- bexio is the business software many Swiss SMEs use for quotes, invoices and accounting. Its API is an official interface: with your permission, other programs can read and create contacts, quotes, invoices and payments in bexio.
- That lets workflows like enquiry → quote → invoice → payment run without retyping.
- For standard cases there are ready-made apps in the bexio marketplace (more than 100). Check those first.
- A custom integration pays off when your workflow is special or connects several programs. One workflow usually costs CHF 2'500 to 6'000 one-off.
- bexio doesn't help with building integrations. You need a ready-made app, a tool like Zapier, or someone who builds and looks after the connection.
Think of the bexio API as a back door that only opens with a key. Through it, other programs can put data into your bexio or read from it: your website, your online shop, or the app your technicians use to log their hours. You hand out the key yourself, and it only opens the areas you allow.
Good to know: the connection works with the rights of the user who set it up, so it can never do more than that person is allowed to do in bexio. bexio provides detailed documentation for developers, but explicitly offers no help with building integrations.
Practically everything you work with day to day in bexio. The most important areas for SMEs:
Contacts
A new enquiry from your website becomes a contact automatically, without duplicates.
Quotes, orders, invoices
An enquiry becomes a quote, an accepted quote becomes an order and an invoice.
Payments and reminders
Paid invoices are recognised; open items land on one list for you.
Items and stock
Orders from your online shop are matched with your bexio items.
Projects and timesheets
Hours from a job report or an app are booked to the project and invoiced.
Files
Signed quotes or photos from a job are filed with the right customer.
What you can connect to the bexio API| Area in bexio | Everyday example |
|---|
| Contacts | A new enquiry from your website becomes a contact automatically, without duplicates. |
|---|
| Quotes, orders, invoices | An enquiry becomes a quote, an accepted quote becomes an order and an invoice. |
|---|
| Payments and reminders | Paid invoices are recognised; open items land on one list for you. |
|---|
| Items and stock | Orders from your online shop are matched with your bexio items. |
|---|
| Projects and timesheets | Hours from a job report or an app are booked to the project and invoiced. |
|---|
| Files | Signed quotes or photos from a job are filed with the right customer. |
|---|
On top of that come accounting, bank accounts, purchasing and payroll, which most workflows need less often.
Before and after, in businesses like yours:
Joiners, painters, landscapers
Enquiry → quote
Before: Enquiries arrive by e-mail. Someone types the name, address and requirements into bexio.
After: The website form creates the contact and prepares the quote. You check it and send it.
Shops on Shopify or WooCommerce
Online shop → invoice
Before: Every order is entered into bexio a second time.
After: Orders become invoices automatically and payments are matched.
Electricians, plumbers, service technicians
Job report → invoice
Before: Paper job reports; hours and material are gathered at the end of the month.
After: Hours and material from the job report go straight onto an invoice with a Swiss QR code.
Anyone who sends lots of invoices
Payment → paid
Before: Bank statements and open items are compared by hand.
After: Paid invoices are marked, the customer gets a confirmation, exceptions go onto a list.
Courses, rentals, consulting
Online booking → invoice
Before: Booked courses and appointments are invoiced by hand at the end of the month.
After: Every booking creates the invoice in bexio straight away, payable with a TWINT link.
Management, fiduciary
Figures → monthly overview
Before: Figures for the month-end are copied from several lists.
After: Revenue, open items and workload arrive automatically every month as a short overview.
Before you have an integration built: bexio already does a lot by itself, depending on your plan. That includes Swiss QR-bills, payment reminders, recurring invoices and capturing receipts. Sometimes a setting is enough instead of a project.
I check this with you in our first call. If a setting or a ready-made app is enough, I'll tell you. That saves you money, and saves me an unhappy client.
There are three ways to connect bexio with other programs:
Ready-made app from the bexio marketplace
monthly app subscription
Good for: A standard case, for example a well-known online shop. Set up quickly.
Limit: Does what the app does. Often too rigid for special cases.
Zapier, Make and similar tools
monthly subscription, depending on volume
Good for: Simple workflows you'd like to click together yourself.
Limit: Hard to follow with many steps; your data passes through another provider.
Custom integration
one-off from about CHF 2'500, plus running costs
Good for: Your workflow is special or connects several programs. Runs exactly the way your business works.
Limit: Needs someone to build and look after it.
Rule of thumb: a standard case with a well-known program? Ready-made app. A simple workflow you want to maintain yourself? Zapier or Make. A workflow that has to fit your business exactly, connects several programs or is business-critical? Custom integration.
Guide prices for Switzerland, October 2026, excluding VAT:
- A single workflow, for example website form → contact and quote in bexio: usually CHF 2'500 to 6'000 one-off.
- Several workflows or a whole chain from quote to payment: more, depending on the number of steps and exceptions.
- Running costs: monitoring, adjustments when bexio changes something, and small requests. Plan a fixed monthly amount for this.
What drives the price: the number of programs, the number of steps, how many exceptions there are (such as part payments or discounts) and whether someone should check things before they're sent.
Worked example
A landscaping business gets 10 enquiries a week through its website. Typing each one into bexio and preparing a quote takes about 20 minutes. Over 46 working weeks at CHF 60 an hour, that's about 153 hours, or CHF 9'180 a year.
The bexio package costs from CHF 4'900.–, running costs from CHF 250.– a month: about CHF 7'900 in the first year. Something is left over even in year one, and almost the full amount from year two. And the most important part can't be counted in francs: quotes go out the same day, not on Friday evening.
Assumptions: 10 enquiries a week, 20 minutes each, 46 working weeks, CHF 60 an hour including overheads. A rough guide, not a quote.
- Call (30 minutes, free): we look at your workflow and your bexio. I check whether a setting or a ready-made app is enough, and whether your plan gives the access needed.
- Quote within 48 hours: with a fixed price, the scope and a binding date. For larger projects, a process review for CHF 1'500.– comes first, credited against the build.
- Build: I build and test with test data first, not with your real customers. Every week you see where things stand.
- Handover: the connection is running and your team gets a short guide. You own the code.
- The connection only gets the rights it needs for the workflow. Nothing more.
- Your data stays in bexio. The connection only fetches what it is processing at that moment.
- You can revoke the access in bexio at any time.
- On request, the connection runs on servers in Switzerland or the EU.
- Personal data in e-mails and invoices is handled under Swiss data protection law (FADP).
You should be able to answer these questions before asking for a quote:
- Which task costs you the most time today? Write it down in 3 to 5 steps.
- Is there already an app for it in the bexio marketplace? If so, is it really enough?
- Which programs are involved, for example your website, shop, time tracking or bank?
- Who checks things before they go to customers? Someone should always look at a quote before it's sent.
- What should happen if something fails? Who gets the alert?
- Who owns the code at the end, and what do the running costs come to per month?
All packages and what they include are on the bexio integration page. More examples, also without bexio, under process automation. All prices in CHF, excluding any applicable VAT.
Which task costs you the most time?
In a free call I'll show you whether an app is enough, or what an integration costs.
