Moneybird is a very popular accounting software among internet entrepeneurs, which integrates easily with most ecommerce platforms and payment providers.
Unfortunately, there’s currently no workable Easy Digital Downloads integration for Moneybird. So, today I’ll show you how we can easily integrate Moneybird with Easy Digital Downloads.
Aren’t there existing solutions?
Yes, there are some existing solutions, but like I said; they’re not workable.
They’re bloated (and expensive), because they’ve added a bunch of stuff that Easy Digital Downloads users don’t need, like support for WooCommerce.
They are (or appear) abandoned. None of the existing solutions support features introduced in EDD 3.x yet, like Partial Refunds, Product Fees and manually added orders.
On top of that, my experience is that they’re very hit and miss when it comes to correctly processing discounts, sign up fees and VAT rates, especially reverse charging.
A bandaid on an open wound
I’ve put off this task for months. Why? Because initially I didn’t want to start from scratch. So, instead I applied patch upon patch upon patch to the existing solution I was using. But whenever I fixed on thing, another thing broke.
It all started with an unresponsive support team. They’d reply, then they would just leave it for weeks, or months, making me have to deal with their buggy software.
At first, I’d manually fix each invoice. But when sales sky rocketed last year, this became impossible.
So, me being me, I started fixing the issues myself. I created patch scripts, like:
- Fix wrongly set VAT rates, because it lacked compatibility with popular EDD EU VAT plugins and would simply apply the default VAT rate on each Moneybird invoice,
- Add discounts, because it didn’t add EDD Recurring Payments’ (negative) sign up fees properly,
- Delete drafts, because it didn’t fully support EDD EU VAT by Barn2 and would sometimes keep creating drafts by cron if the entered VAT ID was incorrect.
At the time I thought these automations would save me time, but with each (EDD) update the abandoned plugin would start malfunctioning more.
And support was still unresponsive.
Automating these tasks was tiresome, but the upside to all this was that it made me familiar with the (surprisingly well documented) Moneybird API. So, the step to building my own custom implementation was a rather small one.
Introducing: Moneybird for Easy Digital Downloads! 🎉
Combining my present knowledge of Easy Digital Downloads and my new found knowledge of the Moneybird API, as both an end-user and a developer, I was able to create this plugin. And I’m very excited about the result!
It fixes every annoyance I ever came across with existing solutions and improves upon them in several ways:
- Full support for all features introduced in EDD 3.x, like Partial Refunds, Product Fees and Manually created orders
- Full support for popular EDD EU VAT plugins
- Easier configuration, by automating as much as possible and using both EDD’s and Moneybird’s capabilities to the fullest.
- Clean codebase, supporting the latest PHP 8 standards, resulting in faster execution times and stability.
- Responsive support 👋
It’s available for purchase here and prices are as low as €29,- for a 1 website license! For a limited time, you’ll also get 10% off on your initial purchase!
Excited to learn how it works? Let’s go!
How to integrate Moneybird with Easy Digital Downloads
With Moneybird for Easy Digital Downloads integrating your favorite accounting software into your favorite ecommerce solution couldn’t be simpler.
Aside from installation and (license) activation, configuring the plugin consists of only 3 steps. Let’s go through each step and learn how to easily integrate Moneybird with Easy Digital Downloads.
After installing and activating the plugin, navigate to its settings located under: Downloads > Settings > Extensions > Moneybird.
The only option you’ll see is the API Token field. This is because all other settings require a valid API token and they will show up once a valid API token is entered.
To generate an API token, go to your Moneybird administration’s “Create API token” page (make sure you’re logged in), select API token for personal use and hit Save.
Then, copy the generated token, head back to EDD’s settings page and paste the token in the API token field illustrated in the image above.
Hit Save Changes and you’ll be taken to the next step in the process.
The plugin has fetched all administrations that’re available for your API token. Select the Moneybird administration you wish to integrate with Easy Digital Downloads and hit Save Changes again.
The final step includes setting the Ledger Account, Store Location and Delivery Method, but let’s zoom in on the other options for a moment:
Selecting a Workflow for your Moneybird Easy Digital Downloads integration
As opposed to other solutions, this plugin integrates seamlessly with a Moneybird workflow of your choosing.
It’s important that you select the correct workflow for your invoices as every invoice that is generated by EDD will be using this workflow.
Make sure that the workflow’s Prices are incl. tax setting value matches with the similar EDD setting, called Include Tax, which can be found under Downloads > Settings > Taxes > Prices.
If these two don’t match, all invoices generated by Moneybird for Easy Digital Downloads will show wrong prices.
Selecting the correct 0% (or Default) Tax Rate in Moneybird for Easy Digital Downloads
This plugin features Automatic Tax Rate Detection, which is a major step up from other ways to integrate Moneybird with Easy Digital Downloads.
Automatic Tax Rate Detection assumes that you have the same tax rates setup in EDD as in Moneybird and works as follows:
- First, it checks with compatible plugins if the order’s tax is supposed to be reverse charged. If so, it’ll use the Reverse Charge Tax Rate, but more on that later.
- Currently, this plugin is only compatible with Barn2’s EDD EU VAT.
- If not, it’ll try to match the tax rate set in the EDD order with a tax rate in Moneybird, using the percentage and country code.
- If no match is found, it’ll use the 0% Tax Rate.
To select the correct 0% Tax Rate, try looking at it as a default, or fallback, tax rate. Which tax rate should Moneybird use if all else fails? Typically, it’ll be a 0% tax rate not attached to any country or state.
Integrate Moneybird with Easy Digital Downloads EU VAT plugins
The Reverse Charge Tax Rate option allows you to integrate Moneybird with Easy Digital Downloads EU VAT plugins.
Currently, only Barn2’s EDD EU VAT plugin is supported, but more support will be added in the future. (Don’t hesitate to drop a comment if you’d like support for a plugin!)
Selecting the correct tax rate typically used in your Moneybird administration for reverse charging will allow the plugin to properly generate EU VAT reverse charged invoices in Moneybird. Usually the name of this tax rate mentions “tax reverse charged” somewhere.
After you’ve selected the correct Workflow, 0% Tax Rate and Reverse Charge Tax Rate hit Save Changes and voila! You’ve successfully integrated Moneybird with Easy Digital Downloads!
From now on all orders placed in Easy Digital Downloads will be synced to Moneybird, including contacts where needed.
Summary
In this post you’ve learned how to integrate Moneybird with Easy Digital Downloads using my plugin with the surprisingly accurate name, Moneybird for Easy Digital Downloads.
This plugin was created to offer an alternative to existing solution, because they are either outdated, abandoned or bloated.
If you’re a Moneybird and EDD user I invite you to give it a try! Moneybird for Easy Digital Downloads is available for purchase here.
