Services06 CRM & accounting
Your CRM and your books should not need a typist between them.
Less retyping. Clearer exceptions. Faster preparation for month-end. Connect your CRM and accounting systems, with AI helping on repetitive tasks and your team reviewing the changes that matter.
$3,000 to $8,000
How it works
Map the work
Follow quotes, invoices and payments through your business. Identify repeat entry, missing information and the decisions your team needs to keep.
Connect and test
Build around the tools you already use. Test representative transactions, duplicates and failures before enabling the agreed workflow.
Review before changing the books
Your team reviews exceptions and approves the changes identified in the plan. We agree how to pause the workflow and correct mistakes before handover.
One transaction. A traceable path.
Illustrative CRM-to-books workflow.
Source record
The quote, customer and job details stay connected to their origin.
AI-assisted preparation
Extract and suggest mappings or coding where appropriate.
Approval and posting
Authorized people review exceptions before agreed updates reach the books.
Reconciliation
Check the result against the source, with an agreed record of changes.
Accounting judgment remains with your bookkeeper or accountant. Permissions and audit capabilities depend on the selected systems.
Put AI to work on the repetitive parts.
Depending on your systems, AI can help extract details from invoices and receipts, suggest transaction categories and flag missing or inconsistent information. The aim is less manual entry and more time for your team to review what needs judgment.
We start with a defined workflow and test its output against real examples with your team. Suggestions remain drafts until the agreed approval checks are complete. Your bookkeeper or accountant keeps responsibility for accounting decisions.
Controlled access. Traceable changes.
Security and traceability are part of the implementation scope. Before connecting systems, we agree which records the workflow can read or change, who can approve an action and where the data is processed.
- Limited access:
- use supported account permissions and grant only the access needed for the workflow.
- Human approval:
- define which suggestions need review before they affect your accounting records.
- An activity record:
- agree how to record the source, proposed action, approval, time and result. Verify what your tools actually capture, including how long the history is retained.
- Protected connections:
- review authentication, encrypted connections and credential storage, and agree monitoring and escalation responsibilities.
We demonstrate the agreed controls and a sample transaction history before handover. Any gaps in the available platform logs are identified in the proposal.
What it costs
$3,000 to $8,000
Typical project; scope and price agreed after we understand the work.
The price depends on the work we agree. The free hour helps us discuss fit and the next step. Scope and price are agreed before paid work begins.
What moves the number
- How many systems are involved and whether they have decent connections
- How messy the existing data is
- Custom steps: approvals, deposits, progress billing
Do we have to change software?
Usually not. The point is making what you own work together. If something genuinely has to go, you see the cost comparison before deciding.
What if our books are a mess?
First establish what needs cleanup and who will do it. That work is scoped separately before connecting the systems.
You work directly with me.
I'm Chris Patten: eighteen years leading technology as VP, IT and CIO, a finance and accounting background, and experience building and selling my own business. You work with me directly, and I have no software to sell you.
Running costs and ongoing support
Before you commit, the proposal separates implementation from recurring costs: hosting, software subscriptions, usage charges, monitoring and support where applicable. It also sets the included maintenance or change allowance, response expectations and how additional work is priced.
We agree who owns each account, who operates the system after handover and how issues are escalated. Ongoing monitoring or incident response is included only where specified in the agreement.