Access Live QuickBooks Data in Excel (Desktop) through Connect Spreadsheets

Cameron Leblanc
Cameron Leblanc
Senior Technology Evangelist
Use Connect Spreadsheets by CData to gain access to live QuickBooks data from your Excel spreadsheets.

Looking for Connect AI instructions?

Your Connect AI account includes Connect Spreadsheets, so you can use the instructions below. You can expect minor differences when referencing the Connect Spreadsheet platform, but the principles still apply!


Microsoft Excel is a widely used spreadsheet software application, primarily used for tasks related to data management, analysis, and visualization. When combined with Connect Spreadsheets by CData, you gain immediate access to QuickBooks data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article shows how to connect to QuickBooks in Connect Spreadsheets and access and update live QuickBooks data in Excel spreadsheets.

Connect Spreadsheets is the easiest way to get all your live data into Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets - no more downloading, wrangling, and uploading files again. Just connect to your data, select the dataset you'd like to see, and import it into your spreadsheet.

This setup requires a Connect Spreadsheets account and the Connect Spreadsheets Add-In for Excel. To get started, sign up a free trial of Connect Spreadsheets and install the free Connect Spreadsheets Excel Add-In.


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 Excel

Connectivity to QuickBooks from Excel is made possible through Connect Spreadsheets. To work with QuickBooks data from Excel, we start by creating and configuring a QuickBooks connection.

  1. Log into Connect Spreadsheets, click Connections and click Add Connection Adding a Connection
  2. Select "QuickBooks" from the Add Connection panel Selecting a data source
  3. 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.

    Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Create & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add QuickBooks Connection page and update the User-based permissions. Updating permissions

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to QuickBooks data from Excel.

Access Live QuickBooks Data in Excel

The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Excel to access live QuickBooks data.

  1. Open Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
  2. Click Insert and click Get Add-ins. (if you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4).
  3. Search for Connect Spreadsheets and install the Add-in. Install the Add-In
  4. Click Data and open the CData Connect Spreadsheets Add-In.
  5. In the Add-In panel, click "Log in" to authenticate with your Connect Spreadsheets account Authorizing the Add-In
  6. In the Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel, click Import Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel
  7. Choose a Connection (e.g. QuickBooks1), Table (e.g. Customers), and Columns to import Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel
  8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit Choosing a Connection, Table, and Columns
  9. Click Execute to import the data and opt to overwrite the existing sheet or create a new one. Executing the Query

Update QuickBooks Data from Excel

In addition to viewing QuickBooks data in Excel, Connect Spreadsheets also lets you update and delete QuickBooks data. Begin by importing data (as described above).

  1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to QuickBooks (your changes will be in red)
  2. In the Connect Spreadsheets Add-In panel, select Update
  3. Optionally highlight the cell(s) you wish to update and select an update option ("Update All" or "Update Selected") Executing the update (Salesforce is shown).
  4. Click Execute to push the updates to QuickBooks

A notification will appear when the update is complete

Update complete (Salesforce is shown).

Live Access to QuickBooks Data from Spreadsheet Apps

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live QuickBooks data from your Excel workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Imported data (Salesforce is shown)

Try Connect Spreadsheets and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from Microsoft Excel.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about Connect Spreadsheets or sign up for free trial access:

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