How to Use QQube for QuickBooks

Understanding Key Concepts

QQube makes it incredibly easy to create reports in the tool of your choice, but having an idea of what to expect will make the process more enjoyable.

Data Availability

It is helpful to know what data is available from the Intuit SDK (Software Development Kit).  Intuit exposes 95% of all available information, but some items are not available, because QuickBooks may not store certain information in the actual database - even though you might make that assumption when using QuickBooks.

One such example would be associating a particular bill with a specific customer invoice.  You may initially make an item on a bill to be billable to a particular customer, and then bill that item when creating an invoice; but QuickBooks only stores the information as "has been billed".  QuickBooks doesn't store the actual link between the bill and the invoice.

We have a complete list of items not available: QuickBooks Data Availability and Limits in QQube Desktop

Data Entry Procedures

How you enter the data in QuickBooks determines how easy it is to get accurate and meaningful data. 

For instance, if you wanted to determine what machinery costs existed for a particular job, you would have to construct your own methodology, as there is no intrinsic way to determine that figure.  You could use a specific item, sub-item, account, sub-account or similar.  However, if you just used the same item every time, and changed the description - there is no report writer in the world that would make it easy for you to parse the description string to get what you want.

QQube Data Models

A data model is a complete cube of information covering a specific QuickBooks topic or business subject.  

There are three types of data models employed within QQube:

• Summary - All QuickBooks Versions. These are financial statements and trial balance related data models which are aggregated by monthly period. 36 Periods controlled in the QQube Configuration Tool.
• Summary - Enterprise Only. Includes:
  • Advanced Profit and Loss with Actual/Budget/Forecast which is aggregated by month. 36 Periods controlled in the QQube Configuration Tool.
  • Flexible period financial statements which are aggregated by day and any number of years.
  • 52/53 Tax Year Profit and Loss Statements which are aggregated by a 3-year calendar parameter configured within the QQube Configuration Tool.
• Detail. All other data models have line level detail for each transaction such as Sales, Job Cost Details, Inventory Management, General Ledger Detail, etc.

An important concept to remember is that one data model does not depend on another, and you would never tie one to another unless you are trying to do something that QuickBooks does not do or store underneath the hood. In those cases, you would need specific data entry procedures, and a QQube Certified Solution Provider to get you through that hurdle.

Learn more about QQube Data Models: What a Data Model is in QQube Data Warehouse for QuickBooks

Before you Begin

STEP 1. Ensure Successful Synch.

Make sure your data model is loaded with no synch errors from the QQube Configuration Tool. (Grayed out analytics in the QQube Configuration Tool, means the data model was not loaded - or there is an error in your synch.)

STEP 2. Open an Excel Example. 

Start with one of the examples listed in the QQube Configuration Tool and invoke the Select Assistant on the Excel Add-In to become familiar with how the fields are organized.

There are over 240 Examples out of the box: one or more for each data model, for Excel, PowerPivot, Power BI, Crystal Reports, Access, and Tableau.

Although Excel may not be the application in which you will end up writing your reports or visualization, you should use it for three purposes:

1. Easily familiarize yourself with the data organization, using drag and drop features.
2. Use the Bubble Text to learn more about possible field values, and designed intentions. 
3. View the manual SQL Queries (for advanced users), generated via the Excel Add-In, which is a front end for MSQuery.