Visualize Live QuickBooks Data in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)
Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to QuickBooks data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to QuickBooks, connect to QuickBooks data from Power BI and then create reports on QuickBooks data in Power BI.
About QuickBooks Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live QuickBooks data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Access both local and remote company files.
- Connect across editions and regions: QuickBooks Premier, Professional, Enterprise, and Simple Start edition 2002+, as well as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and UK editions from 2003+.
- Use SQL stored procedures to perform actions like voiding or clearing transactions, merging lists, searching entities, and more.
Customers regularly integrate their QuickBooks data with preferred tools, like Power BI, Tableau, or Excel, and integrate QuickBooks data into their database or data warehouse.
Getting Started
Configure QuickBooks Connectivity for Power BI
Connectivity to QuickBooks from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with QuickBooks data from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a QuickBooks connection.
- Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
- Select "QuickBooks" from the Add Connection panel
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to QuickBooks.
QuickBooks runs on-premises, so Connect AI requires the Connect Gateway to reach it. Install and start the gateway on the same machine (or network) as QuickBooks, then set the URL connection property to the Remote Connector address (e.g., http://remotehost:8166) and enter your User and Password.
- Click Save & Test
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add QuickBooks Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to QuickBooks data from Power BI.
Query QuickBooks Tables
Follow the steps below to build a query to pull QuickBooks data into the report:
- Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
- Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account
- After signing in, click "Connect"
- Select tables in the Navigator dialog
- Click Load to establish the connection to your QuickBooks data from Power BI
Create QuickBooks Data Visualizations
After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.
Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.
Live Access to QuickBooks Data from Data Applications
With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to QuickBooks data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating QuickBooks data.
To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including QuickBooks) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.