Integrations per accounting package
Every package handles API access differently, and that decides what an integration can do.
Why the package sets the timeline
What differs per package is everything that has to happen before a single line of code can be written.
It comes down to four points: how you get a key, how many calls you are allowed per day, who inside your organisation grants access and whether you can test without touching your live administration. These four points often set the timeline.
The four packages side by side
All four offer a REST API with public documentation.
| Package | Access | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Exact Online | Register an app in the App Center, then OAuth 2.0 | 60 calls per minute, 5,000 per day per app and per administration |
| Moneybird | Personal token for your own administration, OAuth for an app others use | 150 calls per 5 minutes per IP address, 50 for reports |
| e-Boekhouden.nl | Create a token in your account settings | Not published |
| AFAS | AppConnector token and connectors from your administrator | Not published |
Testing without touching the live administration
This is where the four differ most. Moneybird offers sandbox administrations with every feature of a normal administration, and invoices there carry a watermark so they cannot be mistaken for real invoices.
Exact Online offers no sandbox or test environment; a developer tests there with a developer's subscription, which Exact charges for separately. A new Exact app also works only inside the environment in which it was created, until Exact has reviewed it. With AFAS and e-Boekhouden.nl, whether there is a test environment differs per plan. Without a test environment, you test in a second administration, or in the live one and remove the test data afterwards.
So ask about a test environment before anything is built, because whether there is one determines how much testing costs.
What to check before we start
These points decide whether a request has to be approved before building can start.
- Whose subscription holds the administration: if it sits with your accountant, your accountant grants the access
- Whether API access is part of your current plan, or needs a module or a higher tier
- Who is allowed to create a key or a connector inside the package, and whether that person is available
- Whether the vendor reviews the integration before it can go live, and how long that takes
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Which package is fastest to connect?
For your own administration, Moneybird and e-Boekhouden.nl are the quickest to connect, because with both you create the token yourself. AFAS needs an administrator to set up connectors first, and Exact Online reviews a new app before it may work for other customers.
Our package is not listed. Does that rule it out?
Usually we can still connect to it, if the package has a documented API. We work that out first in the intro call.
Can you connect to two packages at once?
We can, for instance during a migration when old and new run side by side for a while. Agree up front which system is the source, so the two administrations stay in sync.