Top-Rated Accounting API Solutions

Accounting API solutions in this guide refer to a software system with easy connectors and documentation for developers that connect with software from a different software vendor. The software added to an accounting system may be referred to as add-on software or a third-party app. In this guide, we include two-way accounting API software solutions—either to or from the accounting software/ERP system that combines with third-party add-on software. 

Find the best accounting software API solutions providing integration paths to other software products. Our guide defines what is API in accounting and names some top-rated software choices for efficiently streamlining your accounting and global payment and payout processes as accounting integrations.

What is an Accounting API?

An accounting API (application program interface) is software containing a connector that seamlessly integrates accounting software or an ERP system with third-party software solutions to give accounting professionals access to automation and additional functionality for greater efficiency and other software user benefits. 

The software website has API documentation for developers to connect its software. The documentation may be called an API reference. An accounting API lets other software products or websites access the data of Internet users with the OAuth open standard. APIs require user input for data sharing, whereas webhooks share some data upon a certain action with custom callbacks. JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), an open standard, may be used for transmitting data in web applications software. 

An accounting API may be used to connect an accounting software program to financial and payments automation software, accounting spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel or Google Docs, and multiple third-party add-on apps in an online apps store. Although a CRM software system for customer relationship management isn’t designed specifically for accounting, it interacts with some accounting functions in an ERP system through API integration. 

7 Accounting APIs to Consider in 2024

7 top accounting APIs are:

1. Tipalti API
2. NetSuite 
3. Sage Accounting
4. QuickBooks Online 
5. Xero Payroll
6. Zoho Books
7. Ramp

Tipalti API 

Tipalti API easily connects its global partner payments to ERP systems and popular accounting software. Tipalti API is a global payment API solution. 

For API accounting, your business can connect to a payment processor. Tipalti is a money services business (MSB) with money transmitter licenses (MTL). It uses major global banks for making payments. If you have an eCommerce business, you need to understand the difference between payment gateway vs. payment processor. 

About Tipalti API

Tipalti API is a modern global payment/payout REST-based API for developers to help accountants and finance professionals gain access to Tipalti’s payments infrastructure and global banking network software platform as an add-on when connecting it to their ERP or accounting software. Tipalti API has seamless pre-built integrations, including NetSuite integration. 

The easy-to-integrate Tipalti API has excellent documentation for developers to use for a fast and well-tested integration project. Tipalti’s Developer Hub has sample code, a sandbox testing environment, and other development tools. 

Tipalti Global Partner Payments Software

Businesses send payouts to freelancers, independent contractors, creators, streamers, affiliates, publishers, and others. Companies making payouts may regularly make up to thousands of payouts or their payouts volume may be smaller. 

With accounting software and ERP integration, Tipalti global partner payments software helps these businesses gain substantial efficiency and cost savings in their payout process by enabling large batches for mass payments. Tipalti global partner payments software also integrates with some third-party marketing performance platforms to automatically determine the payout amounts from performance analytics. 

Using Tipalti’s global payment software with a built-in ACH API greatly simplifies your company’s experience with ACH payment connections to a bank or financial institution. 

Tipalti’s software platform connects your payees with self-service onboarding through Tipalti’s guided Supplier Portal. Payees can select ACH transfers or a choice of 5 other payment methods if available in their country. The Tipalti  Supplier Portal also helps you automatically collect W-9 or W-8 IRS form information before making your first payment to a supplier or independent contractor payee. 

Tipalti Customer Testimonial

As a use case, Tipalti’s customer, Splice, is a NetSuite ERP user that integrated Tipalti’s add-on global partner payments and AP automation software via an API connection. Splice provides a music playground for musicians, with a business model that requires royalty and other types of payouts. As stated in its Tipalti case study, Splice gained substantial workload efficiencies when making over 900 global royalty payouts and performing automated invoice processing for accounts payable (using a second Tipalti platform product).  

“It took us eight weeks a year to process hundreds of royalty payments manually, and with Tipalti, it is now down to less than an hour. AP invoice processing is also automated, eliminating another 36 days a year of workload. With Tipalti, we’re able to close the books 30–40% faster every month.”

– Nas Yaqoobi, Accountant, Splice

NetSuite 

NetSuite SuiteCloud Platform Integration operates either with REST or SOAP API framework web services to integrate and seamlessly connect real-time NetSuite ERP with all third-party applications and systems. 

With NetSuite accounting API integration, you can use the power and data of NetSuite ERP and NetSuite OneWorld (for global multi-entity companies) in any software that you choose, including third-party add-on apps and software. 

Sage Accounting

Sage Accounting software products, including Sage Intacct and others, let developers use API accounting connectors with Sage. Sage accounting APIs let you access third-party software to connect with Sage accounting software and add functionality like Tipalti’s global partner payments platform. 

QuickBooks Online 

QuickBooks Online offers different subscription plans for its cloud-based accounting software, depending on the level of features your business needs. As an accounting API solution, QuickBooks explains how developers use its QuickBooks Online Accounting  API with a REST framework. QuickBooks Online hosts an online QuickBooks App Store for its software users to choose numerous third-party apps to integrate with QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks believes that third-party add-on software integration makes its accounting software ERP-like by adding functionality for accounting and bookkeeping where it’s missing and making the software more valuable to users. 

Xero Payroll

Xero, an accounting software vendor, provides a Payroll API for developers to use to access the functionality of the Xero payroll application. Xero suggests that companies can use this Payroll API access for a variety of functions, including syncing employee details and importing employee timesheets. 

The XERO Payroll API for accounting adds efficiency for accountants completing these types of tasks in their workflows. 

Zoho Books

Zoho Books is online software used by small businesses and mid-sized companies for their accounting software. Zoho provides REST APIs for software developers to create Zoho-integrated add-on apps. Zoho offers 50+ apps internally and third parties increase the number of available apps integrating with Zoho to over 500 to add more capabilities to the basic accounting software. Zoho is an affordable solution with different SaaS subscription plans.

Ramp

Ramp is automation software for finance and accounting that includes expense management. The Ramp API, using REST, is for developers to access transactions, issue cards, and make invitations, among other purposes. The environments available in the Ramp API are production (to go live) and sandbox (for testing an application). 

How to Choose the Best Accounting API for Your Business

To choose the best accounting API as accounting software, automation, or an ERP for your company, consider business needs, globalization, budget, and the available third-party add-on software integrations to extend functionality and make your staff more efficient. Also seek ways to improve security and global regulatory and tax compliance, reduce errors and vendor fraud risk, and best use accounting data. 

Summing It Up

API accounting software providers give you many choices for combining software products from different vendors, using an API connection. The API connection to other software makes them better and more efficient through synergistic features and more robust capabilities. As a software developer, you can choose Tipalti API to enable the use of the Tipalti software platform as a global partner payments processor. Continue reading about Tipalti API.