Edit and Search External QuickBooks Online Objects in Salesforce Connect



Use CData Connect Cloud to securely provide OData feeds of QuickBooks Online data to smart devices and cloud-based applications. Use the CData Connect and Salesforce Connect to create QuickBooks Online Data objects that you can access from apps and the dashboard.

CData Connect Cloud, enables you to access QuickBooks Online data from cloud-based applications like the Salesforce console and mobile applications like the Salesforce Mobile App. In this article, you will use CData Connect Cloud and Salesforce Connect to access external QuickBooks Online objects alongside standard Salesforce objects.

About QuickBooks Online Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from QuickBooks Online. Customers use CData connectivity to:

  • Realize high-performance data reads thanks to push-down query optimization for complex operations like filters and aggregations.
  • Read, write, update, and delete QuickBooks Online data.
  • Run reports, download attachments, and send or void invoices directly from code using SQL stored procedures.
  • Connect securely using OAuth and modern cryptography, including TLS 1.2, SHA-256, and ECC.

Many users access live QuickBooks Online data from preferred analytics tools like Power BI and Excel, directly from databases with federated access, and use CData solutions to easily integrate QuickBooks Online data with automated workflows for business-to-business communications.

For more information on how customers are solving problems with CData's QuickBooks Online solutions, refer to our blog: https://www.cdata.com/blog/360-view-of-your-customers.


Getting Started


Connect to QuickBooks Online from Salesforce

To work with live QuickBooks Online data in Salesforce Connect, we need to connect to QuickBooks Online from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create OData endpoints for the QuickBooks Online data.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to QuickBooks Online through Connect Cloud.

  1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
  2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
  3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

  1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
  2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to QuickBooks Online from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

  1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
  2. Select "QuickBooks Online" from the Add Connection panel
  3. QuickBooks Online uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with QuickBooks Online.
  4. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add QuickBooks Online Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Configure QuickBooks Online Endpoints for Salesforce Connect

After connecting to QuickBooks Online, create a workspace and virtual dataset for your desired table(s).

  1. Navigate to the Virtual Datasets page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
  2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
  3. Select the QuickBooks Online connection (e.g. QuickBooksOnline1) and click Next.
  4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
  5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to QuickBooks Online data from Salesforce Connect.

Connect to QuickBooks Online Data as an External Data Sources

Follow the steps below to connect to the feed produced by Connect Cloud.

  1. Log into Salesforce and click Setup -> Integrations -> External Data Sources.
  2. Click Now External Data Sources.
  3. Enter values for the following properties:
    • External Data Sources: Enter a label to be used in list views and reports.
    • Name: Enter a unique identifier.
    • Type: Select the option "Salesforce Connect: OData 4.0".
    • URL: Enter the URL to the OData endpoint of Connect Cloud: https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
  4. Select the Writable External Objects option.
  5. Select JSON in the Format menu.
  6. In the Authentication section, set the following properties:
    • Identity Type: If all members of your organization will use the same credentials to access Connect Cloud, select "Named Principal". If the members of your organization will connect with their own credentials, select "Per User".
    • Authentication Protocol: Select Password Authentication to use basic authentication.
    • Certificate: Enter or browse to the certificate to be used to encrypt and authenticate communications from Salesforce to your server.
    • Username: Enter a CData Connect Cloud username (e.g. [email protected].
    • Password: Enter the user's PAT.

Synchronize QuickBooks Online Objects

After you have created the external data source, follow the steps below to create QuickBooks Online external objects that reflect any changes in the data source. You will synchronize the definitions for the QuickBooks Online external objects with the definitions for QuickBooks Online tables.

  1. Click the link for the external data source you created.
  2. Click Validate and Scan.
  3. Select the QuickBooks Online tables you want to work with as external objects.

Access QuickBooks Online Data as Salesforce Objects

After adding QuickBooks Online data as an external data source and syncing QuickBooks Online tables as external objects, you can use the external QuickBooks Online objects just as you would standard Salesforce objects.

  • Create a new tab with a filter list view:

  • Create reports of external objects:

  • Create, update, and delete QuickBooks Online objects from the Salesforce dashboard:

Simplified Access to QuickBooks Online Data from Cloud Applications

At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live QuickBooks Online data from Salesforce. For more information on gaining simplified access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources in cloud applications like Salesforce, refer to our Connect Cloud page.

Ready to get started?

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