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When your bank and accounting system work seamlessly together, managing tasks like payments and reconciliation becomes much faster and easier. Bank integration is a smart solution for businesses looking to simplify their processes and stay ahead. For the finance department, this means improved efficiency, fewer manual errors, and more time to focus on strategic work.
In this article, we’ll show you how integrating your bank and accounting system can streamline workflows and boost productivity in your finance team.
What is Bank Integration?
Bank integration involves connecting your company’s accounting system directly to your bank accounts to automate and simplify accounting tasks. This direct data connection provides access to transaction information and account balances without the need for manual entry.
For example, instead of manually entering dozens of daily transactions from your bank statement into your accounting system, these are automatically synced in real time. One of the primary functions of bank integration is that you can pay invoices directly from your accounting system without logging into your online bank.
The result is a more efficient and accurate accounting process that saves both time and resources.
Benefits of Bank Integration for Businesses
Bank integration offers a variety of advantages that simplify and streamline accounting work.
You can approve payments directly:
The biggest advantage is the ability to approve payments directly in your accounting system without logging into your online bank. This is particularly useful for companies with multiple bank accounts, as it provides a unified platform for managing payments.
- Example: A company with multiple offices across different cities manages three separate bank accounts. Without bank integration, finance staff must log into each bank's online platform to process payments, consuming time and increasing the chance of errors. With bank integration, payments can be approved directly within the accounting system, regardless of the account being used.
- Extra benefit: This ensures better control and a comprehensive overview of all payments from a single platform, especially useful for businesses handling a high volume of transactions daily.
You’re always up to date:
With bank integration, your accounting system is automatically updated, ensuring transactions are recorded continuously and accurately. This eliminates delays and guarantees a precise and up-to-date financial overview.
- Example: A construction company receiving numerous small payments from customers daily no longer needs to manually update account balances. With real-time updates from bank integration, the finance team can instantly see what has been received and what remains outstanding.
- Extra benefit: Improved cash flow management, enabling leadership to always have an up-to-date financial overview.
You’ll minimize risk:
The risk of errors is significantly reduced, as manual entry of transactions becomes unnecessary.
- Example: A wholesale company processes hundreds of supplier payments each month. Without bank integration, finance staff manually input payment details, increasing the risk of errors such as entering incorrect amounts or account numbers. These mistakes can lead to delayed payments, strained supplier relationships, or financial penalties. With bank integration, payment details are automatically imported and verified, ensuring accuracy and reducing the likelihood of errors.
- Extra benefit: Enhanced compliance and audit readiness, as all data is recorded correctly and easily traceable.
You’ll achieve better workflows:
For businesses with multiple employees in administration, integration also enhances workflow. When everything is managed in a single system, it’s easier to distribute tasks and reduce the complexity associated with using multiple solutions.
- Example: A retail company’s finance team used to juggle approvals in the bank’s portal and manual reconciliations in the accounting system, leading to delays and mismatched data. With bank integration, payments are approved directly in the accounting system, and transactions update in real time, keeping the team aligned and efficient.
- Extra benefit: This eliminates redundant steps, reduces miscommunication, and allows the team to focus on more strategic financial planning.
Beyond Basics: Why Bank Integration is Essential
Bank integration isn’t just about saving time—it’s about transforming how your finance team operates. Here’s how.
- Simplified Reporting: With all data in one system, companies can easily generate reports on liquidity, income, and expenses without manual data handling.
- Improved Customer Experience: Faster invoicing and better payment tracking enable businesses to respond quickly to customer inquiries about payments.
- Scalability: As a business grows, managing transactions manually becomes increasingly challenging. Bank integration ensures processes scale seamlessly without needing to hire additional finance staff.
- Sustainability and Cost Savings: Reduced reliance on paper and manual processes lowers operational costs and contributes to a smaller environmental footprint.
- Enhanced Data Security: Direct integration between the bank and the accounting system reduces the risk of errors or fraud associated with manual data transfers.
In summary
Bank integration is an investment in efficiency, control, and quality – a solution that enables businesses to focus on value-creating tasks rather than administrative burdens.
How Can My Business Get Bank Integration?
To set up a bank integration, start within your accounting system or contact your ERP partner. From there, you’ll be guided to your bank’s service portal, where you can choose the features and services that best suit your needs. Examples include automated payments or adding multiple users for transaction approval.
Once you’ve completed your order, the accounting system will connect to your bank accounts, and the integration is usually ready for use in a short time.
How Can Aritma Help?
Aritma Pay is a complete and precise solution for businesses looking for seamless integration between their accounting system and banks. The solution provides a single platform for connecting with multiple banks, significantly simplifying administration. Get the full overview of Aritma's Bank Integrations here.
It supports various systems, including ERP, payroll, and specialized software, ensuring efficient data conversion and automation of manual tasks like payment files and transaction matching.
With Aritma Pay, you gain a predictable, scalable, and user-friendly solution tailored to meet the needs of modern businesses.
Reach out today
Do you have questions about bank integrations or unsure if it’s the right fit for your business? Get in touch with one of our experts here to discover how we can help streamline your finance department with a future-proof solution.
