You may run into a situation where a client or matter is disconnected from QuickBooks Online. A disconnect can happen when something interferes with the client or matter in LeanLaw and its customer or sub-customer in QuickBooks Online. For example, the customer type being changed or made inactive in QuickBooks Online.
LeanLaw relies on its connection with QuickBooks Online to process client and matter data evenly. When a client is inactive in QuickBooks Online, common issues such as synchronization errors or red status icons in LeanLaw may arise. Resolving these issues often requires reactivation of the affected client in QuickBooks Online.
This article will guide you how to scan your firm for disconnected clients matters and fix their broken connections.
How to find broken clients and matters with QuickBooks Validation
1. Validate Your Clients and Matters
On the Matters page, click the Validate QuickBooks Connections button. This will cause a QuickBooks Online status icon to appear next to all clients and matters, regardless of whether you activated it on the Clients page or on the Matters page.
The icon will change color depending on the status of the QuickBooks Online connection. Icons will be green if the connection is good, red if the connection is bad, or blank if the client or matter hasn’t yet been connected to QuickBooks Online.
2. Filter your matters
Once you've clicked the Validate QuickBooks Connections button, a dropdown will appear directly beneath it. Click this Filter Connections dropdown and select Bad connection to QuickBooks. This will cause LeanLaw to show only the clients or matters with broken connections to QuickBooks.
Note: it's important open the Clients page as well when looking for broken QuickBooks Connections.
If the client is set to client-accounting, their broken connection will appear next to the client's name on the Clients page.
If the client is set to matter-accounting, their broken connection(s) will appear next to their broken matter(s) on the Matters page.
3. Click on the client or matter
Click on any client or matter you find with a red QuickBooks icon to open it.
If you open a client in this step, you'll still need to click on one of its matters, listed on the left side, in order to view the QuickBooks information linked to that client.
4. Click on the QuickBooks tab
Within the matter, click on the QuickBooks tab to access the matter’s settings.
5. Repair the QuickBooks Online Connection
Depending on the cause of the broken connection, you'll want to repair a client or matter in different ways.
To Repair the connection of an Inactive Matter or Client
If this is a client or matter you've billed before in the past, the customer associated with it may have been made inactive in QuickBooks Online. This is how to reconnect an inactive account.
These issues occur because LeanLaw's invoicing system depends on the active status of clients in QuickBooks to sync and process data effectively.
Log in to QuickBooks and access the customer list
Log in to QuickBooks Online using your credentials. From the left-hand menu, navigate to "Sales" and select "Customers." Use the search bar to locate the inactive client, identified as greyed out or marked as inactive in the list.
You can also use the Open in QuickBooks option from the dropdown.
2. Click Make Active
In the customer's QuickBooks Online page, click Make Active.
Once you make the customer active in QuickBooks Online, any disconnections in LeanLaw that were caused by the inactive customer will automatically be restored.
To avoid errors, always confirm client statuses are correct in QuickBooks before syncing with LeanLaw.
How To Repair a Client or Matter with an Incorrect Customer Name
The name you see next to "QuickBooks Customer" represents the account which the client and/or matter is linked to in QuickBooks Online. If it doesn't look right, here's how to repair it.
1. Open the QuickBooks Connector
On the QuickBooks tab of your matter, click on the client's name next to "QuickBooks Customer," as indicated below. This will open the QuickBooks Connector.
2. Click the incorrect customer's name
In the QuickBooks Connector, click the dropdown which you've identified as the incorrect customer name for this account.
3. Select the correct customer name
In the dropdown list, find the QuickBooks Online customer which is supposed to be linked to the client or matter in LeanLaw.
Watch for warning messages below the customer you select; if the QuickBooks Connector tells you the customer is already linked to another client or matter in LeanLaw, these changes will likely cause billing and accounting issues in the future, and should not be saved.