Yes — and Buildertrend’s QuickBooks integration is more capable than most construction platforms in this category. It syncs in both directions, and it supports QuickBooks Desktop as well as QuickBooks Online. Here’s what actually moves between the two systems, and the setup details that catch people out.
Two-Way Sync, Not One-Way
This is the headline difference. Buildertrend’s integration passes information in both directions, so job-specific expenses that originated in QuickBooks can be sent back into your Buildertrend budget for more accurate job costing.
That matters more than it sounds. Plenty of field service platforms — including Jobber — push data one way only, from the operations platform into your books, with nothing flowing back. If your bookkeeper works primarily inside QuickBooks, a two-way sync means their work shows up in your job costing instead of living in a separate silo.
Online vs. Desktop: The Real Difference
Buildertrend supports both versions of QuickBooks, but they don’t behave the same way. The Online version syncs automatically when changes are made, while the Desktop version requires users to manually trigger a sync.
| Feature | QuickBooks Online | QuickBooks Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Supported | Yes | Yes |
| Sync trigger | Automatic on change | Manual request |
| Extra software needed | None | Intuit Web Connector |
| Mac support | Yes | No (workaround required) |
| Auto-run interval | Real time | Every 2 hours once requested |
The Mac problem
Worth knowing before you commit: Intuit doesn’t offer a Web Connector solution for Mac, and the Web Connector is required to sync data between QuickBooks Desktop and Buildertrend. Buildertrend notes that Mac users can explore workarounds using Parallels, but that means running Windows virtualization just to keep your books in sync.
If you’re a Mac shop on QuickBooks Desktop, this is a genuine reason to consider moving to QuickBooks Online before setting up the integration.
What Syncs
From Buildertrend into QuickBooks: bills, invoices, deposit payments, credit memos, and time clock entries.
From QuickBooks back into Buildertrend: estimates, bill and invoice payments, and expenses created in QuickBooks — which is what keeps your job costing accurate rather than only reflecting what your field team entered.
If you enable the option to include QuickBooks Other Costs in the budget, costs from QuickBooks Bills, Checks, Expenses, Vendor Credits, and Credit Card Credits will pull into the Actuals column on your Job Costing Budget.
Setup: Linking Is the Part That Takes Time
Installing the integration itself is quick — in Buildertrend, open the Apps dropdown, choose Find new apps, search for QuickBooks, and install. The work comes afterward.
For financial data to sync correctly, your Buildertrend jobs must be linked to the corresponding QuickBooks Customer, Sub Customer, or Project. Separately, your subs and vendors in Buildertrend must be linked to their matching QuickBooks Vendors, so each bill is attributed to the right party.
One helpful detail: if an existing Buildertrend cost code exactly matches a QuickBooks Product or Service, Buildertrend will automatically suggest the match during linking. Cleaning up your naming in both systems before you start will save real time here.
Control Over What Gets Pushed
Bills aren’t pushed blindly. When creating a bill, there’s a Send to QuickBooks checkbox — leave it checked and the bill goes over on save, uncheck it and the bill stays in Buildertrend until you push it manually from the Bills dashboard. You can set that checkbox to default on from your Accounting settings if you’d rather not think about it each time.
If you need to edit a bill that’s already been pushed — changing a cost code, vendor, or pricing — there’s a separate setting to allow bill edits to sync through to QuickBooks. Worth turning on early, since discovering it after a month of manual corrections is a frustrating way to learn it exists.
Cash vs. Accrual
On initial integration, Buildertrend automatically syncs whichever accounting method is set in QuickBooks, and adjusts how the Job Costing Budget displays Actual Costs to match. If your books are on accrual and your job costing looks off, this setting is the first place to check.
Bottom Line
Buildertrend’s QuickBooks integration is one of the stronger ones in construction software — two-way sync and Desktop support are both genuinely uncommon. The tradeoff is setup effort: linking every job and vendor correctly is real work, and getting it wrong quietly corrupts your job costing rather than throwing an obvious error.
Related reading: for a contrast, see how Jobber’s one-way QuickBooks sync works, or our Buildertrend vs. CoConstruct comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Buildertrend work with QuickBooks Desktop?
Yes, unlike many competitors. Desktop requires the Intuit Web Connector and manual sync requests rather than automatic syncing, and the Web Connector isn’t available on Mac.
Is the Buildertrend QuickBooks sync two-way?
Yes. Data passes in both directions, so expenses entered in QuickBooks can flow back into your Buildertrend budget for job costing — not just Buildertrend data pushing into your books.
Can I use Buildertrend’s QuickBooks Desktop sync on a Mac?
Not directly. Intuit doesn’t provide a Web Connector for Mac, which the Desktop sync requires. Buildertrend suggests Parallels as a workaround, or you can switch to QuickBooks Online instead.
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