Integrating WooCommerce Crowdfunding SaaS Product with QuickBooks Online and Bill.com

The Client

The client, the founder of ComicsGate.com, is based in the USA. ComicsGate.com is an e-commerce crowdfunding platform built on WooCommerce. It has numerous certified vendors who use the platform to raise funds for specific purposes from the public. The client sought an expert integration company to help integrate Bill.com and QuickBooks Online with their WooCommerce platform.

Problem Statement

• The founder of ComicsGate wanted to integrate the Crowdfunding SaaS product with QuickBooks Online. Vendors on the platform were encountering several issues as they had to switch to a different tab and manually perform various tasks.
• Taxation was demanding a significant amount of effort from accountants, resulting in time-consuming and manual processes.
• The payment process through the platform's built-in payment module was neither very convenient nor time-effective for the public when making payments to vendors.
• Vendors had to be manually added to QuickBooks Online and Bill.com once they were onboarded on the platform.
• They faced issues during the vendor onboarding process, which resulted in significant time requirements from both the vendor and ComicsGate every time a new vendor needed to be onboarded.
• Vendors wanted to make the platform more appealing to the public as there were no reward facilities for the public to attract them.
• The crowdfunding platform's founder had previously tried to integrate QuickBooks Online with the help of a team of freelancers. This project caused delays and went over budget. Unfortunately, the team was unable to provide satisfactory results.

Solutions

• After a challenging experience with a freelancer team, the client chose Satva Solutions, an expert System Integrator (SI).
• In the initial stage, Satva Solutions conducted a discovery phase for the project to determine the proper workflow, different approaches, and create an architecture for the entire project. After gathering the required information, Satva Solutions' resource manager assessed the availability of resources. Once the Satva team had mitigated the risks and formulated a plan, they moved the project into the development stage.
• Satva and ComicsGate mutually decided to adopt an agile approach for project development since many small enhancements for the future had already been foreseen in the discovery phase.
• The integration development team created the QuickBooks Online and Bill.com integration to automate the accounting processes.
• Bill.com was integrated with the platform to facilitate funding payments directly to vendors' accounts.
• The Satva Solutions team automated the onboarding process for new certified vendors. This automation significantly reduced the platform's efforts required to onboard new vendors into QuickBooks and Bill.com. Additionally, a solution was developed to automate the taxation process for the vendors, which improved accuracy and reduced human errors.

Results

• Easy Onboarding for Vendors: The process of onboarding vendors from ComicsGate's platform to QuickBooks and Bill.com was upgraded from manual to automatic, reducing efforts by 30%.
• Payment Feature for the Public:The public donation funds could be received by vendors from the public through the integrated payment gateway Bill.com. Transaction time was reduced by 15% without compromising security checks.
• Reward Feature for the Public: In response to vendors' requests to attract more public support, they were able to offer rewards in return for their donations, leading to a 25% increase in public traffic.
• Automated Custom Taxation:Automation enabled vendors to receive real-time updates on taxation terms and amounts, resulting in increased financial accuracy and a substantial reduction in manual errors.

Platform/Technology

• Platform: WooCommerce
• Technology: PHP WordPress
• WordPress Database: MySQL
• Middleware Satva API: Microsoft ASP.NET Core 6
• Middleware API Database: Microsoft SQL Server
• Programming Language: C#
• 3rd Party APIs Integrated: QuickBooks Online & Bill.com

Conclusion

In conclusion, Satva Solutions successfully addressed ComicsGate's challenges by providing expert QuickBooks integration services and Bill.com through integration, streamlining various processes, resulting in significant time and effort savings, improved payment and taxation processes, and increased platform appeal to the public. The adoption of an Agile approach allowed for flexibility and continuous improvement. The technology stack used was robust and suitable for the project's requirements. Overall, the QuickBooks and Bill.com integration project proved to be a valuable investment for ComicsGate.