KashFlow Integration Developers UK

Where our integration work started

dijituldevelopments.co.uk has been dijitul's development site since around 2011, and one of the first things it sold was a KashFlow integration. We built a full KashFlow and OpenCart integration that did four jobs automatically:

• created the customer in KashFlow when they first ordered, or matched them to an existing record;
• raised the invoice in KashFlow when the order was paid;
• kept stock levels and prices in step between the shop and KashFlow;
• issued credit notes when orders were cancelled.

We later ported it to Magento. Those four jobs are still the core of most accounting integrations today, whichever package you use. Getting them right, including the awkward cases like part refunds and customers who change their email address, is what we learned on KashFlow.

KashFlow today: IRIS KashFlow and its REST API

KashFlow was a British cloud accounting pioneer. IRIS Software Group acquired it in 2013, and it's now sold as IRIS KashFlow, aimed at small businesses and the accountants who look after them.

The integration route has moved on as well. KashFlow's original API was SOAP-based, which is what many older integrations and plugins were built on. IRIS KashFlow now provides a REST API using OAuth 2.0: every call carries an access token in its header. According to IRIS's help documentation, access works like this:

1. In KashFlow, go to Apps then API Settings and choose to enable the REST API.
2. Request access. IRIS's team makes contact and issues a Client ID and Client Secret.
3. Create a dedicated REST API user and activate it from the emailed link.

We can guide you through that process. Because access is requested and approved, allow for it in your plans; it's one of the first things we do in scoping.

Updating an older KashFlow integration

If your shop or system was connected to KashFlow years ago, perhaps by an OpenCart, Magento or WooCommerce plugin, there's a fair chance it uses the older API, an unmaintained plugin, or PHP code that won't run on a current PHP version. Symptoms include orders that quietly stop appearing in KashFlow, or a plugin you can't update without breaking your shop.

We can audit what you have, then either update it to the REST API or rebuild it cleanly. Rebuilding often makes sense when the shop itself is being upgraded at the same time; see OpenCart development, Magento development and PHP upgrades.

Should you stay on KashFlow?

We'll give you a straight answer. KashFlow does the job for many small businesses, and if your accountant is happy with it, an integration can remove most of the manual work. If you're outgrowing it, needing more users, multi-currency or a larger app ecosystem, it may be worth moving before investing in a new integration.

We can build the integration for whichever package you choose: Xero, QuickBooks or Sage. We can also handle the data migration of customers, suppliers and history. Our accounting software integration page compares the options.

What we learned from the original integration

Building the OpenCart and KashFlow integration taught us lessons that still shape our work:

• Match customers carefully. People reuse email addresses and change them. We store the accounting system's customer ID against each shop customer, rather than matching by name.
• Invoice on payment, not on order. Raising invoices for unpaid or abandoned orders fills the ledger with noise. Payment is the trigger.
• Cancellations need credit notes. Deleting an invoice breaks the audit trail. A credit note keeps the history intact.
• Decide who owns stock and price. Two systems both editing prices end in an argument. Pick one master and sync in one direction.

Those rules apply whichever package you use, and they're built into our integrations by default.

How a KashFlow project runs

Free chat first. In scoping we confirm REST API access, agree nominal codes and VAT treatment with you and your accountant, and decide which records flow in which direction. You then receive a fixed-price quote. We build, test, run in parallel with your current process until the figures agree, and hand over the code and documentation. You own it.

For more on how we approach integrations generally, see API integration.

What we deliver

• Help requesting REST API access and setting up a dedicated API user
• Automatic customer creation and matching, so duplicates aren't created
• Invoices raised when orders are paid, with correct nominal and VAT codes
• Credit notes for cancellations and refunds
• Stock and price sync between KashFlow and your shop where needed
• A sync log, retry tools and alerts

How it works and what it costs

Every project gets a fixed-price quote after a free initial chat and a short scoping stage. You own the code and the data.

1. Free chat

   Tell us the problem in plain English: what you do now, what goes wrong and what "better" looks like. No charge, no obligation.

2. Scoping

   We map the processes, systems and data involved, agree what is in and out, and write it down so there are no surprises.

3. Fixed-price quote

   You get a fixed price for the agreed scope, or a phased plan for bigger builds, so you can start small and prove it works.

4. Build and test

   We build in short stages you can see and try, test against real data, then go live carefully with a rollback plan.

5. Hand over and look after

   You own the code and the data. We can host it, support it and keep improving it, or hand it to your own team.

Related