If Shopify Item Not Found in QuickBooks Online, Load Sales into Bulk Item in QBO

marc · January 2, 2021, 11:35pm

Overview

When a Shopify order line has no matching item in QuickBooks Online, If Product is not found then decides what happens. With Use Default Item, weintegrate records that line under one item you choose in QuickBooks, so the order still syncs without a new item being added for each product.

This setting is for Match each item only. weintegrate finds each product’s item by comparing one field from the Shopify order line, such as the SKU or product name, with one field on your QuickBooks Online items (Match on). If no item is found, it can create a new item for you (Create New), or use a default item you choose (Use Default Item, this guide).

Products that are found are still recorded under their own items; only the ones that aren’t found go to the default item. That’s the difference from Bulk, use one default catch-all item, which records every product line under one item. See Select bulk or unique item matching in QuickBooks Online.

Quick setup

Open the settings.
- After setup: go to Connections, click Edit Settings on your Shopify store, open the Item Matching tab, switch to Advanced at the top right and make sure Match each item is selected.
- In the setup wizard: on the How should we match products? step, switch to Advanced at the top right.
Set If Product is not found then to Use Default Item.
In Select Default from QBO, choose the item for products that aren’t found. It’s filled in for you with WI Catch All Item if you already have it, or with Auto create for me, which creates it.
Click Save (or Continue in the wizard). Anything set to Auto create for me is created in QuickBooks when your settings are saved.

That’s it. On orders synced after you save, a product that isn’t found in QuickBooks is recorded under your default item. Orders already in QuickBooks are not changed.

Your options explained

Field	What it does	Options
If Product is not found then	What happens when no QuickBooks item matches a Shopify product.	Create New (the default) or Use Default Item.
Select Default from QBO	The item that products which aren’t found are recorded under. Shown when Use Default Item is selected.	Your QuickBooks Inventory and Non-Inventory items (Service items are not listed), or Auto create for me, which creates a Non-Inventory item named WI Catch All Item.

Auto create for me is offered only while your QuickBooks company doesn’t already have an item named WI Catch All Item. When it does, that item is offered instead.
To save, Select Default from QBO needs an item. In the wizard, Continue stays greyed out and a warning appears until it’s set.
Select Default from QBO shares its value with Default catch-all item in Bulk. If you switch between Use Default Item and Bulk, the same item stays picked.
The setting is per Shopify store, so each store you connect can have its own default item.
The Simple view doesn’t show If Product is not found then. Stores start on Create New, and a store you’ve set to Use Default Item keeps that choice in Simple.

Use Default Item or Create New? Use Default Item keeps your QuickBooks item list as you set it up: no item is added for each product that isn’t found. Create New gives every product its own item, so your QuickBooks reports show sales product by product. With Use Default Item, if you later add a missing product to QuickBooks, orders synced after that find it and record it under its own item.

What the default item line looks like

Each product that isn’t found still gets its own line on the sales receipt or invoice, with the amount from the Shopify order. The line’s description follows your Set Product Description setting (on the How should a sale become a QuickBooks transaction? step, or Settings → Preferences → Sales Defaults after setup). With QuickBooks Product Description, that’s the default item’s own description, so choose Online Product Name if you want to see which product was sold.

The description starts with a long number and ~::wi::~, for example 12345678901234 ~::wi::~ Blue Coffee Mug. The number identifies the Shopify order line, so when the order is later edited, refunded or cancelled, weintegrate updates the right line even when several lines share the default item. Leave it in place.

Gift cards never go to the default item: they always go to the item in Map Gift Cards to. See Map Gift Cards to Other Current Liabilities product from QBO.

If the default item is inactive in QuickBooks, tick Convert inactive items to active when posting new orders to accounting to have it made active again so the order can use it. See Convert inactive items to active.

For your accountant / bookkeeper
A line recorded under the default item posts to that item’s income account. The WI Catch All Item created by Auto create for me is a Non-Inventory item whose income account is your existing account named Sales of Product Income; if there is none, WI Sales of Product Income is used, and created if needed. If WI Catch All Item already exists in QuickBooks, it’s used as it is. If you pick an Inventory item as the default, QuickBooks will normally reduce that item’s quantity on hand for every sale recorded under it, so a Non-Inventory item is usually the better fit.

Refunds use the same item as the original sale.

Click here to learn about Setting to Track Class when integrating Shopify with QuickBooks Online.

Troubleshooting

Products I already have in QuickBooks are going to the default item.
Your Match on pair isn’t finding them. Check that the field you chose holds the same value in both systems, for example that your QuickBooks items really have the Shopify SKU in their SKU field. See Set unique item matching between Shopify and QuickBooks Online.

I can’t find my item in Select Default from QBO.
The list shows active Inventory and Non-Inventory items only. Start typing the item’s name to search for it. A Service item can’t be used here, and an inactive item isn’t listed until you make it active in QuickBooks.

I can’t save, or Continue is greyed out.
Select Default from QBO is empty. Pick an item, or choose Auto create for me. If you don’t see the field, switch to Advanced at the top right.

I don’t see If Product is not found then.
Switch to Advanced at the top right, and make sure Match each item is selected. With Bulk, use one default catch-all item, every product goes to the catch-all item, so this setting isn’t shown.