How do I connect my Etsy shop to an existing QuickBooks account?

Question

I’m setting up a new Etsy shop for a business that’s already been tracked in QuickBooks for the past year. In Etsy, I see an option to connect to QuickBooks, but when I try to sign in and link the accounts, I keep getting an error message.

What’s the best way to connect Etsy to an existing QuickBooks account, and what should I check if the sign-in/linking step keeps failing?

Answer

Hi! The smoothest way is to connect **from inside QuickBooks (Apps/Connector)** to the **existing QuickBooks company file** you’ve already been using, rather than starting the connection from Etsy. Also, double-check *which* QuickBooks product you’re trying to connect—Etsy’s built-in option is often for **QuickBooks Self‑Employed**, while most established business books are in **QuickBooks Online** (and the setup path is a bit different).

If you’re using **QuickBooks Online (QBO)**, do this:
1) In QBO, go to **Apps** → **Find Apps** (or “App transactions”) and search **Etsy** (you’ll usually see something like **Etsy Connector / Sync with Etsy**).  
2) Click to install/connect, then sign in to **the Intuit login that owns your existing QBO company**.  
3) When prompted, pick the correct company (this is where people often accidentally choose the wrong QBO “company” if they have more than one).  
4) During setup, choose an **import start date** carefully so you don’t double-count anything you already entered manually for the past year.

If the **sign-in/link step keeps failing**, here are the most common fixes (in order):
- **Confirm you’re logging into the right Intuit account and the right QBO company.** If you have multiple QBO companies under one login (or multiple Intuit logins), it’s easy to connect the wrong one and get stuck in a loop or error.
- **Permissions:** the person connecting usually must be the **Master Admin/Company Admin** in QuickBooks Online. If you’re an accountant user or standard user, ask the admin to connect (or temporarily upgrade your access).
- **Pop-ups / cookies:** allow **pop-ups and third‑party cookies** for Etsy/Intuit, at least during setup. A lot of “can’t connect” errors are actually the authorization window being blocked.
- **Try a clean browser session:** open an **Incognito/Private** window, disable ad-blockers/privacy extensions, and try again. If it works there, an extension/cached login is the culprit.
- **Clear conflicting logins:** log out of **all** Etsy and Intuit/QuickBooks tabs, then retry. If you have more than one Etsy account or more than one Intuit login, being signed into the “other one” in another tab can break the authorization.
- **If you previously connected Etsy to a different QBO company:** in QBO go to **Apps → My Apps** and **disconnect** any old Etsy connection, then reconnect fresh.

One more important note since you’ve already been tracking the business for a year: after you connect, watch for **duplicate income/fees** in your books (especially if you were manually entering Etsy payouts, fees, or sales). The safest approach is to set the import start date to a point where you’ll reconcile cleanly and then adjust any overlap.

If you tell me which QuickBooks you’re on (**QuickBooks Online vs QuickBooks Self‑Employed vs Desktop**) and the *general wording* of the error (no screenshots needed, just the message), I can point you to the exact fix that usually matches that error.