Import Reckon Accounts Hosted Data into Microsoft Power Query

The Connect Server enables you to use Web services to connect to and query Reckon Accounts Hosted data. This article details how to import an OData feed of Reckon Accounts Hosted data into Microsoft Power Query.

Connect to Reckon Accounts Hosted from Power Query

To work with live Reckon Accounts Hosted data in Microsoft Power Query, we need to connect to Reckon Accounts Hosted from Connect Server, provide user access to the new virtual database, and create OData endpoints for the Reckon Accounts Hosted data.

Add a Connect Server User

Create a User to connect to Reckon Accounts Hosted from Microsoft Power Query through Connect Server.

1. Click Users -> Add
2. Configure a User
3. Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user

Connect to Reckon Accounts Hosted from Connect Server

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Open Connect Server and click Connections
2. Select "Reckon Accounts Hosted" from Available Data Sources
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Reckon Accounts Hosted.

   The connector makes requests to Reckon Accounts Hosted through OAuth. Specify the following connection properties:

   • SubscriptionKey: Required. You get this value when you created your developer account.
   • CountryVersion: Defaults to 2021.R2.AU.
   • CompanyFile: Required. The path to the company file.
   • User: Required. The username of the company file.
   • Password: Required. The password of the company file.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH to let the driver handle access tokens.
   • CallbackURL: The redirectURI of your Custom OAuth App.
   • OAuthClientId: The client id of your Custom OAuth App.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret of your Custom OAuth App.

   CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth desktop authentication. See the Help documentation for information on other OAuth authentication methods (web, headless, etc.), creating custom OAuth applications, and reasons for doing so.

4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for Reveal).

Add Reckon Accounts Hosted OData Endpoints in Connect Server

After connecting to Reckon Accounts Hosted, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

1. Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
2. Select the Reckon Accounts Hosted database
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
5. Save the settings

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple domains from an application such as Ajax, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.

• Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
• Allow all domains without '*': ON
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Connect to Reckon Accounts Hosted Data from Power Query

Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:

1. Configure the Connect Server to use a version of the OData protocol that is recognized by Power Query. In the Connect Server administration console, click Settings -> Server and change the value of the Default Version property to 3.0.

2. From the ribbon in Excel, click Power Query -> From Other Data Sources -> From OData Feed, and enter the OData URL:

   https://your-server:8032/api.rsc

3. Next, define authentication credentials and set privacy levels. Select Basic authentication and enter the credentials for a user authorized to make requests. Specify the Username field and enter the user's authtoken in the Password field.

   To change the authentication scheme that Power Query will use, click Power Query -> Data Source Settings. Select the OData feed from the list and then click "Edit Permissions..." Select the privacy level from the menu.

4. You can now access Reckon Accounts Hosted data in Power Query. In the Navigator expand the node for the OData feed, right-click a table, and click Edit to open the Query Editor. This will display the table data.

Free Trial & More Information

If you are interested in connecting to your Reckon Accounts Hosted data (or data from any of our other supported data sources) from Power Query, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect Server today! For more information on Connect Server and to see what other data sources we support, refer to our CData Connect page.