QuickBooks API Invoice <DueDate> tag - api

Question

I wrote a custom integration between a SQL Server based system and QuickBooks many years ago which automatically creates invoices in QuickBooks from data in SQL Server. The XML string to create the invoices is quite simple:
<QBXML>
<QBXMLMsgsRq newMessageSetID="10025027" onError="continueOnError">
<InvoiceAddRq requestID="10025027">
<InvoiceAdd>
<CustomerRef>
<FullName>Acme Corporation, Inc.</FullName>
</CustomerRef>
<TxnDate>2014-02-05</TxnDate>
<RefNumber>124</RefNumber>
<ShipAddress>
<Addr1>16-01 16th Avenue, Dock 3</Addr1>
<Addr2/>
<Addr3/>
<Addr4/>
<City>Astoria</City>
<State>NY</State>
<PostalCode>11105</PostalCode>
</ShipAddress>
<PONumber> 6028019</PONumber>
<SalesRepRef>
<FullName>H</FullName>
</SalesRepRef>
<Memo>1401106</Memo>
<InvoiceLineAdd>
<ItemRef>
<FullName>SALES</FullName>
</ItemRef>
<Desc> Semi Annual Sampling - M1; Day 1</Desc>
<Rate>5580</Rate>
</InvoiceLineAdd>
</InvoiceAdd>
</InvoiceAddRq>
</QBXMLMsgsRq>
</QBXML>
The SQL Server based system actually prints detailed invoices which are delivered to the customer, QuickBooks is only used to keep track of account balances and payments. I am now trying to add the DueDate to the invoice by adding the following XML tag:
<DueDate>2014-03-07</DueDate>
I have tried to place this tag in several places in the XML string but QuickBooks rejects the request with the following error:
"QuickBooks found an error when parsing the provided XML text stream."
The bookkeeper is able to manually change the due date on the invoices after they are created, but for some reason I can't specify the due date when creating the invoices with the QuickBooks API. Any Ideas?
Thanks.

Answer 1

A few things to note here:
This is an incomplete qbXML request. There should be an XML and qbXML header tag as the very first two lines, and you're missing them. They should look like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<?qbxml version="13.0"?>
That version="..." bit should be set to something your version of QuickBooks supports (generally your QuickBooks version - 1, e.g. QuickBooks 2012 supports qbXML version 11.0, QuickBooks 2013 supports qbXML version 12.0, QuickBooks 2014 supports qbXML version 13.0, etc.)
Your post doesn't even show the DueDate field in the XML, so it's a little hard to tell what's actually wrong, but...
Keep in mind that the order of tags in qbXML is important. So if the OSR shows the DueDate field after PONumber, you better make darn sure to put it after the PONumber field. If you put it before it, you're going to get exactly the error you described.
Did you use the OSR to find the correct place? There shouldn't be any guess-work here - it tells you exactly where to put it.
...
<State>NY</State>
<PostalCode>11105</PostalCode>
</ShipAddress>
<PONumber> 6028019</PONumber>
<DueDate>2014-02-12</DueDate
<SalesRepRef>
<FullName>H</FullName>
</SalesRepRef>
<Memo>1401106</Memo>
...

Answer 2

I think the missing header tags were the problem. (I also added the <TermsRef> tag)
Here is the XML that did the trick:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<?qbxml version="11.0"?>
<QBXML>
<QBXMLMsgsRq newMessageSetID="10025079" onError="continueOnError">
<InvoiceAddRq requestID="10025079">
<InvoiceAdd>
<CustomerRef>
<FullName>Acme Corporation</FullName>
</CustomerRef>
<TxnDate>2014-02-13</TxnDate>
<RefNumber>168</RefNumber>
<ShipAddress>
<Addr1>Acme Corporation</Addr1>
<Addr2>1587-43 Veteran's Highway</Addr2>
<Addr3/>
<Addr4/>
<City>Islandia</City>
<State>NY</State>
<PostalCode>11749</PostalCode>
</ShipAddress>
<PONumber>5A873929B</PONumber>
<TermsRef>
<FullName>30 Days</FullName>
</TermsRef>
<DueDate>2014-03-15</DueDate>
<SalesRepRef>
<FullName>H</FullName>
</SalesRepRef>
<Memo>1402016</Memo>
<InvoiceLineAdd>
<ItemRef>
<FullName>SALES</FullName>
</ItemRef>
<Desc> OBAR Auto Parts, 279 South Street, Oyster Bay, NY 11771</Desc>
<Rate>1760</Rate>
</InvoiceLineAdd>
</InvoiceAdd>
</InvoiceAddRq>
</QBXMLMsgsRq>
</QBXML>
Thank you again!