If you’re not familiar the Amalgam platform at all, here’s exactly what you can expect before getting started.
Integrations
In order to get started, you need an Amalgam Account. This account exists for the purpose of creating and managing Integrations.
Integrations are connections to other apps, such as Accounting tools, Selling platforms, CRMs, or Expense Management systems. You can create integrations and share them with others to manage access in a simple, central way.
The Plugin
Any Integration your account has can be used to access data from your spreadsheet of choice. To do so, you will need the Amalgam plugin for either Excel or Google Sheets, which takes only a few moments.
For a more detailed video on how to install these plugins, please see the articles for how to install the Excel Plugin and Google Sheets Plugin respectively.
Reports
The simplest way to use your Integrations are Reports. Reports are just data that comes directly from the source, printed straight into the doc you have open.
In some cases, Reports may be a more convenient form for data already available in a CSV download. In other cases, it may be data not otherwise accessible at all. Explore the available reports, and let us know if you’d like us to add something new.
Resources
The most powerful way to use your Integrations are Resources. Unlike reports, Resources let you download, upload, update, and delete data in the source app. They are the key to building powerful automations on Amalgam.
While Reports are readable summary data, Resources give total access for data of a given type. Example data types are Invoices or Journals in accounting systems, Transactions or Orders for selling platforms, or Customers or Deals for a CRM. If you use these apps, you use these data types every day.
Create Automations
With all of these pieces together, your spreadsheets can now access and edit data in external apps without ever leaving your workbook. You can page through datasets and access information simply by changing tabs. You can link two apps together simply by linking cells with a formula.
Use formulas to control how data from one system integrates with another. Automate reporting, reconciliation, and work paper creation. Consolidate data from multiple systems with a single click.
TL:DR
Amalgam lets you complete entire workflows from a single spreadsheet doc, and use formulas to automate tasks that exist in separate apps.
Integrations form the basis of our system – create them in your account to connect to the apps you use.
Reports pull data from your integrations and display it in a nice way – use them to get instant access to whatever data you need.
Resources modify data – use them to change app data without logging in and manually entering it yourself.
All of this is done with regular spreadsheet data. The Amalgam plugin is always ready to sync whatever is in your sheet with whichever external apps you like.