Set up a test environment

You need a Windows machine with QuickBooks Desktop to develop against this API. A test project, a sample company file and a QuickBooks trial installation cost nothing on our side.

What you need

• A Windows computer. A spare PC, a virtual machine, or a cloud Windows desktop such as Amazon WorkSpaces or an Azure virtual machine. Use a Windows version that your QuickBooks release supports.
• QuickBooks Desktop. A US edition: Pro, Premier, Accountant or Enterprise. A trial installation from Intuit works. Members of Intuit’s developer and partner programs can also get not-for-resale licenses from Intuit.
• The QuickBooks Web Connector. Recent QuickBooks releases install it. Otherwise download it from Intuit. You need version 2.2.0.34 or newer.
• A company file. QuickBooks includes sample companies (open File › Open or Restore Company › Open a sample file). For realistic tests, create a company and enter some data, or restore a backup you are allowed to use.

Connect it

1. In the dashboard, use the free Development test project and create a sk_test_ key.
2. Create an end user for your test company.
3. Create a setup link and open it on the Windows machine. Follow the steps in Connect QuickBooks Desktop.
4. Run the quickstart against it.

Tips

• Restore a known baseline before write tests. Back up the company file once (File › Back Up Company). Restore it before each test run so tests start from the same data. Restoring a backup made before you connected the app removes the connector’s registration from the file, so make the baseline backup after setup. See Requests stop working after restoring a backup.
• Turn off pop-ups. Sample files and trials show reminders, update notices and usage study invitations that block integrations while open. Answer them once and turn off what you can in Edit › Preferences.
• Sample company dates. Some Intuit sample files show a fixed “today” date that differs from your calendar. Timestamps such as createdAt follow the sample’s clock; request timings follow real time.
• Keep the machine awake. Disable sleep, and keep the Windows user signed in with the Web Connector running. A locked screen is fine; a signed-out user is not.
• Test the unhappy paths. Close the Web Connector, open a dialog in QuickBooks, open a different company file, switch to multi-user mode. Each should produce a clear error in your product.

Several QuickBooks versions

Your customers run different editions and years. If you support older releases, keep a machine (or snapshot) per version you care about, and check Editions, versions and features for fields that need a newer qbXML version. Install one QuickBooks version per machine; side-by-side versions confuse the Web Connector.