Brainforge Knowledge

LMNT_Discovery_Memo_QuickBooks

6 min read

LMNT — Data source discovery memo — QuickBooks Online (Snowflake RAW.POLYTOMIC_QUICKBOOKS)

Client: LMNT · Audience: Leadership, Analytics, Engineering · Warehouse: Snowflake account OZ69039, database RAW · Profiled: 2026-04-14 (Snowflake CLI lmnt_service; INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES; INVOICES.TXN_DATE range check)

Executive summary

QuickBooks Online is the finance system of record. Polytomic syncs selected entities into RAW.POLYTOMIC_QUICKBOOKS for analytics and reconciliation—roughly 162k rows across 29 base tables in this snapshot. PURCHASES is the largest table (~92k rows), which points to heavy AP / procurement activity relative to AR tables like INVOICES (~4.9k rows).

This warehouse copy answers accounting and cash questions, not storefront velocity. Leadership views that blend QBO with Shopify or ReCharge need a Finance-owned mapping (entity, timing, SKU).

Access and lineage

QuickBooks Online → Polytomic → RAW.POLYTOMIC_QUICKBOOKS. Read-only for analytics; Finance owns corrections in QBO.

Per-table catalog

Each table below lists metrics, business objective, and questions this table answers. Row counts are Snowflake estimates from 2026-04-14.

PURCHASES

  • Metrics: ~92,224 rows (largest table in schema).
  • Business objective: Record purchase transactions in QBO (expense-side purchasing activity).
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What purchase volume hit the books in a period?
    • How do purchases roll up for AP and spend analysis?
    • Which vendors or accounts tie to purchase lines (with joins)?

BILLS

  • Metrics: ~20,357 rows.
  • Business objective: Vendor bills owed (AP).
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What do we owe suppliers, and when are bills due?
    • How do bills compare to BILL_PAYMENTS for settlement?

BILL_PAYMENTS

  • Metrics: ~20,175 rows.
  • Business objective: Payments against bills (AP cash out).
  • Questions this table answers:
    • When did we pay specific bills?
    • What is cash outflow timing for AP?

DEPOSITS

  • Metrics: ~6,842 rows.
  • Business objective: Bank deposits grouping payments and other lines for reconciliation.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • How were deposits composed in a period?
    • How do deposits bridge bank statements to PAYMENTS and INVOICES?

INVOICES

  • Metrics: ~4,858 rows. TXN_DATE (profiling): roughly 2020-02-10 through 2026-04-08 (non-deleted rows).
  • Business objective: Customer invoices (AR).
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What did we invoice customers, and on what dates?
    • How does invoiced revenue relate to recognized revenue per Finance policy?
    • Where do we join toward Shopify or wholesale (manual mapping only)?

VENDORS

  • Metrics: ~4,549 rows.
  • Business objective: Vendor master in QBO.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • Who are our suppliers for AP reporting?
    • How do vendors roll up to spend by category or entity?

JOURNAL_ENTRIES

  • Metrics: ~4,452 rows.
  • Business objective: General ledger adjustments and system journals.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What manual or system journals moved the books?
    • How do we trace adjustments to ACCOUNTS?

CUSTOMERS

  • Metrics: ~2,955 rows.
  • Business objective: QBO customer list for AR and some transactions.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • Who appears on invoices and payments in QBO?
    • How does the QBO customer list relate to Shopify or wholesale customer (often not one-to-one)?

TRANSFERS

  • Metrics: ~2,852 rows.
  • Business objective: Inter-account transfers (e.g., bank to bank).
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What non-AR/AP cash movements occurred?
    • How do transfers affect cash position reporting?

PAYMENTS

  • Metrics: ~1,431 rows.
  • Business objective: Customer payments against invoices (AR cash in).
  • Questions this table answers:
    • When did we receive cash against open invoices?
    • What is collections performance versus INVOICES?

ACCOUNTS

  • Metrics: ~703 rows.
  • Business objective: Chart of accounts for classification.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What account structure does Finance use for reporting?
    • How do transactions map to P&L and balance sheet lines?

ITEMS

  • Metrics: ~267 rows.
  • Business objective: Products and services as QBO items for line-level posting.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What item list does Finance use on transactions?
    • How might items map to SKU or product hierarchy (if maintained)?

VENDOR_CREDITS

  • Metrics: ~87 rows.
  • Business objective: Credits from vendors (AP side).
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What vendor credits reduce amounts owed?
    • How do credits pair with BILLS and PURCHASES?

CREDIT_MEMOS

  • Metrics: ~70 rows.
  • Business objective: Customer credit memos (AR credits).
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What credits were issued to customers?
    • How do credit memos adjust revenue or AR balances?

TERMS

  • Metrics: ~12 rows.
  • Business objective: Payment terms (Net 30, etc.) on AR/AP objects.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What standard terms apply to invoices or bills?
    • How do terms affect DSO or payment timing analysis?

PAYMENT_METHODS

  • Metrics: ~9 rows.
  • Business objective: Payment method reference data in QBO.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • What payment methods are configured for customer payments?
    • How are methods used on PAYMENTS?

PURCHASE_ORDERS

  • Metrics: ~3 rows.
  • Business objective: Purchase orders if used in QBO.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • Are POs material in QBO for our business (low row count suggests limited use)?
    • How do POs tie to PURCHASES or BILLS if expanded later?

EMPLOYEES

  • Metrics: ~2 rows.
  • Business objective: Employee records for payroll-related or reimbursable flows in QBO.
  • Questions this table answers:
    • Who appears in QBO for expense or payroll-linked transactions?
    • Is this table meaningful for analytics given minimal rows?

TAX_RATES

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Sales tax rate definitions in QBO—not present in this sync snapshot.
  • Questions this table answers: None until populated; confirm with Finance if tax analytics should live in QBO versus another system.

SALES_RECEIPTS

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Cash sales receipts distinct from invoices—unused or not synced.
  • Questions this table answers: Do we record cash retail or POS-style receipts elsewhere?

TAX_AGENCIES

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Tax agency reference for compliance reporting.
  • Questions this table answers: Are tax agencies maintained outside QBO or not applicable?

ESTIMATES

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Quotes / estimates before invoicing.
  • Questions this table answers: Is quoting done only in CRM or another tool?

CUSTOMER_TYPES

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Customer type segmentation in QBO.
  • Questions this table answers: Do we segment AR customers only via custom fields or external master data?

BUDGETS

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Budget objects for planning in QBO.
  • Questions this table answers: Is budgeting done in Sheets, FP&A tools, or not in QBO?

TAX_CODES

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Tax code reference for line-level tax behavior.
  • Questions this table answers: Are tax codes centralized in another engine or not replicated?

TIME_ACTIVITIES

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Time tracking billable or internal hours.
  • Questions this table answers: Is time tracked in another HR or PSA system?

REFUND_RECEIPTS

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Refund receipt objects for cash-basis refund handling.
  • Questions this table answers: Are customer refunds handled only via CREDIT_MEMOS and PAYMENTS?

CLASSES

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Class dimensions for P&L by department or location in QBO.
  • Questions this table answers: Do we use LOCATIONS, tags, or external planning instead of QBO classes?

DEPARTMENTS

  • Metrics: 0 rows (snapshot).
  • Business objective: Department dimension for reporting.
  • Questions this table answers: Is departmental reporting owned outside QBO or not required?

Joins and caveats

  • Reconcile QBO to Shopify or ReCharge only with a written mapping and Finance sign-off.
  • PURCHASES drives row volume—center AP and spend analytics there when relevant.
  • INVOICES row count is modest versus DTC order volume; do not treat as a proxy for GMV.
  1. Finance sign-off on authoritative QBO entities for external reporting.
  2. Short data dictionary for invoice vs payment vs deposit timing.
  3. Mark zero-row tables inactive in documentation until populated.

Graph View