The daily QuickBooks Desktop export
Map your accounts once, then export a daily General Journal file and import it into QuickBooks Desktop without double-posting.
If your accountant lives in QuickBooks Desktop, Meridian can hand them a daily General Journal file (IIF) built straight from your ledger — one import a day and the books match, with nothing re-keyed. Map your accounts once, then it's a two-click routine.
Turn it on and map your accounts. Open Settings → QuickBooks Desktop and switch on Enable QuickBooks Desktop export. The mapping grid lists every ledger account under Ledger account, QuickBooks Desktop name, and Status. Type each account's exact QuickBooks name (use a colon path like Income:Parts Revenue for a sub-account), then click Save mappings. Spelling is load-bearing — a name that doesn't match an existing QuickBooks account silently creates a new one on import.
Optional: carry your branch into QuickBooks. If you run multiple locations, switch on Track branch as QuickBooks CLASS so each entry's location lands in QuickBooks class reporting. Leave it off and the class column stays blank.
Generate the file. Open Accounting → QBD Export, pick a Range — Yesterday, This month to date, Last month, or Custom range — and click Preview. The preview shows the transaction and line counts, the first lines of the file, and any warnings.
Read the preview before you download. Two things block or warn you: any account still unmapped shows a hard warning with a Fix mappings link (the export won't run until it's clean), and if the range overlaps a file you already exported, Meridian warns you by name and date because re-importing double-posts. When the preview is clean, click Download .iif.
Import into QuickBooks Desktop. In QuickBooks: File → Utilities → Import → IIF Files, then choose the downloaded file. On QuickBooks 2019 and newer a review dialog appears — that's expected, go ahead and confirm.
Import each file exactly once. QuickBooks does not detect duplicates, so a second import of the same file double-posts. Meridian remembers every export in the Recent exports list and warns before you export an overlapping range — only an administrator can override with Export anyway. Each transaction also carries its Meridian reference in the DOCNUM column, so a double-import is easy to spot in the register.
Optional: automate the nightly file. Under Settings → QuickBooks Desktop, switch on Enable nightly export to build yesterday's file automatically each morning and deliver it by In-app notification, Email, or a Synced folder. Use Send test export now to confirm the delivery works before you rely on it.
What happens behind the scenes
This export is one-directional and read-only: Meridian reads your ledger and writes a General Journal file — it never changes your Meridian books, and QuickBooks never writes back. The file carries balanced journal entries (debits equal credits) for the range you picked; importing it posts those same entries into QuickBooks so both systems tell the same story. The account mapping is the whole trick — Meridian's account names and QuickBooks' account names have to line up, which is why an unmapped account is a hard stop. To keep you from posting the same day twice, Meridian fingerprints each export and remembers it, so an overlapping range gets flagged rather than quietly duplicating your numbers.
Troubleshooting
The export screen stays hidden until you switch on Enable QuickBooks Desktop export in Settings → QuickBooks Desktop. Turn it on and map your accounts there first, then the export page opens up.
Every ledger account touched by the range needs a QuickBooks name. The preview lists the unmapped ones with a Fix mappings link; give each a name (or use Use account names for unmapped as a starting point), save, and preview again.
The QuickBooks name in your mapping didn't exactly match an existing account, so QuickBooks made one. Fix the spelling in Settings → QuickBooks Desktop so future files land in the right account, and merge the stray account inside QuickBooks.
You already exported those days. Importing the same transactions again double-posts in QuickBooks, so Meridian blocks it by default and shows when the earlier file went out. Pick a non-overlapping range instead — only an administrator can force it with Export anyway, and only when they're sure the earlier file was never imported.