CRM-ERP integration
Quick answer
Controlled data exchange between CRM and ERP with a single owning system per entity, so no duplicates or contradictory values appear.
Key takeaways
- Customer: CRM owns the relationship and contacts, ERP owns the legal identity; the join key is the tax ID
- Product and price: ERP owns, CRM reads at quoting time
- Stock: ERP owns, CRM displays with a freshness stamp
- Order: CRM creates it with preliminary validation, ERP validates it officially
- Invoice and ledger: stay in the ERP, CRM shows the customer balance
The core principle
For each entity, one system owns it and the other consumes it. When both systems can change the same information, duplicated customers and conflicting contract prices follow.
The usual split of responsibilities
- Customer: CRM owns the relationship and contacts, ERP owns the legal identity; the join key is the tax ID
- Product and price: ERP owns, CRM reads at quoting time
- Stock: ERP owns, CRM displays with a freshness stamp
- Order: CRM creates it with preliminary validation, ERP validates it officially
- Invoice and ledger: stay in the ERP, CRM shows the customer balance
How to check integration health
Customers created in both systems on the same day, orders rejected by the ERP, and the gap between displayed and real stock at quoting time.
Real-world example
After assigning ownership per entity and deduplicating by tax ID, a company with 4,200 customers removed 380 duplicate records and cut ERP-rejected orders from 9% to under 1%.
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Frequently asked
Does sync have to be real time?+
For stock and balances, as close as possible. For customers and products, a few minutes suffice. Orders are passed immediately, with acknowledgement.
What if the ERP has no API?+
Scheduled file exchange or controlled database reads. Slower, but the single-owner rule per entity stays the same.
Where CRMconnect fits
Related terms
Master data
Core reference data - customers, products, prices, organisational units - for which a single source of truth is defined across the application landscape.
TechnologyBidirectional synchronisation
Two-way data exchange between systems, with explicit precedence rules defining what happens when the same record changes in both places.
SalesSales pipeline
A structured view of open opportunities grouped by stage, used to estimate future revenue and prioritise commercial effort.