Overview

Sage Intacct is a robust, cloud-based financial management and ERP platform with a SOAP-based API designed to facilitate deep integration with other business systems like eCommerce platforms, CRMs, 3PLs, and reporting tools.

This guide will walk you through building a secure, scalable, and maintainable integration with Sage Intacct, whether you’re syncing orders from Shopify, updating accounts from Salesforce, or extracting GL data for forecasting.

Prerequisites

  • Sage Intacct Developer Account or sandbox environment
  • Company ID, User ID, Password, and Entity ID (for multi-entity setups)
  • Familiarity with:
    • SOAP API requests
    • XML payload formatting
    • Authentication via WS-Security
  • Tools: Postman or SOAP UI, Python/Node.js SDKs, or custom-built HTTP client

Step 1: Authentication

Sage Intacct uses WS-Security headers within SOAP to authenticate API calls. You’ll include a block with credentials.

Example Authentication Block:


  YourSenderID
  YourSenderPassword
  ExampleControlID
  false
  3.0
  false

Also include a session element for login:


  
    
      YourUserID
      YourCompanyID
      YourPassword
      YourEntityID

Step 2: Discovery and Data Mapping

Common Objects:

  • CUSTOMER, VENDOR
  • GLBATCH, GLENTRY, APBILL, ARBILL
  • SALESORDER, PURCHASEORDER
  • ITEM, INVENTORYCONTROL

Process:

  1. Document which objects you need to integrate (e.g., CREATE_ARINVOICE, READ_BY_QUERY).
  2. Create a mapping matrix from source system fields to Sage Intacct fields.
  3. Pay attention to:
    • Enumerations (CUSTOMERTYPE, TERMS)
    • Referential integrity (e.g., CUSTOMERID in ARINVOICE)
    • Optional vs required fields

Step 3: Building the Integration Flow

Integration Patterns:

  • Inbound (data into Intacct): Use operations like create, update, function
  • Outbound (data from Intacct): Use read, read_by_query, or reporting

Example: Creating an Invoice


  
    ABC123
    
      20250421
    
    Net 30
    
      
        PROD001
        1
        100.00

Example: Reading Customers


  
    CUSTOMER * STATUS active 100

Step 4: Error Handling and Pagination

Error Response

Sage Intacct provides structured errors inside :

  • Capture control ID, function ID, and error text.
  • Use retry logic with exponential backoff for transient errors.

Pagination

When reading large datasets (readByQuery), use the to paginate:

  • Loop with readMore operations until all records are fetched.

Step 5: Testing and Validation

  1. Use Postman or SOAP UI to test payloads independently.
  2. Create test suites for each use case (create customer, read invoice, etc.).
  3. Validate:
    • Field-level correctness
    • Referential integrity (no orphaned records)
    • Date, currency, and ID formatting
  4. Run volume tests (e.g., inserting 500 invoices) to check for throttling.

Step 6: Deployment and Security

  • Deploy integration in secure container (Docker, Lambda, etc.)
  • Store credentials securely (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager, Vault)
  • Use TLS 1.2+ for transport encryption
  • Monitor SOAP call volume and errors with logging and alerting tools

Step 7: Maintenance and Monitoring

  • Track schema changes in Sage Intacct releases.
  • Use log correlation IDs for tracing across systems.
  • Implement dead letter queues and alert on failed transactions.

Optional Enhancements

  • Webhooks via middleware (Sage doesn’t support native webhooks)
  • Integration orchestrator (n8n, Apache Camel, etc.)
  • Mapping UI for business users
  • Audit dashboards (errors per integration, success rates, etc.)

Summary

Sage Intacct integrations require careful handling of authentication, payload structure, and business logic. But once structured, they’re highly repeatable and reliable.

Want boilerplate XML templates or SDK scaffolding for Python or Node.js? I can generate those next.