This article helps you resolve common issues when syncing X‑1FBO with QBO (v2). The scenarios below cover the most frequent errors customers encounter when exporting invoices, items, or transactions to QBO (V2), along with clear steps to fix them.
Common Errors & How to Fix Them
⚠️Error:
“Invalid Reference ID: An item in this transaction is set up as a category instead of a product or service.”
❓What’s happening:
QuickBooks Online is rejecting the transaction because one or more items on the invoice are set up as a Category instead of a Product or Service.
🔍Why this occurs:
X‑1FBO can only sync items that exist in QuickBooks Online as Products or Services. Categories in QBO are used for organization only and cannot be used on transactions. If an item is mapped to a Category, QBO will block the export.
🛠️How to fix it:
Log in to QuickBooks Online.
Locate the item causing the error.
Do one of the following:
Convert the Category into a Product or Service, or
Create a new Product/Service in QBO and update the item mapping in X‑1FBO.
⭐Expected result:
Once the item is correctly set up as a Product or Service, the transaction will sync successfully without reference ID errors.
⚠️Error:
Items with Special Characters Fail to Sync
❓What’s happening:
The export to QuickBooks Online fails when an item name contains special characters.
🔍Why this occurs:
QuickBooks Online does not allow certain special characters in Product or Service names. Common examples include:
#, &, /, \, *, ?, :
If an item in X‑1FBO includes these characters, QBO will reject it during the sync process.
🛠️How to fix it:
Choose one of the following options:
Rename the item in QuickBooks Online to remove special characters, or
Create a new, clean Product/Service in QBO (V2) (without special characters) and remap it in X‑1FBO.
⭐Expected result:
After removing unsupported characters, the item will sync correctly, and the export will complete successfully.
✅ Tips for Success
Always verify that mapped items in QBO (V2) are Products or Services, not Categories.
Use simple, clean item names without symbols or special characters.
When creating new items in X‑1FBO, confirm they align with your existing QBO item setup.