QuickBooks Online and Tradeshift integration

What moves between them

The main flow runs from Tradeshift into QuickBooks Online. Purchase orders and supplier invoices are polled from Tradeshift on a schedule tied to your AP process, then created as QuickBooks Online bills or purchase orders, matched to the vendor and routed to the cost center specified in the document metadata. Vendor master data can flow in either direction to keep the two platforms aligned. Journal entries generated by AP workflows in Tradeshift can also post into QuickBooks Online's general ledger if those documents are enabled.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector stores the OAuth 1.0a consumer credentials and tenant ID for Tradeshift and manages the OAuth 2.0 refresh token lifecycle on the QuickBooks Online side, with early renewal before expiry. It polls Tradeshift documents using the changedAfter filter to retrieve only new and updated records, then maps UBL 2.0/2.2 XML line items into QuickBooks Online bill line items, matching vendor names to QuickBooks Online vendor records and applying GL accounts and cost centers from metadata fields or mapping tables. Because Tradeshift documents identify the GL account only as UBL line item metadata (not a native API), ml-connector prepends the account validation step before creation so invalid account references surface immediately rather than in a downstream audit. QuickBooks Online's SyncToken requirement (all updates must include the current token from the prior fetch) is handled automatically; ml-connector fetches the token before any update and retries on conflict. Tradeshift sandbox is available for credential validation and testing before production sync begins.

A real-world example

A mid-sized manufacturing company uses QuickBooks Online for accounting and Tradeshift to connect with contract manufacturers and material suppliers via the supplier network. Before the integration, the AP team received Tradeshift invoices by email or the portal, then manually entered them into QuickBooks Online, which created duplicate-entry risk and delayed reconciliation. With the integration in place, supplier invoices flow from Tradeshift directly into QuickBooks Online as bills, routed to the correct vendor and cost center based on the purchase order number embedded in the invoice. The AP team now spends three days per week less on data entry and can focus on exception handling and supplier disputes.

What you can do

• •Automatically pull purchase orders and supplier invoices from Tradeshift and create matching bills or purchase orders in QuickBooks Online.
• •Map Tradeshift vendor names to QuickBooks Online vendor records, creating new vendors when needed.
• •Route AP documents to the correct cost center and GL account based on line item metadata or mapping configuration.
• •Handle OAuth 2.0 refresh token rotation on the QuickBooks Online side and OAuth 1.0a credentials on the Tradeshift side.
• •Poll on a configurable schedule with a full audit trail and replay capability for every document.

Questions

Which direction do invoices flow between Tradeshift and QuickBooks Online?

The main flow is from Tradeshift into QuickBooks Online. Supplier invoices and purchase orders are polled from Tradeshift and created as bills or purchase orders in QuickBooks Online, routed to the correct vendor and cost center. Vendor master data can also flow in both directions to keep the platforms aligned.

How does ml-connector handle QuickBooks Online's SyncToken and OAuth 2.0 refresh token requirements?

ml-connector manages the OAuth 2.0 refresh token lifecycle automatically, renewing early before expiry to avoid outages. For bill and purchase order updates, it fetches the current SyncToken before each update and retries automatically on token conflicts.

What happens if a Tradeshift invoice references a vendor or GL account that does not exist in QuickBooks Online?

ml-connector validates vendor names and GL accounts before creating the bill. If a vendor does not exist, ml-connector can create it automatically using the supplier name and contact details from Tradeshift. Invalid GL accounts surface immediately in the audit trail rather than as downstream reconciliation errors.