The QuickBooks Link allows for the seamless exchange of data between Catalyst Manufacturing® and QuickBooks®. The interface allows for enhanced synchronization of your manufacturing and financial data through the import of customers, vendors, items, sales orders, chart of accounts, payment terms, and other list data and the export of customers, vendors, customer invoices, PO receipts and vendor bills to QuickBooks. The records can either be updated automatically when changes are saved in Catalyst or in batch mode by exporting records at the end of a day or shift.

The interface supports the export of inventory items from Catalyst to QuickBooks as a mass update or one at a time. If an item does not already exist in QuickBooks when a customer invoice or vendor bill is exported, the item is added to QuickBooks at that time. Catalyst serves as the inventory system of record between the two systems for raw material, intermediate-level/WIP, sub-assemblies, and finished product inventory; however, the inventory balances and values can be exported to QuickBooks with the click of a button. This allows QuickBooks to reflect the current quantity and value of the different inventory asset accounts at any given time making it easier to report and review financials at the end of a period or any time in between.

After the initial import of chart of accounts, sales tax codes, payment terms, customers, vendors, and items from QuickBooks, the standard order fulfillment process occurs as follows:

• Create a customer order in Catalyst or import sales orders from QuickBooks. During the order creation process, a shop order may be linked to order lines for make-to-order items.

• Review material and capacity availability, order raw materials, schedule production of sub-assemblies and perform other activities to support production as required.

• Release shop order to production to build finished product. After reporting completion of final product, the end item is placed in inventory for shipping.

• Prepare shipping documents and enter shipment confirmation to relieve inventory. If QuickBooks is open, the customer invoice is created in QuickBooks during shipment confirmation. Otherwise, invoices are exported to QuickBooks in batch mode at the end of the day or shift.

• QuickBooks is used to receive payments against the invoice and generate financial and accounting journal entries and reports of the business activity.

• For raw materials, receipts are entered in Catalyst and exported to QuickBooks to update liabilities and inventory. When the vendor invoice is received, it’s posted in Catalyst and exported to QuickBooks as a vendor bill. Alternatively, the bill can be entered directly in QuickBooks. In either case, any item receipts are applied when entering the vendor invoice. The vendor bill is then used as the basis for processing vendor payments and updating the relevant expense and liability accounts.