Why Did FlexBooks Create a Duplicate Income Account?
If you use account numbers in your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts, and your income has started arriving in a second account with almost the same name as one you already had, this article is for you.
The usual symptom is a Profit and Loss that has split in two. You click into one of your income accounts for a recent month and it comes up empty, while an account you don’t recognise, with the same name and no number, holds everything from the last few weeks.
Why this happens
In QuickBooks, an account’s number and its name are two separate fields. An account you think of as “4100 Yoga Classes” is really an account numbered 4100 whose name is Yoga Classes. QuickBooks displays them side by side on your Chart of Accounts, so they look like one thing, but they are stored separately.
FlexBooks matches your MindBody Revenue Categories to your QuickBooks Income Accounts by name only. It never reads the account number, because the number is a QuickBooks field and your Revenue Category doesn’t have one.
So if your QuickBooks account is numbered 4100 and named Yoga Classes, and you name your Revenue Category “4100 Yoga Classes” to mirror it, the two don’t match. FlexBooks looks for an account named “4100 Yoga Classes”, doesn’t find one, and creates it.
This catches people out precisely because they are being careful. Putting the number in front of the name looks like the most faithful way to mirror the two systems, and it is the one thing that guarantees they won’t match.
Capitalisation is the only difference FlexBooks forgives, so “Yoga Classes” and “yoga classes” match each other. Everything else counts, including spaces, punctuation, and any number you’ve put in front.
How to tell whether this has happened to you
Open your Chart of Accounts and sort by name. Two accounts with the same or nearly the same name, where one has a number and the other doesn’t, is this. The one FlexBooks created is the one without a number.
How to fix it
Three steps, and the order matters. Read all three before you start. If the months involved are already closed or filed, talk to whoever prepares your taxes first, because step two changes what your Profit and Loss reported for those months.
1. Fix the name in MindBody first.
Rename the Revenue Category in MindBody so that it exactly matches the name of your QuickBooks account, with no account number in front. In the example above you would rename “4100 Yoga Classes” to “Yoga Classes”.
Do this first. If you skip it, your next sync will create the duplicate account all over again.
For instructions, see Can I change my revenue categories after making sales? in MindBody’s help center.
2. Move the income that has already landed in the wrong account.
The income goes to the duplicate account because of how your Products and Services are mapped, so that is where you change it.
- In QuickBooks, go to Gear icon > Products and Services.
- Find a product or service whose income is going to the duplicate account and click Edit.
- Under Income Account, choose your original, numbered account.
- Tick Also update this account in historical transactions. This is the step that moves the income you have already recorded. Without it, you only fix sales from today onward.
- Click Save and close.
- Repeat for every product or service pointing at the duplicate account.
3. Make the duplicate account inactive.
Once step two has emptied it, go back to your Chart of Accounts and make the duplicate inactive.
Do this last. An account that still holds a balance will keep appearing on your reports even after you make it inactive, so emptying it first is what actually takes it off your Profit and Loss.
How to check it worked
Run a Profit and Loss for a month that had sales in the duplicate account. The duplicate should now read zero, and your original numbered account should carry the full amount for that month.
Can I just merge the two accounts instead?
You can. Either way, rename the Revenue Category in MindBody first, or the duplicate account will come back on your next sync.
How do I stop this happening again?
Name your MindBody Revenue Categories to match the names of your QuickBooks Income Accounts, and leave your account numbers out of it entirely. Your numbers keep working exactly as they always have inside QuickBooks. They simply play no part in how the two systems find each other.
Advanced mapping scenarios
These are the less common situations. If you are setting up mapping for the first time, start with Can I Map My MBO Income?
Changing mappings after you have already synced
Mapping changes apply to new transactions by default. To update historical transactions, check Also update this account in historical transactions when editing the product/service in QuickBooks Online.
Warning: Updating historical transactions can shift prior-month P&L reports. Coordinate with your bookkeeper before applying historical changes across many products.
When Mindbody revenue categories change
If you rename or reorganize revenue categories in Mindbody:
- FlexBooks creates a new income account the first time a sale in a new category syncs.
- Products that already exist in QuickBooks keep the income account they were given. FlexBooks never changes a product once it has created it, so update those yourself in Products and services.
- If you rename a product in MindBody, FlexBooks treats it as a new product and creates it again under the new name. The old one stays in QuickBooks with its past sales.
- Recommended: Update revenue categories in Mindbody before heavy sales periods, then verify mappings in QuickBooks Online Products and Services.
Custom or one-off products
Custom sales in Mindbody still sync through a product/service record. If a sale maps to an unexpected account:
- Find the product name in the QuickBooks Online transaction detail.
- Search for that product in Mindbody to confirm its revenue category.
- Update the QuickBooks Online product’s income account mapping if needed.
Troubleshooting mapping mismatches
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Income in wrong QuickBooks Online category | Product/service mapped to wrong income account | Edit mapping in Products and Services |
| New category not appearing | Category added in Mindbody after last sync | Wait for next sync; verify in QuickBooks Online |
| Refund in wrong category | Refund tied to product with old mapping | Update product mapping; see Refunds, Chargebacks & Negative Transactions |
| Totals match but categories differ | Intentional non-mirrored mapping | Run audit report; document mapping choices |
Stripe and other payment income
If you use Stripe or other processors in addition to Mindbody Payments, see Can I Map My Stripe Income? for processor-specific mapping guidance.
When to change Mindbody vs. change QuickBooks Online
| Goal | Change in Mindbody | Change in QuickBooks Online |
|---|---|---|
| Reports should match between systems | Yes (preferred) | No |
| QuickBooks Online formatted for tax preparer | Maybe | Yes (with caution) |
| One product needs different account | Change its revenue category | Edit product mapping |