Integration Patterns & Best Practices

Provisioning Workflow

What Ottimate Configures (Before You Start)

During the onboarding process, Ottimate configures:

1. Client Account - Top-level account entity with unique racc_ identifier
2. Company Structure - One or more companies based on the client’s accounting structure
3. Location Setup - All locations within each company
4. Groups (if applicable) - Location groupings for multi-company accounts
5. API Credentials - Client ID and Client Secret for OAuth authentication scoped to an API User
6. Feature Enablement - Activates features based on client subscription (InstantCapture, Catalog Match, etc.)
7. ERP Connection (if applicable) - Configures Ottimate-hosted ERP integrations

By the time you receive API credentials, your account structure is fully configured and ready for integration.

What You Verify First

After receiving your Sandbox credentials:

1. Verify account structure - List companies and locations to understand the hierarchy
2. Test API User scope - Confirm you can access all required companies/locations
3. Map identifiers - Create a mapping between your system’s IDs and Ottimate’s company_id / location_id values

$
# Step 1: List companies
$
GET /v1/accounts/{account_id}/companies
$
$
# Step 2: List locations
$
GET /v1/accounts/{account_id}/locations
$
$
# Step 3: Verify access to specific resources
$
GET /v1/vendors?ottimate_company_id=123
$
GET /v1/invoices?ottimate_company_id=123&ottimate_location_id=456

What You Configure via API

After verifying your account structure, you’ll typically:

1. Sync Dimensions - Push or pull chart of accounts from the ERP
2. Sync Vendors - Push or pull vendor list from the ERP
3. Configure Catalog (optional) - Sync inventory items for catalog matching
4. Test Invoice Creation - Create test invoices to validate the workflow

See Accounting Integration for detailed sync procedures.

Managing Changes

Common Integration Patterns

Pattern 1: Single Company, Single Location

Use Case: Small business with centralized AP

Account: Small Business Inc
└── Company: Small Business Inc
    └── Location: Headquarters

API Usage:

• All requests use the same ottimate_company_id
• All invoices use the same ottimate_location_id
• Simplest integration pattern

Example:

$
# All API calls use the same IDs
$
POST /v1/invoices
$
{
>
  "ottimate_company_id": 123,
>
  "ottimate_location_id": 456,
>
  ...
>
}

Pattern 2: Single Company, Multiple Locations

Use Case: Restaurant chain, retail chain, or multi-site business

Account: Restaurant Group
└── Company: Restaurant Group Inc
    ├── Location: Store #001
    ├── Location: Store #002
    └── Location: Store #003

API Usage:

• All requests use the same ottimate_company_id
• Invoices are assigned to appropriate ottimate_location_id based on which location received the goods/services
• Vendors and dimensions are shared across all locations

Integration Considerations:

• Map your system’s location identifiers to Ottimate location IDs
• Route invoices to correct location based on purchase order, delivery address, or other business logic
• Users may be restricted to view only their assigned locations

Pattern 3: Multiple Companies

Use Case: Holding company, MSP managing multiple clients

Account: Holding Company
├── Company: Subsidiary A (NetSuite)
│   ├── Location: HQ
│   └── Location: Warehouse
└── Company: Subsidiary B (QuickBooks)
    └── Location: Office

API Usage:

• Each company has separate dimensions, vendors, and invoices
• No data sharing between companies
• Each company typically connects to a different ERP instance

Integration Considerations:

• Maintain separate dimension/vendor mappings per company
• Handle each company’s invoice workflow independently
• May require separate sync schedules per company

Best Practices

Next Steps

Now that you understand account structure and integration patterns, proceed to set up accounting data: