Connect to quickbooks database via odbc with php?

Question

[edit]
We collect credit application data from users in a web form.

I did not bind my web form directly to QB.

I have no idea what the QB table structure is for this data collection, and how it displays it to the user, because I have never worked directly with QB. However, there are others in my office.

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I would appreciate any information on open sources / free options.

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I will simplify the problem by removing the first option I want.

Let me just talk about importing a flat file into quickbooks.

I don’t have a copy of the fast books that I can play with, so I have no idea what options are native to fast books, but I see some kind of chatter in the chat that QB is expecting an .ini file to import . (I don’t know what format he expects, but I will get it later)

Share your story if you were able to import a flat file with mySQL into quickbooks or find out links that offer insight (I don't know much now).
[end edit]

I understand that this scenario is probably unusual, but I need to connect to my existing quickbooks database in one of two ways.

1) either directly from the php script running on our website - paste user-provided data directly from the Internet into quickbooks.

or

2) put user data directly into mySQL database, and then export data from mySQL to quick books.

If the first option is viable, I would appreciate your thoughts on establishing an odbc connection to the quickbooks database.

Can I get around this with something like:

try { $conn = @odbc_connect("DSNName", "", "", "SQL_CUR_USE_ODBC"); // un and pw parameters are passed as empty strings since the DSN // has knowledge of the password already. // 4th parameter is optional $exec = @odbc_exec($conn, $insert) or die ("exec error"); echo "success!"; } catch (Exception $e) { echo $e->getMessage(); } // end try catch 

Answer 1

The third option may work for you.

Option 1 - QODBC: If you are looking for simplicity, Qodbc, as mentioned above, is the main product that does this, and it really costs money.

Option 2 - Quickbooks SDK: If you work well through the SDK and use your XML structures, you can find great resources on the developer's network. Accounts are free for the SDK, and you can easily make your way through it.

It comes down to one thing, if you want it to be free, you may not be able to get it. QODBC at reasonable prices the last time I checked.

The only thing that is important to know with any approach is to ensure that the tables you want to write data to in Quickbooks are accessible by the SDK and QODBC.

As Quickbooks grow older, access to some tables has disappeared. For example, it is not possible to directly write a payroll deduction table directly, since it competes with the Intuit Payroll Service.

Option 3 - Direct SQL Manipulation: Intuit encrypts its data in its SQL data, making it inaccessible for direct access.

Edit: Option 4 - Quickbooks Web Connector , which is located on your computer using Quickbooks and interacts with it for you. Also free.

Good luck

Answer 2

If you need ODBC access, QODBC is your only choice.

New versions of QuickBooks Enterprise Edition use an SQL database database, but it does not allow you to access SQL tables directly. They lock the database, so you cannot request any data.

AccessBooks is another option that reflects data from QuickBooks to MySQL, and then can also return data to QuickBooks. I heard it might be a little flaky.

You can use the QuickBooks SDK and do almost everything you can do in the QuickBooks GUI, but that's a bit more. If you are integrating a web application with QuickBooks, you will want to use a web connector. I am a developer of the QuickBooks / PHP framework, which is quite stable and popular, and it will probably be useful for you:

https://idnforums.intuit.com/messageview.aspx?catid=56&threadid=9164

I'm in the middle of adding support to mirror the entire QB schema in the database, keep it in sync, and then change the changes in QuickBooks. However, work has not yet been completed. It currently retrieves data from QuickBooks and synchronizes it perfectly.

You can also import IIF files into QuickBooks, but now it is an unsupported and obsolete Intuit format. They strongly recommend that you not use it, here are a few reasons: http://wiki.consolibyte.com/wiki/doku.php/quickbooks_integration_methods

Answer 3

You may have noticed this before, but if you haven’t done so, you might want to look as if it provides requirements, installation instructions, and sample code for your first scenario.

http://www.qodbc.com/QODBCweb.htm

Answer 4

Not sure which import should do it: what transactions do you enter in quickbooks?

I have had great success using the QuickBooks SDK to enter data into quick books, especially transaction data, so that things like reconciliation, posting, etc., are handled by the programs themselves. Is this option available?

You can get SDK information here.

Answer 5

With QuickBooks Enterprise 2011, this has changed, and you can have real ODBC access (albeit with limited rights and a limited number of tables), and then use the SQL tool to map through ODBC access.