Overview
When you connect a new integration to Blue Onion, it's important to understand how it will interact with your existing journal entry templates. The impact depends on how your template filters are configured, and the approach you take will determine whether historical data is adjusted or only future periods are affected.
How New Integrations Affect Your Templates
The behavior of a new integration depends on whether your templates use filters.
Templates without filters: If your templates have no filters restricting which integrations or data attributes are included, the new integration will automatically flow into those templates. This applies to both current-period entries and historical data — smart adjustments will calculate retroactive changes based on the newly available data. You'll then need to decide whether to push those historical adjustments to your GL system.
Templates with filters: If your templates use integration-based or data-based filters, you'll need to evaluate whether those filters would exclude your new integration. If they would, you must update your template configuration to include the new data.
Understanding Your Filter Configuration
Before connecting a new integration, review your existing journal entry templates to understand what filters are in place. Filters fall into two categories.
Integration-based filters restrict which connected systems flow into a template. For example, you might filter a template to include only specific order systems or payment processors. When you add a new integration, these filters may exclude it by default.
Data-based filters restrict entries based on attributes within the order, payment, or payout data itself — such as sales channel, fulfillment location, currency, or customer type. These filters can also inadvertently exclude a new integration if that integration's data doesn't match your existing filter criteria.
A single template might have multiple filter types. You'll need to assess each one to determine whether updates are required for your new integration.
Template-Specific Considerations
These principles apply across all journal entry template types in Blue Onion:
Orders templates — Use integration-based filters (order systems) and data-based filters (channels, locations, etc.)
Revenue Recognition templates — Follow the same filtering logic as orders templates since they're based on order data
Cancellations templates — Subject to the same order-based filters
Cash Receipts templates — Use integration-based filters (payment systems) and payment-specific data filters
Gift Cards templates — Subject to the same order-based filters
Revenue Recognition at Fulfillment templates — Follow order-based filtering patterns
Each template type may interact differently with your new integration depending on what data that integration provides and how you've historically structured your accounting entries.
Choosing Your Approach: Prospective vs. Retroactive
Once you understand which templates need updating, you'll need to decide on your accounting treatment.
Prospective-Only Updates
Use this approach if you want the new integration to affect only future periods without adjusting historical data.
Create a new journal entry template specifically for the new integration.
Configure the new template to include only the new integration's data from the go-forward date.
Update your existing template to explicitly exclude the new integration, preventing it from being picked up going forward.
This keeps your historical records unchanged and creates a clean separation between legacy data and new integration data.
Retroactive Updates
Use this approach if you want to incorporate the new integration's historical data and adjust all prior periods.
Update your existing template filters to include the new integration.
Allow smart adjustments to calculate the retroactive impact.
Review the generated adjustments and decide whether to push them to your GL system.
This provides complete historical accuracy but requires careful review of the adjustment entries to ensure they align with your accounting policies and materiality thresholds.
Example: Adding TikTok Shop Integration
Let's walk through a practical example of adding TikTok Shop as a payment processor when you already have TikTok as a sales channel through your existing Shopify integration.
The Scenario
You've been selling through TikTok Shop via Shopify.
You previously excluded the TikTok sales channel from your templates because Blue Onion didn't support full reconciliation.
Now you're adding TikTok as a payment processor integration.
You want to include both TikTok sales channel data and TikTok payment system data.
Orders Template
Your template currently excludes TikTok with a channel filter. To include TikTok Shop orders, update this filter.
Choose your approach:
Retroactive: Update the existing template filter to include the TikTok channel. Smart adjustments will calculate historical entries.
Prospective: Create a new template for TikTok orders and maintain the exclusion filter on your legacy template.
Revenue Recognition Template
This follows the same logic as orders since it's based on order data. Update the channel filter to include TikTok and use the same prospective vs. retroactive approach you chose for orders.
Cancellations Template
If you process cancellations, this template also uses channel filters. Apply the same channel filter updates to include TikTok and stay consistent with your orders and revenue recognition treatment.
Cash Receipts Template
This template uses payment system filters, not channel filters. Add the TikTok payment system to your filter.
Retroactive: Update the existing template to capture historical TikTok payments.
Prospective: Create a new template with a TikTok payment system filter and exclude TikTok from the legacy template.
The Decision
Consider consistency across templates:
If you include TikTok orders retroactively, you'll likely want TikTok payments retroactively too — this ensures revenue and cash align.
If you prefer a clean cutover date, use the prospective approach across all templates and start fresh from the same period.
Key Takeaways
Review your template filters before connecting new integrations.
Understand both filter types — integration-based and data-based — that might affect the new data flow.
Choose between prospective and retroactive approaches based on your accounting policies.
Consider materiality and complexity of historical adjustments when making your decision.
Remember that smart adjustments will automatically calculate retroactive impacts — you control whether to push them to your GL.
Taking a thoughtful approach to template configuration when adding integrations helps you maintain clean accounting records while ensuring new data flows correctly into your general ledger.