Outgrown AutoCount or SQL Account? Add-on, ERP or custom system

AutoCount and SQL Account run the books for a great many Malaysian businesses. They do that job well. The trouble starts around them: as the company grows, more of the work moves into spreadsheets, WhatsApp and staff keying the same thing twice.

At some point someone says, “We need an ERP system.” Sometimes that is right. Often the accounts are fine, and what is missing is one part of the operations. That matters, because moving the books to a new system is a big change for any finance team, and often not the change that’s needed.

Signs the package has stopped fitting

• Staff key the same order, invoice or stock movement into two places.
• Stock counts, job status or delivery schedules live in Excel.
• Approvals happen on WhatsApp, and nobody can find them later.
• Branches, outlets or warehouses work in ways the package can’t model.
• Customers, agents or suppliers need their own portal or app.
• Month-end reports are built by hand from several exports.
• Every request to the dealer comes back as “can’t do” or a new customisation quote.

If the problem is set-up or training, none of the options below are needed. Ask your dealer first.

Four ways forward

1. Get more from the package: modules, plug-ins or dealer set-up. Good when the gap is small and the package has a feature for it. Check what each customisation costs, and whether it survives upgrades.
2. Move to a bigger ERP, such as SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or Odoo. Good when the whole company should work in one system and can adopt its way of working. Check the per-user licences, the implementation partner, and the months of change for staff.
3. Keep the package for the books, and build the missing part around it. Good when the accounting works but one core workflow doesn’t: orders, stock, jobs, bookings or a customer app. Check how the two connect, and which side owns each record.
4. Build a fully custom ERP. Rarely right. You would rebuild accounting, tax and reports that packages already do well.

The third route is the one people don’t hear about from either side. Package dealers sell packages, and ERP partners sell ERPs. Keeping the books where they are and building only what is missing is often cheaper, faster to roll out and easier on staff.

The AutoCount and SQL Account APIs: how a custom system connects

Both packages now offer a way in.

• AutoCount has the AOTG API. Another system sends requests to it over the internet, and a small web service installed on the computer that runs your AutoCount server passes them on.^⁠[1]
• SQL Account has a REST API for records such as sales and purchase invoices, customers, stock items, journal entries and customer payments. It needs SQL Accounting version 5.2025.1038.875 or newer.^⁠[2]

What that means in practice:

1. The office computer matters. If the package runs on a PC or server in the office, that machine and its internet connection become part of the integration. When it is off, nothing syncs.
2. Versions matter. An old version of the package may need upgrading first, and later upgrades should be tested against the connection.
3. Decide who owns each record. Customers, items, prices and tax codes should each have one home, with the other system copying from it.
4. Plan for failures. Decide what happens when a sync fails, who is told, and how records are matched again at month-end.

Our integration worksheet walks through those decisions one record at a time.

What we have built this way

For AWC, a group of hotels, retail and commercial properties, we built a loyalty app linked to SAP, which stays the source of the group’s finance data. For Smartledgers, our system reads receipts and invoices, and the approved records go to the client’s books in QuickBooks or Xero. In both, the accounting system stayed the books, and we built the part the business needed around it.

Common questions

Should we replace AutoCount or SQL Account with SAP Business One?

Only if the whole company needs to work in one system and is ready to change how it works to fit it. If one workflow is the problem, fix that workflow first. A bigger ERP brings bigger licences and a longer rollout, and staff still have to adapt to it.

Can our own system create invoices in AutoCount or SQL Account automatically?

Usually, yes, through the APIs above. Check your version, and talk to your dealer about access before the work starts.

Will an upgrade of the package break the connection?

It can. Treat each upgrade as something to test, and make testing the connection part of whoever maintains it.

Does AutoCount have an API?

Yes. Its AOTG API is a REST API for connecting other systems, through a small web service installed on the computer that runs your AutoCount server.^⁠[1] SQL Account has its own REST API too.

Which is better, AutoCount or SQL Account?

For most businesses, either does the accounting well. Choose on the modules you need, the dealer who will support you and what your accountant knows. If you plan to connect your own system later, both now have an API.

How we can help

Before you spend on ERP licences or a new build, find out which of the four routes fits. For RM1,000, a Decision Review gives you a written second opinion based on your workflows and the options you’re weighing. The money then goes to the part that is actually missing, not to replacing what already works.

If the answer is to build the missing part, it usually runs on Managed Delivery, from RM13,000 a month, with the first release kept small. When the scope is written and fixed, it can be a Custom Project, from RM30,000.