Connecting Lightspeed Accounting to Lightspeed Retail is the first half of establishing a fully-connected integration. Next, you'll need to connect Lightspeed Accounting to your accounting software of choice. The process is simple and very similar for most of the compatible accounting packages:

1. Log in to Lightspeed Accounting.
2. From the menu in Lightspeed Accounting, navigate to Settings > Accounting.
3. Click View Details for the shop you want to connect.
4. Select your accounting software (and region if applicable).
5. Provide your credentials for your accounting software.
6. Authorize Lightspeed Accounting's access to the software.

That's all there is to it in most cases, but we've gone into greater detail below for a few of the more popular accounting packages.

• QuickBooks Online

  Connecting Lightspeed Accounting to QuickBooks Online is straightforward and only takes a few minutes.

  Setup

  1. Navigate to Settings > Accounting.
  2. Click View Details for the shop you want to connect.
     
     
     
     
  3. Select QuickBooks Online from the list of available accounting software.
     
     

     

  4. Enter your QuickBooks Online account credentials.
     
     
  5. Click Authorize.
     
     

  After a few seconds, your connection will be established and Lightspeed Accounting will begin syncing reference data from your accounting software, providing Lightspeed Accounting with the names of accounts, items and taxes and making them available for mapping. If you ever make changes to your accounts, you can refresh this reference data in Lightspeed Accounting by navigating to Settings > Accounting and clicking on View Details for the shop in question. Then click Refresh Reference Data.

  

  Remember to refresh the reference data whenever you create new accounts in QuickBooks Online in order to make them accessible in Lightspeed Accounting.

  Configuring Lightspeed Accounting

  With the connection established and the reference data synced, you're now ready to begin configuring Lightspeed Accounting! The first decision you'll need to make is to select a sales posting method.

• QuickBooks Desktop

  Because QuickBooks Desktop is not a cloud-based application, it cannot integrate directly with Lightspeed Accounting. You will use a companion application called Web Connector to act as the bridge between Lightspeed Accounting and QuickBooks Desktop. Web Connector is built-in to QuickBooks Desktop, so you already have it!

  NOTE: The exception is the Canadian edition of QuickBooks Desktop, which does not include the Web Connector add-on. If you're using the Canadian version of QuickBooks Desktop, you can download Web Connector here. Please also note that Web Connector is only available on Windows computers, so QuickBooks Desktop for Mac is not compatible with Lightspeed Accounting.

  Setup

  1. Navigate to Settings > Accounting.
  2. Click View Details for the shop you want to connect.
     
     
     
     
  3. Select QuickBooks Desktop from the list of available accounting software.
  4. Enter your Company Name.
     
     
  5. Note the Web Connector password provided at the top of the page in the green banner.
  6. Click Download to obtain the (.QWC) connection file for this company. This file will allow Web Connector to establish the connection between your company file in QuickBooks Desktop and Lightspeed Accounting.
     
     
  7. Open your company file in QuickBooks Desktop and navigate to File > Update Web Services. This will open Web Connector.
     
     NOTE: For the Canadian version of QuickBooks Desktop, simply run the downloaded Web Connector app.
     
     
  8. Click Add an Application.
     
     
  9. Select the (.QWC) connection file you downloaded in step 6.
  10. You will be asked to authorize the new service. Click OK to allow Web Connector access to your QuickBooks Desktop company file.
      
      
      
  11. When asked if you want to allow this application to read and modify the company file, select Yes, always; allow access even if QuickBooks is not running and click Continue.
      
      
  12. Enter the password you noted in step 5 in the appropriate field and press the tab key. Click OK to save the password.
      
      
  13. Check the box next to your company and click Update Selected to establish the connection between Web Connector and your QuickBooks Desktop company file.
      
      

   

  After a few seconds, your connection will be established and Lightspeed Accounting will be integrated with both Lightspeed Retail and QuickBooks Desktop. You'll want to sync your reference data from your accounting software. This provides Lightspeed Accounting with the names of accounts, items and taxes and making them available for mapping. To do so, navigate to Settings > Accounting and clicking on View Details for the shop in question. Then click Refresh Reference Data.

  

  Remember to refresh the reference data whenever you create new accounts in QuickBooks Desktop in order to make them accessible in Lightspeed Accounting. To do so:

  1. Open Web Connector by navigating to File > Update Web Services in QuickBooks Desktop.
     
     NOTE: For the Canadian version of QuickBooks Desktop, simply run the downloaded Web Connector app.
     
     
  2. Check the box for the company file you want to update.
  3. Click Update Selected.
  4. Open Lightspeed Accounting.
  5. Navigate to Settings > Accounting > View Details for the shop in question.
  6. Click Refresh Reference Data.

  Some Notes about Web Connector

  Updating your QuickBooks Desktop company file through Web Connector is a two-way street: Web Connector will look for new information from Lightspeed Accounting to incorporate into your QuickBooks Desktop company file, and it will send new information in the company file to Lightspeed Accounting. Lightspeed Accounting will then need to refresh its reference data (see steps above) to fetch that information. Since no information can pass between Lightspeed Accounting and QuickBooks Desktop without updating the company file in Web Connector, Web Connector will default to updating your company file every 60 minutes to provide a seamless experience. You can change this to be more or less frequent.

  Web Connector cannot update your company file if it doesn't know where it is. Because Web Connector was set up while your company file was open, it knows the file path for where it is stored on your computer. If you ever need to move your company file or change its filename, please contact Lightspeed Support and let us know, as we will need to update the filename and path on our side in order to maintain the connection. 

  Configuring Lightspeed Accounting

  With the connection established and the reference data synced, you're now ready to begin configuring Lightspeed Accounting! The first decision you'll need to make is to select a sales posting method.

   

• Xero

  Connecting Lightspeed Accounting to Xero is straightforward and only takes a few minutes.

  Setup

  1. Navigate to Settings > Accounting.
  2. Click View Details for the shop you want to connect.
     
     
     
     
  3. Select Xero from the list of available accounting software.
     
     
     
     
  4. Enter your Xero account credentials.
     
     
     
     
  5. Click Allow Access.
     
     

  After a few seconds, your connection will be established and Lightspeed Accounting will be integrated with both Lightspeed Retail and Xero. You'll want to sync your reference data from your accounting software. This provides Lightspeed Accounting with the names of accounts, items and taxes and making them available for mapping. To do so, navigate to Settings > Accounting and clicking on View Details for the shop in question. Then click Refresh Reference Data.

  

  Remember to refresh the reference data whenever you create new accounts in Xero in order to make them accessible in Lightspeed Accounting.

  Configuring Lightspeed Accounting

  With the connection established and the reference data synced, you're now ready to begin configuring Lightspeed Accounting! The first decision you'll need to make is to select a sales posting method.