Connecting TimeStatement with bexio: sync, clients and common issues

The bexio interface connects TimeStatement with your bexio accounting. This article explains the setup, what is synchronized and how to solve typical issues – without maintaining client data twice.

Official product pages for the bexio integration on the TimeStatement website:

Time tracking & invoices: https://timestatement.com/schweiz/bexio-schnittstelle
Expenses: https://timestatement.com/schweiz/bexio-spesen-schnittstelle
Payroll: https://timestatement.com/schweiz/bexio-lohnbuchhaltung-schnittstelle

What the bexio interface can do

TimeStatement offers several bexio integrations that you can use as needed:

Project time & invoices: import clients and projects from bexio; send invoices from TimeStatement to bexio as drafts.
Payroll: transfer working hours and absences to bexio payroll.
Expenses: send expenses to bexio (separate workflow).

Product overviews:

Enabling the interface

Open the bexio Marketplace and log in.
Search for TimeStatement.
Click Add app and follow the wizard.

New TimeStatement account

If you don't have a TimeStatement account yet, the wizard takes over the relevant data from bexio. Check the details, set a password and log in. The first synchronization usually takes only a few seconds.

Existing TimeStatement account

To link the accounts, you need administrator rights in both systems. If the administrator email addresses in TimeStatement and bexio match, the connection is established automatically.

You can tell that the interface is active by the bexio BX icon in the footer of your TimeStatement account. Clicking this icon starts a new data import.

Which data goes where?

From bexio to TimeStatement: users, clients, projects and (on the first import) project time – as long as these features are available in your bexio plan.
From TimeStatement to bexio: mainly when creating invoices (invoice draft in bexio). Client data is only sent along when a new client is created and invoiced in TimeStatement.

Recommendation: Define one leading system per area – often bexio for client master data and TimeStatement for project time. Writing project time back to bexio is disabled by default and usually doesn't make sense in practice – otherwise you risk duplicate maintenance and confusing statuses in bexio.

Client categories in bexio

The following applies to the client import:

If fewer than ten contacts in bexio are assigned to the "Customers" category, all contacts are usually imported.
With more than ten contacts, only contacts explicitly marked as "Customers" are imported.

So check the categories in bexio before the first sync.

bexio plan and compatibility

TimeStatement can be used independently of bexio: you can manage clients, projects and time directly in TimeStatement at any time. If you change your bexio plan (e.g., to a tier without projects/time tracking), the following typically applies:

Transferring invoices to bexio usually remains possible.
Clients and projects can only be imported from bexio if the corresponding features are still included in bexio.
If projects are missing in bexio, create projects in TimeStatement. You can keep managing clients in bexio as the master system – as long as the client sync via the interface works – or maintain them in both systems if needed.

Since bexio is a third-party product, clarify plan details and quotation processes directly with bexio if in doubt.

Payroll: email addresses must match

For the payroll interface, the same email address in TimeStatement and in bexio payroll is used to match employees. Different addresses (e.g., a company address in TimeStatement and a private address in bexio Payroll) prevent sync buttons or assignments from appearing correctly.

Check the person's email in TimeStatement under Management → Users.
Check the email of the same employee in bexio payroll.
If necessary, create a user in TimeStatement with the address stored in bexio, or align the addresses.
Under Overview → Worktime, you can use "Update bexio access now" if needed, and then "Send to bexio" or "Sync with bexio" for the hours.

In bexio, you then take over the hours via payroll → hours transfer → "bexio times".

Common issues

No sync button / no link visible

Do you have administrator rights in TimeStatement and bexio?
Is the administrator email identical in both systems?
For payroll: are the user emails aligned between TimeStatement and bexio Payroll?
Has the app been added in the bexio Marketplace and the wizard completed?

Clients are missing after the import

Assign the contacts in bexio to the "Customers" category and restart the sync via the BX icon.

Duplicate services / business activities in bexio

If duplicate business activities or service descriptions appear in bexio, clean them up carefully in bexio (often by deleting from the bottom up until only the master record you need remains), without multiplying client data unnecessarily.

Project time shouldn't be duplicated in bexio

Keep writing project time back to bexio disabled. Invoice via TimeStatement and pass the invoice draft to bexio.