Odoo 15 - Bank connection via Salt Edge and Ponto
Online synchronization of banks
5 May, 2022 by
Odoo 15 - Bank connection via Salt Edge and Ponto
manaTec GmbH, Hendryk Knuth
 


With hundreds to thousands of bookings per month, we want our financial accounting to run quickly and smoothly. With the Salt Edge and Ponto Connector already pre-installed, there is hardly any manual effort for entering payment transactions. All account data is automatically inserted with just one click.

We have the ability to get a complete financial overview in a timely manner and manage cash flows properly by having data on all accounts in one place: Checking accounts, savings accounts, mortgage accounts, investment accounts, loyalty accounts. We keep track of our budgets through quick reconciliation and, if necessary, we can set reminders for due dates of payments in time.

Salt Edge is a free third-party service from England, Wales and Canada that collects banking information from our bank accounts. Salt Edge currently supports approximately 5,000 institutions in more than 50 countries. Odoo can use this to directly sync our bank transactions and automatically import all bank statements into our database.

Ponto is a paid (approx. 4 €/month) service from Belgium that allows companies and freelancers to consolidate their accounts in one place and transfer all transactions directly into Odoo. It is also a third-party solution that is constantly expanding the number of banking institutions that can be synchronized with Odoo.

How do we connect to our bank using Salt Edge and Ponto?

From our Finance module, we navigate to Configuration → Add Bank Account.

Adding a bank in the accounting module.
Adding a bank in the accounting module.

By activating the "Worldwide" option, we can then select our house bank from many banks and connect via one of the two providers, below in the image using Deutsche Bank as an example. Here we can see if the bank connection is supported by Salt Edge or Ponto.

The selection of available banks.
The selection of available banks.

Here, we see the choice for Salt Edge.

The selection of a bank with Salt Edge.
The selection of a bank with Salt Edge.

Here, we see the choice for Ponto.

The selection of a bank with Ponto.
The selection of a bank with Ponto.

Setting up bank synchronization for Salt Edge

After providing our phone number, we will be asked for an email address. This email address will be used to create our Salt Edge account. Here we should make sure that we enter a valid email address, otherwise we will not be able to access our Salt Edge account.

The bank synchronisation setup for Salt Edge.
The bank synchronisation setup for Salt Edge.

After entering our email address, we will be redirected to Salt Edge to continue the synchronization process.

The bank synchronisation setup for Salt Edge.
The bank synchronisation setup for Salt Edge.

In the following step, we give consent to data protection.

The bank synchronisation setup for Salt Edge.
The bank synchronisation setup for Salt Edge.

Setting up bank synchronization for Ponto

The configuration process for Ponto is quite similar. After creating our user account at Ponto, we link our Ponto account to our Odoo database. To do this, we select our bank, as described above. Now we click on "Connect" and follow the steps described.

Odoo itself also provides detailed documentation for setting up the bank connection. We can find the instructions for configuring online synchronization here for Salt Edge and for Ponto.

Once we have connected our bank using Salt Edge or Ponto, we can synchronize payments with Odoo. After we have synchronized our payment with our bank via the bank journal, Odoo provides us with a button for online synchronization, with the help of which we can now perform the payment reconciliation with a mouse click.

The payment reconciliation in Odoo.
The payment reconciliation in Odoo.

Both systems provide reliable results for almost all banks in this world. However, Ponto is fee-based and offers some interfaces only as a beta version. Therefore, Salt Edge is certainly the better option, which is also predominantly used by our customers.

Are you looking for an ERP system with which you can map your complete financial world and synchronize your banks in addition to your business processes? Contact us now and we will be at your side as an experienced Odoo partner!


Sources: www.odoo.com

 
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