21 Mar 2023
4 min read

Seamless accounting: Payhawk’s integration with Quickbooks Online

Seamless accounting: Payhawk’s integration with Quickbooks Online
Quick summary

Accounting software integrations are usually made up of a set of instructions that tell your accounting software how to handle data from another application or service. The integration instructions can be simple — like copying data from one place to another — or more complicated, like automating tasks across multiple applications.

Table of Contents

    Accounting software integrations let you automate many of the manual tasks involved in running a business. For example, suppose you use the Payhawk spend management solution (including corporate cards and expense management software) for business payments and QuickBooks Online for your accounting software. In that case, you can integrate the two platforms and make the most of seamless data transfer.

    Simply spend with your Payhawk card, take a photo of and upload the receipt, pick your spend category, and all the info is automatically sent to your accounting software. This clever integration means less time chasing receipts and manually entering them into your accounting software for card and bank reconciliation. And less time finding and correcting mistakes as all the data syncs seamlessly between tools without manual entry.

    Sync your Payhawk expenses with QuickBooks in real time

    Why are accounting integrations so important?

    Tracking your accounting across separate finance platforms can be difficult when managing expenses without superior integrations. For example, if you wanted to track expenses in real-time to keep an eye on budgets, you would need to export data from one system and import it into another. But this is time-consuming and inefficient — not to mention error-prone.

    Well-integrated solutions solve this problem by seamlessly keeping the data flowing from your expense management solution into your accounting software. This way, all your company's spend data is available in your accounting software in real-time, and there's no need for manual entry or manual data transfer between systems.

    At Payhawk, our ERP and accounting software integrations are built in accordance with the matching principle of the accrual accounting method, meaning that we record both when a transaction occurs and when a payment is made.

    Our strategy means there are no gaps in information, and the data is accurate and up to the minute, so businesses can check their cash flow health at any time and make informed, impactful decisions.

    Get closer to your bottom line for month-end closing

    Closing the month is one of the essential activities for finance teams. But it takes longer to complete if you don't have all the necessary info at hand. Payment and accounting integrations help close those gaps, allowing you to complete month-end faster and more efficiently.

    Real-time view of company expenses

    Accounting software integrations give you visibility into the financial health of your business. They allow you to track how much money is being spent in real time, pinpoint trends, and see where expenditures are being made so that you can make adjustments if necessary.

    Automated data extraction from documents

    Another great benefit is automated data extraction from documents such as receipts or invoices directly into your system. This eliminates the need for the painstaking manual input of invoices or purchase orders into your accounting system by the accounting and finance team (which can be costly in terms of time spent) and ensures accuracy at all times due to consistent data. Instead, you can focus on more critical tasks, such as reconciling and analysing your financials.

    Streamline your reconciliations

    No more waiting days for accountants or bookkeepers to process transactions. With integrations between your accounting software and an intelligent spend management system like Payhawk, reconciliations will happen in real time.

    Enhance the value of your core accounting platform

    Accounting software is designed to keep track of your day-to-day transactions, but getting all the data into your accounting system can be challenging. If you manually enter expenses or invoices, there's a higher risk that some data will be entered incorrectly or missed altogether.

    If you miss including accurate spend data on a regular basis, it can have significant consequences for your business. You could face fines or penalties from regulators or customers if invoices aren't paid on time — or worse still, lose out on revenue because you've missed out on opportunities.

    Take Payhawk customer MDM Props, for example. Once the arts and fabrication company started to collect receipts and leverage real-time reconciliation properly, they were able to save nearly 1 million pounds a year in VAT reclaims.

    "Before Payhawk, missing receipts meant missing VAT reclaims. With quarterly VAT bills of up to £240K, that's massive," said Uchenna, Finance Manager at MDM Props. "Now, with Payhawk, our cardholders upload receipts in seconds and save the business thousands."

    Integration is the key to unlocking the value of your core accounting platform. With Payhawk's integration with QuickBooks Online, you can streamline your business processes, improve productivity, and avoid manual entry errors.

    Learn how to sync your expenses in real-time and stay on top of your spending with your company's right ERP and spend management integration. Book a demo today.

    Trish Toovey - Content Director at Payhawk - The financial system of tomorrow
    Trish Toovey
    Senior Content Manager
    LinkedIn

    Trish Toovey works across the UK and US markets to craft content at Payhawk. Covering anything from ad copy to video scripting, Trish leans on a super varied background in copy and content creation for the finance, fashion, and travel industries.

    See all articles by Trish →

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