QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual

Synchronizing Contacts

If you keep information about contacts in Microsoft Outlook (2000 through 2010)—not Outlook Express—you can synchronize those records with your QuickBooks contact data. In addition to saving time by not duplicating data entry, synchronizing your contact info helps reduce errors. As long as you enter an update correctly in the one program, you’re sure to get the right info in your other contact database. Regardless of which program you update contact info in, you can transfer any changes to the other database.

Note

The only time synchronizing doesn’t apply is when you delete names. So if you delete names in Outlook, QuickBooks doesn’t delete them in your company file. If you really want those names gone, you have to make them inactive or delete them in QuickBooks. (Making them inactive is the best course, because deleting names can create problems, as Hiding and Deleting Customers explains.) On the other hand, if you delete a name in QuickBooks but don’t delete it in Outlook, it’ll reappear in QuickBooks unless you tell Contact Sync to ignore it (Using QuickBooks Contact Sync for Outlook).

Using QuickBooks Contact Sync for Outlook

If you use QuickBooks 2005 or later (and Outlook 2000 or later), you use QuickBooks’ Contact Sync for Outlook tool to synchronize your contact data. Although the command to synchronize is already on the File→Utilities menu, you have to install Contact Sync before you get started. Here’s how to download this tool and put it to work:

1. Choose ...