Visualize Live QuickBooks Online Data in Tableau

Tableau is a visual analytics platform transforming the way businesses use data to solve problems. When paired with the CData Tableau Connector for QuickBooks Online, you can easily get access to live QuickBooks Online data within Tableau. This article shows how to connect to QuickBooks Online in Tableau and build a simple chart.

The CData Tableau Connectors enable high-speed access to live QuickBooks Online data in Tableau. Once you install the connector, you simply authenticate with QuickBooks Online and you can immediately start building responsive, dynamic visualizations and dashboards. By surfacing QuickBooks Online data using native Tableau data types and handling complex filters, aggregations, & other operations automatically, CData Tableau Connectors grant seamless access to QuickBooks Online data.

NOTE: The CData Tableau Connectors require Tableau 2020.3 or higher. If you are using an older version of Tableau, you will need to use the CData Tableau Connector for QuickBooks Online. If you wish to connect to QuickBooks Online data in Tableau Cloud, you will need to use CData Connect Cloud.

Getting Started

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Connect to QuickBooks Online in Tableau

Open Tableau and click More under Connect -> To a Server. Select "QuickBooks Online by CData," then configure the connection and click "Sign In."

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.

Discover Schemas and Query Data

1. Select CData from the Database pull-down menu.
2. Select QuickBooksOnline from the Schema pull-down menu.
3. Drag the tables and views you wish to visualize onto the join area. You can include multiple tables.
4. Select Update Now or Automatically Update. Update Now lets you preview the first 10,000 rows of the data source (or enter the number of rows you want to see in the Rows text box). Automatically Update automatically reflects the changes in the preview area.
5. Click the tab for your worksheet. Columns are listed as Dimensions and Measures, depending on the data type. The CData Tableau Connector discovers data types automatically, allowing you to leverage the powerful data processing and visualization features of Tableau.
6. Drag a field from the Dimensions or Measures area to Rows or Columns. Tableau creates column or row headers.
7. Select one of the chart types from the Show Me tab. Tableau displays the chart type that you selected.

Using the CData Tableau Connector for QuickBooks Online with Tableau, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on QuickBooks Online data. Download a free, 30-day trial and get started today.