The Community Blog for Business Analysts

When designing ERP integrations (for AR/AP document flows), Business/System Analysts often face a range of “gotcha” questions — technical, architectural, and sometimes unexpected.
Here are some of the real-world questions I ask clients during the API and ERP connector discovery phase:

1. What’s the minimum required ERP version to support all AR/AP endpoints?
2. Could upgrading the ERP version change the API behavior (fields, formats)?
3. Are there any heavy or slow API methods under load? Recommended workarounds?
4. Does the ERP provider charge for API calls, or is usage unlimited?
5. Can we get a list of possible API error codes?
6. Any record count limits per request? (e.g., max 1000 records in GET)
7. What type of authentication is used — Basic Auth, OAuth2, or token-based?
8. What’s the average response time of the API?
9. Are there any debug/logging tools if something goes wrong with the call?
10. Any breaking changes in recent patches that could affect us?
11. Does the API support batch insert/update or only record-by-record?
12. In what format are dates returned? Full datetime or date-only?
13. How are balances returned (positive/negative for credit memos)?
14. Can documents be posted without updating the "last modified" date?
15. Can an account include multiple subsidiaries? How to filter by them in the API?
16. Are any API methods planned for deprecation? What will replace them?
17. Are some API endpoints available only with paid ERP modules or add-ons?
18. Are some fields or features hidden unless specific ERP configuration settings are enabled?
19. Does the ERP API return full relational data (e.g., linked documents, GL splits), or do we need extra queries?
20. How can we detect deleted records if the API doesn’t expose a deleted flag or status?

These questions aren't just technical — they help avoid costly mistakes, failed syncs, or misunderstood logic.