Integrations: What Are They & Why Do They Matter?
Integrations are connections between two or more software systems that allow data to move automatically and consistently between them. In finance, integrations typically connect accounting software with tools such as CRM, billing, expenses, payroll, banking, and reporting platforms.
The goal is to reduce manual entry, improve data accuracy,and make reporting faster and more reliable.
- Integrations automate data flow between systems, reducing manual work and reconciliation effort.
- Good integrations rely on clear data ownership, mapping, validation rules, and exception handling.
- Integrations can be implemented through pre-built connectors, APIs, or file-based imports.
Why integrations matter in finance
Finance teams often rely on multiple systems to runday-to-day operations. When these systems don’t connect, month-end becomes acycle of exporting files, reformatting data, uploading/importing, andinvestigating mismatches. This increases the risk of duplicated effort,inconsistent records, and delayed close.
Integrations reduce these issues by creating a repeatablepipeline for key finance data. When data moves in a controlled way, financeteams spend less time assembling numbers and more time reviewing results,analysing performance, and supporting decision-making.
What an integration actually does
A finance integration is defined by a few practical choices:
- What data moves: common data includes customers and suppliers, invoices and bills, payments, bank statement lines, journals (such as payroll), and reporting dimensions (department, cost centre, project, entity, fund).
- Direction: one-way sync (system A → system B) or two-way sync (both systems update each other). Two-way sync can be useful but needs stronger governance to avoid conflicts.
- Frequency: real-time, scheduled (daily/hourly), or on-demand. The right frequency depends on the process and the level of timeliness required.
- Rules and validation: integrations should enforce required fields, valid values, posting logic, and status rules (for example, only approved items post).
- Exception handling: the integration must surface errors clearly (missing codes, duplicates, tax mismatches, currency/rounding, timing issues) and support simple correction and reprocessing.
Common integration types
Finance teams most commonly integrate accounting with:
- Billing/revenue tools to automate invoice and revenue-related postings
- Expenses/spend tools to post approved spend with correct coding
- Payroll/HR systems to post consistent payroll journals and allocations
- Bank feeds to import transactions and support faster reconciliation
- BI/reporting platforms to power dashboards using clean finance data
Integration approaches
- Pre-built connectors: faster to deploy for common tools and standard workflows, but less flexible for niche requirements.
- API-based integrations: more scalable and flexible, suitable for frequent sync and stronger validation, but usually requires technical resources.
- File imports: useful for low-frequency or bulk processes, but more manual controls are needed to prevent versioning and upload errors.
What’s the difference between an integration and an API?
An API is the technical interface; an integration is the full solutionincluding mapping, rules, scheduling, monitoring, and error handling.
Do integrations need to be real-time?
Not always. Many finance processes work well with scheduled sync, providedcut-off and exception handling are well defined.
Which integrations usually deliver the biggest impactfirst?
Bank feeds, expenses, billing/invoicing, and payroll journals often reduce themost manual effort and improve close speed.
Find out how integrations can benefit your finances with AccountsIQ
