ERP, CRM, document storage, e-mail, calendar and specialist systems — and what each integration needs.
01 In short
We connect the systems that businesses in real estate and construction work with today: e-mail and calendar, CRM, accounting and ERP, document storage and DMS, and the specialist software of the industry. Examples are Abacus, Bexio, SAP and SAP Business One, Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Propbase and Avendo, plus any other system with an interface (API). Whether an integration is easy depends less on the system's name than on three questions: does it have an interface, who grants access, and which system leads for which data.
02 The five groups of systems
| Group | Typical systems | What the workflow does there |
|---|---|---|
| E-mail and calendar | Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Exchange), Google Workspace | Read and sort incoming mail, create drafts, propose and book appointments |
| CRM | Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, estate agency software such as Propbase or Avendo | Create and match contacts and enquiries, update status |
| Accounting and ERP | Abacus, Bexio, SAP, SAP Business One | Prepare documents, check them against orders and budgets, read master data |
| Document storage and DMS | SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, file servers | Name, file, tag and find documents |
| Specialist systems | Property management, trades, planning and project software | Read and write properties, orders, appointments and reports |
Which systems are typical per industry is on the industry pages, for example AI for estate agents or AI for property and facility management.
03 What an integration requires
For every system we clarify the same points:
- An interface. Most current systems offer a documented API. Some only in certain licence tiers, which is worth checking beforehand.
- Access. A technical user, an API key or a sign-in via OAuth. It gets only the rights the workflow needs, not those of an administrator.
- One leading system per piece of information. Where is the valid customer address — in the CRM or in accounting? The workflow syncs in one direction, not both.
- A test environment or test data. Where there is no test environment, we start read-only and only write after acceptance.
- A contact at the vendor or partner, if the documentation has gaps.
04 E-mail and calendar
Most workflows start here, because enquiries, invoices and reports arrive by e-mail. With Microsoft 365 the connection runs through Microsoft's interface and an app registration in the tenant that your IT approves. With Google Workspace it runs through a Google account with granted rights. A shared mailbox, for example for invoices or tenant enquiries, is the simplest way in.
05 CRM
CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot and Pipedrive have extensive interfaces. Estate agency software varies, so we check beforehand which objects and fields are reachable through the interface. The workflow's job: create an enquiry from the inbox as a contact, assign it to the right property and set the next step, without anyone retyping data.
06 ERP integration: Abacus, Bexio, SAP and SAP Business One
This is where the most value lies and where the most care is needed. The workflow reads master data, orders and cost centres and prepares bookings. Booking happens after approval. For Abacus, Robert Schröder has developed an n8n community node — a ready-made connection for the tool we build with. For SAP the route depends on version and hosting; the analysis clarifies it with your IT or your SAP partner.
Bexio. Bexio has a public REST interface at api.bexio.com. Sign-in runs through OAuth 2.0 with OpenID Connect or through a Personal Access Token. The interface covers what a workflow needs in the accounting of a smaller business: contacts, quotes, orders and outgoing invoices including the PDF, purchase bills, payments, manual entries, accounts and files. Typical workflows: capture an incoming invoice from the inbox as a purchase bill with the document attached and put it forward for approval; create an outgoing invoice in Bexio from a completed order in the specialist system; query open receivables and prepare payment reminders.
SAP Business One. SAP Business One offers the Service Layer, a REST interface based on OData with JSON, and alongside it the older DI API. Both access the same business objects as the client. The Service Layer is available for SAP HANA and, since version 10.0 PL01, for Microsoft SQL Server too. Through it the workflow reads and writes business partners, orders, sales and purchase invoices and journal entries. Typical workflows: match incoming invoices against purchase order and goods receipt and create them as drafts; read receivables and open items for the weekly report; sync master data between the CRM and SAP Business One. Whether the Service Layer runs and is reachable in your installation, we clarify with your SAP partner.
We connect other Swiss accounting and ERP programs if they have a documented interface; whether that applies to yours, we check beforehand.
An ERP interface usually needs an API enabled within your licence, a technical user with read rights on master data and orders and, for preparing bookings, write rights on a draft or import area rather than on the ledger itself.
07 Document storage and DMS
Documents are the raw material of almost every workflow: invoices, contracts, drawings, minutes, delivery notes. If they sit in SharePoint, OneDrive or Google Drive, the connection is simple. For a file server in your own network, the workflow needs a route in, for example a secured connection or a workflow server that itself sits inside the network. How that ties in with hosting is covered in Run AI locally or through an API?.
08 When a system has no interface
It happens, especially with older specialist software. Then there are other routes, in this order:
- Export and import. The system regularly saves a file, such as CSV or Excel, which the workflow reads. The other way round, it imports a file the workflow produces.
- E-mail as the interface. Many systems send notifications or reports by e-mail. The workflow reads them.
- Read-only database access, if the vendor allows it.
- Driving the user interface, a program that clicks like a person. That is the last resort, because it breaks with every change to the interface.
If none of these routes works, we say so. Sometimes the system itself is then the problem — see We replace no ERP and no CRM.
09 What we connect with
We build the connections with n8n. It comes with ready-made building blocks for many widespread systems and talks to any other interface directly. More in What is n8n; the comparison with other tools is in n8n, Make and Power Automate.
10 Frequently asked questions
Our system is not on this list. Will it still work?
Probably. What matters is not the name but whether it has an interface, an export or e-mail output. We check that in the analysis.
Can n8n connect to Abacus?
Yes. Robert Schröder has developed an n8n community node for it. The precondition is that the interface is enabled in your Abacus installation.
Can Bexio or SAP Business One be connected?
Yes. Bexio through its REST interface, SAP Business One through the Service Layer. In both cases the workflow gets its own access, and bookings are only triggered after approval.
Does the workflow need administrator rights?
No. It gets its own access with exactly the rights it needs. That way it stays clear what the workflow did and what a person did.
Who sets up the access?
Your IT or your system partner. We say exactly which rights are needed and work without employees' passwords.
Sources
- n8n: Integrations
- Bexio: API documentation
- SAP Learning: Exploring the Service Layer API Architecture and Capabilities
- Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Graph overview