# QuickBooks Desktop — Accounting API: overview

> Canonical URL: https://developers.apideck.com/apis/accounting/quickbooks-desktop/overview

QuickBooks Desktop is an on-premises accounting software by Intuit for small and medium-sized businesses, offering invoicing, expense tracking, payroll, and financial reporting capabilities.
- Status: beta
- Authentication: custom

- **account type required:** QuickBooks Desktop for Windows (Pro, Premier, or Enterprise — identical API across editions)
- **apideck credentials available:** false
- **apideck credentials note:** QuickBooks Desktop has no OAuth app model, so no requesting-application credentials exist
- **authentication note:** Shared server-side X-Admin-Secret API key — not OAuth.
- **beta:** true
- **consumer access level:** A QuickBooks Admin must authorise the integration on the Windows machine hosting the company file
- **costs:** None for API access: the QuickBooks Desktop SDK and Web Connector are free from Intuit; consumers pay for their own QuickBooks Desktop licence
- **difficulty:** highly_complex
- **difficulty reason:** Custom Auth + Per-Consumer Local Setup
- **environment notes:**   - **description:** No separate sandbox environment. Testing runs against a real QuickBooks Desktop installation — use the bundled sample company files, a free Not for Resale (NFR) developer copy from Intuit (Windows only), or a QuickBooks Desktop 30-day trial.
  - **environment:** Sandbox
  - **description:** Connects to a live company file on the consumer's Windows machine via the QuickBooks Web Connector. Be cautious when testing against live company data.
  - **environment:** Production
- **important to know:** On-premises: consumer data lives in a local company file on a Windows machine; every connection involves consumer-side setup on that machine.
Data arrives via scheduled sync runs rather than real-time calls (auto-run defaults to roughly every minute), not real-time push.
Intuit stop-sell: new US subscriptions of Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, and Mac Plus ended September 30, 2024; existing subscribers can renew and Enterprise remains on sale, so the base is consolidating toward Enterprise.
Bank feeds post straight into the register as native transactions (Deposit, Check, Credit Card Charge/Credit) categorised to an offset account; there is no Bank Feeds review/match screen, so the bookkeeper reclassifies and reconciles in QuickBooks.
- **partnership note:** A free Intuit Developer Account is sufficient; desktop integrations require no app review or approval.
- **partnership required:** false
- **rate limits:** No published rate limits — throughput is bounded by the consumer's machine and the sync schedule.
- **responsibility matrix:**   - **apideck:** Docs provided
  - **area:** Enable Connector & Configure Vault
  - **customer:** ✓
  - **apideck:** Instructions provided
  - **area:** Share Onboarding Instructions
  - **customer:** ✓
  - **apideck:** Instructions provided
  - **area:** Authorise Integration on the QuickBooks Machine
  - **consumer:** ✓ (QuickBooks Admin)
  - **apideck:** Maintains connector
  - **area:** Build via Unified API
  - **customer:** ✓
  - **apideck:** ✓ Manages sync
  - **area:** Connection Sync
  - **apideck:** Logs & alerts
  - **area:** Monitor Connections
  - **consumer:** ✓ Can revoke access in QuickBooks
  - **customer:** ✓ Via Dashboard
- **sandbox available:** false
- **sandbox note:** Testing runs against a local QuickBooks Desktop install: bundled sample company files, a free Not for Resale developer copy from Intuit, or a 30-day trial.
- **webhooks:** No webhooks — the platform has no event system and the connector has no webhook support, native or virtual.

## Supported resources

[Accounting data model](/guides/accounting-data-model.md)

- **custom field support:** true
- **downstream id:** customers
- **downstream name:** Customers
- **id:** customers
- **name:** Customers
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** false
- **downstream id:** invoices
- **downstream name:** Invoices
- **id:** invoices
- **name:** Invoices
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** true
- **downstream id:** journal-entries
- **downstream name:** Journal Entries
- **id:** journal-entries
- **name:** Journal Entries
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** true
- **downstream id:** receive-payments
- **downstream name:** Receive Payments
- **id:** payments
- **name:** Payments
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** true
- **downstream id:** vendors
- **downstream name:** Vendors
- **id:** suppliers
- **name:** Suppliers
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** true
- **downstream id:** bills
- **downstream name:** Bills
- **id:** bills
- **name:** Bills
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** true
- **downstream id:** accounts
- **downstream name:** Accounts
- **id:** ledger-accounts
- **name:** Ledger Accounts
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** false
- **downstream id:** items
- **downstream name:** Items
- **id:** invoice-items
- **name:** Invoice Items
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** true
- **downstream id:** credit-memos
- **downstream name:** Credit Memos
- **id:** credit-notes
- **name:** Credit Notes
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** true
- **downstream id:** purchase-orders
- **downstream name:** Purchase Orders
- **id:** purchase-orders
- **name:** Purchase Orders
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** false
- **downstream id:** tax-rates
- **downstream name:** Tax Rates
- **id:** tax-rates
- **name:** Tax Rates
- **status:** live
- **custom field support:** false
- **downstream id:** bank-feed-accounts
- **downstream name:** Bank Feed Accounts
- **id:** bank-feed-accounts
- **name:** Bank Feed Accounts
- **status:** beta
- **custom field support:** false
- **downstream id:** bank-feed-statements
- **downstream name:** Bank Feed Statements
- **id:** bank-feed-statements
- **name:** Bank Feed Statements
- **status:** beta

An omitted operation list does not establish operation support. Verify the selected operation in the coverage matrix.

[API reference](https://developers.apideck.com/apis/accounting/reference.md) · [Coverage matrix](https://developers.apideck.com/apis/accounting/coverage)