QuickBooks Sync and Permissions

Read-Only Access

CohortGenie connects to QuickBooks Online with read-only permissions. It never creates, modifies, or deletes anything in your client's books. No journal entries. No customer records. No invoices. Read only.

This is a deliberate design choice. Revenue analytics doesn't require write access, so we don't ask for it. Less access means less risk.

What Data Gets Pulled

CohortGenie reads five transaction types from QuickBooks Online:

• Customers — name and ID, used to group transactions and build cohorts
• Invoices — amounts, dates, and customer linkage for accrual-basis revenue tracking
• Sales Receipts — same as invoices but for cash-basis transactions
• Credit Memos — adjustments and credits applied to customer accounts
• Refund Receipts — actual refunds issued to customers

That's the full scope. CohortGenie does not read bank transactions, bills, payroll, journal entries, chart of accounts, or any other QuickBooks data. It reads what it needs for revenue cohort analysis and nothing more.

How Syncing Works

Initial sync: When you first connect a QuickBooks company, CohortGenie pulls the full transaction history for the types listed above. Depending on file size, this takes 2–10 minutes.

Nightly sync: After the initial pull, CohortGenie syncs automatically every night at 2:00 AM UTC. This picks up new transactions, changes, and deletions since the last sync. The nightly sync is incremental, so it's fast — usually under a minute.

Manual sync: Need fresher data? Go to the Integrations page and click Sync Now. This runs the same incremental sync on demand. Useful when you're about to meet with a client and want to make sure you're looking at the latest numbers.

Disconnecting QuickBooks

To revoke CohortGenie's access to a QuickBooks company:

1. Go to Integrations in the sidebar
2. Find the connected QuickBooks company
3. Click Disconnect

This immediately revokes the OAuth token. CohortGenie can no longer access that QuickBooks file.

Important: Disconnecting does not delete the data already in CohortGenie. Your historical cohort data, metrics, and dashboards remain intact until you delete the workspace itself. This is intentional — if a client temporarily disconnects and reconnects, you don't lose your analysis history.

Revoking From the QuickBooks Side

Clients can also revoke access directly from within QuickBooks Online:

1. In QBO, go to Settings > Manage connected apps
2. Find CohortGenie in the list
3. Click Disconnect

If access is revoked from the QuickBooks side, CohortGenie will show a "Connection expired" status on the Integrations page. Nightly syncs will stop. Reconnect by clicking Connect QuickBooks Online again and re-authorizing.

A Note on Security

All data transfers between CohortGenie and QuickBooks happen over encrypted connections (TLS). OAuth tokens are stored encrypted at rest. We follow Intuit's security requirements for connected apps.

If you have questions about data handling or need documentation for your firm's vendor review process, contact us at support@cohortgenie.com.