Custom CRM connectors: how we connect Salesforce and Exact smoothly

Fifty sales employees, three Exact Online administrations across three countries, more than five hundred deals a month and a Salesforce Enterprise licence with Agentforce. That is not a hypothetical scenario, it is the type of organisation that comes to us for a custom Salesforce Exact connector. And it is exactly the type of project where standard connectors fall short.

The reason is simple. Enterprise organisations do not work with standard fields. They have custom Salesforce objects for approval flows, multi-currency pricing in three currencies and complex relationship hierarchies with parent and subsidiary companies. A connector that only synchronises name and address does not solve their problem.

In this article we show how we tackle these complex connectors, from analysis to go-live.

Why standard solutions fall short

Most Salesforce to Exact Online connectors work fine for SME organisations with a straightforward setup. In our previous article we discussed four options to connect Salesforce and Exact Online, from iPaaS platforms to ready-made connectors.

But with enterprise implementations these solutions reach their limits:

Limited field mapping. Standard connectors synchronise a fixed set of fields, Name, Address, Phone, Email. But what if you have Salesforce custom fields for purchasing budget, preferred supplier status or internal approval levels? Those get left out.

One-way traffic. Most connectors send data from CRM to accounting. But the return flow of payment status, stock levels and credit limits is just as important. A sales employee who has an upsell conversation without knowing the customer has three unpaid invoices has a blind spot.

No multi-administration support. Organisations with branches in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany have separate Exact Online administrations per country. A standard connector that only supports a single administration forces you into three separate integrations, including three times the maintenance.

What makes our approach different

At iWebDevelopment we build Salesforce connectors that do exactly what your organisation needs. No unnecessary features, no missing functionality.

Custom field mapping

We do not just map the standard values, we also connect the company-specific customisations to the right fields in Exact Online. The same applies the other way around: company-specific values in Exact Online appear where you need them in Salesforce.

That mapping is not static. If your organisation changes and new fields are added, we adjust the connector without you having to start over.

Bi-directional synchronisation

Data flows in both directions. From Salesforce to Exact Online:

• Accounts and Contacts become relations and contact persons
• Opportunities become sales orders or invoices
• Products and PricebookEntries become items and price lists

From Exact Online back to Salesforce:

• Payment status: has the invoice been sent, paid or is it overdue?
• Stock levels: can you deliver what you sell?
• Credit limits: what is the maximum outstanding debt per relation?
• Open items: the total amount still outstanding

That flow back is what makes the difference for your sales team. And for Agentforce agents that make autonomous decisions about upsell opportunities, they need real-time financial data to operate responsibly.

Agentforce-ready

Salesforce Agentforce runs on current data. AI agents that qualify leads or route cases need more than invoice statuses updated yesterday. Our connector delivers real-time data to the Data 360 layer that Salesforce builds beneath Agentforce, so your agents make decisions based on what is happening now, not what happened yesterday.

Multi-entity, multi-administration

We do not synchronise one or two objects. The full chain of Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Products and Cases moves back and forth. And for organisations with multiple Exact Online administrations we automatically route to the correct administration based on country, location or business unit.

A typical enterprise scenario

Let us get concrete. A mid-sized trading company with:

• 50+ sales staff spread across three countries
• Salesforce Enterprise with Agentforce activated
• Exact Online with administrations in NL, BE and DE
• Multi-currency: euro, British pound and Swiss franc
• Complex approval flows, orders above €25,000 require management sign-off

Without a connector the order team spends two to three hours a day manually transferring orders from Salesforce to the correct Exact Online administration. At five hundred deals a month that is a full-time job of administrative work.

With our connector that manual step disappears completely. An approved Opportunity in Salesforce automatically becomes a sales order in the correct administration, including the right currency, VAT code and payment condition.

Our implementation approach

We work in five steps. The lead time is usually six to nine working days, depending on the complexity.

Step 1: Analysis (1-2 days)

We map out which data needs to synchronise, in which direction and at what frequency. Which Salesforce objects and custom fields are relevant? Which Exact Online administrations and entities are involved? Are there transformation rules, for example currency conversion or VAT determination based on country code?

After this phase you have a clear overview of the scope.

Step 2: Field mapping (1 day)

We create a detailed mapping document: each Salesforce field connected to the corresponding Exact Online field, including data type, direction and any transformations. We discuss this document with your team and adjust it until it is correct.

Step 3: Configuration (2-3 days)

We set up the connector in a test environment. Every field mapping gets configured, the synchronisation rules are set and the routing to the correct administration is activated.

Step 4: Testing (2 days)

User acceptance testing with your team. We test standard scenarios such as a new relation, an order and an invoice status coming back, but also exceptional cases. What happens with a refused order? With a partial payment in a foreign currency? With a Salesforce record that lacks a required Exact Online field?

Step 5: Go-live and monitoring (1 week)

After approval we go live. During the first week we monitor the connector actively. We check synchronisation logs, flag deviations and coordinate with your team. After that week the connector runs on its own.

Why organisations choose us

The technology matters, but so does trust. A few points we often hear in decision-making conversations:

ISO 27001 certified: Our processes and infrastructure meet the international standard for information security. That is not just a sticker, it means we handle your Salesforce and Exact Online data with the security measures that enterprise organisations expect.

Official Exact Online partner: We work directly with the Exact Online environment and know the possibilities and limitations of their interfaces from experience.

Independent pentest: Our infrastructure is tested periodically by an external party. No self-assessment, but an independent audit.

Cancellable monthly: No long-term contracts. If the connector does not do what you expect, you are not tied to anything.

The investment

Custom connectors are project-based by definition. The investment depends on the number of objects, the complexity of the field mapping and the number of administrations. As an indication, a standard Salesforce-Exact Online connector with bi-directional synchronisation of the five most-used objects starts with a one-time setup cost plus a monthly management fee.

We always give a fixed quote after the analysis phase, so you have no surprises afterwards.

Next step

A custom Salesforce Exact connector starts with a good conversation about your specific situation. Which data needs to flow, in which direction and at what frequency? We are happy to help you with that.

Want to try it yourself? View the Salesforce connector →