Overview
Luminous automatically pushes invoices to QuickBooks Online (QBO) in real time, but two prerequisites must be met first: the QBO sync must be enabled, and the event that just occurred must match your configured push-timing option. This article explains each trigger in plain terms so you know exactly when to expect an invoice to appear in QBO.
Step 1 — Is sync enabled?
Before anything else, Luminous checks whether the QuickBooks sync is turned on:
- Global setting: Go to Settings → QuickBooks (account menu top-right → Settings, then QuickBooks under Integrations) and confirm that the sync toggle is enabled.
- Channel-level override: If a specific sales channel has its own QBO settings configured, those take priority over the global setting for invoices on that channel.
If sync is off (at both the global and channel level), no invoice is ever pushed automatically.
Step 2 — Which push-timing option is active?
Once sync is confirmed enabled, Luminous checks the Invoice Push Timing setting (also in QuickBooks Settings, configurable per channel). There are three options:
Option A — When Marked Active (default)
The invoice is pushed to QBO as soon as it reaches Active or Completed status. This happens on either of these events:
- The sales order is posted (converted from draft to active).
- The invoice is created or updated and its status is already Active or Completed.
Draft invoices are never pushed under this timing.
Option B — When Marked Paid
The invoice is pushed to QBO only after a payment is recorded against it in Luminous. No sync occurs when the invoice is created or when the order ships — only when it is paid.
Option C — When Order Shipped
The invoice is pushed to QBO when a shipment is created on the sales order. If the invoice itself is created after the shipment already exists (e.g., a split shipment scenario), Luminous detects the existing shipment at invoice-creation time and pushes immediately. Only invoices in Active or Completed status are pushed on a shipment event.
One-time guard: already synced?
Once an invoice has been successfully pushed to QBO (i.e., it has a QBO Invoice ID stored in Luminous), Luminous will not push it again from the automatic trigger — this prevents duplicate invoices in QBO. You can still trigger a manual sync from the Invoices page if needed (click the green QBO icon in the Sync Status column).
Estimates (optional, opt-in only)
If your account has the QuickBooks Estimate Sync feature enabled, invoices with an Estimate status follow a separate pipeline:
- A QBO Estimate is created or updated each time the Luminous Estimate is created or updated.
- If an Estimate is voided in Luminous before ever being promoted to an invoice, the corresponding QBO Estimate is marked Rejected.
- When an Estimate is promoted to Active/Completed, Luminous automatically creates a QBO Invoice linked back to the original QBO Estimate.
This feature is off by default and must be enabled in your QuickBooks Settings.
Quick-reference summary
| Timing setting | What triggers the push |
|---|---|
| When Marked Active | Order posted, or invoice created with Active or Completed status |
| When Marked Paid | Payment recorded on the invoice |
| When Order Shipped | Shipment created on the sales order (or invoice created after shipment already exists) |
| Estimate Sync (opt-in) | Estimate created or updated; voided estimate → Rejected in QBO; promoted estimate → QBO Invoice |
Troubleshooting tips
- Invoice not appearing in QBO? First confirm the sync toggle is on in Settings → QuickBooks.
- Invoice already has a QBO ID but QBO looks outdated? Use the manual sync icon (green QBO symbol) on the Invoices page to re-push.
- Draft invoices not syncing? This is expected — drafts are skipped under the default When Marked Active timing.
- Estimate not syncing? The Estimate Sync feature must be explicitly enabled; contact support if you'd like to turn it on.