Systems integration · New Zealand
Make the systems you already run finally talk.
When your accounting, your inventory, your CRM and your website each hold a different version of the truth, someone ends up re-keying data by hand all day. Tally Digital connects the systems you already run so the data moves on its own — API integrations, Xero and CRM syncs, business process automation. Hand-coded by a senior engineer, and yours to own.
In short
What systems integration and business process automation actually mean for an NZ business
Systems integration means wiring your existing tools together — your accounting, inventory, CRM, freight and website — through their APIs so data moves between them automatically instead of being copied by a person. Business process automation is the next step: the routine, rules-based work — raising an invoice, syncing a customer, updating stock — done by software rather than by hand. In practice that is an API integration between Xero and the system that feeds it, a custom CRM integration, a spreadsheet turned into a real application, or a tired legacy system replaced with something maintainable. For most New Zealand SMEs it is the cheapest, highest-return software work there is, because every hour of manual re-keying it removes is an hour back, every week, for good.
What we build
The kind of integration work we build
Most projects are one of these, or a few of them stitched together. If two systems in your business hold the same data and a person keeps them in sync, it belongs on this list.
API integrations & automation
A direct, maintained connection between two systems that do not talk — built on their real APIs, with proper error handling and retries — so the routine work between them runs on its own instead of by hand.
Xero and accounting syncs
Quotes, invoices, contacts and payments flowing between Xero and the system that feeds it — your ordering, job management or store — so nobody re-types a number and the two never drift out of agreement.
Inventory, ERP and freight
Stock levels, orders and shipments kept in step across your inventory or ERP, your sales channels and your freight providers, so what your website shows and what is on the shelf are the same figure.
Custom CRM integration
Your CRM wired to the tools around it — website enquiries, accounting, email, your job pipeline — so a new customer is entered once and every system that needs them updates without a copy-paste.
Spreadsheet to software
The critical spreadsheet everyone depends on and nobody trusts, rebuilt as a real application: a proper database, validation that stops bad data at the door, roles, and live reporting instead of a fragile shared file.
Legacy system replacement
An ageing tool a supplier abandoned, or that only one person understands, migrated to a maintainable modern system — data moved across intact, the old workflow kept, the lock-in and the risk left behind.
In depth
How to think about connecting your systems
When your systems don’t talk, someone becomes the integration
The moment your accounting, your inventory, your CRM and your website each hold their own copy of the truth, a person has to keep them agreeing — and that person becomes the integration. They re-type the order into Xero, correct the stock count that drifted overnight, copy the new customer into three tools. It works until it doesn’t: someone is on leave, a number gets fat-fingered, an invoice goes out against last month’s pricing. The cost never shows up on an invoice, but it is real — hours a week, every week, plus the errors nobody catches until a customer does.
What a reliable API integration actually needs
An API integration is only as good as how it behaves when something goes wrong, which is most of the real engineering. Anyone can copy a record on a good day. What matters is what happens when an API is briefly down, rate-limits you, changes a field or hands back a duplicate: a solid integration retries with backoff, logs every sync, uses webhooks where they exist instead of hammering an endpoint on a timer, and surfaces a failure to a human instead of dropping it silently. That reliability is the difference between an integration you trust and one you end up double-checking by hand — which defeats the point of building it.
When not to automate — and when a no-code tool is the honest answer
Not every process should be automated, and not every integration needs custom code. If a task runs a handful of times a month, or the rules change constantly, or it genuinely needs human judgement, automating it can cost more to build and maintain than it ever saves — so leave it manual and spend the budget where the volume is. And for simple, standard connections a no-code tool like Zapier or Make is often the honest answer; if that will do the job I’ll tell you, and help you set it up rather than sell you a build. Custom code earns its place when the volume is high, the logic is specific to your business, or those tools can’t reach far enough.
Replacing a legacy system or a runaway spreadsheet without breaking what works
A runaway spreadsheet or an ageing system only one person understands is a risk long before it is a project. Replacing it is less about the new software and more about the move: mapping what the old thing actually does — including the undocumented quirks people quietly rely on — migrating the data across intact, and keeping the workflow your team already knows so the switch isn’t a shock. Done well, a legacy system replacement or a spreadsheet turned into a real application leaves you with the same job made reliable, not a new tool to fight. Done badly, it loses the very edge cases the business ran on, so we do it in stages rather than all at once.
Who you actually work with
Not an account manager fronting an offshore team — Isaac Vicliph, a senior software engineer with a decade shipping software in financial services, mapping and writing every integration himself. Connecting systems reliably is exacting work where the edge cases are the job, and it’s the kind of work that decade was spent on. You get one accountable person from the first scoping call to launch, direct contact throughout, and a plan you can actually read before anything is built. You own the code and the connections at the end. NZ-based, priced in NZD, GST-registered.
How an integration project runs, and how it’s priced
We scope before we quote. The first step is a conversation about where the data actually gets stuck — the systems that won’t sync, the report stitched together by hand every Monday, the tool everyone works around — followed by a written plan: which systems get connected, what runs automatically, what you own at the end, and a fixed price for that scope. No hourly meter, no estimate that drifts. A single two-system sync is a smaller job than automating a whole workflow across five tools, so rather than publish a number that is wrong for your case, we give you a firm one once we understand it. Tell us where it’s stuck and you’ll get a straight plan and a straight price back.
Reviewed July 2026 · written by Isaac Vicliph, Tally Digital
Questions
Frequently asked
What is systems integration?
Connecting the separate tools a business already runs — accounting, inventory, CRM, freight, your website — through their APIs so data moves between them automatically instead of being copied by a person. It is the software layer that stops the same number being typed into three systems by hand, and for most New Zealand businesses it is the highest-return work there is.
How much does an integration or automation project cost in New Zealand?
It depends entirely on scope — connecting two systems is a very different job from automating a workflow across five, so a blanket price would be misleading. We scope your actual bottleneck first, then give you a fixed price for that scope before any work starts: no hourly meter and no open-ended estimate. Tell us which systems aren’t talking and you’ll get a firm number back.
Can you integrate Xero, our CRM and our other systems?
Yes — this is most of what we do. Xero and other accounting tools, inventory and ERP, HubSpot and other CRMs, freight carriers, booking engines, payment providers and e-commerce platforms: we wire your systems together through their APIs so data flows on its own. A custom CRM integration or a Xero sync is a common first project because the manual re-keying it removes is so visible.
What is business process automation?
Having software do the routine, rules-based work a person currently does by hand — raising an invoice when a job is marked done, syncing a new customer into every system, updating stock when an order ships, chasing an overdue payment. It is the natural next step once your systems are connected, and it is where a lot of the time saving actually lands.
Should I build a custom integration or use a tool like Zapier or Make?
Use a no-code tool whenever it genuinely does the job — for simple, standard connections it is cheaper and faster, and we’ll say so and help you set it up. Go custom when the volume is high, the logic is specific to your business, the reliability has to be solid, or those tools simply can’t reach the system you need. Often the right answer is a mix of the two.
Can you replace our old legacy system or move us off spreadsheets?
Yes. A legacy system replacement or a spreadsheet-to-software rebuild is a common project. The work is in the move — mapping what the old thing really does, migrating the data across intact, and keeping the workflow your team knows — so you end up with the same job made reliable rather than a new tool to fight. We do it in stages so nothing goes dark overnight.
Do you work with businesses across New Zealand?
Yes. Tally Digital is a New Zealand software studio based in Hamilton and working with businesses across the country, including Christchurch and the South Island — remotely, and on-site when it helps. Integration work suits remote delivery well: the systems live in the cloud, and you get the same clear scope and direct contact with the engineer wherever you are.
Are you a software developer or a digital agency?
A senior software engineer. API integrations, business process automation and custom software — not templates, and not a monthly marketing retainer. You talk to the person who maps and writes the integration, every time.
Tell me which two systems you keep syncing by hand.
The order re-typed into Xero, the stock count that is always wrong, the CRM nobody updates — tell me where the data gets stuck and I’ll scope the smallest integration that fixes it, then come back with a clear plan and a fixed price.