How to Sync Purchase Orders from Luminous to QuickBooks Online

For brands managing operations in Luminous and finances in QuickBooks Online, syncing purchase orders between both systems just makes sense. This eliminates redundant workflows and gives your accounting team real-time visibility into purchasing activity.

Here’s exactly how to turn on and use the PO Sync feature in Luminous.

What This Integration Does

With PO Sync enabled:

• Purchase orders created in Luminous are automatically pushed to QuickBooks
• Supplier and line item data transfers instantly—no copy/paste needed
• If a supplier doesn’t exist in QuickBooks, Luminous will create it automatically

This saves time, reduces errors, and keeps both systems aligned.

How to Set Up PO Sync with QuickBooks

Step 1: Confirm QuickBooks is Already Integrated

Before enabling PO sync, make sure your QuickBooks integration is already live.
You should have a QuickBooks channel added under Manage Channels in your Luminous settings.

Need help with that first step? Here’s the guide to set up QuickBooks integration »

Step 2: Enable Purchase Order Sync

• Go to System Settings in Luminous
• Click into QuickBooks Settings
  
• Toggle on the setting for Purchase Order Sync
  

That’s it—the pipeline is live. Now any new POs created in Luminous will be pushed to QuickBooks automatically.

Creating and Syncing a Purchase Order

Let’s walk through a simple example:

Step 1: Build a PO in Luminous

• Choose a supplier (e.g. Nutricost)
• Add products and quantities
• Click Create PO
  

Step 2: Sync Runs Automatically

As soon as you create the PO, Luminous automatically:

• Checks if the supplier exists in QuickBooks
• If not, creates the supplier record
• Pushes the PO with all relevant line items, costs, and details

Heads-up: Right now, Luminous does not show sync status for POs like it does for invoices. That’s on the roadmap.

Verifying the Sync in QuickBooks

1. Log into your QuickBooks account
2. Navigate to Expenses > Purchase Orders in the sidebar
3. You’ll see the synced PO listed (e.g. for Nutricost)
4. Click into the PO to view the full breakdown:

• Products
• Quantities
• Costs
• Total amount

Pro Tips

• Keep supplier data clean in Luminous—this ensures QuickBooks records stay accurate
• Use private notes in Luminous; they’ll sync over for added context
• After syncing, copy the PO to a bill in QuickBooks to streamline AP workflows

What Doesn’t Sync (Yet)

A few fields don’t transfer from Luminous to QuickBooks at this stage.
We’ll cover those in a separate article or video, but the critical info (supplier, items, cost, address, notes) does sync.

What’s Coming Next

We’re building out:

• PO sync statuses so you can track sync health like invoices
• Deeper customization on what fields sync and how

Stay tuned—or request early access if you're part of our roadmap advisory group.

Final Thoughts

PO sync is one of those features that just removes friction. It eliminates double-entry, accelerates accounting, and helps your ops team stay focused on growth—not admin.

Ready to get your systems talking? Book a demo today.