Overview
When testing your accounting integrations, it is important to consider checking you can connect and authorise using a demo or sandbox account before sharing with potential customers.
Codat recommends testing throughout implementation with our Sandbox account and Xero and QuickBooks online who both offering demo/sandbox accounts with no fixed trials. Other integrations may require signing up to free trials in order to test the connection, as this trial can be time limited you may want to test towards the end of your implementation or request multiple trials.
Demo accounts
Test accounts with unlimited use and/or demo company data.
Sandbox
Codat's Accounting Sandbox contains sample data generated by Codat as a tool for developer testing.
When you link to Sandbox, you are presented with different data sets to choose from. Each data set provides a different level of detail.
QuickBooks Online
Once registered for a developer account as part of setup you are able to access the sandbox accounts. These accounts can only be tested in Codat UAT (after setting up your QuickBooks Online client ID and secret).
To view your sandbox accounts:
- Navigate to Quickbooks Developer
- Click on your name (or company name) to access the dropdown
- Select Sandbox
MYOB AccountRight Live
After registering your developer account as part of setup you should receive an email from Myob with details on how to use the Myob Sandbox accounts.
After clicking ‘I accept’ you should be given the option to download AccountRight and instructions on how to load your demo files.
Please note Codat only supports data hosted online.
Xero
Details on accessing the Demo Company are available here.
Zoho Books
Zoho does not provide test data like the other accounting platforms but you can setup a Test Organisation.
- Navigate to Zoho Subscriptions
- Click Try it for free
- Create an account
- You will then be able to Create a New Test Organisation
You have the option to import data or create new customers etc.
To ensure a company can connect you must set their default company:
- Select the organisation name (top right corned)
- Click Manage
- Next to the required company click the … button
- Select mark as default
Free trials
Platforms who don’t provide demo accounts, but do offer limited free trials.
Clearbook
Free trial: https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/
Exact
Free Trial: https://www.exact.com/try
FreeAgent
To use the FreeAgent API with it do the following:
- https://dev.freeagent.com/docs/quick_start
- Create a free temporary FreeAgent user account at the FreeAgent Sandbox.
Freshbooks
Free Trial: https://www.freshbooks.com/blog/freshbooks-trial
Kashflow
Request a developer test account: https://www.kashflow.com/support/kb/developer-account/
Kashoo
Free Trial: https://kashoo.com/trykashoo
MYOB Essentials
Free trial: https://www.myob.com/au/accounting-software/essentials
QuickBooks Desktop
Free trial: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/desktop/enterprise/contact/trial-download/?auto=true
Sage 50 and Business Cloud
Free Trial: https://www.sage.com/en-gb/shop/freetrials.aspx
Sage also offer a Postman collection with pre-filled test data that you can access during the free trial: https://developer.sage.com/accounting/quick-start/preparing-to-create-test-data/
Microsoft 365 Dynamics Business Central
Sandbox environment: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/dynamics365/business-central/across-how-create-sandbox-environment
Pandle
Free version: https://my.pandle.com/users/sign_up
Wave
Free version: https://my.waveapps.com/register/
Open Banking
Plaid
Demo data is available to test Plaid in UAT. In order to access the Plaid demo data, the initial setup for Plaid needs to be complete. This includes setting the client ID and accompanying secret on the Codat integrations page.
The Plaid demo data is available when the Sandbox Secret is set.
When following the Plaid link flow, after selecting a bank you will either be directed to log in with credentials (left) or to authenticate for sandbox (right).
If prompted to log in, you can use demo credentials:
- Username: user_good
- Password: pass_good
If prompted to authorise for sandbox, select Grant access in order to link demo data.
