How to connect: the core
How to connect: Why this matters: Many entrepreneurs lose time to manual bank and payment entries or only discover errors at month-end. The result: unclear cash position, delays in accounts receivable management and extra costs for your administration. This step-by-step plan helps you link payment data to your accounting securely and in a controllable way, so you can make the right decisions faster.
Type over this order number. Once is doable. Forty times a day, every day, is a job.
What is the signal and what does it mean for your business?
Signal: you notice that payments do not appear automatically in the accounting, or that many transactions must be processed manually. Context: this often happens because payment platforms (card terminals, webshops, payment apps) and your accounting software do not have a direct or well-configured data flow. Consequence: extra work hours, matching errors and less visibility of available liquidity.
Can I connect my payment app directly to my accounting software?
Practical answer: sometimes yes, sometimes no — it depends on two things: 1) whether your payment provider (bank, till, PSP) can supply data via an APIAn agreed connection point with which two systems can read and write each other's data, without anyone having to type anything over. or webhooks and 2) whether your accounting software accepts that connection. An important technical building block is OAuth 2.0: Twinfield, for example, uses OAuth 2.0 for API access (the app registers a client ID, the user gives consent and an access token is issued). This means that if your payment provider and your accounting package both support API access and a consent flow, a direct integration is technically possible, but development work or an intermediate layer is often needed.
Limitations of this evidence: the presence of OAuth 2.0 in one package does not mean that all vendors offer ready-made integrations. Always ask your vendor which endpoints and fields are available.
The way it works now
- The appointment is in one colleague's mailbox
- Data is manually retyped from one system to another
- The person who knows is on vacation
- No one can see afterwards why this decision was made
As it is
- The agreement is stored with the client, findable for everyone
- Once entered, information flows through to the rest
- Work continues, even if someone is absent
- Every decision has a source, an owner, and a date
Practical step-by-step plan: from signal to lasting improvement
1) Take inventory (owner: entrepreneur or financial manager)
2) Quick check with your bookkeeper (owner: entrepreneur + bookkeeper)
- Question: which import options exist now? (automatic bank feed, CSV import, API integration, plug-in)
- Question: which fields do we need to automatically match transactions? (amount, date, ref/description, payment reference)
- End result: choice of the simplest short-term route (e.g. daily CSV import) and long-term option (API/webhook).
3) Choose the implementation strategy (owner: financial manager or IT manager)
- Option A — short term: automated exports/imports
- Set up a daily bank export or automatic CSV import. Good if development capacity is limited.
- Metric: reduction in manual processing (e.g. hours/week less) and the percentage of transactions matched without manual intervention.
- Option B — medium/long term: API or webhook integration
- If both parties support APIs (and authentication like OAuth 2.0 is possible), have a developer or integrator build a secure connection.
- Metric: % automatic matching, time between payment and booking (set your own target).
4) Implementation and test (owner: IT/developer together with bookkeeper)
- Create a test environment or work with test days. Check mappings: amounts, currency, VAT field and debtor/creditor codes.
- Test cases: successful match, partial payment, refund/chargeback.
- End result: acceptance criteria are recorded (e.g. 95% technical match in test set or specific errors documented).
5) Process and people (owner: financially responsible person)
- Change work processes: who checks the daily feed? Who corrects exceptions? Schedule regular checks (daily/weekly exceptions).
- Train one or two employees and your accountant in the new routine.
- Metric: number of exceptions per week, turnaround time for correction.
6) Monitor and learn (owner: financially responsible person)
- Record what worked and what didn’t, and adjust your agreements and rules accordingly.
- Example metrics: % of automatically matched transactions, average time to processing, monthly discrepancy amount.
Useful control questions for your accountant or technical supplier
- Does our accounting package support an automatic bank feed or API connection? (If the package is Twinfield: ask about OAuth 2.0 registration and access flow.)
- Can the payment party send webhooks or offer API endpoints with transaction data?
- Which fields do you use to automatically match payments to invoices?
- How are partial payments, chargebacks and refunds handled?
- What test data do we need to safely validate the connection?
Practical workable metrics and responsibilities (example)
- Decision: we hire a developer for a webhook integration. Owner: financial manager.
- Action: developer builds integration, bookkeeper validates mapping in a test environment. Time horizon: 6 weeks (prepare, build, test, roll out).
- Result metric: within 4 weeks after go-live at least 90% of payments automatically matched (target value as a starting point; set your own standard).
- Learnings: after 8 weeks analyze the discrepant transactions and adjust rules.
Limitations and risks
- Technical: not every payment provider offers the same data quality or real-time webhooks. You cannot always match everything automatically.
- Privacy and security: API connections require good security and clear consent; work together with your accountant and technical lead.
- Evidence limitation: the presence of OAuth 2.0 in an accounting package only proves that secure authorization is possible; it does not guarantee an out-of-the-box connection with your specific payment provider.
One practical lesson Start with the smallest meaningful experiment: a week of daily automatic export/import or a test webhookA message that a system automatically sends as soon as something happens, so the other system can respond immediately.-feed and measure how many exceptions you get. That quickly provides the practical information to decide whether you need to invest in a full integration.
Plan a 30-minute session with your accountant and IT provider: use our checklist (inventory of systems, three example transactions, desired metrics) and decide within two weeks whether to start with a daily CSV automation or an API/webhook project. View the Fresh Look →
Frequently asked questions
Signal: you notice that payments do not appear automatically in the accounting, or that many transactions must be processed manually. Context: this often happens because payment platforms (card terminals, webshops, payment apps) and your accounting software do not have a direct or well-configured data flow. Consequence: extra work hours, matching errors and less visibility of available liquidity.
Practical answer: sometimes yes, sometimes no — it depends on two things: 1) whether your payment party (bank, POS, PSP) can provide data via an API or webhooks and 2) whether your accounting software accepts that connection. An important technical building block is OAuth 2.0: Twinfield, for example, uses OAuth 2.0 for API access (app registers a client-ID, user gives consent and an access token is issued). That means that if your payment provider and your accounting package both support API access and a consent flow, a direct connection is technically possible, but development work or an intermediary layer is often needed.
From knowing to doing
This article helps you get oriented. After that, view the concrete approach for twinfield koppeling.