When considering using MyWorks Sync to sync your orders between WooCommerce and QuickBooks - one of the items to consider is the current state of your WooCommerce Order numbers and how they relate to the orders currently in your QuickBooks Online company.

If your QuickBooks Online company is brand new, typically, you won't have an issue with order number conflicts. However, if you've been using QuickBooks Online for a while - and you're either syncing a brand new WooCommerce store into it; or you're syncing an existing WooCommerce store into an existing QuickBooks Online company - it's a good idea to review the numbering of your WooCommerce orders to see if they conflict with the current numbering of your QuickBooks Online invoices or sales receipts.

How are numbering conflicts caused? While it's not common, numbering conflicts can occur if there are existing (or future) orders (invoices or sales receipts) in QuickBooks that have the same number as a current or future order in your WooCommerce store that would be synced in to QuickBooks. However, we have several solutions that work very well to either prevent this from occurring or resolve this type of scenario if it does occur. Firstly, here are a few important tips to be aware of:

• QuickBooks Online allows an order number to be used only once - so you can't have two sales receipts with the same order number, for example.
• QuickBooks Online sales receipts and invoices have their own separate number sequences - so it is acceptable to have a sales receipt and invoice with the same order number.
• If orders are being manually entered in QuickBooks in addition to WooCommerce Orders synced through MyWorks - the best way to avoid conflicts is using Option A below - syncing WooCommerce orders to use the next available QuickBooks order #.

Solutions

If your WooCommerce orders are conflicting with existing QuickBooks invoices/ sales receipts with the same number in QuickBooks, there are three alternate solutions we can recommend.

A. Use the "Next QuickBooks #" when syncing orders to QuickBooks

By default, we’ll sync orders from WooCommerce into QuickBooks using the WooCommerce order ID/# as the Invoice/Sales Receipt number in QuickBooks. 

However, if it’s necessary to sync orders into QuickBooks without relying on the order number from WooCommerce, we have a setting that supports syncing orders into QuickBooks using the next QuickBooks invoice / sales receipt number - not relying on any WooCommerce order number. Although this results in the WooCommerce order number not matching your QuickBooks order number, this will ensure there's no order number conflicts going forward - especially if other orders are manually being entered into QuickBooks. The WooCommerce order number can always be custom mapped to a different field in QuickBooks so it's still present in the QuickBooks order for reference.

You can enable this setting by following this doc here.

B. Sync WooCommerce Orders as the opposite data record (invoice vs sales receipt).

This solution is usually the most efficient/easiest to implement and would allow you to sync old/existing WooCommerce orders that may have previously conflicted with order numbers.

If Order #1000 is placed in WooCommerce, we'll try syncing that over to QuickBooks as Invoice #1000. If Invoice #1000 already exists in QuickBooks, however, QuickBooks won't accept the order. This is where this solution comes in. By going to MyWorks Sync > Settings > Order, and setting MyWorks Sync to sync orders as a Sales Receipt, for example, we will then sync the order over as a Sales Receipt - which would then not conflict with Invoice #1000 in this example.

Of course, the opposite applies as well. If Sales Receipt #1000 already exists in QuickBooks, then by switching the above setting to sync orders as "Invoices", we would sync orders over as Invoices - thereby avoiding the conflict with Sales Receipt #1000.

C. Prefix/Renumber your WooCommerce Orders to be non-conflicting with QuickBooks

If it is important to you that

• Your WooCommerce order numbers match the order number of the order we sync to QuickBooks,
• Other orders are not being manually added to QuickBooks, and
• You only need this to apply to future orders (aka, not existing orders)

then this solution is a helpful fit. By giving your upcoming WooCommerce Orders a custom order number (that purposely doesn't yet exist in QuickBooks), this will ensure they're able to sync to QuickBooks without an issue. 

Firstly, you'll need to install a plugin that gives your WooCommerce Orders custom order numbers - like the WooCommerce Sequential Order Numbers Pro plugin from WooCommerce.com. This will allow you to either set a new/different/higher starting number for your WooCommerce orders or add a prefix (like WC- ) to your WooCommerce Orders. We recommend adding a prefix. 

Since we have built-in compatibility with most WooCommerce extensions that do this, there's nothing else you'll need from us.

Once you've configured the Sequential Order Numbers Pro plugin in your WooCommerce admin - you simply need to visit MyWorks Sync > Compatibility, and ensure that the switch for Sequential Order Numbers Pro or Custom Order Numbering is enabled. Then, for new orders that are placed in your WooCommerce store going forward - they will have this new order numbering sequence, which will be honored by MyWorks Sync as we sync the order to QuickBooks.