Lightspeed Accounting acts as a bridge between Lightspeed Retail and your accounting software, synchronizing bookkeeping information like sales, payments, discounts, and taxes. Lightspeed Accounting integrates with:

• QuickBooks Desktop 2015 or higher (Windows only)
• QuickBooks Online (Windows and macOS)
• Xero (Windows and macOS)

Lightspeed Accounting is only compatible with Average Cost accounts and doesn’t support the First In, First Out cost method at this time.

To integrate with Lightspeed Accounting, you’ll need to create an account, connect it to your accounting software, configure your Lightspeed Accounting settings, and then map matching POS data to your chart of accounts.

Creating your account for Lightspeed Accounting

Before migrating Lightspeed Retail data to your accounting software, you need to set up your account for Lightspeed Accounting, then connect it to Lightspeed Retail and your accounting software.

To create your account for Lightspeed Accounting, contact your account manager.

When signing in for the first time, you'll be asked to select a point of sale system and connect it to Lightspeed Accounting.

1. Select Lightspeed Retail from the list.

2. Enter your Lightspeed Retail credentials.

   The credentials you use to connect Lightspeed Accounting determine what permissions Lightspeed Accounting has in your Retail POS account. If the user with these credentials is archived, it revokes Lightspeed Accounting’s access and breaks the connection. Use the owner's credentials to ensure unlimited permissions and that access is less likely to be revoked.

3. Click Authorize Application to establish the connection between Retail POS and Lightspeed Accounting.

Once Retail POS is connected to Lightspeed Accounting, you can connect Lightspeed Accounting to your accounting software suite.

Connecting Lightspeed Accounting to QuickBooks Online

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.

   

Reference data will begin syncing from your accounting software, providing Lightspeed Accounting with the names of accounts, items and taxes. This makes them available to be mapped to corresponding fields in your accounting software.

If you 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.

Whenever you create new accounts in QuickBooks Online, you must refresh the reference data to make those accounts accessible in Lightspeed Accounting.

1. Navigate to Settings > Accounting.
2. Click on View Details for the shop that has the account.
3. Click Refresh Reference Data.

Connecting Lightspeed Accounting to QuickBooks Desktop

Lightspeed Accounting requires the QuickBooks Web Connector to work with QuickBooks Desktop. As this is only available on Windows computers, QuickBooks Desktop for Mac is not compatible with Lightspeed Accounting.

QuickBooks Desktop is not a cloud-based application, so it can’t integrate directly with Lightspeed Accounting. You need a companion application called Web Connector to act as the bridge between Lightspeed Accounting and QuickBooks Desktop. In most regions, Web Connector is built into QuickBooks Desktop. The Canadian version of QuickBooks Desktop doesn’t include the Web Connector add-on, so merchants in Canada must download Web Connector.

1. Navigate to Settings > Accounting.

2. Click View Details for the shop you want to connect.

   

3. Select QuickBooks Desktop from the list of accounting software.

4. Enter your Company Name.

   

5. Make a note of 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 your company. This file will let Web Connector connect your company file in QuickBooks Desktop to Lightspeed Accounting.

   

7. Open your company file in QuickBooks Desktop and navigate to File > Update Web Services. This will open Web Connector.

   For the Canadian version of QuickBooks Desktop, locate and run the downloadable Web Connector application instead.

8. Click Add an Application.

   

9. Select the .QWC connection file you downloaded in step 6.

10. You’ll 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 Password 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 link Web Connector to your QuickBooks Desktop company file.

    

Once the connection is established, Lightspeed Accounting will integrate with Retail POS and QuickBooks Desktop. You’ll need to sync your reference data from your accounting software to provide Lightspeed Accounting with the names of accounts, items, and taxes to make them available for mapping.

1. Navigate to Settings > Accounting.
2. Click on View details for your shop location.
3. Click Refresh reference data.

Adding new QuickBooks accounts to Lightspeed Accounting

Whenever you create new accounts in QuickBooks Desktop, you’ll need to refresh the reference data to make them accessible in Lightspeed Accounting.

1. Open Web Connector by navigating to File > Update Web Services in QuickBooks Desktop.

   Canadian merchants must run the downloadable Web Connector app instead.

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.

Understanding Web Connector

Web Connector looks for new information from Lightspeed Accounting to incorporate into your QuickBooks Desktop company file and also sends new information from the company file to Lightspeed Accounting. To do this, Web Connector updates your company file so Lightspeed Accounting can refresh its reference data. The recommended refresh rate is every 60 minutes. The refresh rate is accessible in the Every-Min column.

To update your company file, Web Connector will default to following the filepath (the location of the file) that was available during your initial setup. This means moving your company file or changing its name can break the connection. If you need to change the name or location of your company file, contact Lightspeed Support to update this internal information. This prevents the connection from breaking.

Connecting Lightspeed Accounting to Xero

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.

   

Once the connection is established, Lightspeed Accounting will integrate with Retail POS and Xero. You’ll need to sync your reference data from your accounting software to provide Lightspeed Accounting with the names of accounts, items and taxes to make them available for mapping.

1. Navigate to Settings > Accounting.
2. Clicking on View Details for the shop in question.
3. 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.

Confirming Lightspeed Accounting is connected to your accounting software

To check whether Lightspeed Accounting is connected to QuickBooks Online or Xero:

1. In Lightspeed Accounting, navigate to Settings > Companies.

   

2. In the Connected column:

   • Hyphen (-): Lightspeed Accounting and QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or Xero are not connected.

     

   • Checkmark (✓):Lightspeed Accounting and QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or Xero are connected.

     

Reconnecting Lightspeed Accounting

If you receive a notification that the software has become disconnected and need to reconnect it:

1. In Lightspeed Accounting, navigate to Settings > Companies.
2. Click the company name in the Company name column.

3. Use the checkboxes to select which Reference Data to connect.

   

4. Click Connect to QuickBooks or Connect to Xero. You may need to enter your QuickBooks or Xero login info to connect.

Configuring your posting method and settings

Once you’ve connected Lightspeed Accounting to your accounting software, you’ll need to choose a posting method and configure your settings. This will let you map your data.

To begin configuring your Lightspeed Accounting settings:

1. Navigate to Settings > Accounting.
2. Click Select your shop > General Settings.

First, select a posting method. This determines how information from Retail POS is sent to your accounting software and how that information is mapped.

• Journal entry:
  • Summarizes daily activity into a single journal entry (QuickBooks only).
  • Maps Retail POS sales by item category to general ledger accounts.
  • You report on your activity by running the profits and losses report.
  • Uses deposits made to accounts, so individual sales aren’t reflected in your accounting software. You can still access information on your sales history in Retail POS.
• Summary sales receipt:
  • Summarizes daily sales activity as a single sales receipt (QuickBooks) or a summary invoice (Xero).
  • Sales by item category are mapped to corresponding items created in your accounting software.
  • (Quickbooks) or income accounts (Xero).
  • You report on your activity by running sales reports.
  • Adds the option to track sales taxes in your accounting software instead of having tax information sync over from Retail POS. This option is accessible from General Settings.
• Itemized sales receipt:
  • Maps individual items in Retail POS to a corresponding item in your accounting software.
  • Offers granular sales reporting.
  • May be harder to manage if you regularly create new items, since each new item must be mapped.
  • Useful if you rarely add new items to your inventory or require sales-by-item reporting in your accounting software.

Once your posting method, settings, and mappings are configured, you’ll need to reconfigure settings and re-establish mappings if you ever change your posting method in the future.

After picking a posting method, configure the general settings for mapping your data syncs. These settings determine what and how information is sent to your accounting software.

• Class: (Optional) This indicates locations in a multi-store setting.
• Customer: (Optional) Assigns a customer to the sales receipt/invoice sent to your accounting software. This is only available when using the Summary sales receipt or Itemized sales receipt posting methods.
• Track sales tax in accounting software: Prevents sales tax information from syncing from Lightspeed to your accounting software. Use this if you want to calculate taxes on the accounting software side. This setting is only available for the Summary sales receipt or Itemized sales receipt posting methods.
• Book Inventory/COGS: When on, enables the Inventory & COGS section for mapping. This lets you track inventory assets and cost of goods sold (COGS) in your accounting software.
• Sync Purchase Orders: Determines how purchase orders (POs) sync from Lightspeed Retail. Syncing information as a bill sends the information to your accounting software as an invoice already set up for your supplier. Syncing as a PO creates a memo in your software that must be manually validated. The shipment options are for handling partly-received purchase orders.
  • Sync as bills skips the need to convert your purchase orders into Bills in your accounting software.
  • Sync as POs to make edits to the PO prior to converting it to a bill. Purchase orders are synced when they are marked as Finished.
  • Sync each shipment as a PO syncs the record of partly-received purchase orders as shipments within Lightspeed Accounting. In Retail POS on the Record of shipment page inside a purchase order, set the Accounting Status to Finished to sync.
  • Sync each shipment as bill skips the need to convert your partly-received shipments into Bills in your accounting software
• Use Reference # as PO Number: This setting numbers your synced POs according to the Reference # field found in the PO in Lightspeed Retail, letting you put the vendor-assigned invoice number there instead.
• Sync vendor returns: Vendor Returns in Lightspeed Retail will be synced the day they are marked as sent.
• Deposit checks with cash: Any payments received of the Check payment type will be combined with your Cash payments as a single lump sum and sync according to the Cash payment mapping.
• Ignore over/short: When closing the register in Retail POS, it counts the money in the drawer and compares it to the amount that should theoretically be in the drawer based on cash movements. If these numbers are different, an Over/short value is created. This setting causes the sync to ignore the Over/short and sync the theoretical amount of cash expected.
• Auto-payout tips: This setting is only relevant for Lightspeed Restaurant users. Leave Off for Lightspeed Retail.
• Custom Transaction Number?: When off, sales are assigned an ID number by your accounting software. You can override this by turning this option on. Your sale IDs will then be the first five letters of your store name, followed by the date. For example, a sale made in Myshop on March 13, 2023 would have the ID myshop230313).
  • Transaction # Prefix: (Only available if Custom Transaction Number is On) The prefix entered here will replace the first five letters of your store name in a sale ID when Custom Transaction Number is on. For instance, the prefix "sale" would change the ID in the above example to sale230313.

Once you've configured your settings, you can now map matching POS data to your chart of accounts.

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