The short answer is yes.
We frequently hear stories from business owners and accountants about the “before” and “after” of implementing an automation to connect ShipStation with QuickBooks Online or Desktop editions.
Imagine a warehouse in the late 1990’s where the sales team manually copies and pastes an order into an email and sends it to the warehouse for shipping. The shipping department fulfills and ships the orders, and manually copies the tracking details into an email for accounting, who then copies it into QuickBooks. The cycle repeats each time there is an order.
It’s as if most of the staff is caught up in Groundhog Day, copying and pasting information between different system.
Meanwhile, the company owner is wondering how to increase profits, keep the costs low, and how to slow down losses coming from returns, refunds, spoiled inventory, and a high payroll.
Moving to the “after” picture once the automation is set up, it’s as if the whole team quantum leaped forward more than two decades into the 2020’s. Orders in QuickBooks are automatically synced to ShipStation, and once the orders ship, the order and inventory gets automatically updated in QuickBooks. The staff has more time now to take on new initiatives such as increasing sales, and owner has peace of mind that he or she always knows how much cash and inventory there is on hand.
Customers have told us that they literally could not believe that their complicated workflow could be simplified to a seamless process without manual data entry.
Without automation you are leaving money on the table. If you are a business owner, manual data entry will lead to high payroll costs and human errors that will need to be corrected at additional costs. If you are an accounting professional, manual data entry can lead to physical pain, eye strain, additional work to correct errors, and frustration with reconciling books.
Whether you are a business owner or an accounting professional, you need to automate data entry between QuickBooks and ShipStation for the sake of your business and your own sanity.
5 Reasons to Automate Data Entry Between QuickBooks and ShipStation
- You need an automation to help you mark up shipping. When you ship your products you cannot mark up shipping manually in ShipStation. Thus, you need to use an automation, such as Connex, to mark up shipping. First, you need to mark up shipping to cover all the (expected an unexpected) shipping surcharges. Second, you can add a small shipping & handling fee (eg. $1 per order) as an additional source of revenue. Most business owners underestimate the cost of shipping and lose money as a result.
- You need to track inventory after it ships. Typically the date in QuickBooks is the date of the order. However, in order to track inventory accurately, you need to make the updates in QuickBooks after the order ships.
- Avoid human errors from copying and pasting information. Besides the additional workload due to having to correct errors, mistakes in data entry can lead to problems with order fulfillment, reconciliation, and taxes, just to name a few.
- Ability to categorize sales by selling channels, products, etc. This will give the business owner insight into new initiatives, as well as initiatives that need to be eliminated due to losses.
- Without an automation, you need to deal with big companies such as Amazon, Shopify, ShipStation, BigCommerce etc. when you have problems with orders on those platforms. An automation, which is an intermediary between QuickBooks and an ecommerce channel, is optimized to sync orders between the two platforms and keeps up with software updates.
In the words of Connex Founder & CEO, Joseph Anderson, “We deal with the frustration so you don’t have to.”
Features of the Connex integration between ShipStation and QuickBooks
Connex is the most comprehensive ShipStation QuickBooks sync on the market. We sync with QuickBooks Online and Desktop editions, as well as Wholesales & Manufacturing edition, and QuickBooks in the Cloud. Whether you are just starting out or have an established business, Connex can free you from manual data entry.
With Connex, you can automatically integrate ShipStation multi-channel sales with accounting, for effortless bookkeeping. Learn how our automation solution can help you stop wasting precious hours on manual data entry, as a result. Here are some key benefits:
- Multi-Channel Support – Sell on any platform and have these sales sync automatically to QuickBooks desktop and online editions, so your records stay up-to-date.
- Automatic Two-Way Order Sync – Ability to sync orders from ShipStation to QuickBooks or from QuickBooks to ShipStation. Filter which sales post between the platforms using the Connex signature Rules Engine, or enable a class filter.
- Split Shipment Support – Sync parts of an order that shipped on different days.
- Detailed Order Data – Sync shipping costs, tracking details, selling channel locations, and inventory warehouse information.
- Eliminate Errors – Shipping errors can be detrimental to your business. Automation removes the worry of errors by providing consistent accurate data.
- Custom Mapping Capabilities – Flexible advance mapping of order data is available using our Rules Engine. The Connex Rules Engine is a powerful field mapping tool that enables you to dynamically change how fields are mapped, based on a specific scenario or desired outcome.
- Automatically Markup Shipping – Choose to mark up the shipping amount by carrier, dollar amount, or a percentage to recuperate shipping costs.
Benefits of Automation
Taking control of your software integrations has never been easier. With Connex, you can grow your business faster and keep your customers coming back using our dynamic ShipStation QuickBooks integration. Our solution helps you:
- Easily track all of your customers sales history between ShipStation and QuickBooks, improving shipping times and customer service, as a result.
- Record sales data automatically, saving you time and money, while eliminating costly human errors.
- Increase data accuracy, reduce busywork, and improve business efficiencies.
- Organize your financial information between your shipping solution and accounting builds a solid financial record that drives growth.
Ready to free yourself from manual data entry? Schedule a call with sales today