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Conductor basics

Conductor is a web service that securely connects your app to one or more QuickBooks Desktop instances. It provides a RESTful API and fully-typed client libraries that you can use to read and write data to/from QuickBooks Desktop.Behind the scenes, Conductor uses the QuickBooks Web Connector, which is a Windows SOAP-based program that comes preinstalled with QuickBooks Desktop on your end-users’ computers. This program always runs invisibly in the background, waiting for requests from Conductor. When you send a request to Conductor, it forwards the request to the Web Connector, which then forwards the request to QuickBooks Desktop. The response follows the same path in reverse. Between each of those steps, there are many layers of error handling, validation, and data transformation.Conductor abstracts away multiple layers of complexity, idiosyncrasies, and fragility of working with QuickBooks Desktop so that interfacing with this tragically outdated technology is as easy and wonderful as using Stripe’s API.
Conductor leverages a program called QuickBooks Web Connector, which comes preinstalled with all versions of QuickBooks Desktop and runs invisibly in the background on the Windows computer to maintain the connection. To connect, the QuickBooks Desktop users will step through Conductor’s authentication flow, which has them download a config file that Conductor generates, open it in the Web Connector, authenticate, and connect to Conductor (and thereby to your application). Here is a demo of the auth flow.
Conductor is priced at $49 per month for each established QuickBooks Desktop company file connection in use. A connection counts as in-use when both of the following are true:
  1. Conductor has successfully established the QuickBooks Desktop connection.
  2. Your application made a Conductor API call to that connection within the rolling past month.
Volume discounts are available for enterprises requiring a large number of connections.No platform fees, no monthly minimum, no hidden costsBilling is per connection in use with no monthly minimum. Your billed quantity tracks the count of production QuickBooks Desktop connections used within the rolling past month, so if you pause all production usage those connections fall out of the billed quantity once they fall outside the rolling past month. Charges still scale with connections in use, and connections that are not in use within the rolling past month are not billed.Changes are not prorated. Instead, the subscription quantity stays aligned to how many production connections were in use within the rolling past month.Are connections free for testing and development?
  1. Connections using QuickBooks “sample company files” or QuickBooks “Trial installations” are free.
  2. Connections using data from an active production environment are not.
  3. If you have a connection to a production company file that you want to use only for testing and development, please contact support to request a free exemption.
What counts as one billed company?If you run multiple connectors that point to the same QuickBooks Desktop company, whether on different computers, Windows profiles, QuickBooks versions, or multiple versions of the same company file, we deduplicate them and invoice you for a single company because they all represent the same set of finances.
Integrating with QuickBooks Desktop from scratch is a painful nightmare. It’s a decades-old API that hasn’t been modernized and is riddled with edge cases, idiosyncrasies, and bugs that are incredibly difficult to work with. Conductor solves all of these problems and takes only a fraction of the time to implement with none of the maintenance headaches. We have obsessed over the edge cases and performance. Beyond the significant time savings, Conductor preserves your team’s mental well-being.
A unified API normalizes many platforms into one shared schema; Conductor is a dedicated API for QuickBooks Desktop and Enterprise. The difference is structural:
  • Conductor supports 5x more QuickBooks Desktop object types. 62 object types across 256 endpoints, versus 11 on Apideck. A shared schema can only include what it can normalize across every platform.
  • Conductor supports 45x more fields. 20,000+ parameters and response fields that match qbXML names exactly, versus the 426 fields Apideck maps. Fields that do not fit the shared model are unreachable.
  • Conductor’s data is roughly 100x more current. Every request runs against the live company file, with a 0.44-second median round trip. Unified connectors read from a synced copy; Apideck’s syncs about every minute, and only while the end-user’s machine is awake.
  • Conductor does not store your customers’ data. Requests pass through to the company file, and logs are deleted after 15 days (security policy). A sync connector stores the books by design, and Apideck publishes no retention policy for its copy.
  • Conductor never silently drops your data. Anything QuickBooks cannot honor returns an error. Unified mappings are unpublished, and unmapped input can vanish: Apideck’s docs note that invoice header fields are “ignored at create time.”
  • Conductor’s errors tell you how to fix them. Real QuickBooks status codes, user-facing fix steps, 15 public resolution guides, and a health-check endpoint, from four years of single-platform focus. Unified connectors filter errors through their normalization layer.
Rutter and Railz list QuickBooks Desktop connectors built on the same unified-schema architecture: Rutter’s integration page highlights a handful of synced objects such as bills, customers, invoices, and financial reports, and Railz’s docs document the connector’s QuickBooks version requirements.For the measured, claim-by-claim comparison with sources, see Conductor vs. Apideck for QuickBooks Desktop.

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Data handling and security

No, every Conductor API call is a real-time direct request to/from QuickBooks Desktop. If you make a request when the end-user’s computer is off or QuickBooks Desktop is inaccessible, Conductor will return an error message with instructions for how the end-user can resolve the issue.By design, Conductor has no cache layer because it causes all sorts of problems when data is out-of-sync. E.g., you modify data on one end that has already been removed on the other.Ideally, the computer running QuickBooks Desktop is always on and accessible. If that is not possible for some end-users, this real-time design has still worked well because if such an end-user triggers a sync while using your app, they likely did so from the same computer as where QuickBooks Desktop is already running.
No, Conductor does not retain any of your end-users’ QuickBooks Desktop data on a permanent basis. For operational purposes, API request logs, which includes QuickBooks Desktop data, are temporarily, securely stored in a SOC 2 and GDPR-compliant log manager for 15 days before permanent deletion. Access to these logs is strictly limited to authorized Conductor engineers, who use them solely for debugging, offering customer support, and product improvement purposes. This approach ensures both the confidentiality of your data and compliance with the highest standards of data protection.

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API

The QuickBooks Web Connector polls our servers for new work, so the latency you see depends on where you are in that polling cycle:
  • Cold start: When a connector has been idle, it checks in every 10 seconds.
    • The first read/write after inactivity typically lands in the next poll, so the request usually completes within roughly 3-10 seconds (10 seconds worst case) plus QuickBooks processing time.
  • Active window: Once the first request arrives, the connector “wakes up” and polls every 3 seconds for the next 10 minutes.
    • New requests posted during this window are picked up in the next 3-second poll if the prior session has closed.
  • Warm session: After each request finishes, we keep the QuickBooks Desktop session open for 10 seconds. Any follow-up requests that arrive during this window reuse the session and resolve almost instantly (roughly 0.5 seconds end-to-end).
Budget a brief multi-second handshake when the connector wakes up (3-10 seconds), then expect near-instant throughput for work that stays inside the warm-session window (until 10 seconds after the last request).For example, if you want to import a batch of invoices to QBD, you can expect 3-10 seconds to set up the connection, then 0.5 seconds for each remaining invoice in the sequence.
Yes, our OpenAPI specification is available here. Additionally, our API reference documentation is generated from this spec and provides detailed descriptions and examples for every field and endpoint.
No, Conductor does not support webhooks because the nature of QuickBooks Desktop makes webhook-style triggers unreliable. QuickBooks Desktop is a local, on-prem application running on a specific Windows computer, so an external event does not necessarily mean the company file is ready to process requests.For example, it would be technically possible to send a webhook when the QuickBooks Web Connector heartbeat resumes after a gap. But a heartbeat only means the Web Connector checked in again. It does not prove that QuickBooks Desktop is ready to process requests successfully, and it does not provide real-time notifications for every QuickBooks Desktop data change.The user’s computer can be online while QuickBooks Desktop is still opening, the wrong company file is open, multiple company files are open, a pop-up dialog is blocking QuickBooks, or the configured QuickBooks Desktop user is signed in on another machine. In those cases, a “heartbeat is back” webhook would often trigger an automatic sync that fails immediately.For this reason, we generally recommend user-initiated sync flows, such as a “Sync with QuickBooks Desktop” button. If a sync issue occurs, the user is already in context and can resolve it right away. This is how our largest QuickBooks Desktop customers, including Ramp, have implemented their Conductor integrations.If you want a programmatic readiness check before syncing, use the Health Check API. It performs a real end-to-end request, so it confirms the connection is actually working, not just that the connector is online.If you still need background-style sync, you can run a scheduled process that periodically queries QuickBooks Desktop through Conductor. If the connection is unavailable, store the failure state in your app, show a clear message to the user, and fetch changes since the last successful sync once connectivity is restored. Polling can emulate limited webhook-like behavior, but it adds complexity around both data-change detection and error communication. Frequent polling can also add load to the user’s workstation, so use this pattern carefully.
No, Conductor’s APIs currently only support working with a single object at a time because QuickBooks Desktop itself only resolves requests serially. If you want to create 50 invoices, for example, you will need to call the create-invoice API 50 times. However, you can send multiple requests in parallel; for example, you can use await Promise.all([ ... ]) in JavaScript with multiple requests, but you cannot send multiple requests in a single HTTPS request.
No, QuickBooks Desktop itself does not expose item categories through its official underlying integration layer, so Conductor cannot access them.Intuit does not list item categories anywhere in the official QuickBooks Desktop SDK object and operations list, and Intuit describes them as a QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise UI feature, not as an SDK-accessible object.Related alternatives include classes, parent/sub-item hierarchies on items, item custom fields, external mappings in your own app, and item groups.

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QuickBooks Desktop and Web Connector

The QuickBooks Web Connector is a Windows program that comes preinstalled with QuickBooks Desktop that Conductor uses to securely communicate with QuickBooks Desktop. This program runs invisibly in the background on the end-user’s computer, waiting for requests from Conductor. The only time your end-user should see the Web Connector is when they first set up their QuickBooks Desktop connection with Conductor; other than that, it should be invisible to them.
When the connection is first set up, QuickBooks Desktop must be open and signed in as the built-in QuickBooks Admin user. This is only for the initial setup, so QuickBooks can approve the app’s access to the company file. The Admin user does not need to stay signed in after setup.After setup, there are two common sync states:
  • If the company file is already open in QuickBooks Desktop, the Web Connector uses the QuickBooks user who is already signed in.
  • If the company file is not open, such as when QuickBooks is sitting at the “No Company Open” screen, the Web Connector uses the user selected in the Login as dropdown during setup.
The Login as user does not have to be Admin. It only needs Full Access permissions. This is especially useful if you leave QuickBooks at the “No Company Open” screen instead of staying signed in 24/7, for example to avoid occupying a QuickBooks Desktop seat or blocking Single-user Mode elsewhere.See Changing a connection’s QuickBooks Desktop user for the full setup guidance.
In the world of QuickBooks Desktop, a “company file” is the main local file for all the financial data for a specific company. Typically, a QuickBooks Desktop user will have only one company file: the one they use to manage their business. However, some users manage multiple company files on one computer and actively switch between them. For example, an accounting firm might manage the books for multiple clients, each with their own QuickBooks Desktop company file.Each Conductor connection is tied to a specific company file. If you need to connect to multiple company files, you will need to create multiple end-users in Conductor, each with their own connection. See this guide for more information.
Conductor supports every version, variant, and edition of QuickBooks Desktop since 2018, including:
  • QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions - any version or year
    • Any edition: Accountant, Contractor, Manufacturing and Wholesale, Nonprofit, Professional Services, Retail.
  • QuickBooks Premier (Plus) - 2018 or later
    • Any edition: Accountant, Contractor, Manufacturing and Wholesale, Nonprofit, Professional Services, Retail.
  • QuickBooks Desktop Pro (Plus) - 2018 or later
  • QuickBooks Accountant Desktop (Plus) - 2018 or later
No, QuickBooks Desktop is not being discontinued. Intuit reported $2.775B in revenue from the QuickBooks Desktop ecosystem in 2025, growing 5% year-over-year.
  1. Ongoing Support: Intuit continues to support all existing versions of QuickBooks Desktop for current customers.
  2. Continued Sales: Intuit is still actively selling “QuickBooks Enterprise”, the main version of QuickBooks Desktop tailored for medium to large businesses, to new customers.
  3. Product Changes: Intuit will soon cease sales of “QuickBooks Desktop Pro/Premier Plus” – a less popular variant primarily used by small family businesses – to new customers (existing customers will still be supported).
While Intuit has encouraged users to migrate to QuickBooks Online, Desktop users consistently tell us that it doesn’t fully meet their business needs. Consequently, the base of existing QuickBooks Desktop users, including both “Enterprise” and “Pro/Premier” versions, remains robust. Conductor continues to support these users and their ongoing reliance on QuickBooks Desktop.

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Compatibility and connectivity

We strongly recommend keeping QuickBooks Desktop open for the best performance. There is no downside to keeping it open.
If you cannot stay signed in to the company file, for example to avoid occupying a QuickBooks Desktop seat or blocking Single-user Mode elsewhere, leave QuickBooks at the “No Company Open” screen. QuickBooks will then sign in automatically during each sync.
Scenarios to consider:
  • BEST: QuickBooks kept open with your company file loaded: This provides the fastest sync experience and is recommended when possible.
    If QuickBooks is open with a different company file than the one you’re trying to sync, the operation will return an error.
  • GOOD: QuickBooks kept open but no company file loaded: If you need to conserve license seats or want to be able to sign in on another computer, you can keep QuickBooks at the “No Company Open” screen. The Web Connector will automatically open your company file when syncing. This is slower than the previous option but faster than the next option.
  • WORST: QuickBooks kept completely closed: If QuickBooks Desktop is closed, the Web Connector will launch it automatically, but this significantly slows down the sync process due to application startup time and is a common cause of sync errors.
    • The Web Connector can launch QuickBooks Desktop if it’s closed, but this adds approximately 30 seconds to request processing time and repeatedly opening/closing QuickBooks can cause Windows bugs. We strongly recommend keeping QuickBooks Desktop open continuously.
Follow our guide to ensure QuickBooks Desktop opens after reboot and Windows sign-in for the best performance.
Yes. If your team shares a single QuickBooks Desktop company file on your office network, you can install the Web Connector connection on more than one Windows computer. Each computer will have its own entry in the QuickBooks Web Connector and can sync with that same company file. Many teams do this as a backup in case one computer is turned off or unavailable.
Important: The company file must live in the exact same folder path on every computer. The Web Connector uses the full path to decide which company file should receive a request. If the company file path is different on any computer (for example, different drive letters or folder names), syncs will fail.Simple ways to keep company file paths the same across all computers:
  • Map the shared folder to the same drive letter on all computers (e.g., all use S:\Accounting\...).
  • Or open the file using the same network path on every computer (e.g., \\SERVER\Share\Accounting\MyCompany.QBW).
Best practice: Set up the connection on the Windows server that hosts the company file. These servers typically run 24/7, which removes the need to maintain connections on multiple workstations.
No, there is no way to access QuickBooks Desktop instances when the user’s computer is off because QuickBooks Desktop data is not stored online. Instead, QuickBooks Desktop is a local application that runs on a user’s computer. The Windows computer must be powered on, online, and signed in to the Windows user that runs the Web Connector. As a result, this means an active Conductor connection is always direct and real-time. Conductor intentionally avoids using a cache layer to prevent potential data conflicts when data is out-of-sync.While this may seem limiting to many developers, we find that typical QuickBooks Desktop users do not mind:
  1. User Availability: When a user is interacting with your application that syncs data with QuickBooks Desktop, they are typically at their computer anyway, which means that QuickBooks Desktop is accessible.
  2. User Control: Many QuickBooks Desktop users are protective of their data and prefer to manually initiate data syncs rather than rely on automatic background processes. This approach gives them greater control over their data and ensures that no syncs occur without their explicit consent.
Yes, please see this guide for more information.
A QuickBooks Desktop hosting provider is a company that hosts an end-user’s QuickBooks Desktop instance and company file on a remote server that employees access via a remote desktop connection.
Conductor works with any system that has QuickBooks Web Connector installed, which comes pre-installed with QuickBooks Desktop itself. For this reason, Conductor can support every QuickBooks Desktop hosting provider we have encountered to date.
Some hosting providers, such as Rightworks, do not allow QuickBooks to continue running when users disconnect from their remote desktop session. In these scenarios, the user must remain connected to the remote desktop anytime they want to sync with QuickBooks (via Conductor). However, we’ve found that this is not a burden for most users because connecting to their remote desktop to work with QuickBooks data is already part of their daily workflow.

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Verified hosting providers

We have individually verified Conductor compatibility with the following QuickBooks Desktop hosting providers:
Yes, Conductor is fully compatible with Rightworks. Users can establish the connection just as they would with a typical Windows instance running QuickBooks Desktop.However, there is an important consideration: Rightworks users must sign in to their remote desktop session each time they wish to sync with QuickBooks Desktop. This requirement exists because Rightworks terminates inactive instances once the connection is closed, preventing background processes from running when the user is signed out. Despite this, most users find this process manageable because signing in to Rightworks is a routine part of their workflow. It is worth noting that, based on our experience, remote QuickBooks Desktop hosts like Rightworks account for fewer than 2% of all QuickBooks Desktop companies.Please see this guide for setting up a Conductor connection with a Rightworks QuickBooks Desktop instance.