How does MONA Finance work with QuickBooks?

Quick answer: MONA Books is MONA’s own ledger, separate from QuickBooks. The Bank inbox in Books is where bank and card transactions get categorized in MONA, and Confirm posts a journal entry in MONA only. It never changes QuickBooks. If you keep your books in QuickBooks, connect QuickBooks in Settings, then Integrations, and skip the Plaid bank feed. MONA then reads your QuickBooks accounts, bank and card transactions, customers, payments and invoices, and can send an invoice through QuickBooks for you.

Books or QuickBooks: which one is your ledger?

Pick one place where your books live, and set MONA up around it.

• Your books live in QuickBooks. Connect QuickBooks. Leave Plaid and MONA Books off. Your bookkeeper keeps working in QuickBooks, and MONA reads from it to answer questions about payments, invoices and spending.
• Your books live in MONA. Turn on MONA Books, bring in bank activity through Plaid or statement imports, confirm transactions in the Bank inbox, and close each month from the Close pack.

Running both at once means two ledgers that do not talk to each other. A purchase confirmed in the MONA Bank inbox is not categorized in QuickBooks, and a transaction categorized in QuickBooks never appears in MONA Books.

What is the Bank inbox?

The Bank inbox is a tab inside Finance, then Books. Transactions land there from a Plaid bank feed or from statements you upload with Import statements. Each one comes with a suggested project and account. When you click Confirm, MONA posts a journal entry in MONA Books, and if the cost is billable it drafts it onto the project invoice.

The Bank inbox is part of MONA Books. Confirming a transaction there does not create, change or categorize anything in QuickBooks.

Plaid or QuickBooks?

Both connect from Settings, then Integrations, and they do different jobs.

• Plaid connects a bank or card directly to MONA Books. Use it only if MONA Books is your ledger.
• QuickBooks Online connects your QuickBooks company. Use it if QuickBooks is your ledger. QuickBooks already has your bank and card feeds, so you do not need Plaid as well.

If you see a bank account under Books that came from Plaid, that is the MONA ledger, not QuickBooks. Your QuickBooks accounts appear when you ask MONA for them in chat.

What can MONA read from QuickBooks?

Once QuickBooks is connected, ask MONA in any chat. It can read:

1. Customers, to find the exact client name.
2. Payments, meaning what one client has paid to date, what was invoiced and the open balance.
3. Invoices, every invoice in your QuickBooks company, not only the ones made in MONA, filtered by client, date, paid, open or overdue.
4. Billable time from QuickBooks time entries, by person.
5. Bank and credit card accounts, with balances and the last four digits.
6. Bank and card transactions in each account, by date range or search, for example every Zelle payment last month.

One teammate’s connection serves the whole studio. If MONA says the connection expired, reconnect it from Settings, then Integrations.

What can MONA write to QuickBooks, and what not yet?

MONA writes one thing: an invoice you send with Send through QuickBooks. That option is on the send step of any MONA invoice. MONA adds the invoice to your QuickBooks company, creates the customer if QuickBooks does not have them yet, and QuickBooks emails it to your client. MONA only sends invoices you have approved, and it marks the invoice paid when QuickBooks shows the balance at zero.

MONA cannot yet:

• Tag QuickBooks transactions with a project, customer or class.
• Categorize or edit transactions in QuickBooks.
• Post journal entries to QuickBooks.

MONA can read a transaction and tell you which project it most likely belongs to. Applying that tag stays a step you or your bookkeeper take in QuickBooks.

The chart of accounts

MONA Books has its own chart of accounts, set up for design studios when you turn Books on. You can rename, add and archive accounts in Books, then Chart of accounts, and set your report basis (Accrual or Cash) there. It is used only by MONA Books. MONA does not copy or change your QuickBooks chart of accounts.

What is the Close pack?

The Close pack tab in Books is the monthly report set for MONA Books: profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, project profitability, receivables, payables with aging, sales tax collected and cash position, plus Download CPA package (.zip) and Close month. It reads MONA Books only. If your books live in QuickBooks, your monthly reports come from QuickBooks. See How do I run financial reports in MONA?.

Where do payments from MONA Payments show up?

When a client pays a MONA invoice or payment link by card or bank transfer:

1. The invoice or link marks itself Paid in MONA, and the studio owner and admins get a notification.
2. It shows as paid in Finance, then Money, the list of every financial document in the studio.
3. If MONA Books is on, the payment posts to Books automatically.
4. The money reaches your bank as a deposit from Stripe. QuickBooks sees that deposit through its own bank feed, where you or your bookkeeper match or categorize it. MONA does not record the payment in QuickBooks for you.

If you sent the invoice with Send through QuickBooks and the client paid through QuickBooks, the payment is already in QuickBooks, and MONA marks the invoice paid when it reads the zero balance.

Want a hand?

Book a 30 minute walkthrough at calendly.com/mona-justin/30min and we will set this up with you on a screen share. Related: How do I switch from QuickBooks to MONA?, How do I import bank statements?, How do I reconcile a bank account?.

Frequently asked questions

Is MONA Books the same as QuickBooks?

No. MONA Books is a separate general ledger inside MONA, with its own chart of accounts, journal entries and monthly close. It does not read from or write to your QuickBooks ledger. Studios that keep their books in QuickBooks do not need to turn it on.

What is the Bank inbox?

The Bank inbox is where bank and card transactions wait to be categorized in MONA Books. Rows come from a Plaid bank feed or from statements you import. Confirm posts a journal entry in MONA Books only. It does not change anything in QuickBooks.

Should I connect Plaid or QuickBooks?

If you keep your books in QuickBooks, connect QuickBooks and skip Plaid. QuickBooks already has your bank feeds, and a Plaid feed would fill a second ledger you would have to keep in step by hand. Connect Plaid only if MONA Books is your ledger.

What can MONA read from QuickBooks?

Your customers, what each client has paid and still owes, every invoice in your QuickBooks company (not only the ones made in MONA), billable time entries, your bank and credit card accounts with balances, and the bank and card transactions in each account. Ask in chat, for example how much has the Holman project paid, or show me the Zelle payments on the Chase card last month.

What does MONA write to QuickBooks?

Only invoices you send with Send through QuickBooks. MONA adds the invoice to your QuickBooks company (and the customer, if it is new) and QuickBooks emails it. Nothing is sent without your approval, and MONA never moves money.

Can MONA tag QuickBooks transactions to projects or classes?

Not yet. MONA can read your QuickBooks transactions and suggest which project each one belongs to, but it cannot write a project, customer or class tag back to QuickBooks. You or your bookkeeper apply the tag in QuickBooks.

Does MONA use my QuickBooks chart of accounts?

No. MONA Books has its own chart of accounts, built for design studios, which you can edit in Books, then Chart of accounts. It only matters if MONA Books is your ledger. QuickBooks keeps its own chart of accounts unchanged.

What is the Close pack?

The Close pack is the monthly report set for MONA Books: profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, project profitability, receivables, payables, sales tax and cash position, plus a CPA download. It reads MONA Books only, so if your books live in QuickBooks, use the QuickBooks reports instead.

Where do payments from MONA Payments show up?

In MONA the invoice or payment link marks itself paid, owners and admins get a notification, and it shows as paid in Finance, then Money. If MONA Books is on, the payment posts to Books automatically. The money reaches your bank as a deposit from Stripe, and QuickBooks sees that deposit through its own bank feed, where you match or categorize it.