Which direction does data move between Exact Online and Tradeshift?

Purchase orders move from Exact Online into Tradeshift so suppliers on the network are notified. Invoices and receipts come back from Tradeshift into Exact Online as purchase invoice lines. Contact and GL account data can be aligned in both directions to ensure invoices land on valid Exact Online accounts and cost centers.

How does ml-connector handle the different authentication methods?

Exact Online uses OAuth 2.0 with a 10-minute access token and rotating 30-day refresh tokens. Tradeshift uses OAuth 1.0a server-to-server with consumer credentials and signature generation. ml-connector manages both flows, refreshing Exact Online tokens when they expire and computing Tradeshift signatures on every request with the correct tenant ID header.

Can the sync use Exact Online webhooks instead of polling?

Yes. Exact Online supports webhooks for PurchaseOrders and PurchaseInvoices with HMAC-SHA256 verification. ml-connector can listen to those webhooks instead of polling if you enable them, reducing latency. The integration falls back to polling if webhooks are not enabled.

Exact OnlineTradeshift

Exact Online and Tradeshift integration

Exact Online runs accounting, purchasing, and inventory for SMEs. Tradeshift connects buyers and suppliers to exchange business documents electronically. Linking the two keeps your purchase orders and invoice records in sync across your network without manual re-entry. Purchase orders created in Exact Online can be sent to Tradeshift suppliers, and invoices received through Tradeshift flow back into Exact Online as purchase invoice lines. ml-connector handles the different authentication methods and translates between OData and UBL XML format.

How Exact Online works

Exact Online exposes purchase orders, purchase invoices, purchase invoice lines, receipts, contacts, and GL accounts through a REST API with OData v3 query syntax (filter, select, orderby, top, skip). The API is region-specific and requires division ID on all calls. Authentication is OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code Grant with 10-minute access tokens and 30-day rotating refresh tokens. Exact Online supports webhooks for significant resources including PurchaseOrders and PurchaseInvoices, delivered via HTTP POST with HMAC-SHA256 verification. Webhook payloads contain only the entity key and action, so full entity data must be fetched separately. Division ID must be retrieved from the /current/Me endpoint before making calls.

How Tradeshift works

Tradeshift is a B2B network that exchanges purchase orders, invoices, credit notes, receipts, and despatch advice as UBL 2.0 and 2.2 XML documents. The REST API is at https://api.tradeshift.com/tradeshift/rest/external/ and requires OAuth 1.0a server-to-server authentication (consumer_key, consumer_secret, token, token_secret) plus an X-Tradeshift-TenantId header on all calls. Data is retrieved via polling with a changedAfter timestamp filter on the /documents/v2/ endpoint, and documents are identified by documentProfileId parameter. Tradeshift has no native GL account API; financial dimensions are embedded in UBL line item fields.

What moves between them

Purchase orders flow from Exact Online into Tradeshift so suppliers on the network receive them in their inbox. Invoices and receipts created in Tradeshift are polled and imported back into Exact Online as purchase invoice lines linked to the matching purchase order. The sync runs on a schedule you define, and because Exact Online webhooks are available for both orders and invoices, ml-connector can also listen for push events rather than polling if you prefer. Line items are mapped between OData and UBL format, and GL accounts in Exact Online are preserved through the round trip.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector stores the OAuth credentials for both systems and handles the different authentication flows: OAuth 2.0 with refresh-token rotation for Exact Online and OAuth 1.0a with signature generation for Tradeshift. On the Exact Online side, it fetches the division ID from the /current/Me endpoint, applies OData queries with filter and select to minimize payload, and respects the 10-minute access token lifetime by refreshing when needed. On Tradeshift, it polls the /documents/v2/ endpoint with a changedAfter timestamp, retrieves documents by profile ID, and parses UBL XML. The mapping translates Exact Online purchase order lines into UBL 2.0 format with supplier and line item details, and maps incoming Tradeshift invoices back to Exact Online purchase invoice structure, matching on supplier ID and purchase order reference. Because Exact Online webhooks are available for PurchaseOrders and PurchaseInvoices, ml-connector can optionally subscribe to those rather than polling, reducing latency when events are enabled. Every record carries an audit trail, so a failed downstream update can be retried.

A real-world example

A mid-market manufacturing distributor uses Exact Online for accounting and inventory and maintains relationships with hundreds of suppliers on the Tradeshift network. Before the integration, purchasing staff created orders in Exact Online and manually entered them into Tradeshift to notify suppliers, then spent time matching received invoices from Tradeshift back to outstanding purchase orders in Exact Online. With Exact Online and Tradeshift connected, purchase orders push to the network automatically, suppliers receive them in their Tradeshift inbox, and invoices that come back are matched and imported into Exact Online's AP ledger without re-keying. The purchasing team focuses on managing relationships rather than data entry.

What you can do

Send Exact Online purchase orders to Tradeshift so suppliers receive them electronically.
Pull invoices and receipts from Tradeshift and import them as Exact Online purchase invoice lines.
Translate between OData query syntax and UBL 2.0 XML document format automatically.
Authenticate with OAuth 2.0 for Exact Online and OAuth 1.0a for Tradeshift, refreshing tokens as needed.
Listen to Exact Online webhooks for orders and invoices when enabled, or poll on a schedule you define.

Questions

Which direction does data move between Exact Online and Tradeshift?: Purchase orders move from Exact Online into Tradeshift so suppliers on the network are notified. Invoices and receipts come back from Tradeshift into Exact Online as purchase invoice lines. Contact and GL account data can be aligned in both directions to ensure invoices land on valid Exact Online accounts and cost centers.
How does ml-connector handle the different authentication methods?: Exact Online uses OAuth 2.0 with a 10-minute access token and rotating 30-day refresh tokens. Tradeshift uses OAuth 1.0a server-to-server with consumer credentials and signature generation. ml-connector manages both flows, refreshing Exact Online tokens when they expire and computing Tradeshift signatures on every request with the correct tenant ID header.
Can the sync use Exact Online webhooks instead of polling?: Yes. Exact Online supports webhooks for PurchaseOrders and PurchaseInvoices with HMAC-SHA256 verification. ml-connector can listen to those webhooks instead of polling if you enable them, reducing latency. The integration falls back to polling if webhooks are not enabled.

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