Using the Estimate Works Accounting Export Manager for Quickbooks® *

Estimate Works Accounting Export Manager provides a method for quickly adding jobs to your Quickbooks® 2006 company file.

Note: You must have your Quickbooks® company file open before you start the Estimate Works Accounting Export Manager!It is necessary to configure all the settings below before using the Accounting Export feature as Quickbooks® has very specific requirement for the formatting of the data.

Installing the Export Manager:

The Estimate Works Accounting Export Manager is a separate program that is installed by default to the 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Estimate Works Word' directory. After opening your Quickbooks company file, start the Accounting Export Manager by selecting Estimate Works for Word - Accounting Export Manager from your Program list.

The first time you open the Estimate Works Accounting Export Manager you will be prompted by Quickbooks to allow the connection. You must agree to allow the communication between the two programs. Configure the 'Quickbooks Settings' tab settings as per the instructions below before you begin.

Estimate Works/Quickbooks Settings:

Before configuring the Export Manager, please have your accountant or book-keeper set up your chart of accounts and Quickbooks company file for you. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

Map the Estimate Works fields to Quickbooks according to the table below:

Estimate Works Setting: Quickbooks® Setting:
Estimator QB Initials (Settings - Misc Defaults->Employees on the Estimate Works toolbar) Sales Rep (Lists - Customer & Vendor Profile Lists - Sales Rep List on the Quickbooks menu) 
Sales Tax Name
Use when sales taxes are included on the estimates, otherwise this setting is ignored during the export. (Administration - Company Information - Tax Settings on the Estimate Works toolbar) 		Edit - Preferences - Sales Tax on the Quickbooks menu
Interior Estimate Item
If this item is a sub-item in Quickbooks both the top level and sub item must be specified, separated by a colon (eg. Income:Interior Painting)		 A 'Service' item that posts to an Income Account (Lists - Item List on the Quickbooks menu)
Exterior Estimate Item
If this item is a sub-item in Quickbooks both the top level and sub item must be specified, separated by a colon (eg. Income:Exterior Painting)		 A 'Service' item that posts to an Income Account (Lists - Item List on the Quickbooks menu)
Estimate Item Class Lists - Class List on the Quickbooks menu
Material Item Class Lists - Class List on the Quickbooks menu
Labor Cost - the average hourly labor cost  
Material Cost - the average cost per gallon of materials used  

Export Results:

Estimate Works estimate details will be exported to the following Quickbooks fields according to the following specifications:

Client/Job Details:

Estimate Works Client/Job Details - Client name, billing address details, estimate number, site description.
Quickbooks® Customer/Jobs - If the client does not yet exist the top level record will be created otherwise the job will be added to the existing client. The job name is the EW estimate number. The job status will automatically be set to 'Awarded'. The job description is the EW site description.

Estimate Details:

Estimate Works Estimate Details - Estimate sub-total, site description, total job hours, total materials quantities.
Quickbooks® Estimate - If the job already exists then the estimate entry will fail, otherwise an Estimate will be created. Two lines will be added to the estimate as described below:

  • Line 1:
    • Item = Interior or Exterior Estimate Item as per above settings
    • Description = Estimate Site Description
    • Qty = The number of hours estimated for the job
    • Estimate = The labor cost as per above settings
    • Total = Qty * Estimate
    • Markup = Estimate Total (before taxes) from Estimate Works less ((Hours * Labor Cost) - Materials Cost)
    • Class = Estimate Item Class as per above settings
  • Line 2:
    • Item = Interior or Exterior Estimate Item as per above settings
    • Description = 'Materials'
    • Qty = The number of gallons estimated for the job
    • Estimate = The material cost as per above settings
    • Total = Qty * Estimate
    • Markup = None 
    • Class = Estimate Item Class as per above settings

To further understand the Estimate Works settings in the Export Manager, it may be helpful to open a sample company file in Quickbooks and try some transactions. Open a sample customer from your sample company file then either select an existing job or create a new one. Now create a new estimate for this job. You will see the columns for the 'Item' and 'Class' fields that are a required part of each estimate. These are the fields that you must configure in your Export Manager settings.

*Quickbooks is a registered trademark and service mark of Intuit, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Estimate Works Accounting Export Manager is designed for use with Quickbooks Premier Contractor Edition Version 6 software only.

Related Topics:

Installing Estimate Works Accounting Manager
Estimate Works Accounting Manager Settings