Integrations
Integrating without programming
Manual export and import, done properly, solves more cases than people think and depends on nobody.
When connecting two systems comes up, the conversation jumps straight to the technical. And for a large share of real cases — a company needing its data to reach its accountants, its ERP or a spreadsheet once a month — the answer that works requires no programming at all.
When this is enough
| Situation | Integration needed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A monthly report for the accountants | No | An exported listing does exactly that |
| Feeding a dashboard | No, if it updates weekly | Frequency decides, not the tool |
| Blocking an order if documents are missing | Yes | It needs both systems talking in the moment |
| Showing document status in the ERP | It depends how soon it must be useful | Next day is usually fine |
Important
The third row marks the real boundary: **integration is needed when something must happen in the moment**. Everything else — reports, analysis, feeding another system, reviewing — tolerates hours or days of lag, and there a file exported weekly does the job without depending on anyone or breaking when the other system changes.
How to do it properly, which is what makes the difference
- 1
A fixed date and a named owner
"First Monday" and a person. Without that, it runs three months and gets abandoned.
- 2
Always the same format and the same columns
It is what lets the recipient process it the same way every time.
- 3
With the period stated in the file itself
A listing with no period generates a query every month.
- 4
And keep what was sent, not only send it
It is the difference between explaining a discrepancy and arguing about it.
Watch out
What turns this into a problem is double entry: exporting from here, adjusting by hand and loading into the other system **changing things along the way**. From then on there are two truths and neither governs. If data needs correcting when it moves, the place to correct it is the source, not the copy.
What you gain over an integration
That last point is the most valuable: six months of doing it by hand tell you which data you actually use and how often. Many integrations are designed to move things nobody ever looks at.
Worth knowing
Exporting a listing is not one of the consuming actions; what may consume is generating a report. A monthly file does not move the consumption needle, which is another reason to start here before building anything.
›Is an integration not more professional?
Solving the problem is more professional. Many integrations are built to save ten minutes a month.
›What if the other system will not take the format?
Nearly all accept a spreadsheet; if not, that is the genuine technical conversation.
›When do we move to integrating?
When the lag genuinely bothers you, not when someone proposes it.
A real case
The situation
A company quotes an ERP integration and shelves it on cost.
What you do
- Sets up a monthly listing with a fixed date and an owner
- Six months later it knows which two values it actually uses
What you get
When it does integrate, it integrates only those — and the project costs a fraction of the quote.
The situation
Two tools need connecting and there is nobody to write code.
What you do
- Uses the available no-code connections
What you get
The flow is built without depending on development.
The situation
The no-code connection is built and nobody documents it.
What you do
- Notes what triggers what and who maintains it
What you get
The connection is not orphaned.
The situation
A flow is built that does more than intended.
What you do
- Starts with one step and adds afterwards
What you get
The behaviour is understood at each step.
The situation
It fails and nobody knows where to look.
What you do
- Checks the run history
What you get
Diagnosis starts where it should look.
The situation
It is built with the personal account of whoever made it.
What you do
- Uses a company service account
What you get
The connection outlives that person's departure.
This article answers
- integrate without a developer
- export to spreadsheet monthly
- we have no it team how do we connect
- alternative to an integration