1. Introduction
    1. About A2QB
    2. Licensing
    3. Program Pre-Requisites
  2. Exporting Autoquotes Estimates
    1. Export Keycodes
    2. Autoquotes File Explanations
  3. Start Using A2QB
    1. Selecting the Autoquotes Export File
    2. Using Help
  4. Program Settings
    1. Import Settings
    2. Custom Fields
    3. Accounts
    4. Tax Settings
    5. QuickBooks File
  5. Viewing Import Results
    1. Status Messages
    2. XML Request
    3. XML Response

Introduction

    About A2QB
    Autoquotes to QuickBooks (A2QB) is a utility for importing Autoquotes estimates into Quickbooks. All of the products referenced on the estimate will be created in Quickbooks (QB). Vendors, Accounts, and Customers will also be created if they do not currently exist in QB. This is a powerful feature since all of these items may be reused within Quickbooks at any time for any new estimates, POs, or Invoices.
    A2QB is a constantly evolving product and its engineering team looks forward to any input you may have to help make the product more useful. Please visit http://www.a2qb.com/suggestions.php for more information.
    A2QB Licensing
    The program will operate without a valid license in DEMO MODE. Please use the license key "demo" to enter demo mode. This is a fully functioning mode, but the number of imports will be limited to five times. Either during or after the demo period, you may enter a valid license key to unlock the full, unlimited use version. Please visit http://www.a2qb.com/license.php for information and to purchase a valid program license.
    Program Pre-Requisites
    This program requires that your Quickbooks program be able to support QBXML version 2.0 messaging. If you are running Quickbooks 2004 release candidate (RC) 7 or above, or 2005, you support this requirement. Anything older than these versions will require you to install the Quickbooks Foundation Class 3.0 software update. Please be sure to back up all of your data before installing this update. The update can be found at http://www.a2qb.com/updates/qbupdate3.zip

Exporting Autoquotes Estimates

    Export Keycodes
    A2QB requires a valid Autoquotes Export File in order to import estimate information into Quickbooks. An export file can be generated from Autoquotes by pressing the and keys simultaneously while the estimate you wish to export is open. The exported estimate file will be in a text format (.txt) and can be saved to anywhere on your computer's hard drive. Please remember where you saved it, since you will need to locate it when you run A2QB.
    Autoquotes File Explanations
    You may find that Autoquotes exports an excel file along with the text file. Please disregard the excel file, as A2QB does not require this file. Please do not attempt to alter the exported extimate text file. A2QB requires the text file to be in it's unaltered state in order to import it properly.

Start Using A2QB

    Selecting the Autoquotes Export File
    When starting A2QB, you will notice a drop-down explorer style menu as seen below.

    You will be required to browse to and select your Autoquotes export file. If this is the first time importing a file, please refer to the settings section of this document to set initial program settings tailored to your specific requirements. Once settings are to your liking, and an import file is selected, click on the import button. Please note that the first time you run A2QB you must have Quickbooks open to allow A2QB access to your company file. Select YES ALWAYS when Quickbooks asks if you would like to allow A2QB access. Then click on YES to the notice that the source is untrusted.
    Using Help
    From time to time you may find the need to reference this help document. You may do so under the help icon from the main program screen.
    The online help section will take you to the A2QB website's help knowledgebase, where you can search using specific keywords, as well as view bulletin board postings and other up-to-date information. Please note that some sections of the website will only be accessible to registered users.
    Additional information about A2QB can be viewed under the help area of the program including your current version.

Program Settings

    Import Settings
    One of the great features of A2QB is the ability to selectively choose those items you wish to import from the Autoquotes estimate file. A brief description of each option is as follows:

      Import Accounts
    • Imports (Creates) the income and expense accounts specified under the account section. Items that are imported are created with references to these accounts. If the accounts already exist in Quickbooks, they will not be created, otherwise they will.

      Import Customers
    • Imports (Creates) the customer and job (project name) found in the Autoquotes import estimate file. If the customer/job already exist in Quickbooks, they will not be created, otherwise they will.

      Import Vendors
    • Imports (Creates) those vendors found in the Autoquotes import estimate file. Because vendor details such as addresses and phone numbers are not present in an Autoquotes export file, only the vendor's name is inserted into the vendor item in Quickbooks. You may, however, add vendor details into Quickbooks later, since new imports using the same vendor will never overwrite existing vendors. If the vendor already exists in Quickbooks, it will not be created, otherwise it will.

      Import Items
    • Imports (Creates) those items found in the Autoquotes import estimate file. Items are found by looking at line item entries. They are imported into Quickbooks in a heirarchical fashion by Vendor:Model:Option. If the Item already exists in Quickbooks, it will not be created, otherwise it will. Items are also imported into Quickbooks with any custom fields and data that you define under the Custom Fields Section.

      Import Estimate
    • Imports (Creates) an estimate based on the Autoquotes import estimate file. If an estimate based on this import file had been previously made, a new estimate with a new number will be created. There is no limit to how many Quickbooks estimates you can create using the same import file. Please note that any fields defined under the Custom Fields Section will show up on the estimate only after you modify your estimate template in Quickbooks to show those custom fields. If new fields have been defined at the same time you're importing the estimate, you may need to go into Quickbooks, customize your estimate template to show these new fields, then re-import the estimate again. For some yet unknown reason the old estimate will not show the custom field data.
      Please note that there is a problem with Quickbooks showing the COST of items on an imported estimate when the Markup field is removed from the current invoice template. To work around this, please leave the field as active in a single template and remove them from another template. Make sure when you change to use your personal template without Markup that you change it back to the template with the Markup present, and save and close the estimate before you do another import.

    At times you may find that certain items have been truncated when imported into Quickbooks. This is normal since Quickbooks has certain limitations on how many characters may reside in certain fields.
    Custom Fields
    A truely unique feature of A2QB is it's ability to create custom fields into Quickbooks items as well as populate those fields with whatever information you want from each line item's entry in the Autoquotes export file. You must enable the feature by checking the "Use Custom Fields", then click on the "Edit" button to define the fields and data column mappings.
    For instance, say you wish to import all of the A/Q#s and Line Item#'s for each line item into two custom fields labeled Line Item # and A/Q # in Quickbooks. You would create the appropriate field names and column maps as shown in the image below.

    The easiest way to find out what Map Column # you need to use would be to open the Autoquotes import file with microsoft excel, and depending on what type of row you're going to map to [Master (M), Detail (D), or Customer (C)], you would follow the columns over to the data column you desire. Columns start from the left and begin with 0, not 1.
    Accounts
    You define your income and expense accounts under this section. These accounts are used as references for items imported into Quickbooks, and ultimately will hold income and expenses when items are bought and/or sold via invoices, sales orders, and POs.
    Tax Settings
    If you have a tax item already defined in Quickbooks, select Use Existing Tax Reference and specify the name of the tax item. If no sales tax item exists in Quickbooks, select New Tax Reference and provide the rate and the tax vandor. The new tax item and vendor will be imported into Quickbooks.
    Quickbooks File
    You do not need to specify the path and name of your Quickbooks company file, but you must have Quickbooks open with the company file open in order to import an estimate each time you wish to do so. If you want the ability to import to Quickbooks without having Quickbooks open all the time, specify the path and name of the Quickbooks (.QBW) file.

Viewing Import Results

    Status Messages
    Once an import request into Quickbooks has completed, you may view the results by clicking on the Results button from the main menu. Results are shown with either a green (OK), yellow (Warning), or red (Error) icon. Each result entry provides details as to what the task was, a task ID number, and additional information. If a problem has occured, most times it can be diagnosed by viewing the results here. If additional information or troubleshooting is required, we may ask that you send us a copy of the request XML or response XML for that import session.
    XML Request
    This is the standard XML request that was issued to Quickbooks to import the various items from the imported estimate file. It is available for advanced troubleshooting purposes only.
    XML Response
    This is the standard XML response that was received from Quickbooks as a result of the attempted XML request. It is available for advanced troubleshooting purposes only.