Integrations · 5 November 2026 · 5 min read
Till, shop, accounting: connect your systems instead of retyping
When the same data is typed into three programs, it costs time and creates errors. How integrations connect systems and what needs to be clear first.
Many businesses have someone who, every evening, copies shop orders into the inventory system, types invoices into accounting or pastes till data into a spreadsheet. That works until that person is off sick or makes a typo.
Typical connections
- Online shop → inventory: orders and stock levels flow back and forth automatically.
- Till → accounting: daily takings and receipts reach your accountant without retyping.
- Form or email → CRM: enquiries become contacts with all their details.
- Shop → carrier: shipping labels and tracking numbers are created automatically.
- Legacy system → new software: data moves over step by step, without cut-over chaos.
What needs to be clear first
- 01
Which systems?
A list of every program involved and who operates it today.
- 02
Is there access?
An API, an export or a database. Without one of those it gets hard.
- 03
Which one leads?
Which system is the source of truth for which data, for example stock?
- 04
What happens on errors?
Who gets notified, and how is missing data caught up?
And when the browser isn't enough?
Some tasks need a program on the workstation: at the till, with a connected printer or scanner, or where the internet isn't reliable. That's what desktop apps for Windows and macOS are for, working with the same data as your web software.
Modernising legacy software without switching everything off
- First wrap an interface around the old system so new tools can reach the data.
- Then move function by function into the new software.
- Only switch the old system off once nothing depends on it.
That way the business keeps working at all times, and you don't pay for a risky all-at-once switch on a single day.
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