---
title: How Invoices Map to QuickBooks
description: "See how a MetaFleet invoice becomes one QuickBooks invoice: lines, fees, discounts, tax, the PDF, edits after you send, and what Off by $X means."
---
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# How Invoices Map to QuickBooks
## See which parts of a MetaFleet invoice reach QuickBooks, how each one is posted, and how to read the QuickBooks panel on an order.
**For:** Owners, managers and bookkeepers · **Permission:** None to read the panel; **Manage account settings** to change QuickBooks settings (the card says View only otherwise) · **Time:** ~6 minutes
When you send an invoice to your customer, MetaFleet creates one matching invoice in QuickBooks Online. This article lists what goes on that invoice, what happens when you change the invoice later, and how MetaFleet checks that both sides agree. To send an invoice and check it step by step, see [Send an Invoice and Check It in QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/send-an-invoice-to-quickbooks?hsLang=en).
### What goes on the QuickBooks invoice
Each service order (repair, towing, PM or inspection) becomes one QuickBooks invoice. MetaFleet builds it from the same figures your customer sees.
| In MetaFleet | In QuickBooks | Direction | When it syncs | Where you set it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The invoice | One invoice under the customer you linked, with the invoice number as its document number | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | When you send the invoice to your customer | [Link a Customer to QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/link-a-customer-to-quickbooks?hsLang=en); the invoices switch in the sync choices must be on |
| Invoice date and due date | Invoice date and due date | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice | The customer's calendar days, the same dates as the PDF |
| Each labor, part or misc item on the order | One line each, with quantity, price and item | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice | [How Parts, Labor and Fees Map to QuickBooks Items](https://support.metafleet.ai/quickbooks-items-reference?hsLang=en) |
| Order fees (Service Fee, travel time, fees you picked) | One line each, not tied to a work item | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice | Fees & Surcharges |
| Surcharges | One line per surcharge, named as in MetaFleet | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice | Fees & Surcharges |
| Card processing fee | One line, never taxed, named **Card processing fee** (with the rate when there is one) | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice | Fees & Surcharges |
| Late fee and interest | One line each when they are on the invoice before it goes to QuickBooks | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice | See [Payments, Refunds, Credits and Late Fees in QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/quickbooks-payments-reference?hsLang=en) |
| Discount, including a no-charge invoice | A real discount line that takes the amount off. A no-charge invoice sends its whole amount as a discount. | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice | On the order |
| Sales tax | MetaFleet's tax: the Tax Code of the Tax Group and MetaFleet's tax amount (no Tax Code on **Use QuickBooks' Sales Tax**). See "How tax is sent" below. | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice | [How Sales Tax and Exemptions Work with QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/quickbooks-sales-tax-reference?hsLang=en) |
| The invoice PDF | Attached to the QuickBooks invoice | MetaFleet to QuickBooks | With the invoice, and again after a Re-issue | **Settings › Integrations**, **QuickBooks** tab, **Settings** sub-tab, **Invoice PDFs** |
| What QuickBooks holds now (total, balance, payments) | Read back from QuickBooks | QuickBooks to MetaFleet, read only | Nightly, and when you click **Read back now** | The QuickBooks panel on the order |
Declined work items are not on the invoice, so they are not in QuickBooks either. Fee lines carry no work item name, because a fee belongs to the order and not to one repair.
> **QuickBooks is never told the total.** It adds up the lines it receives. Before MetaFleet sends, it checks that the lines less the discount equal the invoice total less the tax, to the cent. If they do not, nothing is sent and the order's QuickBooks panel shows **Skipped** with "This order changed after its invoice was sent. Re-send the invoice so the updated version replaces the old one." On the QuickBooks tab's Review list the order has an **Open order** link and no Re-send button. To fix it, open the order's **Billing** tab and click **Resend invoice** on the out-of-date banner (it re-issues the invoice). After a send, MetaFleet reads the invoice back and compares the total to the cent. If QuickBooks holds a different total, the order shows **Off by** an amount.
### How tax is sent
Every invoice goes with MetaFleet's tax, unless you choose **Use QuickBooks' Sales Tax**: the Tax Code that matches the Tax Group, and MetaFleet's tax amount. Lines with no tax go as non-taxable. How your QuickBooks company handles sales tax changes the details:
- **Not set up** (the Automated Sales Tax row on the Settings sub-tab): MetaFleet works out the tax from your Tax Groups.
- **No** (your QuickBooks company uses manual tax rates): MetaFleet works out the tax from your Tax Groups and sends its own tax amount.
- **Yes** (your QuickBooks company uses Automated Sales Tax): MetaFleet's tax goes the same way. To use QuickBooks' tax instead, click **Use QuickBooks' Sales Tax** under Taxes on the order's Invoice tab before you send. Click **Use MetaFleet's Sales Tax** to undo it. That invoice goes with no Tax Code. If QuickBooks applies its own tax instead, the order shows **Off by** with the reason "QuickBooks worked out its own tax".
Tax classes, exemptions and the Sales tax posting account are in [How Sales Tax and Exemptions Work with QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/quickbooks-sales-tax-reference?hsLang=en).
### Your choices
**Attach the invoice PDF in QuickBooks.** Go to **Settings › Integrations**, open the **QuickBooks** tab and its **Settings** sub-tab, and find **Invoice PDFs**. When it is on, each QuickBooks invoice gets the PDF your customer received, so whoever keeps the books can open it there. When you re-send an invoice, the new PDF replaces the old one. QuickBooks does not include this PDF when you email an invoice from QuickBooks.
**Start sending from.** This date is set during QuickBooks setup. It is the first day MetaFleet sends to QuickBooks. The date picks invoices. Without Automated Sales Tax, only **Sync now** skips invoices billed before the date; a send or re-send still pushes them. If your QuickBooks company uses Automated Sales Tax, this is a hard rule: an invoice billed before the date is never sent, and its panel shows **Before start date**. Payments, refunds and late fees go with their invoice, whatever their own dates.
**Choose what syncs.** If invoices are switched off, they are not sent. For the full list of switches, see [Choose What Syncs with QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/choose-what-syncs-with-quickbooks?hsLang=en).
### Read the QuickBooks panel on an order
Open the order and go to the **Billing** tab. For a PM or inspection visit, the panel is on the visit page. The **QuickBooks** panel shows where the invoice stands. It only appears when QuickBooks is connected. There is no Send to QuickBooks button: the invoice goes when you send it to your customer. An invoice that will never go shows the reason instead of the "goes to QuickBooks when it is sent" line.
The panel header shows one of these statuses:
| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **In step** | QuickBooks holds the invoice, and its total and balance match MetaFleet's. |
| **Sent** | The invoice went to QuickBooks and has not been read back yet. |
| **Off by $X** | QuickBooks holds a different total, or the totals match and the balances do not. The line under the status gives the reason: QuickBooks worked out its own tax, **Edited in QuickBooks** (with the date), **A charge didn't reach QuickBooks** when the difference has no other cause, or "QuickBooks balance $X · ours $Y" for a balance difference, with Their balance in red. |
| **Voided in QuickBooks** | The invoice was voided there. It is still open in MetaFleet. |
| **Voided in MetaFleet** | The invoice is voided here but still open in QuickBooks. The line under it reads "Still open in QuickBooks". Once QuickBooks voids it too, the order reads **In step** with "voided on both sides". |
| **Not in QuickBooks any more** | The invoice was deleted in QuickBooks. |
| **Not in QuickBooks** | Shown in grey with no buttons. The order is not invoiced yet, or the invoice was not sent. The panel says where it will post and under which customer. When invoices were held from QuickBooks at send time, it reads "invoice posting was off when this was sent" (with the date) and the invoice never goes. |
| **Left out** or **Before start date** | Shown in grey, with no buttons. **Left out** ("At account setup"): the invoice was left out when QuickBooks was set up. **Before start date** ("Billed 4 Oct"): the invoice was billed before **Start sending from**. The panel gives the reason under the rows. For example: "Billed before your QuickBooks start date (4 Oct 2026). This company uses Automated Sales Tax, so invoices from before then stay out of QuickBooks." Without Automated Sales Tax, **Before start date** means **Sync now** leaves the invoice out; a re-send still sends it. |
| **Not syncing** | Someone stopped syncing this customer's company. Its invoices and payments stay out of QuickBooks. Click **Open the company** to start syncing again. |
| **Failed**, **Sending**, **Waiting** or **Skipped** | The invoice did not go through, is still going, or is held. **Sending** shows "Try N of M", with the time of the next try, while a send is queued or retrying. **Skipped** with "Customer is now linked. Ready to sync." means the invoice can go now: click **Re-sync on the Invoice tab**, or **Re-sync** in the order's activity, to open the Invoice tab, then click **QB Sync**. On a PM or inspection visit it opens the visit's Invoice tab. A **Waiting** label names what it waits for, such as setup, an account, a Tax Agency for a tax, or that invoices are switched off. The panel gives the reason. See [Fix What Needs Attention in QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/fix-quickbooks-sync-problems?hsLang=en). |
Under the status, the panel lists the QuickBooks **Document**, the **QuickBooks company**, the **Customer**, **Their total**, **Their balance** and each payment with where it landed. The footer shows when MetaFleet last read the invoice back. Click **Read back now** to read it again (once a minute at most), or **This order's activity** to see every send for the order.
### Send one invoice again with QB Sync
Open the order's **Invoice** tab (on a PM or inspection visit, the visit's Invoice tab) and click **QB Sync**, next to **Preview**. It shows once the invoice has been sent and the order has a QuickBooks connection, and you need **Manage account settings**. QB Sync sends the version your customer received. If the invoice is already in QuickBooks, it updates that invoice and never creates a second one. The banner on the tab says "In QuickBooks as invoice" with the number. QB Sync is greyed out when the customer is not linked, the invoice never goes, or the order changed after sending (click **Resend invoice** first). Hover over the button; most cases say why.
### If the invoice is Off by an amount
The banner reads "QuickBooks has $X; this invoice is $Y". When only the balances differ, it reads "QuickBooks has $X owed; this invoice has $Y owed" and says which side has a payment or credit the other does not. Record it on the side that lacks it, or remove it where it is. MetaFleet does not overwrite QuickBooks. You can change the invoice back in QuickBooks, or credit the difference in MetaFleet (see [Refund, Credit or Write Off an Invoice](https://support.metafleet.ai/refunds-credits-and-write-offs-in-quickbooks?hsLang=en)). Nothing is sent over the difference.
### When you change an invoice after sending it
- **You re-send it and nothing changed:** MetaFleet emails the same invoice again. Nothing is sent to QuickBooks again.
- **You re-send it after changing it:** MetaFleet re-issues the invoice, bills the new total and updates the same QuickBooks invoice. It does not create a second one.
- **You use Re-issue Invoice:** MetaFleet bills the new total and updates the lines and total of the same QuickBooks invoice. The new PDF replaces the old one. The dialog shows the **Outstanding Balance** and warns that the previous payment link is replaced with a new one. The button shows on a partly paid invoice that is still waiting for payment.
- **You void a visit invoice (PM or inspection):** MetaFleet voids it in QuickBooks too, unless the invoice never reached QuickBooks or was linked at setup to an invoice QuickBooks already had. Void those in QuickBooks yourself. Voiding a payment you recorded on the visit invoice voids it in QuickBooks too.
- **Its customer was not linked and is linked now:** click **QB Sync** on the Invoice tab. MetaFleet sends the invoice to QuickBooks.
### Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The panel says **Off by** an amount | Tax worked out by QuickBooks, an edit made in QuickBooks, a payment or credit on one side only, or a difference with no other cause | Read the line under the status. Change the invoice back in QuickBooks or credit the difference in MetaFleet. For a payment or credit on one side only, record it on the side that lacks it. |
| The order's panel shows **Skipped** with "This order changed after its invoice was sent" | The order changed after the invoice was sent, so its lines no longer add up to the sent total | On the order's Billing tab, click **Resend invoice** on the out-of-date banner (it re-issues the invoice). The updated version replaces the old one in QuickBooks. |
| The invoice is not in QuickBooks | The invoice was not sent, the customer's company is set to **Not syncing**, the invoice is dated before **Start sending from**, or it was left out at setup | Check the panel status. For a company that is not syncing, click **Open the company**. An invoice left out at setup is never sent, even with **Sync now** or a re-send. With Automated Sales Tax, an invoice billed before the start date is never sent either. Record any other invoice that stays out in QuickBooks yourself if you need it there. |
| The invoice has no PDF in QuickBooks | The **Attach the invoice PDF in QuickBooks** switch is off | Turn it on under **Invoice PDFs**. See "Your choices" above. |
| The panel says **Voided in QuickBooks** | Someone voided the invoice in QuickBooks | MetaFleet still shows the invoice as open. Open the order to see it. |
| The panel says **Skipped** and the customer was not linked when you sent the invoice | The customer was not linked to QuickBooks at the time | Link the customer. Click **Re-sync** in the order's activity to open the Invoice tab, then click **QB Sync**. The invoice then goes to QuickBooks. |
| A banner on the QuickBooks card says **Invoices aren't going to QuickBooks** | MetaFleet is holding invoices for your Automated Sales Tax company | Contact MetaFleet support. Invoices sent meanwhile never go, and neither do their payments. Customers, parts, vendors, bills and payments on invoices already in QuickBooks keep syncing. |
### FAQs
**Does MetaFleet send the total to QuickBooks?**
No. QuickBooks adds up the lines it receives. MetaFleet only sends when the lines add up to the invoice total, then reads the invoice back and compares the total.
**How often does MetaFleet check the invoice?**
Nightly, and whenever you click **Read back now** on the order.
**If I edit the invoice in QuickBooks, does MetaFleet change it back?**
No. The order shows **Off by** an amount, and nothing is sent over your edit.
**Does the customer get the invoice from QuickBooks?**
Your customer gets the invoice from MetaFleet. QuickBooks keeps its own copy for your books. The PDF your customer receives has no QuickBooks number on it.
**Where do payments and refunds go?**
See [Payments, Refunds, Credits and Late Fees in QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/quickbooks-payments-reference?hsLang=en).
### Related articles
- [Send an Invoice and Check It in QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/send-an-invoice-to-quickbooks?hsLang=en)
- [How Parts, Labor and Fees Map to QuickBooks Items](https://support.metafleet.ai/quickbooks-items-reference?hsLang=en)
- [How Sales Tax and Exemptions Work with QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/quickbooks-sales-tax-reference?hsLang=en)
- [Payments, Refunds, Credits and Late Fees in QuickBooks](https://support.metafleet.ai/quickbooks-payments-reference?hsLang=en)
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