The QuickBooks Desktop API, explained simply.
QuickBooks Desktop has no modern REST API, and building a reliable integration on its older toolkit is specialist work. Here are your real options, and the ready-made one that keeps your team online and your books in QuickBooks Desktop.
- API for QuickBooks Desktop
- No REST
- API for QuickBooks Desktop
- Ready-made sync
- 2-way
- Ready-made sync
- Desktop editions
- US · UK
- Desktop editions
Does QuickBooks Desktop have an API?
Not a modern one. QuickBooks Desktop offers an older developer kit designed for Windows software that works alongside the company file. There is no REST API for QuickBooks Desktop; the REST API Intuit offers is for QuickBooks Online and cannot reach a Desktop company file.
That leaves most businesses with three choices: pay developers to build and maintain an integration, move to QuickBooks Online, or use a ready-made integration. Nakkei's QuickBooks Desktop integration is the third: two-way sync with your company file, and a web app your whole team can use from any browser.
Four ways to connect to QuickBooks Desktop data
| Route | What it is | Time to value | Best for | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build it yourself | Hire developers to work with Intuit’s Desktop developer kit. | Months of specialist work | Software companies with integration engineers | An older, Windows-centred toolkit; you own every edition difference, retry and conflict for as long as you run it. |
| QuickBooks Online API | A modern REST API from Intuit. | Quick to start | Businesses on QuickBooks Online | It does not reach QuickBooks Desktop company files at all. |
| Move to QuickBooks Online | Convert your company file to the cloud product. | A migration project | Businesses ready to change accounting software | Your accountant changes tools, and some Desktop features and reports work differently. |
| Nakkei | A ready-made two-way integration with a web app for your team. | Set up with our team | Businesses that want to keep QuickBooks Desktop | The QuickBooks PC needs to be on for changes to reach the company file. |
The hard parts of a QuickBooks Desktop integration, done for you
Reliable two-way sync
Approved records go to QuickBooks and changes made there come back, without duplicates — even when a sync is interrupted.
Conflicts caught
A record changed in both places is flagged for a person to decide, never silently overwritten.
Deletions followed
Transactions and list items removed in QuickBooks are noticed and reflected in Nakkei.
Every edition and region
Pro, Premier, Enterprise, Accountant and the UK editions, with US and UK settings respected.
Approvals before posting
Nothing reaches the books until the right people have signed off.
A complete audit trail
Every exchange is logged with a timeline your accountant or auditor can follow.
Everything your accountant works with
Lists and transactions move between Nakkei and QuickBooks Desktop as the records your accountant already knows, so the standard QuickBooks reports keep working. See how each Nakkei record maps to QuickBooks.
- Works with the company file you already have
- Push is off until you approve the mapping
- Try it in demo mode before touching live books
Building your own product on QuickBooks Desktop? Talk to us about using Nakkei's integration.
Records Nakkei syncs today
- Customers & jobs
- Vendors
- Items & inventory
- Accounts & classes
- Invoices
- Credit memos
- Payments received
- Bills
- Vendor credits
- Bill payments
- Checks & card charges
- Deposits
- Purchase orders
- Inventory adjustments
- Journal entries
- Sales tax items & codes
Your books stay yours. The company file stays on your own PC or server, sync traffic is encrypted, and nothing is written to QuickBooks until you switch sending on and the right people approve.
QuickBooks Desktop API questions
Does QuickBooks Desktop have an API?
Not a modern one. QuickBooks Desktop offers an older developer kit (SDK) designed for Windows software working alongside the company file. There is no REST API for QuickBooks Desktop — that belongs to QuickBooks Online.
Is there a REST API for QuickBooks Desktop?
Not from Intuit. The REST API is for QuickBooks Online only. If you want a modern, web-based way to work with QuickBooks Desktop data, Nakkei provides a ready-made two-way integration and a web app your team uses in the browser.
Can the QuickBooks Online API connect to QuickBooks Desktop?
No. The QuickBooks Online API only reaches companies hosted in QuickBooks Online. It cannot read or write a QuickBooks Desktop company file.
Can I connect a web app to QuickBooks Desktop?
Yes, but it takes specialist work to do reliably. Nakkei has done that work: your team uses Nakkei in the browser, and approved records sync two ways with your QuickBooks Desktop company file.
Does QuickBooks need to be open for the integration to work?
The company file needs to be open on the QuickBooks PC for changes to reach it. Your team can keep working in Nakkei at any time — changes queue and land on the next sync.
Which QuickBooks Desktop editions does Nakkei support?
QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, Enterprise and Accountant, plus Premier Accountant UK 2019 and Enterprise Solutions UK 2014, with a separate path for QuickBooks Point of Sale.
Can developers build on Nakkei’s integration?
If you are building your own product on QuickBooks Desktop, talk to us about using Nakkei’s integration layer instead of writing your own.
More on QuickBooks Desktop
A modern QuickBooks Desktop integration, ready today.
No developers, no migration. See Nakkei syncing with your own company file in a 30-minute session.