to inFlow, click on the Pull now button to continue.

While your products and orders are pulling, you can close this window. When this process is complete, there will be a green checkmark on the Shopify logo in inFlow.

Additional information

I didn’t pull products when first setting up. Can I pull products from Shopify later? 

Yes, once inFlow connects to Shopify, you can access the Pull now button from the inFlow Connector app. 

Can I click the Pull now button again if I made updates to my products in Shopify? 

No, the Pull now button only works once per SKU. If you click the Pull now button after the products have been made in inFlow, only new Shopify products will be created in inFlow. With product pull enabled, inFlow will continue to pull new products made in Shopify to inFlow for you.  

We’d encourage you to make product updates in inFlow with the product push settings enabled. This will send product updates to your matching Shopify products. 

Did you connect the wrong Shopify store to inFlow?

If you need to change which store is connected to inFlow, you can find full steps on how to remove a Shopify store in the How to disconnect Shopify from inFlow section of the Customization tab.

Customization

Edit Shopify integration settings 

Once you’ve connected inFlow to Shopify, you can make changes to the integration settings at any time. To do this, you’ll repeat similar steps to the initial setup. 

1. With an Admin account, go to https://app.inflowinventory.com/options/integrations.   
2. Click on the Shopify icon.
3. Click on the blue arrow next to your Shopify store name.
4. This will redirect you to the inFlow Connector app within your Shopify store. 

From here, you can make changes to the settings. Click on the Save button when done. 

Connecting to multiple Shopify stores 

If your team has multiple Shopify stores, you can connect them all to inFlow. Each Shopify store counts as one integration to inFlow. Be sure to check how many integrations your inFlow plan can have before continuing.

How to connect another Shopify store to inFlow

To connect to another store, you can repeat the same steps as you did for connecting the first store by using the inFlow Connector app in the Shopify app store. 

1. Log in to your Shopify store, and select the store you want to connect to inFlow. 
2. In Shopify, click on Apps and search for “inFlow Connector.” 
3. A new tab or window will open, taking you to the Shopify App Store. Click on inFlow Connector. 
4. Click on Add app if it hasn’t already been installed. Then select Install app on the next screen.
5. You’ll be directed to the Shopify integration setup page. From here, click on Manage settings. 
6. Click Activate for any shop locations and go through all the setup sections. 

How to disconnect Shopify from inFlow

If you ever need to disconnect your Shopify store from inFlow, follow the steps below.   

1. With an Admin account, go to https://app.inflowinventory.com/options/integrations.   
2. Click on the Shopify icon.
3. Click on the blue arrow next to your Shopify store name.
4. This will redirect you to the inFlow Connector app within your Shopify store. 
5. Click on the Danger Zone tab, then click on the Disconnect button. 

Additional information

If I have multiple Shopify stores, can inFlow create the products for all my stores?

Currently, inFlow cannot create new products in Shopify. For the connection between inFlow and Shopify to work, both systems must have the exact SKUs.

This means either creating the SKU in Shopify first or creating the SKU in both systems. 

Product push example: 

You have three Shopify stores connected to inFlow. All three stores should be selling SKU: 12345. All three Shopify stores need to have a product created with an SKU of 12345 for inFlow to push product updates. 

If only one Shopify store has SKU 12345, then only that store will get product updates for that SKU from inFlow. 

Product pull example:

You have three Shopify stores connected to inFlow. If you’ve set inFlow to pull products from Shopify, then you need to create the product in all three Shopify stores. inFlow will create the product with a matching SKU from one of the Shopify stores. 

Going forward, inFlow can update those SKUs in all your Shopify stores with the product push feature. 

How orders sync

Pulling orders from Shopify

As mentioned, orders made by a customer or a Shopify admin will be pulled to inFlow. 

What order information can inFlow pull from Shopify?

Paid or Pending payment Shopify orders will sync to inFlow Inventory as soon as they’re made. See below for a list of fields from your Shopify orders that sync to inFlow.

• Customer Name
• Title (Product Name) 
• SKU 
• Pricing Scheme
• Taxing Scheme
• Contact Name
• Customer Billing and Shipping Address
• Item Price (does not override product default)
• Any applied discounts
• Order Remarks (called Notes in Shopify)
• Payment Method

When orders are pulled from Shopify, they will use the currency of the Shopify store and not the currency of the individual order. For example, if your Shopify store’s currency is USD and the customer paid in CAD, inFlow will pull that order with USD.

Using Shopify POS/order archiving?

Are you using Shopify POS? If yes, you can connect inFlow to your Shopify store, but you’ll need to turn off order archiving to allow inFlow to pull orders from your Shopify.

1. Under “After an order has been fulfilled and paid,” uncheck the option to automatically archive the order.
2. Log in to your Shopify account: https://accounts.shopify.com/store-login. 
3. Go to Settings > Checkout.
4. Scroll to Order processing.

When are the updates sent to the Shopify order?

When Push shipping information is enabled, inFlow pushes updates on shipping to the matching Shopify order.   This means you can partially fulfill, completely fulfill your order, or remove shipments from the inFlow sales order, and Shopify will be up to date.

Pushing Shipping information 

If you’ve opted to have inFlow update shipping information, every time you update your sales order with any shipping details, that information will be sent to Shopify, which can notify your customer of the updates, too.

The updates that will be pushed from inFlow include the carrier, tracking number, and products in the shipment. 

How are fulfillment locations set on Shopify?

The fulfillment locations in inFlow and Shopify are set from the locations you picked in the Location tab of the integration settings. If you’d like to review these settings, take a look at the Edit Shopify integration setting section of the After setup tab in this article.

What if there’s no location set on the sales order?

If your sales order location is not mapped to a specified location, then inFlow will try to find a Shopify location that is set to take stock from all your inventory locations.

If no matches are found, an integration error message will be displayed to let you know that the shipping information couldn’t be pushed on that order since there is no specific Shopify location to set as the fulfillment location.

How are refunds handled?

If you need to issue a refund, first process it through Shopify and then in inFlow. Refunds are not automatically processed when the order is updated in Shopify.

1. Process the refund on the Shopify order. 
2. Open the matching inFlow sales order. The funds will be updated to show the refund. 
3. On the sales order, discard or put back the refunded product.

How products sync

Product Push and Product pull settings

When inFlow and Shopify are connected, there are options for syncing product updates to both systems. 

Product Push

When inFlow connects to Shopify, it can update your products when you make changes. This cuts down on double-entry when entering updates to both systems.

What product information can inFlow push to Shopify?

When inFlow has product push settings active, inFlow will continuously connect to your Shopify store and update products that have had changes in inFlow. The changes could be from an update on: 

• Stock levels (quantity available)
• Images
• Barcode (default barcode)
• Weight 
• Price
• Compare at price
• Cost

inFlow can only push product updates to products that exist in both Shopify and inFlow (products with matching SKU/product name)

If you want to push your product updates manually to Shopify, you can do so with the Push now button in the inFlow Connector app.

1. With an Admin account, go to app.inflowinventory.com/options/integrations.   
2. Click on the Shopify icon.
3. Click on the blue arrow next to your Shopify store name.
4. This will redirect you to the inFlow Connector app within your Shopify store. 
5. Click on the Product sync tab, then click on Push now.  

inFlow’s non-stocked and service product types can push all product details except stock levels to Shopify.

Product Pull

When the product pull settings are active, inFlow will pull in any new products in Shopify. New products are pulled into inFlow only once with this feature. 

inFlow will only import products that are marked as active in Shopify. Draft products will be excluded.

If you want to trigger a product pull from Shopify, you can do so with the Pull now button in the inFlow Connector app within the Shopify app’s integration settings.

1. Go to https://app.inflowinventory.com/options/integrations.  
2. Click on the Shopify icon.
3. Click on the blue arrow next to your Shopify store name.
4. Click on the Product sync tab. 
5. In the Pull settings section, you will see when products were last pulled from Shopify. Click the Pull now button to start pulling product details from Shopify to inFlow. 

What product information can inFlow pull from Shopify?

When the product pull settings are active, inFlow will connect to Shopify and automatically pull in any new products that have been made in Shopify. The details that will be created with the pull are 

• Product name
• SKU
• Stock levels
• Images
• Barcode
• Weight 
• Pricing. 

This setting has a limitation where all products can be pulled from Shopify to inFlow only once per product. 

Products pulled from Shopify will be created as stocked products. 

Using FIFO/LIFO & connecting to Shopify

When using FIFO or LIFO costing in inFlow, products pulled from Shopify won’t pull the product costs. The costs are only updated when a purchase or manufacture order is created in inFlow.

Updated product costs in inFlow can then sync back to Shopify based on the cost push settings. You will receive an alert when products are pulled without a cost.

How inFlow connects to Shopify variant products

If your Shopify store has products with different options, then you’ll want to review this section. inFlow doesn’t have a dedicated feature to support product variants, but that doesn’t mean you can’t connect your Shopify store to inFlow. 

For this to work, inFlow and Shopify need to have matching SKUs. Each Shopify product variant SKU can match one inFlow product that acts as a variant.

Because inFlow doesn’t have a variant product type, inFlow will have to ignore the main Shopify variant product and only connect to the variant options that have a matching SKU. This means when inFlow sends products updated to Shopify, you’ll notice only the variant options are updated, but not the main product that houses all the variants.  

See below for a visualization of what information will be synced to inFlow regarding variants. 

Additional information

Why isn’t there an option to update the description?
Currently, inFlow cannot update the description field for Shopify products. This is due to Shopify having different technical formatting on its description field compared to the inFlow description field.

Our aim with connecting inFlow to Shopify is to make things easier for you and your team. So by not syncing the description, it’ll avoid formatting troubles that could occur. 

How will inFlow determine the stock level/quantity level to push to Shopify? 
inFlow syncs the quantity available based on purchase orders, sales orders, work orders, and stock adjustments that have been made. This only applies to products that exist in both inFlow and Shopify; having the Pull settings active can ensure that no products are missed from the Shopify side. 

How will inFlow and Shopify handle pulling and pushing product costs?
As mentioned, products with matching SKUs can receive updates from inFlow pushed to Shopify. This is to reduce double entries for product updates. 

The product cost field will do the same and update the matching SKU in Shopify. Changes made to the unit price on purchase orders or with manual entry changes on the product record will be sent over. Take a look at the following guide for how inFlow calculates cost. 

How will inFlow handle different product weight units in Shopify? 
When inFlow pushes updates to Shopify, if there’s a difference in units, then inFlow will push the weight units that are in inFlow to the matching SKU in Shopify. 

When inFlow pulls a product from Shopify that has different weight units, then inFlow will convert the weight from what’s in Shopify to match the equivalent in inFlow. 

Troubleshooting

I cleared fields on the inFlow product record, but the changes didn’t appear in Shopify. How come?

To make sure no data is erased or overwritten, inFlow won’t push blank data to Shopify. This means if you need to clear any information, such as price, weight, etc., you must make the changes in both inFlow and Shopify. 

Orders from Shopify aren’t showing up in inFlow

If you have automatic archiving of orders enabled in Shopify, your Shopify orders will not be pulled into inFlow. To check and turn off this feature:

For details on Shopify’s automatic archiving of orders feature, please see Shopify’s documentation here.

1. Log in to your Shopify account: https://accounts.shopify.com/store-login. 
2. Go to Settings > Checkout.
3. Scroll to Order processing.
4. Under “After an order has been fulfilled and paid,” uncheck the option to automatically archive the order.

Error in the Shopify App Store

If you are in the Shopify App Store and see the error that reads: app.inflowinventory.com refused to connect, you can still set up your integration without trouble. Simply access the inFlow Web app directly from app.inflowinventory.com to continue.

If you leave the setup idle, you may need to refresh or log back in to your Shopify store.

Products in Shopify aren’t updating

Check if the Shopify product SKU matches an inFlow product SKU. inFlow can only update products that have a matching SKU or product name.

The post Connecting inFlow to Shopify appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Please note: CartRover is now Extensiv Integration Manager.

Overview

What is Extensiv Integration Manager, and is it right for you?

Extensiv Integration Manager (CartRover) is a third-party application that can connect inFlow Inventory to multiple ecommerce platforms so that you can keep track of your inventory levels, shipping information, and order fulfillment all in one place. The three functions that we support are:

• Pushing inventory levels
• Pulling orders
• Pushing shipping information

In order to use this integration, you will need to create a paid account with Extensiv Integration Manager. For more information on their features and pricing, please take a look here:

• Single Merchant
• EDI Merchant

Note: We currently only support the Single & EDI Merchant accounts with Extensiv Integration Manager.

What are the differences between Extensiv Integration Manager integrations and the inFlow core integrations?

As mentioned, you can use the Extensiv Integration Manager integration to pull orders into inFlow. However, Extensiv Integration Manager only pulls in orders once. 

Any updates made to an existing order in the Extensiv Integration Manager cart will not be reflected in inFlow automatically. Instead, they must be manually made in inFlow.

Extensiv Integration Manager also does not support refunds. These must be manually adjusted in inFlow and the cart.

We do, however, have various direct integrations with the following ecommerce platforms that do not have these limitations. Please take a look below for more information on each integration:

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• Amazon
• Squarespace

Setup

Before connecting inFlow to Extensiv Integration Manager

Set up matching products in inFlow and your ecommerce platform

In order for your products to correctly sync from inFlow to your ecommerce platform, you must make sure you have matching SKUs in both platforms. As long as the SKUs match, the product names can be different.

If you already have matching products in inFlow and your ecommerce platform, proceed to the next section of this article: Getting Started.

You can update your product SKUs in inFlow in bulk by importing the product details, and we have an easy import template that you can download from here to get you started.

To import to inFlow, go to: 

1. Main Menu > Import Data.
2. Select Product details from the Data type drop-down menu. 
3. Click Select file to locate the CSV from your computer. 
4. Click Next. Your import will now start, and when it’s done, you’ll be notified by email. 

For more information, you can take a look at our product details importing article.

Setup locations in Extensiv Integration Manager

To track inventory accurately, create locations in Extensiv Integration Manager that match your inFlow locations.

To learn more, take a look at this Creating Locations guide from Extensiv Integration Manager.

Getting started

inFlow Inventory for Windows App

1. Go to Main Menu > Options > Integrations.
2. The inFlow integration page will open on your computer’s default browser.
3. Click on the logo of any of the third-party integrations developed by Extensiv Integration Manager, and a window with an introduction to Extensiv Integration Manager’s supported functionalities will be displayed. Click on the Set up button to continue.

inFlow Inventory for Web

1. Log into https://app.inflowinventory.com/options/integrations
2. Click on the logo of any of the third-party integrations developed by Extensiv Integration Manager, and a window with an introduction to Extensiv Integration Manager’s supported functionalities will be displayed. Click on the Set up button to continue.

Connecting inFlow to Extensiv Integration Manager

Create an Extensiv Integration Manager account

1. To sign up for a new Extensiv Integration Manager account, go to the Extensiv Integration Manager-up page and sign up as a “Single Merchant”
2. If you already have an Extensiv Integration Manager account or have finished signing up for one, you can click on Next

Connect Extensiv Integration Manager API user and key

1. Go to your Extensiv Integration Manager WMS Setup page 
2. Select API Access Only as your WMS selection
3. Click on the Test WMS Connection button to generate your API user and key
4. Copy your API User and API Key into inFlow and click on connect
5. Once inFlow verifies that your API User and Key are correct, you will see a checkmark and a “Connected” badge
6. Remember to click Save on Extensiv Integration Manager’s page before coming back to inFlow to click on Next

Set up carts in Extensiv Integration Manager

Carts or Order sources in Extensiv Integration Manager are the platforms from where you want to pull your orders from, push inventory available or push shipping information to such as eBay, BigCommerce, etc.

1. To set up a cart on Extensiv Integration Manager, go to your Extensiv Integration Manager Carts page
2. Click on the “New Setup” button
3. Click on the logo for the cart you want to add
4. For each cart, you will have these three options:

• Order Download is how often you want to pull in orders from your cart intoinFlow. We recommend setting this to every five minutes to keep inFlow in sync as closely as possible.
• Shipment Upload is how often you want Extensiv Integration Manager to send shipping information on your orders to your Cart after it’s been updated from inFlow. We recommend this to be set as Automatic, meaning as soon as Extensiv Integration Manager receives shipping information on that order, it will be pushed to the cart.
• Inventory Upload is how often you want Extensiv Integration Manager to send the quantity available for a product after it’s been updated in inFlow. We recommend this to be set as Automatic, meaning as soon as Extensiv Integration Manager receives any changes to the quantity available for a product, it will be pushed to the cart.

Each cart setup steps can be slightly different, so you will need to follow the instructions on Extensiv Integration Manager to properly set them up. Click on the ? on the top left to see more information.

Once you’re done setting up your carts in Extensiv Integration Manager, you can go back to the inFlow settings and click on the Check for carts button. The logo for any connected carts should show up now. Once you are done adding your carts,  you can click on Next.

Configure integration settings

Clicking on Configure integration settings will bring you to the final step.

Once you’ve connected Extensiv Integration Manager, all of your Extensiv Integration Manager locations are listed separately. Each Extensiv Integration Manager location can be toggled on/off separately to determine if your inventory available will be pushed to each one.

If enabled, you can control what inventory location to push from, either a single inFlow inventory location or combine all of your inFlow inventory locations.

We recommend mapping each Extensiv Integration Manager location to a single inFlow location to make sure they’re not being double-counted in Extensiv Integration Manager.

Push inventory

Pushing inventory levels to Extensiv Integration Manager

What do we mean when we say “push inventory” to Extensiv Integration Manager? To “push” data means inFlow will send data out of inFlow to another source (in this case, Extensiv Integration Manager).

When Push inventory levels is enabled in the inFlow integration settings, this will apply to all of the locations that were enabled in your integration settings.

Anytime a product’s quantity available is updated in inFlow, it will automatically push that amount to Extensiv Integration Manager, which will update all of your carts where the product with the matching SKU is found.

If your location mapping in your integration settings is set to take stock from all your inventory locations, this means that inFlow will push the total quantity available across all of your inFlow locations.

If your location mapping in your integration settings is set to take stock from a single location, this means that inFlow will only push the quantity available from the specified inFlow location.

Extensiv Integration Manager Settings

There are some settings in Extensiv Integration Manager that are specific to your cart, such as how orders are pulled in or how your products are matched. One setting to be careful about is your Sync Inventory with Location setting under your General Inventory Options.

In Extensiv Integration Manager, you can have multiple locations. In our example above, we have a location named Retail store and another location named Warehouse A.

You can either push inventory levels to your cart only from a single location or the combined total across all Extensiv Integration Manager locations to your cart.

In a later step, you’ll be able to match each of your Extensiv Integration Manager locations with your inFlow locations as well.

Pull orders

Pulling orders from Extensiv Integration Manager

Now that we’ve covered pushing data, the opposite applies to the term “pull”. This means inFlow will sync data from another source through Extensiv Integration Manager to bring it into inFlow. inFlow pulls your sales information from Extensiv Integration Manager to create sales orders for you, so you don’t have to do any double-entry. 

Select your preferred settings in this section to match your company’s preferences. 

Note: Item description will only be pulled from Extensiv Integration Manager/CartRover products if you have set Display Product name and description in your Company Settings.

By default, we will add a prefix to any orders that are being pulled in from Extensiv Integration Manager into inFlow. As a general rule of thumb, we try to use the first two letters of your integration as the prefix so that you can easily tell from the order number where the order originally came from.

For example, for BigCommerce orders, we add the prefix “BI:” in front of the order number. In rare cases, the prefix can be three letters if it conflicts with other integrations.

You can always customize the prefix as well. The only requirement is that the prefixes are unique and do not duplicate one another.

Order update limitation

Extensiv Integration Manager supports pulling in discounts, taxes, and cancellations of orders. However, Extensiv Integration Manager only pulls in orders once. 

Ex. Let’s say you created an order in BigCommerce and it was pulled into inFlow through the integration. If the order is modified within BigCommerce, those updates will not transfer over into inFlow automatically. You would need to manually update inFlow to reflect the changes.

Extensiv Integration Manager also does not support refunds. These must also be manually adjusted in inFlow and the cart/order source.

Push shipping info

Pushing shipping information to Extensiv Integration Manager

When Push shipping information is enabled in the inFlow integration settings, inFlow will be able to update any orders that originated from a cart through Extensiv Integration Manager when the order is fulfilled.

inFlow only pushes shipping information once, and this happens when the entire order is fulfilled. The information that inFlow pushes to Extensiv Integration Manager is:

• Shipment dates
• Shipment carrier
• Tracking number
• Shipment contents (which products and the quantity)

Note: Extensiv Integration Manager does not support updates to shipping information. This means that when an order is completely fulfilled in inFlow, we will push the information only once. Any updates after that will have to be manually done within the cart itself.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

If I update my product SKU in inFlow, will it be updated in Extensiv Integration Manager and my carts as well?

No. Product information updates are not supported through Extensiv Integration Manager. If you update a product SKU anywhere, make sure you also update the corresponding product in the other platforms (either in inFlow or your cart) to make sure they continue to match properly.

I see PayPal is supported by Extensiv Integration Manager. Can I take payments through PayPal on my inFlow orders?

No. inFlow does not push orders that were created from inFlow, so you would not be able to push an order from inFlow to PayPal to receive payments. The only function that we would support is pulling orders that were created from PayPal into inFlow. However, we do have a payment component built directly into inFlow called inFlow Pay! To learn more, please take a look here. 

I see SalesForce is supported by Extensiv Integration Manager. Can I sync my customer information between inFlow and SalesForce?

No. inFlow does not push or pull customer information, so you would not be able to manage your customer information through Extensiv Integration Manager. The only function that we would support is pulling orders that were created from SalesForce into inFlow.

I see ShipStation is supported by Extensiv Integration Manager. Can I purchase shipping labels on my orders through the Extensiv Integration Manager integration?

No. inFlow does not push orders that were created from inFlow, so you would not be able to purchase shipping labels through ShipStation. The only function that we would support is pulling orders that were created from ShipStation into inFlow. However, we do have a shipping integration with EasyPost that allows you to purchase shipping labels directly in inFlow! To learn more, please take a look here.

Troubleshooting

Extensiv Integration Manager alerts vs. errors

Extensiv Integration Manager alerts

Extensiv Integration Manager alerts are shown in inFlow whenever there is an issue between Extensiv Integration Manager and your connected carts. We provide a view-only list to give you a heads-up that there has been an issue, but you will need to go to Extensiv Integration Manager to fix it.

If you don’t want the alert to show up on your list anymore, you can go to your Extensiv Integration Manager Alerts list and dismiss each one. Clicking on any of these alerts in inFlow will open up a new tab to bring you to your Extensiv Integration Manager alerts dashboard.

Extensiv Integration Manager errors

Extensiv Integration Manager errors are displayed separately from Alerts. These are shown when there is an issue between inFlow and Extensiv Integration Manager. Generally, these will have the option to either be dismissed or retried once the issue has been resolved.

Common Extensiv Integration Manager errors and how to resolve them

How come my orders from my cart didn’t get pulled into inFlow?

The first thing to check would be to see if your order made it from your Cart to Extensiv Integration Manager.

1. Login to your Extensiv Integration Manager account.
2. Click on Orders
3. Do you see your order listed here? If not, then the issue is between Extensiv Integration Manager and your cart
4. Check your cart settings by going to your Carts on the navigation menu on the left, then click on your cart (in this example, we’re going to check our BigCommerce cart settings)
5. Check when the last time the Last Order Run happened. Is this the date/time after your order was created? By default, the times displayed in Extensiv Integration Manager are in Pacific Standard Time (PST). Was it successful? If it failed, you will need to check your Extensiv Integration Manager Alerts to see what the reason was.

If it was successful and the last order run happened after your order was created, then you should click on “Edit Setup” to double-check your cart settings.

Each cart has their own unique set of settings, but one common mismatch is that the order being created is not in the right status to be pulled. For example, the settings here show that it is set to only pull in orders with order status Awaiting Fulfillment.

If that is not correct, then you can update the status of the settings here or update the order status from your cart and try again.

How come my inventory level between inFlow and my cart is different?

1. Double-check that the products both have the same SKU in inFlow and your cart. If not, you will need to update them to match and trigger another change in your inventory levels from inFlow to see the update go through.
2. If the SKUs match, then the next step is to check if the inventory from inFlow matches Extensiv Integration Manager.
   • In Extensiv Integration Manager, go to Merchants > Locations & Products > Select the location you want > Look for the product SKU and check the quantity available
3. If the quantity available in Extensiv Integration Manager matches inFlow, the problem is between Extensiv Integration Manager and your cart.
4. The next best place to check is your cart settings in Extensiv Integration Manager. Check your cart settings by going to your Carts on the navigation menu on the left, then click on your cart.
5. Double-check the date and time of the Last Inventory Run and whether or not it was a success. If it failed, check your Extensiv Integration Manager Alerts to see why that happened.

If it was a success, then the last thing to check is your cart settings. Click on Edit Setup from here and check your Sync Inventory with the Location setting.

Make sure that it is set correctly to what you expect it to – either a single location or COMBINE ALL LOCATIONS, which would push the total quantity available to your cart.

How come my shipping information wasn’t updated in my cart?

1. Make sure that your order in inFlow is entirely fulfilled. Extensiv Integration Manager only allows us to push shipping information once, so the shipping information is only pushed when the entire order has been shipped out and fulfilled within inFlow.
2. If the order is completely fulfilled, the next place to check is to see if Extensiv Integration Manager received the shipping information. Check your order by logging into Extensiv Integration Manager and then going to your Orders
3. The order status should be shipped. Click on the affected order, and you should see shipment(s) on the right-hand side.
4. If all of this information is correct, then the issue is between Extensiv Integration Manager and your cart.

Check your cart settings by going to your Carts on the navigation menu on the left, then click on your cart. Double-check the date and time of the Last Shipment Run and whether or not it was a success. If it failed, check your Extensiv Integration Manager alerts to see why that happened.

The post Connecting ecommerce shops to inFlow with Extensiv Integration Manager (CartRover) appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Remove inFlow branding plan add-on

If you want to remove the inFlow branding, contact the inFlow team to learn how to add this to your plan.

Online Showroom

This add-on gives you the option to remove inFlow branding from the following:

• Footer from all pages, including the Showroom special access login page.
• “Powered by inFlow” title in the webpage title.
• inFlow branding from Showroom emails.
• “An inFlow Inventory Showroom” title in the Showroom footer.

inFlow documents

The plan add-on will remove inFlow branding from the following:

• inFlow footer from emailed and shared documents.
• inFlow branding from emails.

The emails won’t have any inFlow branding other than the “via inFlow Inventory” in the email sender. All replies will still continue to go to the inFlow user.

If you’re using Showroom Pro, the inFlow branding is removed by default.

The post How to remove inFlow branding appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Preparing images

Getting your images ready

In order to import your images, they must be stored online and have a public URL. If you have them stored locally on your computer, we recommend using Airtable to generate URLs for your images.

Before you start

• The product names/SKUs on your CSV must have a matching product name or SKU in inFlow. 
• This import doesn’t create new entries in inFlow, it will only import images to existing products. As such, you’ll want to ensure the image names match your product names so that they map accordingly during import.
• This import method only supports one image per product.
• Airtable URLs are valid for 2 hours.

Note: inFlow Inventory is not affiliated with Airtable. For up-to-date guides on the steps suggested below, please see the Airtable Help Center. 

Guide to Gallery view. 

Download a view to CSV. 

Uploading your images to Airtable

1. Sign up for a free account in Airtable (if you already have an account, skip this step and sign in).
2. On the Airtable homepage, click on Start from scratch.

3. Create 2 columns on the grid by clicking on the plus icon and name them (the naming convention is personal preference): one Single line text column named “FileName”; one Attachment column named “Attachments”.

4. Create a Gallery.

5. From the Gallery tab, drag and drop your images onto the Add Record circle in the bottom right corner and have each item be created as a new entry. This can take up to a few minutes depending on the number and size of the images being imported.

Note: If Airtable is not allowing you to add images and returns the error “To drop files, choose an attachment image field”, you’ll need to delete the Gallery, ensure you have an Attachment type column in your Grid View, then recreate the Gallery and try again.

6. Once the images from the Gallery have mapped over to the Grid view, you can download the CSV by clicking on Grid view in the top left corner, then Download CSV from the drop-down.

CSV setup

Article shortcuts

• Editing the CSV (created with Airtable)
• Creating/editing the CSV (without Airtable)

Editing the CSV (created with Airtable)

1. To import images to inFlow, you must remove the file name and the parentheses () from the Attachments field.
2. Add 2 empty columns in the middle (in columns B and C) and give them the similar headers as the other columns (A and D)

3. Add the following formula to cell B2 (in the new ProductName column) to delete the extension from the file names, and apply the formula to all cells in the column that contain values in the adjacent cell:

   =LEFT(A2,FIND(".",A2)-1)

4. Add the following formula to cell C2 (in the new Attachments column) to extract the URL from column D, and apply to all cells in the column that contain values in the adjacent cell:

   =MID(D2,FIND("https",D2),LEN(D2)-FIND("https",D2))

5. Ensure that both columns B and C contain only the new values by copying the columns and pasting them back in the same spot. Otherwise, you’ll get errors when deleting columns A and D.

6. Delete columns A and D.

7. Save the file as a CSV to import to inFlow. Click on the Windows or Web article tab for steps for importing this CSV to inFlow.

Creating/editing the CSV (without Airtable)

If you already have URL links for your product images, you can create a CSV to upload to inFlow. 

You can download a template for your picture import by

1. Go to Main Menu > General > Export.
2. Select Product Images from the Data type section.
3. Click Export. 

You can also create your own file by adding the following columns to the spreadsheet. 

• Product Name / SKU (at least one field is required)
• Image URL

Things to note:

• The Product name or the SKU you enter in the spreadsheet must match the Product Name or SKU of your products in inFlow Inventory.
• If a product has multiple images, the first image that is imported will be set as the default image in inFlow.
• If you’re importing images for a product that already has them, they will be replaced with the imported ones. If you leave the URL column blank, it will delete all images associated with the product.

Saving as a .csv file from Excel

In order to import data which may contain special characters, save as CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)

Before you import, make sure your file is saved as a CSV. 

1. In your spreadsheet, click File > Save As.
2. At the bottom of the window, click the Save as Type drop-down and select CSV (comma delimited).
3. Click Save.
4. Excel will warn you about the loss of formatting. This is not a problem. Click Yes to complete your save.

If using another spreadsheet program, save the file as a CSV before you import to inFlow.

Windows

Importing in the Windows App

1. Go to  Main Menu > General > Import Data.
2. Select Product Images from the Data type drop-down menu.
3. Browse your file location and select the CSV you prepared earlier.
4. Click Next.
5. On the mapping screen, match the columns to the fields in the CSV drop-down menu
6. Click Import. You’ll receive an email when the import is complete.

Web

Importing in inFlow Inventory for Web

1. Go to  Main Menu > Import
2. In the Data type field, select Product Images.
3. Browse for the CSV you prepared earlier.
4. Click Next.
5. Match the columns in the CSV to the fields. Once you match the URL field, you’ll see a preview of the first image you’re importing.
6. Click Import. You’ll receive an email when the import is complete.

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