Are You Using Software Integrations To Save Time & Money?

Have you ever thought about how much time you spend using different software solutions for your work?  For gas engineers (and other trades, too) there’s a world far removed from the actual work. That world includes everything from accounting to tax, scheduling, invoices and more – and it takes up a good chunk of time. 

For most of these tasks, gas engineers use software to make their lives easier. You’ve got accounting software like Xero, Safe, or Quickbooks, flue gas analysers from Kane and Anton, and maybe even payment software like Stripe or Crezco.

It can almost feel like all these solutions, while helpful on their own, amount to an insane amount of login details to remember and software to learn. Ditching them isn’t exactly an option, though, since doing everything on paper takes even longer.

Instead, the solution is to combine them under one roof. We call this software integration and it’s a blessing for gas engineers that just want to get on with the job. 

This article will give you an introduction to software integration and discuss key benefits that make it so crucial for any serious gas engineer these days. Let’s get started. 

What is software integration?

Software integration simply means connecting two or more pieces of software together to create a single, unified system.  This way, they can exchange information, be operated from a single login, and help you run a more streamlined and productive business. 

In a way, it’s no different to how many gas engineers venture into the plumbing world. From their point of view, plumbing is a great way to get more business alongside their gas work. For the customers, it saves them time having to find a separate tradesperson.

How do you integrate software?

Software integration requires a partnership between companies. This is actually quite common, as it benefits all involved. Once this has been done, the software providers will do all the hard work.

With Gas Engineer Software, for example, connecting your accounts is made to be as simple as possible. 

All you need to do is head to the settings cog in your account, (on the top right corner of your screen) then click on “Manage” under Integrations Settings.

What are the benefits of software integration?

Once you have integrated your software, they will be able to communicate, exchange data, and run core features without you having to constantly log into other accounts.  There’s a few key benefits doing it this way:   

#1: It saves you lots of time

Rather than having to remember countless login details for all your software accounts, you can handle everything you need on a daily basis from one place. That means fewer annoying logins, lost passwords, and issues with access rights. 

But most importantly – integration means saving hours of time on mundane data entry. Data from invoices and payments is needed for your tax returns, while client information is needed across almost every stage. Ordinarily, you would have to manually enter or port this data over from one software to another. What is otherwise a lengthy and tedious task is transformed into a click of a button.   

#2: It reduces human error

When you’ve got several different pieces of software that need access to the same information, your data has to be accurate. This brings us nicely to the second issue that software integration solves: It completely eliminates the change of human error. 

This offers two main benefits. Firstly, it means you won’t have to spend even more time going back to find and edit the mistake. Secondly, it offers you complete peace of mind and validation that your data is 100% accurate.   

#3:  It streamlines business processes

With your different software accounts integrated, invoices, customer information, and more are readily available for your accountants. Without the need for manual data entry, they’ll spend far less time on your accounts – which means they’ll bill you less, too. 

Not to mention, your entire business will enjoy the convenience and speed of having data in one centralised location. Less time spent finding information, doing admin tasks, and teaching new staff is always a good thing for your business. And with this system you’ll find you can easily automate invoicing, payment reminders, service reminders, and much more.  

#4: It allows staff to focus on core tasks

While it is a bit of a cliché, time is your most valuable resource. As a business owner, you want to be spending your time where it matters the most. 

The time saved and efficiency offered by software integrations lets you focus on core tasks that directly contribute to the success of your company. 

If you have staff, they’ll feel the benefits too: rather than doing tedious data entry tasks and wasting time switching between different software, they can focus on customer service and other income-generating work. 

What kind of software can & should a gas engineer integrate?

Realistically, this all depends on the software you are using. Most software integrations revolve around accounting and payment, as the financial side of things is often left to dedicated software.  

For example, Gas Engineer Software has integration with QuickBooks, Sage, and Xero. We’re also working on integration with Crezco to make payments a simpler and more convenient process.

There are also marketing tools like Mailchimp that benefit greatly from integration. Connecting your Gas Engineer Software account to Mailchimp lets you leverage the wealth of information contained in your customer database for marketing purposes. So, if you had plans to send out special offers or emails to your customers, this is how to do it. 

Conclusion – all you need to know about software integration

Software integration is one of those things that sounds way more complicated than it actually is. 

At the end of the day, software companies want to make it as easy as possible for their customers (you) to reap the benefits of their platform. By simplifying the process down to the click of a button, you’re able to consolidate all your different software platforms into one single and easy-to-use platform that helps you save time and focus on what counts.