4b:I[671778,["/_next/static/immutable/chunks/1d8lwtuk6aqh9.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/18moltjs0mn-j.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/3i5a3zjhti2a9.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/10-2o0vyheyxb.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/0h8b33xurgcpm.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/0ng7t-bi7x4jg.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/3qol5kwityvut.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/40fg_y4c4wro4.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2_8m9iw8w_opj.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2yjnobqc_buw7.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/0wzpq_onihipq.js"],"MarketingBlogArticleClient"] 4c:Tf10,

First, the thing people expect to be untrue

Connecting more tools does not raise your valuation by itself.

A connection can raise confidence, by substantiating something previously taken on trust. It can surface risk that was invisible before. What it cannot do is inflate the number simply by existing — a metric only moves value if the methodology gives it that role.

This is deliberate. If connecting integrations reliably pushed the number up, the rational move would be to connect everything and the valuation would measure your enthusiasm rather than your asset. Some connections will legitimately lower your range, because they reveal something real.

1. Accounting — connect this first

Accounting revenue is the reference every other financial source is judged against. Without it, the reconciliation has no anchor: a processor total and a bank feed are a channel subset and an upper bound respectively, and neither can be promoted into a measurement.

This is the single highest-value connection available, and for most assets it converts the entire revenue section from inference into evidence.

2. Payment processor

Stripe, or whatever takes the money. This substantiates the shape of revenue rather than only its total: new versus recurring, refunds, failed payments, involuntary churn, and the actual cadence of collection.

Expect it to sit below booked revenue. That gap is the part of the business that does not run through this processor, and understanding it is useful in its own right.

3. Analytics

Traffic volume, source mix and trend. The value here is less the headline number than the concentration: an asset where seventy percent of acquisition comes from one keyword or one referrer carries a risk that revenue figures alone will not show.

It also lets growth claims be checked against something other than the owner's dashboard screenshot.

4. Code repository

Only relevant if software is being transferred, but decisive when it is. It substantiates maintenance reality — dependency health, test presence, contributor concentration, release cadence — and feeds rebuild-cost and key-person estimates.

A single-contributor repository with no tests is a materially different acquisition from the same revenue on a maintained codebase, and this is the connection that tells the difference.

5. Everything else, as it applies

Hosting and infrastructure for cost structure and single points of failure. Email and CRM for pipeline and retention. Ad platforms where paid acquisition is load-bearing, because a business whose growth is rented is valued differently from one that owns its demand. App store consoles for mobile. Marketplace accounts where the storefront is not your own.

Connect these when they are material to the asset, not for completeness.

A note on access and credentials

Connections are read-only wherever the provider supports it, and you can disconnect any source at any time. If you are a buyer wanting a seller's data, you do not ask for their logins — you send a time-boxed request link they fulfil themselves, so credentials never leave their control and the grant expires on its own.

How far to go

Accounting plus a processor gets most assets from "an estimate" to "a defensible position" in about twenty minutes. Add analytics and, for software, the repository, and you have covered the four questions a buyer always asks: is the revenue real, how does it arrive, where does demand come from, and what am I inheriting.

Past that, let the gaps section tell you what to do next. It is ordered by what is actually costing you confidence, which is a better guide than connecting things alphabetically.

8:["$","$L4b",null,{"initialPost":{"id":"6c2f5a6c-5277-4dcd-b289-2a859aac37dd","title":"Which integrations to connect first, and what each one proves","slug":"which-integrations-to-connect-first","excerpt":"You do not need to connect everything. A short, ordered list of what moves confidence most per minute spent — and why more connections never simply mean a higher number.","body":"$4c","featured_image_url":"/marketing/blog/which-integrations-first.webp","featured_image_alt":"The integrations screen showing connected evidence sources by category","og_image_url":null,"meta_title":"Which integrations to connect first for a valuation","meta_description":"An ordered guide to connecting evidence sources — accounting, processor, analytics, code — and what each one actually substantiates.","canonical_url":null,"noindex":false,"published_at":"2026-09-04T20:17:20.227387Z","reading_time_minutes":8,"tags":["guides","integrations","evidence"],"categories":[{"id":"41d821d5-70f4-42d0-98f9-46e175ec0bdd","name":"Guides","slug":"guides","color":"#14b8a6"}],"schema_markup":null},"heroTitle":"$L4d","backToListingHref":"/resources/guides","backToListingLabel":"Back to Guides","listingPathSegment":"resources/guides"}]