The verdict in three sentences
Re-keying 300 orders a week from a B2B portal into the ERP takes a full-time employee and produces 2 to 4% data entry errors, with credit notes, returns and unhappy customers. An API connector costs EUR 8,000 to 25,000 depending on the ERP and the complexity of pricing rules, and syncs stock and prices every 5 minutes. For a mid-sized distributor, payback falls between 4 and 9 months, making it one of the most profitable digital projects available today.
What manual re-keying costs
A 40-employee food and beverage distributor in Amsterdam receives trade orders (shops, restaurants, regional retail) through a B2B portal. Each order is then re-entered into Exact Online for picking, invoicing and stock updates.
| Item | Without integration | With API connector |
|---|---|---|
| Orders per week | 300 | 300 |
| Re-keying time per order | 7 min | 0 min |
| Exception checking time | 1 h per day | 15 min per day |
| Hours per year | 1,950 h | 60 h |
| Loaded staff cost (EUR 26/h) | EUR 50,700 | EUR 1,560 |
| Data entry errors | 3% of orders | near zero |
| Cost of errors (credit notes, return freight) | EUR 18,700 | under EUR 1,000 |
| Stock freshness on the portal | previous day | 5 minutes |
The total cost of re-keying exceeds EUR 69,000 a year (2026 estimate), not counting lost sales when the portal shows an item in stock that is actually sold out.
Connector cost by ERP
| ERP | API access | Connector budget | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exact Online | native REST API, OAuth 2.0 | EUR 9,000 to 16,000 | 6 to 8 weeks |
| Odoo (versions 16 to 18) | native XML-RPC and JSON-RPC API | EUR 8,000 to 14,000 | 6 weeks |
| AFAS Profit | REST connectors (GetConnector, UpdateConnector) | EUR 12,000 to 20,000 | 8 weeks |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central | REST API and OData | EUR 15,000 to 25,000 | 8 to 10 weeks |
| SAP Business One | Service Layer REST | EUR 15,000 to 25,000 | 8 to 10 weeks |
| Connector maintenance | monitoring, API updates | EUR 150 to 400 a month | ongoing |
Price depends less on the ERP itself than on business rules: customer and quantity-based pricing, year-end rebates, sales units (unit, case, pallet), excise duties. A connector handling 5 simple price lists sits at the low end; one with 200 special conditions sits at the top.
What a well-built connector does
It pushes every validated portal order into the ERP within a minute, checking customer, prices and VAT. Every 5 minutes it pulls stock levels and customer net prices back to the portal, and each night it syncs invoices and delivery status. It logs every exchange, retries automatically when the ERP is unavailable and emails the order desk after 3 failures. Without that monitoring, a silently broken connector recreates exactly the problem it was meant to solve. Note that Exact Online enforces API rate limits (60 calls a minute per company), so the connector batches requests rather than calling once per order line.
Mini case study
Sanne, CFO of an Amsterdam distributor running Exact Online, pays EUR 50,700 a year in re-keying and EUR 18,700 in errors. She signs a connector at EUR 13,000 with EUR 250 a month of maintenance. Annual saving: EUR 69,400 minus EUR 1,560 of residual checking, minus EUR 1,000 of residual errors, minus EUR 3,000 of maintenance, about EUR 63,800. The connector pays back in under three months. The freed employee now reactivates dormant trade customers, which lifted revenue on that segment by 6%.
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FAQ
How much does an ERP to B2B portal integration cost in 2026?
Expect EUR 8,000 to 25,000 depending on the ERP and pricing rules, plus EUR 150 to 400 a month for maintenance. Odoo and Exact Online are usually the cheapest thanks to native APIs.
How long does it take to set up?
Six to ten weeks, including 2 weeks of acceptance testing in parallel with manual entry. This double run avoids any service interruption during the switch.
Is the sync real time?
Orders reach the ERP within a minute; stock and prices sync every 5 minutes. Faster is possible but loads the ERP and Exact Online rate limits without real commercial benefit.
What happens if the ERP is down?
Orders are queued and retried automatically. After 3 failures the order desk is alerted, and no order is ever lost.
Do we need to change ERP to connect?
No, in 90% of cases your existing ERP is enough. Only very old ERPs with no API and no file import require a prior migration.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your ERP, portal and order volume: we will price a connector between EUR 8,000 and 25,000, delivered in 6 to 10 weeks, with a payback calculation. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
