Working with Coast and Knowify

How Projects, Items (Phases), and Receipts Flow Through QuickBooks Online

The Coast + Knowify integration works through QuickBooks Online (QBO) as the system of record.

The flow looks like this: Knowify → QuickBooks Online → Coast → QuickBooks Online → Knowify

To understand how job costing works correctly, it’s important to understand one key concept:

In Knowify you have Projects and Phases. In QuickBooks Online, those “phases” are represented as Products & Services (Items).

Once this mapping is set up correctly, the workflow is simple and automatic.

System Overview

1. Knowify Syncs With QuickBooks Online (Bi-Directional)

Knowify syncs:

• Customers
• Projects
• Products & Services (Items)
• Expenses
• Attachments
• Financial data

QuickBooks Online acts as the accounting hub.

2. Coast Connects to QuickBooks Online

Coast pulls from QBO:

• Customers / Projects
• Products & Services (Items)
• Vendors
• Chart of Accounts
• Classes / Locations (if used)

This allows Coast transactions to be coded using the exact same structure Knowify uses.

The Most Important Concept: Mapping Phases in Knowify to Items in QBO

Knowify uses Phases for job costing. QuickBooks Online does not use the term “Phase.”

Instead, QBO uses: Products & Services (Items)

Each Item in QBO:

• Is mapped to an Income or Expense account (often COGS)
• Syncs into Knowify
• Can be associated with a phase in Knowify

Example: How an Item Becomes a Phase

Let’s say in QuickBooks Online you create:

• Item Name: Demolition
• Type: Service
• Income/Expense Account: COGS – Labor

When this Item syncs to Knowify:

• "Demolition” becomes a Service inside Knowify.

• When a user creates a Phase in a project in Knowify, they can specify the item:

  

  

What MUST Be Set Up in QuickBooks Online

Before using Coast with Knowify, make sure:

1. Projects Are Enabled in QBO: Projects should originate from Knowify or be properly synced.

2. Products & Services (Items) Exist: Each phase you want to track in Knowify must exist in QBO as an Item. Examples:

• Demolition
• Finishing
• Install

Each Item must: Be assigned to the correct Income or Expense account (e.g., COGS)

3. Items Sync to Knowify: Confirm the Item appears as a Phase inside the Knowify project. If the Item doesn’t exist in QBO, it cannot flow correctly to Knowify.

Coast-Side Workflow: How to Code a Transaction Correctly

Once everything is set up:

Step 1: Coast Pulls Items from QBO

Coast automatically imports:

• Projects
• Vendors
• Products & Services (Items)

These Items are what your field team selects.

Step 2: Technician Makes a Purchase

After a Coast card transaction:

The driver is prompted to:

• Select Project
• Select Item (which maps to Phase)
• Upload receipt
• Add memo (if required)

This all happens in the Coast mobile app experience or via SMS

For example:

• Project: 123 Main Street Remodel
• Item: Demolition

That is all they need to select. They do NOT need to think about:

• COGS mapping
• Phase structure
• Accounting categories

That logic is already embedded in QBO.

Step 3: Controller Reviews & Exports Spend to QuickBooks Online

Once transactions are enriched by the field team, the controller (or finance/ops lead) completes the export process inside Coast.

Here’s exactly what happens:

Go to the Accounting Tab in Coast

In the Coast dashboard:

• Navigate to the left-hand menu
• Click Accounting
• Select Export Spend

This is the review and control center before anything hits QuickBooks.

Review All Transactions Before Export

Inside Export Spend, the controller can see:

• Vendor
• Project
• Product & Service (Item)
• Chart of Account
• Amount
• Receipt attachment
• Memo
• Any required custom fields

This is where finance ensures:

• The correct Project is selected
• The correct Item (Product & Service) is selected
  • (Remember: this maps to the Phase in Knowify)
• All required fields are completed
• No transactions are missing receipts
• Vendors are accurate

If anything is incorrect or missing, the controller can:

• Edit the Item
• Edit the Project
• Change vendor
• Update memos
• Add missing information

Nothing is pushed to QuickBooks until this review is complete.

Click “Export to QuickBooks”

Once everything looks correct:

• Select the transactions
• Click Export to QuickBooks Online

At that moment, Coast creates an Expense in QBO.

What Happens Inside QuickBooks

After export:

• The expense posts to the account tied to the Item
  • Example: If “Demolition” maps to COGS – Labor, it hits COGS.
• The expense is tied to the correct Project
• The receipt is attached to the transaction
• The transaction is fully coded and ready for reconciliation

At this point, QuickBooks becomes the source of truth

Step 4: QuickBooks Syncs to Knowify

Because Knowify syncs with QBO:

• The expense flows into the correct Project
• It lands inside the correct Phase (based on Item mapping)
• Budget vs Actual updates in real time
  
   

No re-coding required.

How Receipts Flow into Knowify (Important)

Here is the exact receipt flow:

1. Driver uploads receipt in Coast.
2. Coast attaches receipt to the Expense in QuickBooks Online.
3. QuickBooks stores the receipt as an attachment on the Expense.
4. When Knowify syncs that Expense:
   • The attachment is visible from the transaction view inside Knowify.
   • The receipt remains stored in QBO and is accessible from Knowify’s linked transaction.

So receipts are:

• Stored in Coast
• Attached in QuickBooks
• Accessible via the synced expense inside Knowify

This ensures:

• Audit compliance
• No lost receipts
• No manual uploads into Knowify

Will Coast Automatically Create New Vendors in QBO?

Yes. If a vendor does not exist in QuickBooks:

• Coast creates it during export.
• That vendor then syncs to Knowify automatically.

Best practice: Periodically review vendor naming conventions in QBO to prevent duplicates.

Telemetry / FleetSharp Integration (Separate from Job Costing)

If using Coast with telematics (e.g., FleetSharp-style integrations):

Coast can:

• Decline fuel transactions in real time if vehicle is not at pump
• Pull odometer automatically
• Sync vehicles to prevent double entry

This protects cost BEFORE it ever hits QBO or Knowify.