Jisr × Microsoft Dynamics 365 — Accounting Integration

For enterprise customers, the deal rarely stalled on HR features — it stalled on finance. HR teams saw Jisr's value quickly, but finance and accounting teams wouldn't sign off until they were certain payroll, expenses, and settlements would post correctly into the accounting systems they already trusted — Microsoft Dynamics 365 first among them.

That made the work far more than a technical connector. The integration moves users across systems, asks for sensitive connection details, and requires mapping subsidiaries, cost centers, and a full chart of accounts precisely — without ever feeling long, technical, or risky. A single wrong mapping means a transaction posted incorrectly, and that alone breaks trust.

I led this project end to end — research, design, and team alignment.

I went in with a clear conviction: I couldn't design the screen flows or the integration with financial and accounting systems until I understood how these people actually work — independent of the solution we were aiming for. What tools do they use? What problems do they face with HR around financial transactions? And how is trust built between them? I refused to draw a single screen before I understood that — and before I understood our own constraints inside Jisr — so the integration would come out simplified, not complicated.

I spent about three months understanding the domain — with the product manager, finance experts, and accountants, and across organizations of different sizes, because the way financial structures are built differs from one company to the next.

The interviews were with the finance and accounting teams of organizations planning to adopt the solution, through online sessions and in-person meetings. I focused on which tools they connect through, how data is pulled and financial structures are built, and exactly where the handoff between them and HR breaks down.

The insight that reframed the whole project: this was never a technical integration — it was a trust layer between two teams that think in different ways. HR thinks in people and payroll; finance thinks in clean, precise, reviewable journal entries.

I built around a single goal: an intuitive experience with a guided flow that walks the user through, step by step, and makes sure everything is connected correctly and effectively — so that financial transactions are reflected between Jisr and the financial and accounting tools with 100% accuracy.

That accuracy is the very standard of trust between the two sides. It isn't a cosmetic feature — it's the pillar the entire adoption rests on.

I designed for understanding and control, not just connection. The key decisions:

A clear connection path from the Marketplace to a successful link, so the user always knows where they are and what comes next.

Staged mapping for subsidiaries, cost centers, and the chart of accounts, instead of one large, overwhelming form.

Explicit states for connection, mapping progress, employee sync, and posting readiness, so nothing fails silently.

Optional cost centers: I added guidance for customers who don't use them or need custom structures, instead of forcing a rigid accounting model — flexibility over rigidity.

Draft-state posting: journal entries are posted as drafts for review inside Microsoft Dynamics before they're approved — keeping finance in final control instead of full automation. Less magic, more trust — which is what matters most here.

The design is in use by customers today — it moved from a complex concept to a real, working enterprise workflow.

It changed the sales conversation: before it, acquiring customers got much harder the moment payroll, payments, and finance entered the room, and finance teams would reject adopting Jisr if it couldn't connect to their accounting systems. This integration gave sales a stronger position, repositioned Jisr as a trusted operational system, and contributed to tens of millions in business impact.

It also strengthened trust between HR and finance: Jisr handles payroll, expenses, settlements, and employee data, while finance reviews cleaner journal entries inside their own system.

And it became a foundation for what came next: the understanding we built around chart of accounts, cost centers, employee allocation, and journal posting made every later integration easier to design — Odoo, Qoyod, Oracle Fusion, SAP Business One, Zoho Books, Oracle NetSuite, QuickBooks, and Xero.