Configuring your settings before your first sync is one of the most important steps in getting started with Synder. Skipping this step is the most common reason syncs fail, create errors, or produce unexpected results in your accounting software. Take 10 minutes to review these settings — it will save you hours of cleanup.
Your First 30 Minutes: Quick-Start Setup
Follow these steps in order to get fully set up in about 30 minutes.
Before You Begin (2 min)
- Admin access to your payment platform (Stripe, Shopify, Square, Amazon, PayPal, etc.)
- Admin access to your accounting software (QuickBooks Online, Xero, or QuickBooks Desktop)
Do Not Enable Auto-Sync Yet — Do NOT turn on auto-sync until you’ve completed a test sync and verified everything looks correct.
How Synder Handles Your Accounts
Synder needs to know where to post different parts of each transaction. Here are the key account types:
| Account | What It Represents | Example Name |
|---|---|---|
| Income Account | Where sales revenue posts | “Sales Income” |
| Clearing Account | Money sitting in payment platform before hitting bank | “Stripe Clearing” |
| Bank Account | Your actual checking/bank account where payouts arrive | “Business Checking” |
| Fee Account | Processing fees as expenses | “Merchant Fees” |
Good news: Synder automatically creates default clearing accounts for each integration (e.g., “Stripe Required for Synder”) if you don’t configure one. You can change these at any time in Settings → Sales, but the defaults work for most users out of the box.
Important: The clearing account should be separate from your actual bank/checking account. If you decide to customize it, make sure you select a dedicated clearing account — not your main checking account.
Connect Your Platforms (10 min)
- Log into Synder at go.synder.com
- Connect accounting software first: Person icon → Organization Settings → Add Integration → Select QuickBooks Online/Xero
- Connect payment platform: Add Integration → Select platform. Look for green “Connected” badge.
- If OAuth fails: Open the platform in a separate tab, log in first, then retry.
Configure the Key Settings (10 min)
- Income Account — The default income account for auto-created products (see Products section below for details)
- Clearing Account — Synder creates a default; only change if you need a specific account
- Fee Account — Where processing fees post as expenses
- Product Mapping — Map platform products to QuickBooks Online/Xero items
- Sync Mode — Per Transaction vs Daily Summary
Your First Test Sync (5 min)
- Import 5 transactions (small date range, last 3 days)
- Review before syncing — confirm amounts, accounts, categories
- Sync 1–2 transactions and verify in QuickBooks Online/Xero
- Check: Amount correct? Income to right account? Fees to fee account? Clearing received gross?
- If wrong: Rollback in Synder → fix settings → re-sync. Never edit directly in QuickBooks Online.
Enable Auto-Sync (3 min)
- Settings → select integration → turn on Auto-Sync toggle
- Confirm start date → Save. Done!
Note: Auto-sync is available on paid plans only. Trial users must sync transactions manually.
Pro Plan Users: Auto-sync is intentionally paused on Pro until your onboarding call with CSM. Book your call or email [email protected] to unlock.
Detailed Settings Reference
Why Settings Configuration Matters
When Synder syncs a transaction to your accounting platform, it needs to know where to post each part of the transaction — income, fees, taxes, and the bank or clearing account. If these are not set up correctly, Synder may refuse to sync (giving you errors) or use defaults that don’t match your bookkeeping setup.
How to Access Your Settings
- Click Settings in the left-hand menu.
- Select your integration at the top of the page (e.g., Stripe, Shopify, PayPal).
- You will see multiple tabs for different setting categories. We cover the key ones below.
The Settings Checklist
Complete every item below before syncing your first batch of transactions.
1. Products and Income Accounts
What it controls: Where Synder records your sales revenue in your accounting platform.
Key concept: Income accounts are linked to products in your accounting software, not set as a single global default in Synder. Each product in QuickBooks Online or Xero has an income account assigned to it. When Synder syncs a transaction, it uses the income account tied to that product.
How it works:
- If the product already exists in your accounting platform, Synder will use the existing product and its assigned income account.
- If the product does not exist, Synder can auto-create it. The new product will be assigned to the default income account you configure in Settings.
- You can set up product mapping in Settings → [Your Integration] → Products/Services tab to match platform products to existing accounting products.
What goes wrong if you skip it: Revenue may be posted to a generic or uncategorized account, making your Profit & Loss report inaccurate.
Tips:
- Review your existing products in your accounting software first. Make sure they have the correct income accounts assigned.
- Use the Product mapping section (in the Products/Services tab) to map integration products to accounting products. You can also bulk upload mappings via CSV.
- If you have many products, start by mapping your top 10–20 sellers. You can refine the rest later.
2. Bank and Clearing Accounts
What it controls: Which accounts in your books represent your payment platform’s balance and where payouts land.
How it works: Synder automatically creates a default clearing account for each integration (e.g., “Stripe Required for Synder”). This represents your payment platform’s balance — money that has been collected but not yet deposited to your bank.
How to configure:
- Go to Settings → [Your Integration] → Sales.
- You will see the clearing account selector. The default Synder-created account works for most users.
- Only change this if you have a specific clearing account you want to use (e.g., “Stripe Clearing” or “PayPal Balance”).
What goes wrong if misconfigured: If you change the clearing account to your main checking account, payouts won’t reconcile properly because the clearing step is skipped.
Tips:
- The default clearing account Synder creates works well for most setups. Only customize if you have a specific reason.
- Keep a separate clearing account for each payment platform — this makes reconciliation much easier.
3. Processing Fees
What it controls: Where Synder records the processing fees that Stripe, PayPal, and other platforms deduct from each transaction.
How to configure:
- In Settings → [Your Integration], find the fee account setting.
- Select an expense account (e.g., “Payment Processing Fees” or “Merchant Fees”).
What goes wrong if you skip it: Fees may be netted against income instead of being recorded as a separate expense — understating your true costs.
4. Product Mapping
What it controls: How Synder matches products from your sales platform to items in your accounting software.
How to configure:
- Go to Settings → [Your Integration] → Products/Services tab.
- In the Product mapping section, you will see products from your sales platform.
- Map each one to the corresponding product in your accounting software.
- You can also upload mappings in bulk via CSV.
What goes wrong if you skip it: Synder may create duplicate products in your accounting software because it could not find a match for an existing item. You may also see sync errors if a product cannot be found or created.
Tips:
- You can customize product search priority to control how Synder looks for existing products (by name, SKU, or both).
- If product names on your sales platform contain special characters, you may need to set up a mapping manually, as some accounting APIs do not support searching by special characters.
5. Tax Settings
What it controls: How sales tax from your transactions is recorded in your accounting software.
How to configure:
- In Settings → [Your Integration], review the tax-related options.
- Make sure your tax codes in your accounting platform match what your sales platform sends.
- The Apply Taxes setting controls whether Synder includes tax information when syncing transactions. When enabled, Synder will map and record sales tax from your transactions. When disabled, transactions sync without tax details — useful if you handle tax reporting separately or your platform does not provide tax data.
What goes wrong if you skip it: Sales tax may not be recorded at all, or it may be posted to the wrong tax code — creating problems at tax filing time.
6. Review and Update
After configuring all settings, click the Update button at the bottom of the settings page to save your changes. Then:
- Import a small batch of transactions from Platform transactions in the left menu.
- Select a few transactions and click Sync.
- Open your accounting software and verify that income accounts, fees, tax, and clearing accounts look correct.
- If anything is off, adjust your settings, click Update, roll back the test transactions using Rollback, and re-sync.
Need Help?
If you are unsure about any setting, the Synder support team can review your configuration and suggest adjustments. Reach out via chat or email — they are always happy to help.
Related articles:
- Per Transaction Sync: Synder User Guide
- How to Review Your Synced Transactions and Fix Errors
- Troubleshooting: Why Your Synder Sync Keeps Pausing
- Product Search Priority
- Product Mapping: Import via File
