Case Study · Shopify Integration · FreeAgent
How Vincent & Barn eliminated manual invoicing between Shopify and FreeAgent
Every Shopify order was being manually re-created in FreeAgent. It was slow, error-prone, and eating time the business could not afford to lose.
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What changed for Vincent & Barn
A bespoke integration built around how their business actually works, not a generic connector that nearly fits.
No more double-entry
Every Shopify order, refund and status update flows into FreeAgent automatically. The manual re-creation process is gone entirely.
Figures that actually match
We mirrored FreeAgent's own total-calculation rules, including VAT adjustment lines on invoices and credit notes. No reconciliation surprises.
Admin time freed up
Hours that were going on repetitive data entry every week are now available for the work that actually grows the business.
Built around their workflow
Not a generic plugin that nearly fits. The integration was configured to match Vincent & Barn's accounting setup and the way their team expects things to behave.
Vincent & Barn
Vincent & Barn are design-makers of rustic and industrial furniture based in Wokingham. They came to us with a problem that will be familiar to any growing ecommerce business: their systems were not talking to each other, and people were stuck filling the gap by hand.
The situation: Every order placed in Shopify had to be manually re-created as an invoice in FreeAgent. It was slow, repetitive, and impossible to scale. The time spent on admin was time not spent on the business.
The ask was simple: remove the need to copy invoices from Shopify into FreeAgent. What we delivered was a tight, accurate integration that handles everything automatically and has been running reliably ever since.
Getting the data right, not just retrieving it
We used GraphQL to query Shopify's API, pulling order details, refunds and status updates in real time. That part is relatively straightforward. The harder problem was making sure the figures at the FreeAgent end were exactly right.
We mirrored the same total-calculation rules that FreeAgent uses internally, so the numbers always reconcile. Where needed, we added VAT adjustment lines to invoices and credit notes so nothing is off by a penny.
That level of precision matters when finance records are involved. The result is correct data, zero surprises, and a workflow that simply runs.
A single, clear requirement — and what it took to meet it properly
The brief could not have been more direct: stop the need to manually copy invoices from Shopify into FreeAgent. No more double-entry, no more admin drag.
Meeting that brief properly, though, meant more than plugging two APIs together. It meant understanding how Vincent & Barn's accounting was structured, how FreeAgent expects data to be formatted, and what edge cases would cause mismatches if not handled correctly.
The result was not just a connector that works most of the time. It is an integration that works accurately, every time, and behaves exactly as their team expects.
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Built around their accounting setup, not the other way around
We did not just connect the two systems. We configured the integration to match Vincent & Barn's specific accounting structure, so everything integrates and behaves the way their team expects — not the way a generic connector assumes.
Before going live, we ran a full financial reconciliation during UAT: every figure, every invoice, every credit note checked against both systems. Production launches go live without errors, mismatches or manual fixes to clean up afterwards.
What was built and how it performs
A bespoke Shopify to FreeAgent integration, built around Vincent & Barn's actual accounting setup and verified to financial accuracy before going live.
- Automatic sync of every Shopify order into FreeAgent as an invoice, in real time
- Refunds and status updates handled automatically, with matching credit notes created
- VAT handling and total calculations mirrored exactly to FreeAgent's own rules
- Full financial reconciliation completed during UAT before production go-live
- Zero manual intervention required in normal operation
- Running reliably in production, with ongoing support available
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Found Dev Partners and they were great, nothing too much trouble. They managed to help us with integrating our old existing system with Shopify.
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Running a manual process that should be automated?
We will tell you honestly whether it is worth automating and what it would take.
Most integrations and automation projects come down to the same things: understanding the data structures on both sides, handling the edge cases properly, and making sure the output is accurate enough to trust. That is where we spend most of our time.
Common starting points:
- Shopify integrations with accountancy platforms (FreeAgent, Xero, QuickBooks)
- Order management and fulfilment automation
- ERP and inventory sync
- Custom middleware connecting platforms that do not natively integrate
- Internal workflow tools to replace spreadsheet-based processes
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