Integration: what’s all the fuss?

You’ve probably seen the word ‘integration’ a lot, but is it just jargon? Absolutely not: in fact, software integration is something brilliant.

Why? Because ultimately, it makes your life as an accountant easier.

Integration means all your best software talk to each other and are in sync, ensuring the littlest amount of fuss to run your business.

What’s the bottom line with software integration?

With software integration, you improve productivity, freeing up time to add extra value to your client relationships and boost revenue for both your firm and clients.

It reduces time switching between software and removes the hassle and irritation of working with systems that don’t speak to each other.

Additionally, integration eradicates mind-numbingly manual and time-consuming processes that are incredibly prone to human error.

What does software integration mean in practice to accountants?

Software integration can mean, for example, your apps for practice management, accounts production and bookkeeping all automatically link together.

You enter the data once, and it flows through all the systems.

Bev Flanagan, the award-winning founder of Mind Your Assets, touched upon the importance of integration when she spoke to us in our recent webinar.

She had these words of wisdom for accountants who are not yet benefiting from integration:

“Get all the separate apps synchronising with each other, so you're taking that manual element out.

“We have streamlined jobs in each of our different areas - payroll, bookkeeping, etcetera. I can log in to Senta By IRIS (accounting software) and know exactly where my team are and what they’re up to with each client at every step of the way.

“I didn’t have that before; it’s definitely helped and moulded my practice.”

How do you get your software talking to each other?

Well, it’s actually simple – if your software provider offers an Application Programming Interface (API).

An API is a clever bit of kit that enables multiple software programs to freely communicate with each other.

How can IRIS help?

Integration is unlikely to be a word that gets your pulse racing, but when you see how much easier it makes life, I’m certain you’ll love all the rewards it brings.

If you are interested in finding out more about how IRIS helps accountants with integration, click here.