Build Dashboards with QuickBooks Online Data in Dundas BI



Create dynamic dashboards and perform analytics based on QuickBooks Online data in Dundas BI.

The CData ODBC Driver for QuickBooks Online enables access to live data from QuickBooks Online under the ODBC standard, allowing you work with QuickBooks Online data in a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and directly, using familiar SQL queries. This article shows how to connect to QuickBooks Online data as a generic ODBC Data Provider and create charts, reports, and dashboards based on QuickBooks Online data in Dundas BI.

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 Data

  1. If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can configure the DSN using the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the Help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

    QuickBooks Online uses the OAuth authentication standard. OAuth requires the authenticating user to log in through the browser. To authenticate using OAuth, you can use the embedded OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL or you can obtain your own by registering an app with Intuit. Additionally, if you want to connect to sandbox data, set UseSandbox to true.

    See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

    When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

  2. Open the Dundas BI interface, open the menu, and click New Data Connector.
  3. Configure the Dundas BI Data Connector:
    • Name the Data Connector.
    • Select "ODBC generic" as the Data Provider.
    • Check the "Use System DSN" checkbox.
    • Select the appropriate System DSN.

Add QuickBooks Online Data to a Dashboard

You are now ready to create a dashboard with QuickBooks Online data.

  1. Navigate to the Home page.
  2. Click Explore Data.
  3. Expand the appropriate Data Connector.
  4. Drag the relevant data from the Connector to the panel.
    • You can select an entire "table" to add, but you may need to remove Measures/Rows from the Metric Set to build an appropriate visualization. Alternatively, you can select only the fields you wish to include in the visualization.
    • With the fields selected, you can add any filters or conditions on the Measures and Rows, further customizing the visualization.
  5. Click Re-visualize from the menu bar and select the appropriate visualization for the data.
  6. Click Add To New Dashboard to add the visualization to a new dashboard.
  7. Configure the dashboard, creating dynamic visualizations of QuickBooks Online data.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the QuickBooks Online ODBC Driver to get started:

 Download Now

Learn more:

QuickBooks Online Icon QuickBooks Online ODBC Driver

The QuickBooks Online ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from QuickBooks Online, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access QuickBooks Online data like you would a database - read, write, and update Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.