Why Integrating CRM and Accounting Software is Essential for Small Business Growth

Data visibility is a key foundation for small businesses to grow. A CRM focuses on managing your relationships with customers by tracking customer touchpoints. An accounting software manages the financial health of your business and automates financial tasks such as invoicing, order quotes, tracking expenses, and reports for the business. 

Integrating your CRM and accounting software is important for small businesses to make data-driven decisions. It reduces manual data entry and improves operational efficiency. Integrated software eliminates communication gaps among different teams since all data is in one centralised location. All your financial and customer data syncs up to give real-time and up-to-date data. 

In this article, discover what CRM and accounting software integration entails, the benefits for small businesses, the top features to look for, and the best CRM and accounting software for small businesses.

What is CRM and Accounting Software Integration?

CRM and accounting software integration combines your accounting software and financial data into your CRM to sync together in real-time, in one place. Integrating both allows your business to access accurate and up-to-date data on customer activities and financial transactions. 

Your CRM software’s key function should be managing customer relationships by tracking sales, marketing, and customer support touchpoints. In contrast, your accounting software manages financial data such as invoicing, expense tracking, and reporting. Integrating both offers data visibility in one place and communication across different customer touchpoints. 

For example, an integrated CRM and accounting software can sync a customer’s order history from an accounting system and exchange data to update the customer record in the CRM. This would improve efficiency by providing a 360-degree view of every customer's buying patterns, invoices and quotes, and transactions.

Benefits of CRM and Accounting Software for Small Businesses

This section will explore the four significant benefits that directly impact small businesses' productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability. 

Key benefits of CRM and accounting software integration for small businesses focus on productivity and profitability. These integrations streamline the financial process, exchange real-time data, and save time and resources, all while improving customer relationships.

Streamlining Financial Processes

Integrating your CRM and accounting software streamlines financial processes and improves operational efficiency. You eliminate the need for manual data entry, which often leads to human error and inefficiencies that can be costly to correct.

Automating financial processes can save time and money for small businesses with limited resources and small teams. For example, when an order is placed, the accounting system can generate an invoice based on the CRM data, pulling through key contact and order information like customer name and quantity of product purchased. You can also track payment statuses and customer account balances in real-time. 

Research by Xero shows that leaders of the smallest businesses spend less than 50% of the working week on their core job due to administrative tasks. So, streamlined processes allow small businesses to focus on other key areas that really drive profit.

Improving Customer Relationships

A benefit of integrating your CRM and accounting system is improving customer relationships across your small business. Both systems ensure customer data is consistent, up-to-date, and easily accessible to different team members. Improving customer communication and the relationship management needed to satisfy them. 

For example, a sales lead can view a customer's payment status or a customer support member can view their order history. An integrated system allows small businesses to deliver excellent customer service, which can lead to repeat customers who are satisfied with their buying experience.

Real-Time Data Synchronisation

Data visibility is important for small businesses because it allows for strategic decision-making and communication across teams. Real-time data synchronisation between CRM and accounting systems gives all team members the most up-to-date data for every customer. 

For example, your sales team can view a customer’s order status, while the accounting team can view if invoices are paid without any manual input to keep information up to date. Real-time data synchronisation offers consistent data flow between teams and prevents discrepancies.

Time & Resource Savings

Time and resources are invaluable when operating a small business. This is why another benefit of integrating your CRM and accounting software is the time and resources you can save, by streamlining processes. You can also automate tasks such as data entry, while having up-to-date customer data automatically added to your CRM. 

For example, team members don’t have to spend time entering data manually, or the accounting team doesn’t have to cross-reference customer data between different software.

The Best CRM and Accounting Software for Small Businesses

The best CRM and accounting software for small businesses are aligned with your needs, can scale, integrate with your existing systems, and have rich features that can automate and streamline your tasks.

• Rich Features - Look for features that can work independently from one another but can sync up data for streamlined workflows. Your CRM should focus on tracking opportunities, nurturing leads, managing after-sales queries, and reporting on performance. Your accounting software should focus on financial reporting, invoice and payment status, and bookkeeping. Once integrated, you can ensure all the data from each system syncs and works together to create report dashboards and give you access to real-time data.
• Cost-effective - Your CRM and accounting software should be cost-effective for your business. Ensure you are not paying for hidden features that need to be unlocked for a higher price. Find software that offers scalability or a contract plan that aligns with your business's financial health.
• Scalability - Data visibility is what helps a small business scale. As your business grows and handles a higher volume of orders and support requests, your CRM and accounting software should scale with you. The best software is able to scale as you handle more complex data, increase customer usage, and process more customer touchpoints.
• Integration - The best CRM and accounting software integrates with all your back-office systems. It should easily integrate with other systems you use, such as ecommerce platforms, marketing platforms, inventory management, etc. The best CRM and accounting software should centralise your data in one location and be accessible to teams across your business.
• Ease of Use - Your CRM and accounting software should be easy for you and your team to use. Research suggests that 20% of small businesses admit they lack the knowledge or skills to adopt more tech, so an ease-of-use software tool keeps your operations running smoothly, preventing you from spending hours training your team to use it. Ensure your integrated tool offers support and training if needed as well. 

Small businesses looking for the best CRM and accounting software tool should analyse whether their CRM and accounting software offers quality support, a centralised data component, and a simple ease of use. Stock-Aware CRM is a top solution for small B2B product-led businesses looking for a comprehensive CRM solution that manages key customer touchpoints and offers up-to-date dashboards. Compare CRMs in our comparison guide. 

Top Features to Look for in Integrated CRM and Accounting Software

Implementing a CRM and accounting software isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Every small business needs to evaluate the features needed for their business. This section will explore three impactful integration features that simplify business operations by tracking customer interactions and streamlining accounting processes.

Quoting, Invoicing & Billing

Quoting, invoicing, and billing are foundational processes in finances and business accounting. A CRM and accounting software ensures a quote is generated in the CRM and turned into invoices and billing on the accounting side. This would be created automatically with integrated software. 

For example, a customer may want to purchase 10 dozen product quantities. Your sales team member can generate a quote for the customer. Once the customer confirms the order, an invoice can be automatically created, and the accounting team will have access to all this information to track payments. Building a much more streamlined workflow across two teams.

Tracking Customer Interactions

Data on customer touchpoints and interactions is crucial to keeping customers satisfied and providing excellent customer support. Your CRM and accounting software should track customer interactions and provide end-to-end reporting on these interactions. 

This feature is important for understanding every customer interaction across your business, whether they come through a customer support request, a sales lead, or a repeat purchase. 

For example, say a customer requests customer support. Your support team must know the customer’s history and previous interactions across the business to offer context and resolve any issues quickly.

Financial Reporting & Dashboards

A key feature to look for in an integrated CRM and accounting software is insight into your business's financial health through up-to-date reports and dashboards with real-time data. Having up-to-date and real-time access to key financial metrics, such as revenue, expenses, profit margins, and cash flow, can allow you to make data-driven decisions. 

For example, say you are forecasting next month’s revenue and need access to view unpaid invoices and expenses for the next month. Having these metrics available in one centralised location gives you a clear view of your financial health to decide where to spend or cut expenses for that next month. 

Unify Customer and Accounting Data with Prospect CRM

Streamline your small business operations and boost profitability by integrating your CRM and accounting data in minutes with Prospect CRM. Prospect CRM offers full visibility into your financial and customer data by automating key processes such as invoicing, an optimised quote-to-order workflow, real-time data synchronisation, and end-to-end reporting with optimised dashboards. 

Sign up for our 14-day free trial and discover how Prospect CRM features can drive efficiency and revenue for your business.