Contact Sync

Always have the most current QuickBooks lists of customers, vendors, and employees, whether you're viewing the list on QuickBooks (on your Mac) or Contacts (on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac). Contact Sync synchronizes your contact information in QuickBooks with Apple's Contacts and your mobile devices. FAQ

When you make changes in QuickBooks, Contacts, or your mobile device, the change is synced between the programs and devices. Once Contact Sync is set up, syncing is automatic.

Note: Even though you may have used Contact Sync in a previous version of QuickBooks, be sure to turn on Contact Sync again.

To use Contact Sync, you first turn on Contact Sync and then you tell QuickBooks which contacts you want to sync.

Step One-Turn on Contact Sync:

  1. Choose Company > Contact Sync Settings.
  2. Select Use Contact Sync.
  3. Click OK when QuickBooks asks for access to your contacts.

    QuickBooks creates a new group in Contacts named "QuickBooks: CompanyFileName ." All your contacts in the current company file will initially be organized in this group.

Step Two-Sync your contacts:

  1. After turning on Contact Sync, go to any list of names, such as the customer list in Customer Center .
  2. Control-click one or more names, and choose Sync With Contacts. Show me
    Or, edit the name and click Sync at the bottom of the Edit window. The shaded items are synchronized. Show me

The Contact Sync icon ( Contact Sync ) appears next to the names that are synced with Contacts. Show me

Step Three-Clean up Contacts:

The first time to sync your QuickBooks lists with Contacts, QuickBooks creates duplicate Contacts cards and places them in a new group. You many want to consolidate these cards:

  1. Open Contacts.
  2. Click All Contacts.
  3. Select Card > Look for Duplicates.
  4. When Contacts finishes looking for duplicate entries, click Merge.

Now, you've consolidated your Contacts cards but the links to QuickBooks lists still work for synchronizing.

Managing syncing

  • To turn off Contact Sync, choose Company > Contact Sync Settings. Then uncheck Use Contact Sync. All contacts remain in both QuickBooks and Contacts but are no longer synced.
  • To turn off syncing for a specific contact, Control-click the contact name in a list, and select Unsync with Contacts. Show me
    Or, edit the name and uncheck Sync at the bottom of the Edit window. The contact remains in both QuickBooks and Contacts but is no longer synced. All other contacts with the Contact Sync icon ( Contact Sync ) are still synced.
  • What does Contact Sync synchronize?

    Contact Sync synchronizes the following:

    • Customer contact info (name, company name, billing address)
    • Vendor (name, company name, billing address)
    • Other Names
    What version of QuickBooks does Contact Sync work with?

    Contact Sync works with

    • QuickBooks for Mac 2013 and Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
    • QuickBooks for Mac 2014 and Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion)
    • QuickBooks for Mac 2015 and Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks)
    • QuickBooks for Mac 2016 and Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite)

    Contact Sync doesn't work with QuickBooks for Mac 2013 or 2014 running on Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion)

  • Is there more than one way to sync lists? Yes, you can pick which names to sync in a number of different ways. You can:
    • Click in the sync column next to a name
    • Right-click a name and choose Sync Customer(s) with Contacts
    • Select multiple names, right-click, and choose Sync with Contacts
    • Drag and drop contacts from Contacts into a QuickBooks list
  • What contact information is synced between QuickBooks and Contacts? When you edit a contact in QuickBooks that you are syncing, any shaded field is synchronized. If you don't see any shaded fields, make sure Contact Sync is turned on.
  • If I delete a synced contact in Contacts, is it deleted in QuickBooks? No. The contact stays in QuickBooks, so any transactions related to that contact are maintained. But the contact no longer syncs with Contacts and exists only in QuickBooks. You can also make the contact inactive in QuickBooks.
  • What happens if there's a conflict with a contact between Contacts and QuickBooks? Contact Sync will ask you whether you want to use the contact's information that's in Contacts or in QuickBooks. When you choose one, both programs are updated with the inormation you chose.
  • Can I sync contacts for multiple company files and keep the contacts separate? Yes. When you turn on Contact Sync for a company file, Contacts creates a separate group specifically for that company file.
  • What happens to my Contact Sync settings when I move the company file to another computer? When you open the company file on a new computer, be sure to turn on Contact Sync. That's all you have to do. Contact Sync remembers which contacts you are syncing.
  • I have multiple company files and want Contact Sync on for only one file. Can I do that? Yes. Contact Sync is set per company file. Turning it on for one company file does not affect another file.
  • Can I drag a contact card from Contacts into a QuickBooks list? Yes. When you drag a contact from Contacts into a name list on QuickBooks, for example, customers, QuickBooks creates a new contact and automatically marks the contact for syncing.
  • Can I drag contact information from Outlook to QuickBooks, to create a new contact? No.
  • Can I drag contact information from QuickBooks into Contacts? No.