If you are using Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager, you can link the Business Contact Manager for Outlook database to the Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 database. After the databases are integrated, changes in Office Accounting 2008 records are reflected in Business Contact Manager for Outlook Account records, and users with Accounting 2008 permissions can create quotes, sales orders, and invoices for Accounting 2008 from within Business Contact Manager for Outlook.

Accounting 2008 includes the Integrate with Business Contact Manager for Outlook wizard to make connecting Accounting 2008 and Business Contact Manager for Outlook as easy as possible.

Install Business Contact Manager for Outlook

First, install Business Contact Manager for Outlook and configure the database in Microsoft Office Outlook. Make sure that you are the database owner and are an administrator on the computer where Business Contact Manager for Outlook is installed. On the computer running Accounting 2008, you must be a systems administrator or have Application administrator permissions in Accounting 2008.

Start the wizard

You can start the wizard during setup if Accounting 2008 detects a Business Contact Manager for Outlook database on the computer where Accounting 2008 is being installed. To start the wizard after setup, do the following:

• On the Company menu, click Integrate with Business Contact Manager.

 Note   You cannot complete the wizard if Accounting 2008 does not detect a Business Contact Manager for Outlook database.

Keep in mind

After you have used the Integrate with Business Contact Manager for Outlook wizard to link Business Contact Manager for Outlook and Accounting 2008, keep the following information in mind:

• During the integration, all Account records in Business Contact Manager for Outlook are copied into Accounting 2008 as customer records. However, these customer records do not become active in Accounting 2008 until they are selected from a drop-down list on a form or from the Customer List.

  All locations where customers appear reflect the integrated list of Business Contact Manager for Outlook Account records and Accounting 2008 customer records (for example, in the Customer name field on quotes, sales orders, and invoices).

• If you delete an Account record in Business Contact Manager for Outlook, the change in Accounting 2008 depends upon whether the customer has become active. If the customer has not become active, the customer record is deleted. If the customer has become active, the customer status changes to inactive.

   Note   If you delete a Business Contact Manager for Outlook Account record that is related to an active Accounting 2008 customer, the contacts that have been added to the Accounting 2008 customer record during the integration are removed.

• When the integration is finished, Business Contact Manager for Outlook users do not have role permissions in Accounting 2008 by default. They cannot create Accounting 2008 sales transactions in Business Contact Manager for Outlook, and they can only make changes in Accounting 2008 customer records by making the changes to Account records in Business Contact Manager for Outlook.

  To allow these users to read or make changes in Accounting 2008, you must assign them roles in Accounting 2008, either in the wizard or in the Manage Users dialog box. All users in Accounting 2008 receive Business Contact Manager for Outlook permissions.

For additional information

• Integrate with Business Contact Manager for Outlook
• Share data with Business Contact Manager for Outlook