Daily batching vs per-order posting

Choose the posting strategy that keeps books clean with least work.

TL;DR: Batching = faster close + lean QBO. Per-order = fine at low volume.

What’s the difference?

Daily batching:

• All orders from a day post as one summarized sales receipt
• Example: “Shopify Sales - Oct 8, 2025: $4,327.50”
• Details stored in memo field or separate report

Per-order posting:

• Each order creates its own sales receipt
• Example: “Order #1001 - John Smith - $127.50”
• Every order is a separate QuickBooks transaction

Daily batching (recommended for most)

Pros

• Faster reconciliation: One entry per day matches bank deposit
• Clean QuickBooks: Doesn’t clutter with hundreds of transactions
• Faster month-end: Less data to review
• Better performance: QuickBooks stays fast
• Easier for accountants: Summary view is cleaner for analysis

Cons

• Less detail in QuickBooks: Can’t see individual orders without drilling into source app
• Harder to trace: Need integration app to find specific order details

Best for

• 50+ orders per day
• Businesses focused on financial reporting, not order details
• When accountant prefers summary view
• Month-end close speed is priority

Per-order posting

Pros

• Full detail: Every order visible in QuickBooks
• Easy tracing: Search by customer name or order number
• Granular reporting: Filter by customer, product, etc.
• No integration app needed: All data lives in QuickBooks

Cons

• QuickBooks bloat: Thousands of transactions slow the system
• Harder reconciliation: Matching 100+ deposits per day to bank feed
• Slower month-end: More transactions to review
• Performance issues: Large files become sluggish

Best for

• Low volume (<50 orders/day)
• Businesses that need order-level detail in QuickBooks
• When you don’t use inventory tracking (less data per transaction)
• Custom reporting requirements by customer/order

Hybrid approach (best of both)

Some accounting-grade apps offer hybrid options:

• Daily summary for sales: One entry per day for revenue
• Individual entries for refunds: Track refunds separately for visibility
• Separate COGS posting: Detailed COGS per order for margin analysis

This gives you clean books with detail where it matters.

Technical considerations

Bank reconciliation

Daily batching: One QuickBooks deposit = one bank deposit (easy match) Per-order: Must group multiple orders into deposit to match bank

QuickBooks file size

Daily batching: 365 entries per year Per-order: 36,500 entries per year (at 100 orders/day) → slow performance

Reporting

Daily batching: Use integration app for order-level reports; QuickBooks for financials Per-order: All reporting in QuickBooks, but slower with large datasets

How to choose

Answer these questions:

1. Order volume: More than 50/day? → Use daily batching
2. Reporting needs: Need order detail in QuickBooks? → Use per-order (if low volume)
3. Accountant preference: Ask your accountant what they prefer
4. Performance: Large file already slow? → Use daily batching
5. Integration app: Using Webgility/A2X? → They recommend daily batching

Switching methods

You can change posting methods, but:

• Don’t repost historical transactions (creates duplicates)
• Start new method going forward
• Historical data stays in old format
• Document the change date for your accountant

Bottom line

Use daily batching unless you have a specific reason not to. It keeps QuickBooks fast, reconciliation simple, and month-end efficient.

Use per-order only if you’re low volume and truly need every order visible in QuickBooks for your workflow.