Custom SETU integration development
Appfront builds integrations according to the SETU standards, the agreements for electronic messaging between staffing agencies and their clients. Requests, placements, hours worked and invoices travel as standardised messages between the client's system and the agency's back-office system. That way hours aren't retyped, and the invoice matches what the client has approved.
What is a SETU integration?
SETU, the Stichting Elektronische Transacties Uitzendbranche (Foundation for Electronic Transactions in the Temporary Staffing Industry), maintains standards for messaging between staffing agencies and their clients. There are standards for requesting and proposing candidates, placement details, hours and costs worked, the digital timesheet, and invoices. In 2024, the standards for the process from request to payment were modernised into 2.0 versions.
Without an integration, requests arrive by email, flex workers enter hours on a form, the client approves them and the agency retypes them. The invoice follows, and the client checks it by hand against its own records. A difference of a few hours leads to a credit note, and a large client with ten agencies receives ten different ways of delivering data.
We build custom solutions because the parties differ: which back-office system the agency uses, which system the client uses, which messages and versions of the standard are applied, and how many parties connect. The standards are maintained by SETU; we make sure your systems work with them.
According to the standard
Requests, placements, hours and invoices as SETU messages, validated before sending.
No manual re-keying
Approved hours go directly to payroll and invoicing, and the invoice matches the hours.
Multiple parties
One integration for all agencies or clients that use the standard.
How we build your SETU integration
We start with your messaging: which parties, which systems, which messages and versions, and where retyping currently happens. Clients and agencies often use different versions of the standard. We map this out so the integration can communicate with everyone and the move to newer versions remains possible.
Your parties, systems, messages and versions of the standard.
Requests, placements, hours and invoices according to SETU.
Testing with real agencies or clients, and validation.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when new versions are released.
What a SETU integration does in practice
The components below come up in almost every SETU integration. Which ones you need depends on your role.
Applications
Requests and proposals of candidates.
Placements
Placement details between the parties.
Timesheets
Hours and costs worked, digitally.
Approval
Hours approved by the client.
Invoices
Invoices with corrections according to the standard.
Validation
Messages checked before sending.
Who we build SETU integrations for
The integration is intended for parties that exchange messages in the staffing industry.
Staffing agencies
Large clients ask for it. Timesheets are the core.
Clients using temporary staff
Multiple staffing agencies. One way of submitting is what matters most.
Procurement platforms
A portal for suppliers. The requests are what is needed.
Software suppliers
Back office for staffing agencies. The standard is the core.
Technology and integrations
This page is about integrations according to SETU. For staffing agencies there is our page on staffing agency software, for a widely used back-office system our page on an Easyflex integration, and for hours from flex workers our page on an app for timesheets for flex assignments. You can read about our way of working at custom software development.
If you hold the SNA quality mark and want to approach every inspection well prepared, have a look at our software for the SNA inspection file.
Why choose Appfront for your SETU integration?
An hour that is retyped three times has three chances to go wrong. That's what we build around: messages according to the standard, hours that flow straight through, and one integration for all parties.
Fewer credit notes
The invoice matches the approved hours.
Faster payment
No dispute over what was worked.
One way of working
All parties through the same standard.
Security and privacy in an SETU integration
The integration processes data about flex workers, their hours and rates. Only the data the standard requires is exchanged, connections are encrypted, and every message is logged.
The integration runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage and daily backups.
Frequently asked questions about an SETU integration
Questions that staffing agencies and clients ask before getting started.
The Stichting Elektronische Transacties Uitzendbranche (SETU Foundation) maintains standards for message traffic between staffing agencies and their clients, from a candidate request through to the invoice. The standards are free to use. SETU was founded by parties from the industry, and the standards are maintained in consultation with staffing agencies, clients and software suppliers.
These cover requesting and proposing candidates, placement details, hours worked and costs, and invoices. Which ones you need depends on what you exchange with your partners. Many integrations start with timesheets and invoices, as that is where most of the manual re-keying happens, and then expand to requests and placements.
In 2024, the standards for the process from request to payment were modernised. Not all parties have switched over at the same time, so an integration sometimes has to handle several versions. We take this into account in the first step.
No. The integration can use SETU with partners that support it, and a different route with partners that don't, such as a file or a portal. The more partners use the standard, the more you benefit. A client with many agencies can also ask for the standard in new agreements.
The timesheet goes to the client, who approves or rejects it. Approved hours go straight to the staffing agency for payroll and invoicing. A rejection comes back with a reason, so the difference is resolved before anything is invoiced.
The integration validates messages against the standard before they are sent. Any error is reported with its reason, and an incoming message that doesn't check out is set aside for review. The log shows for each message when it was sent, received and processed, so a question from a partner can be answered quickly.
For staffing agencies whose clients require SETU, for hirers working with multiple agencies, and for providers of back-office or temp staffing software who want to support the standard.
Hours and invoices without manual re-entry?
Tell us which partners you exchange messages with, which systems you use and where re-keying happens today. We'll show you what the integration would look like.