Where to start with QuickBooks development?

c# .net quickbooks
Abe Miessler picture Abe Miessler · May 14, 2011 · Viewed 18.6k times · Source

Does QuickBooks allow people to develop custom modules for their software? If so, are there any good resources out there for getting started with QuickBooks development?

I would prefer something that focuses on .NET/C#

Answer

Paul Keister picture Paul Keister · May 14, 2011

The Intuit Developer Network (IDN) is the starting point for learning about QuickBooks integration. For .NET developers, there are 2 directions you could go:

  1. Join the Front Runner program - this is a partnership between Intuit and Microsoft to assist .NET developers who want to develop cloud based services using the Intuit Partner Platform (IPP). The IPP is a hosted cloud based development platform, and is generally regarded as the way of the future for QuickBooks integration. IPP has not up to now been that friendly to the Microsoft technology stack; so-called native IPP apps run in Flash and Java.

  2. Use the traditional QuickBooks SDK with the QBFC framework. This method of integration is time tested and it is simpler, especially if you are only interested in custom development. The SDK has always been eaiser to use with .NET and C#, although many developers have done well with Java, PHP, and other languages despite the difficulties.

There are plenty of online and downloadable resources for both these approaches available at the IDN site. You won't find any books or classes on QuickBooks development, though - it's a niche area.

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