What if my WooCommerce order numbers already exist in QuickBooks Desktop - as different orders?

Written by the MyWorks Team

Updated at June 30th, 2023

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

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

How are numbering conflicts caused? While it's not very common, numbering conflicts can be set up for failure if you've been manually entering WooCommerce orders into your QuickBooks Desktop company - but haven't been matching the QuickBooks Desktop invoice/sales receipt number to the WooCommerce order. Another common scenario is if you're also entering one-off or non-WooCommerce related invoices/sales receipts in QuickBooks Desktop.

Possible Solutions

If your WooCommerce orders are conflicting with existing QuickBooks Desktop invoices/ sales receipts or sales orders when you're syncing with our WooCommerce Sync, there are three possible alternatives we can recommend.

- 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.

- Sync WooCommerce Orders as a different data record (invoice, sales receipt or sales order).

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

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, it's going to error out. This is where this solution comes in. By going to MyWorks Sync > Settings > Order, and turning on (or off) the switch to Sync Orders as Sales Receipts, our sync 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 turning the switch referenced above OFF, we would sync orders over as Invoices - thereby bypassing the conflict with Sales Receipt #1000.

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

This solution is the most long-term/effective solution, but will only resolve any orders placed from this point forward, not existing orders. By renumbering or adding a prefix to your WooCommerce Order Numbers, you'll ensure new orders never conflict with QuickBooks.

First, you must install the WooCommerce Sequential Order Numbers Pro plugin from WooCommerce.com. This will allow you to set a new (higher) starting number for your WooCommerce orders or add a prefix (like WC- ) to your WooCommerce Orders. We recommend adding a prefix. Read on for setup instructions.

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