Understanding What Data AskBiz Uses
How AskBiz pulls data from your connected platforms, what each integration provides, and what data is needed to answer different types of questions.
The three types of data AskBiz uses
AskBiz draws on three categories of data to answer your questions:
1. Sales data: orders, revenue, products, customers, refunds — imported from your eCommerce platforms (Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, Etsy, etc.)
2. Financial data: invoices, expenses, bank transactions, payroll — imported from your accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks) or payment processors (Stripe, PayPal)
3. Marketing data: sessions, conversions, ad spend, channel attribution — imported from Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta Ads, and email platforms (Klaviyo, Mailchimp)
The more of these three categories you connect, the richer and more complete AskBiz's answers become. A business with only Shopify connected gets sales insights; a business with Shopify + Xero + Google Analytics gets sales + financial + marketing insights.
What each integration provides
Shopify: orders (date, value, product, customer), refunds, products (price, inventory), customers (lifetime value, order history)
Amazon Seller Central: orders, FBA fees, advertising spend (if Amazon Ads connected), inventory levels, return data
Xero: invoices (sales and purchase), bank transactions, P&L categories, VAT data, payroll (if Xero Payroll used)
QuickBooks: same as Xero — invoices, transactions, P&L, payroll
Stripe: payment transactions, subscription data, failed payments, refunds
Google Analytics: sessions, conversion rate, traffic source breakdown, user behaviour
Google Ads / Meta Ads: campaign spend, impressions, clicks, attributed conversions
Go to Settings → Integrations → [connected platform] → Data Overview to see exactly what data has been imported from each connection.
What questions need which data
Not every question can be answered with every combination of connections:
| Question type | Data needed |
|---|---|
| Revenue and orders | Shopify / Amazon / any sales platform |
| Gross margin | Sales platform + COGS entered per product |
| Cash flow | Xero or QuickBooks |
| Customer LTV and retention | Any sales platform |
| Marketing ROI | Ad platform + Google Analytics |
| Product profitability | Sales platform + COGS |
| Supplier performance | Purchase order data from Xero/QuickBooks |
| Inventory levels | Shopify / WooCommerce (if inventory tracked) |
If AskBiz answers 'I don't have enough data to answer this', it will tell you which connection is missing.
Data freshness and sync frequency
AskBiz syncs data from your connected platforms on a schedule that varies by plan:
- Free plan: syncs once daily (overnight)
- Growth plan: syncs every 6 hours
- Business plan: near real-time (syncs within minutes of new data being available)
For most business decisions, daily sync is sufficient. If you need to see today's orders and revenue throughout the day, the Growth or Business plan is recommended.
You can also trigger a manual sync at any time: go to Settings → Integrations → [platform] → Sync Now. Manual syncs are available to all plans.
Data that AskBiz cannot currently access
Some data types are not yet available in AskBiz:
- Point of sale data from Zettle, Square, or Lightspeed — these can be partially imported via CSV
- Social media engagement data (likes, follows, comments) — only conversion and revenue data from social is tracked
- Real-time stock market or commodity prices — AskBiz does not pull live external market data
- Bank transactions without an accounting software connection — direct bank connections require Open Banking setup (UK only)
- Data from platforms without an integration — if your platform is not on the integrations list, use CSV upload
If you need a specific integration that is not yet available, request it via Help → Feature Request.