How to Integrate .NET Apps with QuickBooks Desktop?

QuickBooks is a powerful accounting solution for small and medium businesses. While both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online have several features that are further enhanced by integrating with third-party applications, there are instances when businesses need custom solutions that work with the accounting software.

Intuit provides developers the QuickBooks software development kit (SDK) for their applications to access or write QuickBooks data. While most applications use XML for communicating with QuickBooks, Intuit also provides the QuickBooks foundation classes (QBFC) library to build request messages and process response messages using C# and Visual Basic.

What Are the Uses of Integrating .NET Apps with QuickBooks Desktop?

Custom .NET applications can be integrated with QuickBooks to perform a wide range of tasks such as adding, updating, or retrieving information on customers, vendors, employees, transactions, and so on. Here are some tasks that can be performed using .NET applications by integrating with QuickBooks.

• Implement secure access using OAuth2 access token from a desktop application or script.
• Send requests to create QuickBooks accounts, fetch information from accounts, and update them.
• Build workflows to create, read, and update employees, customers, invoices, and other records.
• Use live data in QuickBooks to generate detailed reports and business intelligence.
• Automate business-specific processes and solve legacy software issues that can arise due to non-compatibility with QuickBooks.

How Do .NET Apps Integrate with QuickBooks Desktop?

Here is how a typical .NET application will communicate with QuickBooks.

• During the process of QuickBooks installation, the QuickBooks request processor dynamic-link library (DLL) is also installed. This DLL implements a Component Object Model (COM) interface for applications to communicate with QuickBooks using SDK’s methods for opening connections, beginning sessions, and sending requests.
• The request processor gives applications access to QuickBooks company files even when QuickBooks is not open, or a working session for the specified file has not been established.
• The application sends a request and data to the QuickBooks Request Processor asking QuickBooks Desktop to perform specific operations, such as adding invoices, modifying some information, or querying about bills. It is even possible to combine several requests in a single message.
• QuickBooks Desktop then sends a response to the application. When there are multiple requests in a single message set, QuickBooks will generate separate responses for each request in the request message set.

Apps4Rent Can Host QuickBooks Desktop with Custom Applications

While businesses with deep technical expertise can build .NET applications from the ground up, others prefer to use QuickBooks connectors and integrators that have a suite of internet-enabled components for accessing QuickBooks constructs.

QuickBooks cloud hosting can help businesses regardless of the method used for integrating .NET applications with QuickBooks Desktop. This is because it provides secure access to scalable resources that are often necessary for automating workflows involving CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) operations on large databases.

As an Intuit Authorized Hosting Provider and Tier 1 Microsoft CSP, Apps4Rent provides virtual desktops for hosting QuickBooks and Microsoft solutions such as SQL Server and Visual Studio that are used for building and deploying such .NET applications. Contact our experienced cloud architects, available 24/7 via phone, chat, and email for assistance.