Time Tracker to QuickBooks Online Automation (n8n)

1. **Establish Credentials**: In n8n, navigate to 'Credentials' and set up 'QuickBooks Online OAuth2'. For your Time Tracker (e.g., Toggl/Clockify), use the respective predefined node or an 'Header Auth' for a Webhook/API. 2. **Configure Trigger**: Add a 'Webhook' node or the Time Tracker specific node. Set the event to 'New Time Entry' or 'Time Entry Stopped'. Set the 'HTTP Method' to POST. 3. **Sanitize Data**: Add an 'Edit Fields' (formerly Set) node. Use expressions like `{{ $json.duration / 3600 }}` to convert seconds to hours, and format dates using `{{ $now.format('YYYY-MM-DD') }}`. 4. **Customer Lookup**: Add a 'QuickBooks Online' node. Set the Resource to 'Account' and Operation to 'Get All'. Use a Query inside the node: `SELECT * FROM Customer WHERE DisplayName = '{{ $json.projectName }}'`. 5. **Routing Logic**: Add an 'If' node to check if the Customer Lookup returned an ID. Expression: `{{ $node["QuickBooks"].json["Id"] ? true : false }}`. 6. **Create Missing Customer (Optional)**: If 'false', route to another QuickBooks node set to Resource: 'Customer', Operation: 'Create'. 7. **Create TimeActivity**: Add a QuickBooks node set to Resource: 'Time Activity', Operation: 'Create'. Map the `CustomerRef` to the ID found in step 4 or 6. Map `Description` to the task name and `TxnDate` to the entry date. 8. **Data Transformation**: Use an 'Expression' in the HourlyRate field: `{{ parseFloat($json.rate) || 0 }}` to ensure the data type matches QuickBooks' expectation of a number. 9. **Initialize Error Handling**: Create a separate workflow with an 'Error Trigger' node. Connect it to a Slack or Email node to notify you if the QuickBooks API returns a 400 or 401 error. 10. **Enable Node Retries**: In the QuickBooks node settings, enable 'Retry on Fail' with a 3-repetition limit to handle temporary network blips.

| Source Field (Time Tracker) | QuickBooks Field | n8n Expression / Transformation | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | `description` | `Description` | `{{ $json.description }}` | | `duration` (sec) | `Hours` | `{{ $json.duration / 3600 }}` (Decimal) | | `start_date` | `TxnDate` | `{{ DateTime.fromISO($json.start).toFormat('yyyy-MM-dd') }}` | | `project_id` | `CustomerRef` | Reference from Lookup Node: `{{ $node["Lookup"].json["Id"] }}` | | `is_billable` | `BillableStatus` | `{{ $json.billable ? 'Billable' : 'NotBillable' }}` | | `user_email` | `EmployeeRef` | Requires a mapping table or static ID lookup in n8n |

• **Rate Limiting**: QuickBooks Online has a limit of 40 requests per minute. Use n8n's 'Wait' node if processing large batches of historical time entries. • **Data Types**: QuickBooks strictly requires numbers for 'Duration'. Ensure you use `parseFloat()` in your expressions to avoid 'Type Mismatch' errors. • **SyncTokens**: If updating existing entries, you must fetch the latest `SyncToken` from QuickBooks first, or the update node will fail. • **Customer Mapping**: If your Tracker uses 'Project Names' and QuickBooks uses 'Client Names', ensure they match exactly or use an n8n 'Switch' node to map IDs manually.

- [ ] Run a 'Test Step' on the Trigger node using a real-time entry from your tracker. - [ ] Check n8n 'Execution Details' to verify the SQL query in the QuickBooks lookup node returns the correct ID. - [ ] confirm the 'TimeActivity' appears in QuickBooks under 'Reports > Unbilled Time'. - [ ] Intentionally trigger an error (e.g., provide a 0 duration) to ensure the Error Trigger workflow fires. - [ ] Verify that the 'SyncToken' is not required for 'Create' operations (only for Updates).