What Does It Cost to Integrate with Your ERP System?
An ERP integration typically costs SEK 150,000–1.5 million. Modern cloud systems like Fortnox and Visma fall in the lower part of the range, while Business Central and SAP often require more customization and land in the upper part. The price depends on the number of data flows, the need for real-time sync, and how much business logic separates the systems.
The ERP system is the hub of most businesses – and therefore the system most others need to talk to. The price tag for an ERP integration varies more than for any other integration type, since “ERP system” spans everything from lightweight cloud services to decades of customized SAP. Here’s the price picture and the decisions that shape it.
The price picture: SEK 150,000–1.5 million
| System class | Typical cost | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Modern cloud ERP (Fortnox, Visma eEkonomi) | SEK 150,000–350,000 | Open, well-documented APIs and standardized flows |
| Mid-tier (e.g. Business Central without major customization) | SEK 300,000–700,000 | More modules and configuration to account for |
| Heavy or customized systems (customized Business Central, SAP) | SEK 600,000–1,500,000 | Custom fields, permissions, and formal change management |
The pattern: the more a system has been customized to the business, the more expensive each integration against it becomes. It’s rarely the technology itself that costs money – it’s understanding and respecting all the customizations without disrupting production.
Standard connector or custom build?
For common combinations – e-commerce with Fortnox, POS systems with Visma – ready-made standard connectors exist with license prices starting at a few hundred kronor a month. They cover standard flows like orders, invoices, and products, and for many smaller businesses they’re more than enough.
A custom build is justified when any of the following applies: you have custom fields or processes in your ERP, the flow requires business logic the standard connector lacks, volumes hit the connector’s ceiling, or the integration is competitively critical and needs to evolve on your timeline rather than the vendor’s. The decision rule is simple: start with standard, switch to custom once standard demonstrably falls short. Going the other way is considerably more expensive.
Real-time or batch: a cost and risk decision
How often data should sync sounds like a technical detail, but it’s one of the project’s most important decisions:
- Batch – sync on a schedule, for example every fifteen minutes or every night. Cheaper to build, more robust in production, and easier to troubleshoot: if something goes wrong, the batch just reruns. For accounting, reporting, and most of the financial flow, batch is almost always right.
- Real-time – every change is sent immediately. Needed when delay costs money, such as inventory levels for a high-turnover e-commerce store. The price is more failure points: queues, retries, and handling what happens when the ERP doesn’t respond mid-flow.
Many projects overbuild here. The requirement “everything must sync in real time” can double the cost without anyone in the business noticing a difference versus syncing every fifteen minutes. The risk picture belongs here too: a real-time integration without error queues drops orders when the ERP is down – a nightly batch doesn’t.
The groundwork that determines the quote
Before anyone can give a serious price, three things need to be mapped out: which data flows need to sync and in which direction, how fields are mapped – including VAT, currencies, and the chart of accounts – and which system is the master for each data type. If you also have a current list of your own ERP customizations, that cuts both the risk premium and the surprises. Budget for one to two weeks of joint work; ambiguity here is the most common reason ERP integrations blow their budget.
Worked example: e-commerce meets Business Central
A manufacturing company connects its e-commerce store to Business Central: orders and customers in, inventory levels and order status out. Mapping data models, VAT rules, and account mapping takes two weeks. Development takes seven weeks – inventory is built as near-real-time, the financial flows as a nightly batch. Testing against a copy of the ERP takes two weeks. Total: around SEK 550,000–700,000. The mixed sync strategy saved an estimated one-fifth of the budget compared with “everything in real time” – without the business losing anything.
Don’t forget the maintenance
ERP systems get updated – the cloud versions with mandatory releases several times a year. Every release can affect the integration, so budget an annual line item for monitoring, testing, and adjustments, as a rule of thumb 10–20% of the build cost. At Weapp we work with integrations as a dedicated service, and the common denominator in successful projects is exactly this: a designated owner after go-live. Want a price range for your integration? Get in touch with which systems are involved.
Frequently asked questions
What does a Fortnox integration cost?
A custom integration with Fortnox typically costs SEK 150,000–350,000, thanks to well-documented APIs and a modern cloud architecture. For standard flows between common systems, ready-made connectors are also available from a few hundred kronor a month – start there and build custom only once the standard connector proves insufficient.
Why are SAP integrations so much more expensive?
Because the system is usually customized to the business: custom fields, custom processes, and strict permissions. Every integration has to account for those customizations, and changes go through formal change management with separate test environments. It's the organization's complexity, more than the technology, that drives the price.
Should we choose real-time sync or batch?
Start from the business requirement, not from what sounds most modern. Inventory levels for an e-commerce store might need near-real-time sync, while accounting data can sync perfectly well every night. Real-time costs more to build and introduces more failure points – choose it only for the flows where delay actually costs money.
Who should own the integration once it's live?
Appoint an owner from the start – internally or with a support partner. ERP systems are updated continuously, especially cloud versions with mandatory releases, and someone needs to monitor the flows, handle error queues, and test after upgrades. An integration without an owner is often discovered only once the numbers stop adding up.
Can you build integrations during an ongoing ERP switch?
You can, but go in with your eyes open. If you do, build against a middle layer that separates your systems from the ERP, so the switch doesn't tear down every integration. If the ERP switch is coming up soon, it's often cheaper to wait and integrate with the new system directly.