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TimeLive QuickBooks Integration

TimeLive connects to QuickBooks in two ways: a native integration with QuickBooks Desktop via the TimeLive QuickBooks Integration Manager tool, and a direct OAuth connection with QuickBooks Online for hosted TimeLive accounts. Both integrations are available on paid plans and allow time entries, expenses, clients, employees, and project data to move between the two systems without manual re-entry.
The integration is designed for professional services teams and agencies that track time and expenses in TimeLive against client projects, and then use QuickBooks to manage payroll, vendor bills, and client invoicing. Once connected, approved time entries transfer to QuickBooks as billable time records, and expense entries transfer as vendor bills, removing the duplicate data entry that typically sits between project delivery and accounting.

What Transfers Between TimeLive and QuickBooks

The integration moves six categories of data between the two systems. The exact scope depends on which integration type you use and how the data transfer is configured.

What Transfers Between TimeLive and QuickBooks
Note: Expense entry transfer as vendor bills, payroll timesheet transfer, time entries, projects, clients, and employees are available across both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online integrations, depending on your configuration. All integrations are available on paid plans only.

Two Ways to Connect TimeLive and QuickBooks

TimeLive supports two separate QuickBooks integration types. Choose based on which version of QuickBooks your accounting team uses.

QuickBooks Integration

Setting Up QuickBooks Online Integration

The QuickBooks Online integration is available for hosted (cloud) TimeLive accounts. Setup requires administrator access to both TimeLive and a QuickBooks Intuit account. The connection is OAuth-based and takes three steps.

Connection Steps

Setting Up QuickBooks Online Integration

Plan requirement

QuickBooks integration is available on paid TimeLive plans only. Confirm your plan includes the integration module before beginning setup.

Log in to TimeLive as Administrator

Navigate to Admin Options and select QuickBooks Online under the Integration section in the left navigation menu.

Connect to QuickBooks

Click the Connect to QuickBooks button. You will be redirected to the QuickBooks Intuit login screen. Log in with your QuickBooks account credentials.

Authorize the integration

Click the Authorize button on the QuickBooks screen. This grants TimeLive permission to import and export data between the two accounts. The connection is now active.

Setting Up QuickBooks Online Integration
QuickBooks Integration

Exporting Time Entries to QuickBooks Online

Once connected, administrators can export time entries from TimeLive to QuickBooks. The export supports filtering by employee and date range, and the project mapping follows either the Job/Sub-Job or Item/Sub-Item structure depending on how your QuickBooks account is organized.
QuickBooks Integration

Select the employee or choose All to export all employees

QuickBooks Integration

Set the start and end date for the export period

QuickBooks Integration

Select the project mapping option that matches your QuickBooks structure (Job/Sub-Job or Item/Sub-Item)

QuickBooks Integration

Run the export and confirm the transfer in QuickBooks

Setting Up QuickBooks Desktop Integration

The QuickBooks Desktop integration uses a separate downloadable Windows application called the TimeLive QuickBooks Integration Manager. This tool runs on the same machine where QuickBooks is installed and handles all data transfers between TimeLive and QuickBooks Desktop.

System Requirements

The integration tool must be installed on a Windows machine where QuickBooks is already installed. The following requirements apply:

QuickBooks versions supported: Pro or Premier US/Canadian/UK Edition 2006 or later, Enterprise Solutions US Edition 6.0 or later, Premier Canadian Multicurrency Edition or later

Setting Up QuickBooks Desktop Integration

Download the Integration Manager

Download the TimeLive QuickBooks Integration Manager from livetecs.com/download. The tool is a wizard-guided installation that runs on the QuickBooks machine.

Configure QuickBooks for integration

Launch QuickBooks and open your company file. When TimeLive attempts to connect for the first time, QuickBooks will display a dialog asking for permission. Select Yes, Always to allow TimeLive to access the company file for data transfer.

Launch the Integration Manager and log in

Open the TimeLive QuickBooks Integration Manager from the Windows Start menu or desktop shortcut. Enter your TimeLive URL, username, and password to log in.

Define the data structure relationship

Before transferring any data, configure how TimeLive Projects and Tasks map to QuickBooks. Projects can be mapped as Jobs or Items. Tasks can be mapped as Sub Jobs, Sub Items, or Items depending on your QuickBooks setup. This mapping must be consistent across all transfers.

Setting Up QuickBooks Desktop Integration

Data Transfers Available in Desktop Integration

The Integration Manager provides individual transfer operations for each data type. All transfers are one-click operations from the main screen.

QuickBooks Integration

Time Entry Transfer Options

When transferring time entries, the Integration Manager provides additional configuration options that control how the data appears in QuickBooks:
QuickBooks Integration

Payroll timesheets: Enable the payroll timesheet option to transfer TimeLive time entries as payroll-ready records in QuickBooks

QuickBooks Integration

QuickBooks Class mapping: Map TimeLive data to QuickBooks Class fields. Options include Cost Center, Department, Employee Type, Milestone, or Work Type

QuickBooks Integration

Payroll Item mapping: Map TimeLive data to QuickBooks Payroll Item fields. Same options: Cost Center, Department, Employee Type, Milestone, Work Type

QuickBooks Integration

Wage Type: Select the wage type to be associated with transferred time entries

QuickBooks Integration

Project mapping: Select the same Job/Item mapping used when projects were originally transferred (Jobs/Items, Jobs/Sub Jobs, or Items/Sub Items)

Exporting Time via IIF File (Alternative Method)

A second method for transferring time to QuickBooks Desktop uses the IIF file export available from within TimeLive itself, without the Integration Manager tool. This method generates a QuickBooks-compatible IIF file from TimeLive’s Import/Export section, which is then imported directly into QuickBooks via File > Import > IIF Files.
The IIF field mapping is: TimeLive Project Clients map to QuickBooks Customers, TimeLive Employees to QuickBooks Employees, TimeLive Billable Task Flag to QuickBooks Billable Flag, and TimeLive Task Codes to QuickBooks Service Items. After import, define billing rates for each item in QuickBooks, then generate an invoice from Customers > Create Invoices.

To export:

Navigate to Admin Options > Import/Export CSV/QuickBooks. Select Export, File Type as QuickBooks, Data Source as Time Entry. Set date range and project. Click Proceed to generate the IIF file.

To import:

 In QuickBooks open File > Import > IIF Files. Select the exported IIF file. QuickBooks confirms completion after import.

Billing Rates That Carry Into QuickBooks

TimeLive supports four billing rate types at the project level. The rate that applies to each time entry is determined by which type is selected on the project, and it carries through when time entries are transferred to QuickBooks. This means the billing calculation that appears in QuickBooks reflects the rate structure configured in TimeLive, not a default or manual entry in QuickBooks.
QuickBooks Integration

Important: if a task is marked as non-billable, billing rates are not reflected against time entries regardless of which rate type is set on the project. Only billable tasks carry rate data into reports and invoice calculations.

QuickBooks Integration

Expense and Timesheet Approval Before QuickBooks Transfer

Data that moves from TimeLive to QuickBooks goes through an approval workflow first. This is a setup convention, not an automatic gate, but it is the recommended practice to ensure only reviewed and confirmed records transfer to your accounting system.
QuickBooks Integration

Expense Approval Workflow

When an employee submits an expense sheet in TimeLive, it enters the approval queue based on the approval path configured for that project. The expense approval module shows four approval tables depending on the logged-in approver’s role:
QuickBooks Integration

My Team Expense Entry Approvals: for team leads approving their team's expenses

QuickBooks Integration

My Projects Expense Entry Approvals: for project managers approving project-level expenses

QuickBooks Integration

Client Expense Entry Approvals: for external client approvers on the project

QuickBooks Integration

Administrator Expense Entry Approvals: for system administrators

QuickBooks Integration

Custom Approval Path: Enables administrators to build a tailored, multi-tiered workflow (up to five approval tiers), define simultaneous or sequential approvers, and integrate specific roles or external users into the expense review chain.

Approvers can review the full expense sheet before approving, view attachments on individual expense entries, add comments, and approve or reject individual records. Once an expense sheet is approved. Approvers can review the full expense sheet before approving, view attachments on individual expense entries, add comments, and approve or reject individual records. Once an expense sheet is approved, the billable expense entries are locked and prepared directly for transfer to QuickBooks as vendor bills, enabling teams to reimburse employees and bill clients without intermediate manual intervention.

Timesheet Approval Workflow

The timesheet approval process in TimeLive creates an approval record and closes the timesheet before hours are processed for billing. Once a manager approves a timesheet, the time entries are locked and a full audit trail is written, showing the date and time of submission, any rejections, and the final approval along with the approver’s name. This audit record is accessible to both the employee and administrators.
TimeLive supports simultaneous approvals, where multiple approvers at the same position in the approval sequence receive and can approve the same timesheet concurrently. This is useful for organizations where both a supervisor and an administrator need to sign off on hours before billing runs. The approval path is configurable per project, meaning different client projects can have different approval chains before hours are released for QuickBooks transfer.
QuickBooks Integration

Employees submit timesheets at the end of the period

QuickBooks Integration

Approvers receive email notification that timesheets are awaiting review

QuickBooks Integration

Approver can view the full period timesheet in read-only mode before approving or rejecting

QuickBooks Integration

Approved timesheets are closed and the time entries become available for invoicing and QuickBooks transfer.

QuickBooks Integration

An audit trail records every submission, rejection, and approval with timestamps and approver names

Invoice Generation in TimeLive

For teams that invoice directly from TimeLive rather than in QuickBooks, the invoicing module pulls both approved time entries and approved expense entries into a single client invoice. The workflow is:
Navigate to Billing > Invoice Management. Click Add Invoice List and then Generate Invoice. Select the client, choose a specific project or all projects, set the billing cycle dates, and click Populate Un-billed Records. TimeLive populates all un-billed time and expense entries for that period. Review, save, and when ready, click Update Invoice As Billed to mark all included time and expense entries as billed, preventing double billing on the next invoice run.
Invoices can be printed or exported to PDF or XLS, and can include the company logo configured in Settings. The Time Billing Worksheet and Expense Billing Worksheet both allow billing managers to track billing status and invoice numbers across all billable records, and to manually toggle records between Billed and Un-billed status if corrections are needed.

QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online: Which to Use

The right integration depends entirely on which QuickBooks product your accounting team uses.

Use QuickBooks Desktop integration if:

Your accounting team uses QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Enterprise installed on a Windows machine. You need to transfer expense entries as vendor bills. You want payroll timesheet transfer. You need Class or Payroll Item mapping between TimeLive and QuickBooks categories.

Use QuickBooks Online integration if:

Your accounting team uses QuickBooks Online (Intuit cloud). Your TimeLive account is hosted (cloud version). You need to sync time entries, expense entries, vendors, projects, clients, and employees. You want a simpler OAuth-based connection without a desktop tool installation. 

Note on expense entries and QuickBooks Online:

Expense entry transfer as vendor bills and vendor records are fully supported across both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online integrations. For QuickBooks Online, the integration scope covers time entries, expense entries, vendors, projects, clients, and employees, providing a seamless data sync between your hosted TimeLive account and your Intuit cloud setup. 

FAQs

frequently asked questions

Find your answers to these frequently asked questions

Is QuickBooks integration available on the free TimeLive plan?
No. QuickBooks integration is a paid module. It is not available on the free plan. The free plan supports up to 3 users and 3 projects but does not include integration modules. QuickBooks integration, along with Jira, Xero, and Google Calendar integration, is available on paid plans only. Contact the Livetecs team to confirm which paid plan includes the integration for your account.
Yes, but through two separate integration types. QuickBooks Desktop uses the TimeLive QuickBooks Integration Manager, a downloadable Windows tool installed on the same machine as QuickBooks. QuickBooks Online uses a direct OAuth connection from within your hosted TimeLive account. The two are not interchangeable. If your accounting team uses QuickBooks Pro or Premier on a local machine, use the Desktop integration. If they use QuickBooks Online via browser, use the Online integration.
The TimeLive QuickBooks Integration Manager supports QuickBooks Pro or Premier US Edition 2006 or later, Canadian Edition 2006 or later, UK Edition 2008 or later, Enterprise Solutions US Edition 6.0 or later, and Premier Canadian Multicurrency Edition or later. The integration tool requires a Windows machine with QuickBooks already installed.
Yes, via both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online integrations. Expense entries from TimeLive transfer to QuickBooks as vendor bills, filterable by vendor and date range. Expense codes in TimeLive can also be transferred to QuickBooks as Accounts, establishing the account structure before expenses are moved. For QuickBooks Online, the integration fully supports expense entries alongside time entries, vendors, projects, clients, and employees, ensuring complete alignment between both platforms.

Billing rates configured in TimeLive (at the employee, role, project employee, or task level) are associated with time entries. When those time entries transfer to QuickBooks, the billable flag and task code map to the QuickBooks service item. Billing rates for those items are then defined in QuickBooks under the item list, where you set the rate and account for each transferred service item. The two systems handle rates independently: TimeLive calculates based on its rate hierarchy, and QuickBooks uses its own item rates for invoicing.

TimeLive does not block the QuickBooks transfer if a timesheet has not been approved. However, the standard practice is to run approval before transferring, so only reviewed and closed time entries move to QuickBooks. Approved timesheets are closed in TimeLive and an audit record is created, making it straightforward to confirm which periods have been reviewed before initiating a transfer. For organizations with compliance requirements, running approval before transfer is the recommended workflow.
Yes. Both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online integrations offer comprehensive import and export options depending on configured features. For QuickBooks Desktop, the Integration Manager facilitates bidirectional data movement, including importing employee and project details from QuickBooks into TimeLive to prevent duplicate data entry during setup. For QuickBooks Online, administrators have direct access to import and export capabilities upon connecting, enabling effortless bidirectional synchronization of projects, tasks, jobs, items, clients, and time records based on your workflow configuration.