How integrations work in unified finance solutions

Xledger and Integration: An Interview with Nathan McCann

The author sat down with Xledger President Nathan McCann to discuss integrations in Xledger.

X: Does Xledger integrate?

Nathan McCann: Of course Xledger integrates. The notion that Xledger doesn’t integrate comes from a misunderstanding of what a unified finance solution is. Unified doesn’t mean all-sufficient. What makes Xledger unified is the fact that we developed our solution as a whole, with each part tightly connected to all others. Unified refers to the product’s development and internal structure, not its ability to interact with external systems.

X: Are integrations a priority for Xledger?

NM: Xledger has outdone competitors in providing advanced tools for integration. Most recently, we introduced GraphQL, a cutting-edge query language used by some of the world’s largest tech brands. GraphQL allows users to target and fetch multiple resources with a single query, resulting in faster and more reliable data transfer. We also offer classic web services [SOAP and REST], folder services, and flat file imports and exports [XML, CSV].

X: Has Xledger helped many customers integrate?

NM: Yes, we have helped numerous customers establish integrations.

X: Why would a unified solution need to integrate?

NM: Great question. While the majority of our customers do use Xledger’s native functionalities, some areas of the solution are more mature than others. We have incredibly powerful functionalities in core accounting, workflow, data entry, and bank rec, to name just a few. Yet a customer might prefer to integrate when it comes to their CRM or donor management. We do those things, and we do them well, but it’s hard to compete with a vendor like Salesforce when it comes to CRM. There are also some cases where Xledger doesn’t have the boutique functionality a customer needs.

X: What’s an example of an Xledger customer that integrated?

NM: Take one of our nonprofit clients, a multinational enterprise that has well over 120 entities worldwide. While almost every entity embraced Xledger, several small entities insisted on keeping their old applications. Rather than declaring the rollout a failure, we helped the enterprise create import/export integrations between Xledger and these entities’ preferred applications. As a result, executives at the enterprise level now have global insight—even into entities using different systems.

X: But can Xledger meet the integration demands of postmodern financial solutions?

NM: The question seems to be based on a misconception. It’s like we discussed recently. According to Gartner’s original definition, postmodern financial software is a strategy, not a model. Each business will have different needs, although industries will have many in common. So it’s mistaken to claim that postmodern finance software requires integration. Even so, Xledger provides more robust integration tools than many of vendors that make such claims. If a customer wants to integrate with another application, we welcome it.

X: Thank you so much for your time, Nathan.

NM: It was my pleasure.