Jobber and QuickBooks do not always use the same price-list owner. In Jobber’s legacy QuickBooks Online integration, edit products and services in QuickBooks and run a manual sync. In its new integration, Jobber owns ongoing item edits and sends them to QuickBooks automatically. Check which integration your account has before changing hundreds of prices.
Which system owns your Jobber QuickBooks price list?
Jobber calls its saved catalog the Products & Services list. It holds the items you select on quotes, jobs, and invoices. A QuickBooks connection can also move those items into accounting, but the direction depends on your integration version. Jobber’s legacy integration guide says products and services sync both ways while QuickBooks remains the source of truth. Its new integration guide says the ongoing sync is one-way from Jobber to QuickBooks, with Jobber as the source of truth.
Jobber says the new integration is rolling out to select accounts. Its connection guide says it is available in the United States and Canada on select plans. Geography alone cannot identify your version; an existing US shop may still be on legacy while another uses the new flow.
How do you tell whether your account uses the legacy or new integration?
Open the QuickBooks connection inside Jobber and identify its workflow before editing catalog data. The legacy help guide describes clicking the QuickBooks icon, opening Sync & Settings, and choosing Sync to QuickBooks. The new help guide describes an ongoing automatic sync and a QuickBooks activity dashboard with warnings and errors. Use the actual screen and the connected-app details in your own account; if those signals disagree, ask Jobber support to confirm the version before a bulk change.
Record the integration version on your repricing checklist, and tell both the bookkeeper and dispatcher which system owns item prices.
The new integration offers a one-time import of existing QuickBooks products and services into Jobber. Jobber says an item already present in Jobber is skipped, rather than updated from QuickBooks; a missing item is created, including its unit cost. That is an important exception to the new ongoing direction. An initial import does not give you a recurring QuickBooks-to-Jobber cost feed.
What does the one-time QuickBooks import do to existing Jobber items?
Inventory the names and costs in both systems before connecting or importing. Jobber’s new-integration documentation says existing Jobber products are skipped during the initial QuickBooks import. An item with a stale cost in Jobber will therefore not be fixed merely because QuickBooks has a newer cost. The initial import is for bringing across missing items, not reconciling two mature catalogs field by field.
The table is a worked example, not Jobber account data. Suppose your QuickBooks list has 100 products and services, 70 of which already exist in Jobber. Under the documented new-integration import rule, the 70 matches are skipped and the 30 missing items are created. The exact matching result in a real account depends on its data, so review the import screen and the resulting list.
| Worked example: initial import | Item count | Expected treatment |
|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks items offered | 100 | Starting inventory |
| Already in Jobber | 70 | Skipped; existing Jobber values remain |
| Missing from Jobber | 30 | Created in Jobber |
| Total accounted for | 100 | 70 skipped + 30 created |
After importing, compare counts and sample items with different costs or names. Decide which value is correct for every skipped row that disagrees.
Where should you change a price after a supplier increase?
Legacy integration: Jobber explicitly calls QuickBooks the item source of truth. Make the approved product or service change in QuickBooks and run the manual Jobber sync. The Products & Services help page says a connected QuickBooks US legacy account cannot update its list through Jobber’s CSV importer; QuickBooks Global users may see an overwrite warning. Treat that page’s QuickBooks-import warning as legacy guidance, because Jobber’s newer integration gives different ownership instructions.
New integration: Jobber says ongoing product and service edits belong in Jobber, then flow automatically to QuickBooks according to sync settings. Confirm that the item syncs at creation or after invoice use, whichever your account selected. Check the activity dashboard for an error before telling the bookkeeper the accounting item was updated. Jobber’s older Products & Services article has not been rewritten around every new-integration case, so do not assume its legacy CSV restriction or import behavior applies to a new account without checking the current screen or Jobber support.
In either version, a supplier cost increase is not automatically a selling-price increase. A unit cost can change while the customer-facing price stays fixed; that compresses gross margin. Jobber’s Products & Services guide says its CSV importer recalculates markup when cost or price changes on eligible plans, and that adding a new cost without changing unit price leaves the selling price alone. The markup-versus-margin guide explains why the two percentages are different.
The next table is a worked example, not a market benchmark. Gross margin here is (selling price − unit cost) ÷ selling price; labor and overhead are excluded. It shows what happens when a distributor raises cost but the office leaves the unit price alone. The final column calculates the price needed to retain the original material-only gross margin, before the shop decides whether that price is appropriate.
| Example item | Old cost | New cost | Old price | Margin at old price | Price to retain old margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contactor | $40 | $48 | $100 | 52% (was 60%) | $120 |
| Motor | $120 | $132 | $240 | 45% (was 50%) | $264 |
| Control board | $300 | $330 | $600 | 45% (was 50%) | $660 |
For the contactor, $100 − $48 = $52, or 52% of the $100 sale. Restoring its previous 60% material margin requires $48 ÷ (1 − 0.60) = $120. Use your own invoices and target margin, not these sample numbers. For a whole catalog, see how to adjust pricing when material costs rise and calculate the target with the margin and markup calculator.
What should a Jobber shop check before repricing its whole catalog?
- Confirm the integration version. Record “legacy: QuickBooks” or “new: Jobber” before editing.
- Export a baseline. Keep dated item exports from both systems. Jobber says its export arrives in multiple emails above 1,500 items, with no more than 1,500 per CSV. Account for every file.
- Separate types of edits. Flag cost, price, name, tax, and active-status changes individually. The Jobber CSV update guide covers import mechanics where that workflow is available.
- Review mixed items. Check a common service, cheap part, costly assembly, zero-cost row, and invoiced item. Verify cost, selling price, tax, and availability.
- Verify accounting. Run and inspect the legacy manual sync, or inspect the new integration’s activity dashboard after its automatic trigger. A connected badge does not prove every item arrived.
Jobber limits each CSV import to 2.5 MB. Splitting a large export into 1,500-row files does not guarantee each import is under that file-size limit. Check both when your account permits CSV updates.
What changes if you move from legacy to the new QuickBooks integration?
The big change is ownership: legacy tells staff to correct catalog items in QuickBooks and start a manual sync; new tells them to correct items in Jobber and relies on automatic one-way sync. Jobber says the migration sends changes made in Jobber since the last manual sync to QuickBooks, and that an account cannot return to the old integration after moving. Before migrating, finish and inspect the last legacy sync, save item exports, assign the new owner for prices and costs, and tell the bookkeeper where future edits belong.
The new guide also says Jobber products become non-inventory products in QuickBooks, while Jobber services become services. Jobber custom invoice lines are represented in QuickBooks as “Custom Service” with the original line name in the description. If accounting depends on an inventory type or a specific item account, inspect sample items after the change instead of treating the sync as a visual copy.
Where does a master price book fit?
A master price book is useful when one supplier change affects hundreds of catalog rows, several selling-price tiers, or more than one quoting workflow. Pricebookr currently imports Jobber products, keeps its own cost and selling-price records, and lets an authorized shop preview and deliberately push eligible pricebooks back to Jobber. It does not make Jobber’s QuickBooks integration follow one universal rule, and it does not replace the version check above. Pricebookr’s QuickBooks option is an export file, not a live QuickBooks sync.
If your Jobber account uses the new integration, map the full route before adopting a master catalog: approved price in Pricebookr, explicit push to Jobber, then Jobber’s configured item sync to QuickBooks. If your account is still on legacy, QuickBooks remains Jobber’s documented source for those items, so reconcile ownership with your accountant and Jobber support before adding another writer. The safest workflow has one named owner for each field and a check after every handoff.
FAQ
Does Jobber or QuickBooks control my price list?
It depends on the QuickBooks integration version in your Jobber account. Jobber’s legacy integration makes QuickBooks the source of truth for products and services, with a manual sync. Its new integration makes Jobber the ongoing source and syncs items one way to QuickBooks. Check your connected-app screen before editing prices.
Will the new integration update existing Jobber costs from QuickBooks?
No, not through its one-time initial import. Jobber says products and services already in Jobber are skipped, while missing products are created with their cost. The continuing new integration sends Jobber items to QuickBooks. Compare costs in both exports and correct existing Jobber items deliberately before relying on them for pricing.
Can I bulk import a Jobber price list while QuickBooks is connected?
Jobber’s Products & Services guide says QuickBooks US legacy accounts cannot update items through Jobber’s CSV importer, and QuickBooks Global imports can be overwritten by a later sync. The newer integration assigns Jobber different ownership, so verify the CSV controls visible in your account or ask Jobber support before using a bulk import.
Does a higher unit cost automatically raise the customer price?
No. A higher cost can leave the selling price unchanged and reduce gross margin. Jobber documents that, on eligible plans, a CSV cost update without a unit-price update leaves the price in place and recalculates markup. Compare new supplier costs with current prices, choose an approved margin target, then check both fields after syncing.
Can I move back to the legacy QuickBooks integration?
Jobber says you cannot return to the old integration after migrating to the new one. Finish the last manual sync, save exports, review how item types and costs will map, and brief everyone who edits catalog prices before making that change. Confirm the migration details shown for your particular account with Jobber.