SAP Business One and SFTP / Flat Files integration

What moves between them

The main flow is read from SAP Business One and write to SFTP / Flat Files. Purchase orders, invoices, GL journal entries, and vendor records are polled from SAP Business One on a schedule and formatted as flat files (CSV or EDI). The files are placed in the SFTP outbound folder, from where downstream systems can retrieve them on their own schedule. Vendor and GL account dimensions from SAP Business One are mapped to the file structure so each record references valid accounts. Optional acknowledgment files are generated and placed in the acks/ folder for EDI workflows.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector maintains the SAP Business One session token and refreshes it before the 30-minute inactivity timeout. Since SAP Business One requires a customer-specific Service Layer URL, ml-connector accepts the full instance URL and port per customer and validates endpoints against that instance. On the SFTP side, ml-connector handles host key verification in production to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, and stores SSH credentials encrypted whether using key or password auth. Records are pulled on a schedule tied to your business cycle (weekly invoices, daily GL postings) rather than in real-time. GL accounts and vendor dimensions are mapped first so every exported record references a valid flat-file structure. If a downstream SFTP read fails, ml-connector deduplicates via file checksum on retry, and every transaction carries an audit trail for replay if needed.

A real-world example

A small manufacturing business runs SAP Business One on-premise for ERP. They have multiple third-party logistics partners and an accounting service provider that still operate via flat file exchange. Before the integration, the finance team manually exported invoices and GL postings from SAP Business One each week, formatted them as CSV files, and uploaded them to each partner's SFTP server. With SAP Business One and SFTP / Flat Files connected, invoices and GL accounts flow automatically each business day, formatted and validated, and the manual export and upload steps are gone. Vendors and cost centers are mapped once at setup, so every file is correctly structured and ready for the partner to ingest.

What you can do

• •Export SAP Business One purchase orders, invoices, and GL journal entries as flat files (CSV or EDI format) to SFTP servers on a schedule.
• •Keep vendor and GL account dimensions synchronized between SAP Business One and flat file records so exports reference valid accounts.
• •Manage SAP Business One session token lifecycle to prevent 30-minute inactivity timeout, and handle SFTP host key verification and SSH credential storage.
• •Poll SAP Business One and SFTP endpoints on your business schedule (daily, weekly) rather than waiting for a push event.
• •Deduplicate on retry via file checksum and maintain a full audit trail for every export and SFTP transaction.

Questions

Which direction does data move between SAP Business One and SFTP / Flat Files?

Data moves from SAP Business One to SFTP / Flat Files. Invoices, purchase orders, GL journal entries, and vendor records are read from SAP Business One and exported as flat files to the SFTP server. SFTP / Flat Files is write-only in this integration; ml-connector does not write back to SAP Business One.

How does ml-connector handle SAP Business One's session token and SFTP authentication?

ml-connector maintains the SAP Business One session token and refreshes it before the 30-minute inactivity timeout expires. On the SFTP side, it stores SSH credentials encrypted, handles host key verification in production to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, and supports both SSH key and password authentication. Session reuse prevents the 5-second cold-start penalty of each new SAP Business One login.

What format do the exported files use, and how are they validated?

File format (CSV, X12 EDI, fixed-width, or XML) is configured per SFTP partner based on their requirements. ml-connector validates that GL accounts and vendors referenced in each export record exist in SAP Business One before writing to the SFTP server, and vendor and dimension mappings are established once during setup so every file is correctly structured.