How it works
Different platforms describe the same thing differently: one returns an invoice status as PAID, another as a balance of zero, a third as a boolean. Normalization maps those into one representation, standardizes dates, currencies, decimal precision and enumerations, and resolves references between objects. In database design the word has a stricter meaning; in integrations it usually means consistent across sources.
Example
Normalized invoices from QuickBooks Online, Xero and NetSuite all return status as draft, open, paid or void, amounts as decimal strings, and dates in ISO 8601.
In integrations
On the Unify Graph, normalized fields sit next to the original record in raw, so you get consistency without losing detail. Normalization never recalculates financial values: exchange rates and totals come from the source ledger. Normalization saves every downstream consumer from re-learning each platform's quirks. It only works if it is honest: values the source does not provide should stay empty, not be guessed.