Skip to content

On a schedule

Add expenses from a sheet into QuickBooks

Expenses your team lists in a Google Sheet are added to QuickBooks within the hour and marked as uploaded.

Runs
On a schedule
Apps
Google Sheets, QuickBooks
AI
Not needed
Access
accounting write; sheet editor

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: every hour, create a QuickBooks expense for each new row in my Expenses sheet and mark the row as uploaded.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

Staff spend on cards and cash all month: parking, software, client lunches. The easiest way for them to record it is a shared sheet, but someone then has to enter every line in QuickBooks, usually in a rush before the month closes.

Moving each row into QuickBooks as it's added keeps the books current and leaves the bookkeeper reviewing and categorising, not typing.

What you get out of it

  • Books stay current

    Expenses reach QuickBooks within the hour, so profit and cash figures reflect what's actually been spent.

  • A simple way for staff to record spend

    A sheet with date, payee, amount and category is something anyone can fill in on their phone.

  • No month-end backlog

    The bookkeeper checks entries as they arrive instead of entering a month at once.

  • Nothing entered twice

    Each row is marked once uploaded, so it can't be created again.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. Every hour, ClickRuntime reads your Expenses sheet.

  2. It picks out rows that aren't marked as uploaded.

  3. It creates an expense in QuickBooks for each one, using the date, payee, amount and category in the row.

  4. It marks the row as uploaded with the QuickBooks reference, so the expense is never added twice.

Before it runs live

  • Connect your Google Sheets account and pick the spreadsheets it may use
  • Connect QuickBooks

What you get

RunsOn a schedule
Add expenses from a sheet into QuickBookstoday, 9:00Succeeded
Google Sheets · Expenses2026-10-14 · Northwind Cafe · Client lunch · 46.80 · Meals · Uploaded 812

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
  • Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other Google Sheets and QuickBooks steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
upload_expenses_from_a_sheet.pyexample
from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from clickruntime import on_trigger, credentials, http, report_fetched

SHEET_ID = "your-spreadsheet-id"
BANK_ACCOUNT = "35"  # QuickBooks account the money is paid from
API = "https://quickbooks.api.intuit.com/v3/company/1234567890"  # your QuickBooks company id

def qb(method, path, **kw):
    r = http.request(method, API + path, params={"minorversion": 73, **kw.pop("params", {})}, **kw, headers={"Accept": "application/json", "Authorization": "Bearer " + credentials.connection("quickbooks", "company")})
    return r.raise_for_status() or r.json()

@on_trigger
def run(event):
    sheets = build("sheets", "v4", credentials=Credentials(credentials.connection("google", "work")), cache_discovery=False).spreadsheets()
    rows = sheets.values().get(spreadsheetId=SHEET_ID, range="Expenses!A2:F").execute().get("values", [])
    todo = [(i, r) for i, r in enumerate(rows, start=2) if len(r) >= 5 and (len(r) < 6 or not r[5])]
    report_fetched(len(todo))
    if not todo:
        return {"summary": "Nothing new"}
    accounts = {a["Name"]: a["Id"] for a in qb("GET", "/query", params={"query": "select * from Account where AccountType = 'Expense'"})["QueryResponse"]["Account"]}
    for i, (day, payee, desc, amount, category, *_) in todo:
        p = qb("POST", "/purchase", json={"PaymentType": "CreditCard", "AccountRef": {"value": BANK_ACCOUNT}, "TxnDate": day,
               "PrivateNote": f"{payee}: {desc}", "Line": [{"Amount": float(amount), "DetailType": "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail",
               "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail": {"AccountRef": {"value": accounts[category]}}}]})["Purchase"]
        sheets.values().update(spreadsheetId=SHEET_ID, range=f"Expenses!F{i}", valueInputOption="RAW", body={"values": [[f"Uploaded {p['Id']}"]]}).execute()
    return {"uploaded": len(todo)}

FAQ

Common questions

Which account is the expense paid from?
The bank or card account you set in the script. Add a column to choose per row if staff use different cards.
How is the category chosen?
From a category column that matches your QuickBooks expense account names.
Can I attach receipts?
Yes. Add a column with a Drive link and ask for the receipt to be attached to the QuickBooks expense.
What permissions does it need?
accounting write; sheet editor. Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run each time it checks. Checks that find nothing new and stop right away aren't counted.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Add expenses from a sheet into QuickBooks” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.