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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/qbonline-cloud-metabase.rst

⇱ How to integrate Metabase with QuickBooks Online Data

How to integrate Metabase with QuickBooks Online Data

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use CData Connect AI to connect to live QuickBooks Online data and create an interactive dashboard in Metabase from QuickBooks Online data.

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect AI, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live QuickBooks Online data. This article describes how to connect to QuickBooks Online and build a simple visualization using QuickBooks Online data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for QuickBooks Online, allowing you to easily integrate with live QuickBooks Online data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to QuickBooks Online, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return QuickBooks Online data.

About QuickBooks Online Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from QuickBooks Online. Customers use CData connectivity to:

  • Realize high-performance data reads thanks to push-down query optimization for complex operations like filters and aggregations.
  • Read, write, update, and delete QuickBooks Online data.
  • Run reports, download attachments, and send or void invoices directly from code using SQL stored procedures.
  • Connect securely using OAuth and modern cryptography, including TLS 1.2, SHA-256, and ECC.

Many users access live QuickBooks Online data from preferred analytics tools like Power BI and Excel, directly from databases with federated access, and use CData solutions to easily integrate QuickBooks Online data with automated workflows for business-to-business communications.

For more information on how customers are solving problems with CData's QuickBooks Online solutions, refer to our blog: https://www.cdata.com/blog/360-view-of-your-customers.


Getting Started


Configure QuickBooks Online Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to QuickBooks Online from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with QuickBooks Online data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a QuickBooks Online connection.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
    2. 👁 Adding a Connection
  2. Select "QuickBooks Online" from the Add Connection panel
    3. 👁 Selecting a data source
  3. QuickBooks Online uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with QuickBooks Online. 👁 Authenticating with OAuth (Salesforce is shown).
  4. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add QuickBooks Online Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

  1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
  2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to QuickBooks Online data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect AI from Metabase

After creating the connection in Connect AI, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect AI.

  1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab 👁 Adding a new database connection to Metabase.
  2. Configure the connection to Connect AI and click "Save"
    • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
    • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "QuickBooks Online (Connect AI)")
    • Host: tds.cdata.com
    • Port: 14333
    • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. QuickBooksOnline1)
    • Username: A Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected])
    • Password: The PAT previously created
    • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)
    👁 Configuring the connection to Connect AI.

Execute QuickBooks Online Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect AI, you can query QuickBooks Online and build visualizations.

  1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the QuickBooks Online data 👁 Click the 'Write SQL' button.
  2. Write a SQL query based on the QuickBooks Online connection in CData Connect AI, e.g. 

    SELECT DisplayName, Balance FROM Customers
    👁 Collected data (Salesforce is shown).
  3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization 👁 Collected data (Salesforce is shown).

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from QuickBooks Online data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live QuickBooks Online data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to QuickBooks Online (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live QuickBooks Online data in Metabase today.