Connect Simplicate to Exact Online: invoices and organisations without entering them twice
In Simplicate you work with projects, hours and quotes, and you turn those into invoices. The books are often in Exact Online, and then someone retypes or exports invoices every month. That differs from a webshop: there is no stream of orders, but a limited number of invoices to organisations, each with its own lines and its own VAT treatment. Schakel reads those invoices from Simplicate and books them as a sales invoice in Exact Online, with the organisation as the relation.
All Simplicate integrationsAll Exact Online integrations
What travels across the link
Everything this connector moves between Simplicate and Exact Online, and how often.
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Invoices as sales invoices
An invoice from Simplicate becomes a sales invoice in Exact Online, with the invoice lines, the Simplicate invoice number as reference and the sales journal you choose. The number your customer pays with is then the same in both systems.
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Organisations as relations
The organisation on the invoice is found or created as a relation in Exact, with address and VAT number. An existing relation is reused, so you do not get duplicate debtors.
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Revenue account and VAT per line
Each invoice line gets the ledger account and VAT code you assign. Services abroad, reverse-charged VAT and exempt lines get the code that exists for that in your administration.
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Final invoices only
A draft in Simplicate is not booked. Only once the invoice has been finalised does it go to Exact, so you never have an entry for an invoice that is still changing.
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How Simplicate and Exact talk: the APIs in short
Simplicate has a REST API on the address of your own environment, with a key and a secret in two headers. They inherit the rights of the user who created them, and you can count on at least 60 requests per minute; above that a 429 can follow. You can filter on updated since. Exact allows 60 requests per minute and 5000 per day per administration.
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Worked example (fictional)
Example: an invoice for 40 hours of consulting at 95.00 plus 120.00 travel costs, all excl. VAT, is 3,920.00 excl. and 823.20 VAT (21%), so 4,743.20 incl. In Exact there are two lines on two revenue accounts and the relation gets an open item of 4,743.20. The amounts are invented.
Where each Simplicate field ends up in Exact
This is the layout we follow for a sales invoice. The names of VAT codes and accounts come from your own Exact administration.
Invoice number
The invoice number in /invoices/invoice
Reference of the sales invoice
Customer
Organisation from /crm/organization
Relation, found by VAT number or name
Invoice date
Date of the invoice
Invoice date, and with it the booking period
Due date
Payment term of the invoice
Due date of the open item
Invoice line
Line with description, quantity and price
Invoice line on the revenue account you link
VAT
VAT percentage per line
VAT code from your administration, for example for reverse-charged or exempt
Status
Draft or final
Only final invoices are booked
Document on the invoice
Stays in Simplicate, the entry refers to the number
What Simplicate to Exact Online saves you
- You invoice in Simplicate and book in Exact, with no export or retyping.
- The invoice number is the same in both systems, so payments are easy to match.
- No duplicate debtors: an existing relation is reused.
- Your accountant opens Exact and finds the revenue already booked.
Setting it up
- 01
Create an API token in Simplicate
In the general settings of Simplicate you create a token under API. It consists of a key and a secret. Create it with a user who may see invoices and organisations, because the token gets exactly that user’s rights.
- 02
Connect Exact Online
You click Connect with Exact Online, sign in and approve. Exact offers no administration picker, so Schakel takes the administration that is active at that moment. Check that the right one is attached.
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Pick journal, accounts and VAT codes
You pick the sales journal and, per kind of line, the revenue account and VAT code. The lists come straight from your administration.
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Check and let it run
Invoices first arrive as drafts in Exact, so you can review the first few. If you switch that off, new invoices land in Exact as final right away.
What you need
- A Simplicate environment with an API token (key and secret) from a user who may read invoices and organisations
- An Exact Online administration with a sales journal, revenue accounts and VAT codes
Not sure how to get those keys? Step by step:
Where it runs
On app.schakel.app, with your own Schakel account. No webshop required.
Then from €10 a month billed yearly, or stay on free. See the tiers
Start freeNeed this exact integration, or something it does not do yet? Tell us what you need and we reply within 24 hours.
Related connections
Connect a different pair
Simplicate and Exact Online is one of many. Pick two systems and see what travels between them.
Common questions
Is the Simplicate to Exact Online connector available?
Request this connector and get access. You let us know you want to link Simplicate to Exact Online, and we make sure you can get started. You hear from us within 24 hours.
Are hours and projects passed on too?
No. What goes to Exact is the invoice: the lines, the amount and the VAT. Hours and projects stay in Simplicate, where you manage them anyway.
What if Simplicate gets too many requests?
Simplicate then answers with a 429. Schakel waits and retries; nothing is lost. With a small number of invoices it does not occur, because we only ask for what was updated since the last round.
Why do my invoices show as drafts in Exact?
That is how the connector starts, so you can review the first few. A draft is not on your VAT return. Switch the draft setting off in the connector settings once you trust it; the waiting drafts are opened in the next round.
What if I switch administration in Exact?
Then your booking settings are cleared: journal, accounts and VAT codes belong to one administration and mean nothing in another. Schakel asks for them again rather than send invoices Exact refuses.
Can Exact let the access lapse?
Only if nobody uses the connector for thirty days; that is a rule of Exact. A connector that runs does not hit it. If you revoke the access yourself, the connector stops and you can connect again.
Can you connect Simplicate to Exact Online?
Yes. Schakel connects through the official APIs of Simplicate and Exact Online, so you install nothing on your own server and nothing travels outside those two parties.
Which VAT rate do my sales get in Exact Online?
The rate is set per line: 21%, 9% or 0%. Sales to Belgium and other EU countries get the rate of the destination country, ready for your OSS return.
Missing something you need?
Tell us what Simplicate and Exact Online should do for you. If it is not in here yet, that is usually because nobody has asked. We reply within 24 hours.