Feeling your systems are disjointed? It could be your accounting system!

04.02.25 11:34 AM By Matt Koopmans

What's the problem?

Over the years, you have invested in business systems and processes. In trying to get everything running smoothly and integrated, you keep hitting the same roadblock - as soon as the invoice must be created, or payments reconciled, everything becomes a a manual process. Why is this? Surely an integration to an accounting system is not that hard, or not that expensive?

How we got here

Historically, the accounting system was detached from the logistics information system. Usually, at the end of the day, the "sub-ledgers" - i.e. the sales information and invoice information - are "journalised" into the General Ledger. Since there was no online transactional referential integrity enforced, it opened the possibility to discrepancies between the "sub-ledgers" and the General Ledger. 

In the 1990's, this was resolved via the introduction of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems - fully integrated suites that had accounting build in. Slowly, the General Ledger integration was "online" and journalisation was a thing of the past.

The problem with ERP systems is that they are known to be very expensive to licence, implement, and operate. Small businesses could not afford them, nor operate them.

Small business accounting remained a requirement, especially in locales where the tax codes are complex and convoluted (Australia?). Small accounting packages appeared, and helped small business with their invoicing, purchasing, and general accounting. Problem solved.... or was it?

Not quite. Businesses, including small businesses, increased in complexity. And with the onset of cloud solutions (Software as a Service), applications became readily available and highly accessible to tackle the day to day complexities (there is an app for that!). 

However, the apps you need to run your operations smoothly and efficiently may not be integrated to the accounting system - (re)enter the original problem definition. 

Never argue with your accountant?

The answer is simple and complicated at once. Simple - buy systems that provide an end-to-end experience. Complicated - where do you start? Will you match logistics systems that fit your accounting package, or vice versa?

Ask your accountant, and the answer will most likely be that you cannot, must not, change your accounting system,  because of... reasons.

Does your accountant serve your business, or do you work for your accountant?

But, ego aside, does this argument actually make sense?

Not really - it is not as difficult to change from one accounting system to the other as it may seem. There is remarkably limited flexibility on how you do accounting (and not end up in the tax office's crosshairs, or worse, in prison - creative accounting is "frowned upon"). So, what gives? Why the resistance?

Accountants and bookkeepers are (generalising here) notoriously conservative when it comes to new or improved processes. This is not necessarily a bad thing - consistency in this profession has value. However, it must not be a barrier for change, especially if this change is required to take your organisation to the next level. 

You could always look for those specific applications that integrate with your accounting system. This immediately limits the availability of choice, usually resulting in either gaps in the logistics automation, or increase in pricing. 

There is a better way

You may not have heard about Zoho Books - and your accountant will probably not inform you of it (Zoho does not have "account managers" targeting accountants to get you to use their system). However, Zoho Books is not only a very capable accounting package covering the basics, it can even address the more advanced requirements of automated asset depreciation via depreciation models, advanced budgeting and budget vs. actual reporting, workflows and automation, etc. - it is fully integrated with payment gateways (automated payments) through Stripe (credit card), GoCardless (direct debit), and PayPal, as well as with other Zoho Applications:

  • Zoho CRM - Create estimates, sales orders, invoices directly from the deal (opportunity) and see the revenue generated by the customer, as well as outstanding amounts, and shipping information directly from the customer record
  • Zoho Inventory - a fully functional inventory management and warehousing solution that integrates to various online stores as well as local sales and purchasing management, integrates with Books for purchase receipts, sales orders and deliveries, and financial inventory valuations, in a seamless integrated fashion. Inventory is not just integrated in Zoho Books, it is integrated within Zoho Books (i.e. it feels like a single system)
  • Zoho Billing (previously known as Subscriptions) - a subscription management and billing solution, including metered billing, integrated directly into Zoho Books, for all invoices and payment receipts in a single place. Like Inventory, it is integrated into Books, meaning it looks, feels and acts like a single application
  • Zoho Projects - for enterprise level project management, the Books integration allows you to invoice your projects based on time entries, as well as progess payments for fixed fee projects. The integration with books also allows you to accumulate and assign bills and expenses to the project, and add these to your invoices
  • Zoho Expense - an expense management and approval workflow application that can scan receipts, take feeds from the corporate cards, work with per diem, mileage, cash advances, and has trip management features. Expense is integrated with books in such way that approved expenses are reflected into the general ledger, correctly coded, and with a scanned copy of the receipt attached (where applicable). Further more, with expense, you can allocate expenses to projects (billable or non-billable), as well as deals/opportunities (in CRM). 
This is not all - as Zoho Books has an accessible set of API's, we have been able to create custom functions and integrations for our customers. If you are in Australia, and wish to try Books today, click the button below. There is a free trial, no credit card required. If you later on wish to upgrade to Zoho One (of which Books, CRM, Inventory, Billing, Projects, Expense, as well as numerous other apps are part), then you can do so seamlessly.

Aurelian Group is a Zoho Partner, specialising in the delivery of Zoho One based solutions for small to mid-sized companies in Australia. If you'd like to know more about how we can help with the end-to-end systems automation in your business, contact us today. 

Matt Koopmans