Running a business is tough! Luckily, software advances have made some things easier. Outsourcing a service is another thing that can help.
Once you find software that works best for your business, you should only outsource to services that can accommodate your software or help you transition to similar software.
CSI Accounting & Payroll has embraced technology advances for small business owners for more than 50 years. In fact, “CSI” stands for “Computerized Accounting Services, Inc.” - which was a lot to brag about several decades ago! Here’s what we’ve found business owners want to know about integrations:
- Common integrations that CSI does for our clients
- Popular integration requests from prospective clients
- How CSI evaluates whether or not we can work with an integration
- How CSI prices integrations
Common Integrations CSI Provides for Clients
At CSI, we strive to provide our clients with comprehensive accounting services that meet their unique needs. We offer many options to work with QuickBooks and Xero, and there are plenty of software solutions that integrate with them.
One of the most common requests we receive is for integrations that can help streamline accounting processes and make it easier to keep track of financial data. Here are some of the most frequently requested integrations.
Bill.com
We use Bill.com to help clients manage payables more efficiently. On the payables side, Bill.com helps you automate the process by receiving bills and invoices electronically, routing them for approval, and scheduling payments.
By automating the payables process, you can improve your cash flow management, save time, and reduce the risk of errors. This gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on other aspects of your business - just like outsourcing is supposed to.
Payroll software such as ADP, Paychex, or Gusto
Integrating payroll software with accounting software can make it much easier to manage business cash flow.
However, if you’re like many small business owners who still struggle with outsourced payroll taking a lot of their time and effort, consider using CSI’s payroll service. In fact, there are many benefits to bundling accounting and payroll services under one roof!
Stripe
Stripe is an online payment processing platform for digital payments like Apple Pay and credit cards. It also offers features such as automated billing, subscription management, and fraud detection.
It easily integrates with our preferred accounting software, Xero. With Stripe, we can quickly reconcile your fees and amounts charged to ensure that your financial data is up-to-date and accurate.
PayPal
PayPal is another popular payment gateway all over the world that can be integrated with our accounting software. This means seamless tracking of all financial transactions - including payments, receipts, and refunds - all in one place.
By integrating PayPal with our accounting software, it’s easier to manage your finances and make informed business decisions.
Bank and Credit Cards
Bank and credit card integrations might be an obvious one, but integrating them with your accounting software is one of the best ways to help ensure that all of your financial data is up-to-date and accurate.
Top Integration Requests from Prospective CSI Clients
When we sit down with a prospective client to discover their software integration needs, we hear tons of suggestions. In fact, there are thousands of possible software integrations with QuickBooks and Xero.
While we would love to work with anything each client requests, our staff can’t efficiently navigate thousands of software solutions while still offering a quality service to all of our clients. Here are some common requests that we need to examine on a case-by-case basis:
- POS systems for restaurants and retail
- Payment systems (other than Stripe)
- Less-known software that requires a third party to integrate
- Software with no defined integration (ex. desktop products)
- Software that requires CSI to log in to integrate and sync each use
CSI’s Process for Evaluating Integration Requests
As mentioned above, with thousands of software solutions that integrate with QuickBooks and Xero, we can’t use them all while still offering an efficient service. If you don’t see your preferred software mentioned in this article yet, that means it likely falls outside of our common requests.
How do we determine whether or not we can work with your software? Here’s our process:
- Our Onboarding Team will do some discovery on your integration needs.
- They will work with you to ensure we reach a software solution that works well for both you and your accountant.
- If that means you need to switch which software you use, we will assist in the process.
In the future, we even plan to develop industry software portfolios based on what our clients in each industry say works best for them. This is yet another reason why experience with different industries is important in an accounting firm!
CSI’s Process for Approaching Integration Costs
If we do decide we’re able to work with a software solution that you request, the final step is determining the price.
How do we decide what it will cost? It will depend on things like:
- The requirements of the software
- The complexity of the product
- Who we need to work with
- The type of data that is pulled over
Since all integrations will take several hours at minimum, we charge accordingly for them. The common software solutions that we integrate with typically sit on the lower end, but integrations that are not ideal will run much higher, as they can take upwards of 30 hours to do. For these reasons, there can be a price range of about $1,000-$2,500.
Streamline Your Finances with CSI's Comprehensive Software Integrations
Integrating software solutions with your accounting system can provide a range of benefits to your business, including increased efficiency, accuracy, and time savings. It’s important to outsource to services that will work with you to reach a software solution that works best for both parties.
While we have some common integrations that we do for clients, there are thousands of possibilities. For that reason, the team at CSI evaluates many requests on a case-by-case basis to determine if we can work with them and how we would charge for them.
If you need help with streamlining your financial data, CSI has you covered. Click the button below for a free consultation to see if we can be a good fit for your business:
Not ready to talk? That’s okay! First, read more about the types of advice a monthly accountant can offer you:
