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Build QuickBooks Visualizations in Tableau Cloud
Use CData Connect Cloud to connect to live QuickBooks data and build visualizations in Tableau Cloud.
Tableau Cloud is an analytics platform fully hosted in the cloud. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to QuickBooks data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to connect to QuickBooks and build visualizations from QuickBooks data in Tableau Cloud.
CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for QuickBooks, allowing you to easily build visualizations from live QuickBooks data in Tableau Cloud without installing connectors or publishing worksheets and data sources from Tableau Desktop. As you build visualizations, Tableau Cloud generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to QuickBooks, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return QuickBooks data.
About QuickBooks Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live QuickBooks data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Access both local and remote company files.
- Connect across editions and regions: QuickBooks Premier, Professional, Enterprise, and Simple Start edition 2002+, as well as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and UK editions from 2003+.
- Use SQL stored procedures to perform actions like voiding or clearing transactions, merging lists, searching entities, and more.
Customers regularly integrate their QuickBooks data with preferred tools, like Power BI, Tableau, or Excel, and integrate QuickBooks data into their database or data warehouse.
Getting Started
Configure QuickBooks Connectivity for Tableau Cloud
To work with QuickBooks data from Tableau Cloud, we need to connect to QuickBooks from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the QuickBooks data.
Connect to QuickBooks from Connect Cloud
CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.
- Log into Connect Cloud, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
- Select "QuickBooks" from the Add Connection panel
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add QuickBooks Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
Add a Personal Access Token
When connecting to Connect Cloud through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect Cloud. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.
- Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect Cloud app to open the settings page.
- On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
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Give the PAT a name and click Create.
- The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
Configure QuickBooks Endpoints for Tableau Cloud
After connecting to QuickBooks, create a workspace for your desired table(s).
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Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
- Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
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Select the QuickBooks connection (e.g. QuickBooks1) and click Next.
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Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
- Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to QuickBooks data from Tableau Cloud.
Visualize Live QuickBooks Data in Tableau Cloud
The steps below outline creating a new data source in Tableau Cloud based on the virtual QuickBooks database in Connect Cloud and building a simple visualization from the data.
- Log into Tableau Cloud, select a account, and create a new workbook.
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In the new workbook, choose the OData Connector from the data wizard and fill in the values for your Connect Cloud instance.
- Set Server to the OData URL for your Workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
- Set Authentication to Username and Password
- Set Username to your Connect Cloud username (e.g. [email protected])
- Set Password to a PAT for the above user
- Select your newly created database and the table(s) you wish to visualize (defining relationships for JOINad tables as needed).
- Select Dimensions and Measures and configure your visualization.
Real-Time Access to QuickBooks Data from Cloud Applications
At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live QuickBooks data from your Tableau Cloud workbook. You can create new visualizations, build dashboards, and more, with no need to publish data sources and workbooks from Tableau Desktop. For more information on gaining live access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources from cloud applications like Tableau Cloud, refer to our Connect Cloud page.
