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bexio Zapier integrationAutomate bexio with Zapier.

The bexio Zapier integration gives you 7 triggers, 15 actions and 9 searches to move contacts, quotes, invoices and projects in and out of bexio without retyping them. Here is what each one does, what it costs and where it breaks.

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Overview

What the bexio Zapier integration actually does

bexio is the Swiss business software that small companies use for their books, their sales documents and their payroll. Connecting it to Zapier lets an event in bexio (a new contact, a quote that moves to a given status, a project that changes state) start work elsewhere, and lets other steps write back into bexio for you.

Three results people build first. A paper trail that files itself: Export Invoice to PDF turns an existing sales invoice into a PDF the next step can store. A quote-to-order handoff: when a quote reaches the status you chose, Create a Sales Order opens an order for the same company or person, with Search Quote supplying the real lines. Hours that land on the right project: Create Time Tracking logs billable or non-billable time against a business activity, so a consultancy stops copying timesheets by hand.

Now what Zapier does not do here. None of the bexio triggers is instant: all seven are checked on a timer, so nothing reaches your Zap the second it happens. The sales document triggers bring back the document without its line items. And there is no delete action at all: a Zap can create, update, send and export, but it never removes anything from bexio.

If you are weighing tools, the same app has a bexio Make integration page, and n8n vs Zapier sets out the criteria for choosing between those two.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Seven words come back all through this page. Here they are in plain English, once.

Zap
The automation you build: one starting event, then one or more steps that run every time that event happens.
Trigger
The event in bexio that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is switched on, Zapier waits for it and nothing else.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that creates a record, sends an invoice or uploads a file for you.
Task
What Zapier bills you for: one action completed successfully. The number on your plan is a count of those.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks on a timer. It asks bexio for recent items and keeps only the ones it has not seen yet.
Instant trigger
A trigger the app reports itself, the moment the event happens. bexio offers none, which matters for timing.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap carry on only when what arrived meets your condition, and quietly stops it otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something already in bexio, a company or a product, so later steps can reuse what it found.
Cost

What a bexio Zap really costs

bexio is not a premium app, so it works from the free plan. The bill is counted in tasks, and only completed actions count.

  • Free plan100 tasks per month, unlimited Zaps
  • Trigger checks0 tasks, whatever the interval
  • Free plan Zap size2 steps: one trigger, one action
  • bexio premium appNo, available on the free plan

Watching bexio is free, however often Zapier checks. Each action that succeeds is one task, and an action that fails is not charged. A Zap with three actions uses three tasks per run. The catch on the free plan: a Zap stops at two steps, one trigger and one action. Add a filter, a search or a second action and it becomes a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan. A few apps and actions also take more than one task when they complete.

Connect

Connect your bexio account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open Apps and add a connection

    In Zapier, go to the Apps page of your account and click + Add connection. A connection is your bexio account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every step that uses bexio.

  2. 02

    Pick bexio and sign in

    Type bexio in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. Sign in to bexio in the tab that opens, with an account that can see the contacts and documents your Zaps will touch.

  3. 03

    Grant access

    Accept the access request so Zapier can read and write in bexio on your behalf. If someone else owns some of the records you want to automate, your account needs read or write rights on them first.

First Zap

Your first bexio Zap, step by step

GoalAn IT services firm wants every accepted quote turned into a project for the same client, without reopening bexio.

  1. 01

    Build: choose the trigger

    Create a Zap, pick bexio as the app and New Quotes as the event. Choose the status that means a deal is won for you, and leave each status change off so a quote fires once.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent quotes of the connected account, so you map the next steps on a real one rather than on blank fields.

  3. 03

    Add a search for the client

    Add Find Company as the next step, matched on the company of the quote. This makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan from here on.

  4. 04

    Create the project

    Add Create Project. Fill in a name, the project type and project state you use, and map the company found by the search into Company or Person.

  5. 05

    Test, then Publish

    Test each step once and read what came back, then click Publish to switch the Zap on. Only quotes reaching that status after this moment will be picked up.

Triggers

The 7 bexio triggers

7 events start a Zap when something happens in bexio. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

New/Updated Company

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a company is added or updated.”

Starts your Zap whenever a company is added to bexio or an existing one is edited. Both cases arrive through the same door, so the Zap sees new clients and corrected addresses alike.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a design studio that wants its mailing tool to hold the same company records as its accounting.
Watch out
pair it with Update Company on the same records and the Zap edits the company, sees the edit, and starts itself again in a loop.
2

New Sales-Invoice

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a Sales-Invoice is created or updated with the chosen status (line items not provided).”

Fires when a sales invoice is created or reaches the status you pick in the setup. You get the invoice itself, without its line items.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a training company that wants a thank-you message sent once an invoice reaches its chosen status.
Watch out
the required Trigger each status change setting decides everything; on yes, one invoice can start the Zap at every status it passes through.
3

New Order

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a Order is created or updated with the chosen status (line items not provided).”

Picks up sales orders as they are created or move into the status you chose. Like the invoice trigger, it hands over the order header only, not the products on it.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a print shop that wants a production project opened as soon as an order is confirmed.
Watch out
if you need what was ordered, add Search Order with order positions included, because the trigger itself does not carry them.
4

New/Updated Person

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a person is added or updated.”

Reacts to individual contacts rather than companies: a person added to bexio, or a person whose details someone changed later. Useful when your clients are freelancers or private customers.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a physiotherapy practice that keeps a patient newsletter list aligned with the people it bills.
Watch out
edits fire it too, so a Zap meant only for new people will also run, and spend tasks, every time a contact is changed.
5

New Product

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers new Products.”

Tells your Zap about each new product in your bexio catalogue, one run per product, so a fresh item never slips past the next step.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a small wine merchant who adds products in bexio first and wants the online shop list to follow.
6

New or Updated Project

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a project is created or transitions to a new status. Each project-status combination fires once — if a project returns to a previously-seen status, it will not trigger again.”

Goes off when a project is created in bexio or moves into a new status. Each pairing of project and status counts once, which keeps the noise down on long jobs.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
an architecture office that notifies the site team whenever a project moves into its execution phase.
Watch out
a project sent back to a status it already had does not fire again, so a reopened job goes unnoticed.
7

New Quotes

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a quote is created or updated with the chosen status (line items not provided).”

Watches your offers: it fires when a quote is created or reaches the status set in the trigger. The quote arrives without its line items.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a web agency that wants each accepted offer to open a project and a kickoff task straight away.
Watch out
pick the status carefully, because Trigger each status change on yes turns one quote into several runs and several tasks.
Actions

The 15 bexio actions

bexio gives you 15 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Create Manual Entry

Action

In Zapier“Creates a manual entry in accounting.”

Writes a bookkeeping entry, single or combined, with date, currency, debit and credit accounts and amount. Several entries can go in one step as line items.

When to use it
a fiduciary posts recurring fees from another system straight into the ledger.
Watch out
leave the reference number empty if automatic numbering is on.
2

Create Company

Action

In Zapier“Create a new company.”

Adds a company to your bexio contacts; only the company name is required.

When to use it
a signed form on your website should become a client record before anyone invoices it.
Watch out
when the client may already exist, Find Company with its create option ticked is the safer step.
3

Create Person

Action

In Zapier“Create a new person.”

Records an individual contact, with first and last name both required, for clients who are private individuals rather than companies.

When to use it
a coaching practice turns each booked discovery call into a person in bexio, ready for the first invoice.
4

Update Person

Action

In Zapier“Updates a person.”

Edits an existing person record, located by its identifier for existing people.

When to use it
a member changes an email in your portal and the billing contact must match.
Watch out
running it from New/Updated Person on the same records creates a loop.
5

Upload File to Inbox

Action

In Zapier“Uploads a file to Inbox.”

Sends a file into bexio's Inbox, so a document produced elsewhere reaches your accounting without a manual upload.

When to use it
supplier bills arrive as email attachments and should reach bookkeeping without forwarding.
Watch out
the file is capped at 5MB and the filename must include its extension.
6

Create a Sales Invoice

Action

In Zapier“Create a product based sales invoice.”

Produces a sales invoice built on products from your catalogue, with an option to say whether VAT is included in the total.

When to use it
a subscription box business bills each new member from its signup tool.
Watch out
if you identify the product by a key, the field asks you to select which type of key it is.
7

Export Invoice to PDF

Action

In Zapier“Exports an existing sales invoice as a PDF document.”

Turns an existing sales invoice into a PDF document that later steps in the Zap can store or attach. The invoice itself is required, usually mapped from a trigger or a search.

When to use it
your accountant wants every invoice archived as a file outside bexio.
8

Send a Sales-Invoice

Action

In Zapier“Send a Sales-Invoice to an E-Mail address.”

Emails an existing invoice to a recipient address, with your own subject and message. A [Network Link] term in the body inserts a link to the invoice, and an option marks it as pending after sending.

When to use it
invoices created by a Zap go out in the same run, without a manual click.
9

Create a Sales Order

Action

In Zapier“Create a sales order based products.”

Opens a sales order based on existing products, for the client you map in.

When to use it
right after an accepted quote, so the order is ready without retyping a single line.
Watch out
the quote trigger does not pass its line items, so you supply product, quantity and price yourself.
10

Create Product

Action

In Zapier“Creates a product.”

Builds a catalogue entry from scratch. Type, name, code, unit, sales price and currency are all mandatory, so the data has to come complete.

When to use it
an events company publishes a new workshop and wants it billable in bexio the same day.
11

Update Product

Action

In Zapier“Updates a product.”

Amends a catalogue product, matched by its product code, which is the one required field.

When to use it
a stock tool holds your current prices and bexio should carry the same figures on the next invoice.
Watch out
when the source only knows the product name, put Find Product in front, since it searches by name or code.
12

Create Project

Action

In Zapier“Creates a project.”

Starts a project for a company or person, with a name, a project type and a project state.

When to use it
every won deal should become a project the team can log hours against.
Watch out
project type and project state are required as well, so the step fails without them.
13

Create a Sales Quote

Action

In Zapier“Create a sales quote based products.”

Drafts a product-based quote for a company or person, with quantity and price per line.

When to use it
a request form already holds the client and the chosen service, so the offer writes itself.
Watch out
each line must point to a product that exists in bexio, by name or ID.
14

Create Time Tracking

Action

In Zapier“Creates a time tracking.”

Logs a time entry in bexio, marked billable or not and tied to a business activity. Both fields are required, so decide upfront how hours are classified.

When to use it
a consultant tracks hours in a separate timer app and wants them in bexio for billing without double entry.
15

Update Company

Action

In Zapier“Updates a company.”

Changes the details of a company already in bexio, found through its identifier.

When to use it
your CRM is where sales staff edit addresses, and bexio should follow.
Watch out
the identifier is required, so put Find Company in front when you only have a name.
Searches

The 9 bexio searches

9 search steps look for data that already exists in bexio, so a later step can use it.

A search step finds something that already exists in bexio and passes it to the steps that follow. In the editor, searches sit at the bottom of the Action event list under SEARCH, and some action fields offer + Add search step to insert one right before. Every search adds a step, so it needs a paid plan. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not a clean single match.

1

Find Account

Search

In Zapier“Finds an existing account.”

Looks up an account in your chart of accounts by its account number, the only field it asks for.

When to use it
before Create Manual Entry, to confirm the debit or credit account exists and pass it on instead of hard-coding it.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left on its default, an empty search stops the Zap there and the steps that relied on it are skipped. Switched on, the Zap carries on with nothing found.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    Ticking it turns the search into a find-or-create: the setting above disappears and the step asks for the fields needed to create the missing item.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three ways out: keep the first match, which is the default, stop the Zap, or pass every match on at once.
When it breaks

When a bexio Zap breaks

Zapier lists no help article and no rate limit specific to bexio. The failures below are the general ones, and each of them shows up easily with accounting data.

With bexio, the traps are about timing and loops. Read these before you publish, and keep Zapier troubleshooting close for the day a run goes red.

  • Old invoices are never picked up

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you switch it on. Quotes, invoices or contacts that existed before are ignored, and moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • The Zap keeps restarting itself

    Update Company inside a Zap started by New/Updated Company edits the record the trigger watches. Each edit counts as new, and the task count drains fast.

  • A bulk import goes quiet

    Importing a large contact list into bexio can return a huge batch at once. Zapier's flood protection may hold it back instead of running every item.

  • The same item twice? No

    On a polling trigger Zapier remembers what it already saw, so the same invoice does not start the Zap twice, unless you asked for each status change.
Need help

Need help automating bexio with Zapier?

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FAQ

bexio Zapier integration: common questions

01Is the bexio Zapier integration free?
Yes, you can start on the free plan, because bexio is not a premium app. That plan gives you 100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps and a check every 15 minutes. The real limit is the size of a Zap: two steps, one trigger and one action. As soon as you add a filter, a search such as Find Company, or a second action like sending the invoice you just created, the Zap becomes multi-step and needs a paid plan. A simple pair, for example New Quotes into Create Project, runs fine for free.
02How many tasks does a bexio Zap use?
One task for each action that completes successfully, nothing for the trigger. Zapier checking bexio for new quotes or invoices costs nothing, however often it looks. A Zap that creates an invoice, exports it to PDF and sends it uses three tasks per run. An action that fails is not counted. Watch the Trigger each status change setting on the sales document triggers: when it is on, a single invoice can run the Zap several times as its status moves, and each run spends its own tasks.
03Does bexio trigger Zaps in real time?
No. All seven bexio triggers are polling triggers, which means Zapier asks bexio for new items on a timer. On the free plan that check happens every 15 minutes, on Professional every 2 minutes, and on Team and Enterprise every minute. There is no instant trigger for bexio, so even on the best plan there is a short wait between the event and the Zap. On paid plans you can also run a check by hand from the editor when you are testing.
04What does it take to connect bexio to Zapier?
A bexio account, plus read or write rights on any records you do not own yourself and want the Zap to touch. In Zapier you open the Apps page, click + Add connection, pick bexio, sign in to bexio in the new tab and grant access. That connection is then reused by every bexio step. For invoicing Zaps, also check that your products exist in bexio first: the sales document actions need an existing product name or ID on each line.
05Why does the invoice trigger leave out the products?
Because New Sales-Invoice, New Order and New Quotes send the document without its line items. You get the document itself, enough to know who and which status, but not what was sold. When the next step needs those lines, add Search Invoice, Search Order or Search Quote with positions included. That extra search step turns the Zap into a multi-step Zap, so plan for a paid plan if the lines matter to your workflow.
06What if the bexio operation you need is not there?
Then the Zapier integration simply does not cover it, and no setting will add it. bexio on Zapier offers 7 triggers, 15 actions and 9 searches, with no delete action and no instant trigger. Sometimes the gap closes by chaining steps, for example a search before an update, or by starting from another trigger. If it does not, another automation tool with a different set of bexio operations may cover the case, and the comparison pages on this site go through that choice criterion by criterion.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for bexio?
It depends on criteria rather than on a winner. Zapier gives you a guided editor, clear task billing and ready-made bexio operations, with the free plan limited to two-step Zaps. This page only documents the Zapier side, so compare the tools on facts you can check: look at which bexio operations each tool offers, how it bills a run with several actions, and who on your team will maintain it. A short test on one real flow tells you more than any table.
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