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Table of contents
Manage every Edge Case with Authenticated Passthrough Requests
Table of contents
RootFi’s Unified API provides B2B integrations to 10+ accounting softwares through a single access point.
Our Unified Accounting API gives you access to 20+ Common data models designed to support most standard use cases. We support read and write access for standardised objects in each data model. Additionally, the Common Data Models also hold underlying raw data from each accounting software which you can pull using our Unified API.
Based on your core product, there will be edge cases where you want to make API calls that are not supported by our Unified API. This is where Passthrough requests come in.
What are Passthrough Requests?
Passthrough Requests are API calls you make to RootFi’s Unified API that we pass on to the accounting platform you need to access. In other words, Passthrough Requests are a technique we use to forward incoming requests to the underlying platforms.
Each accounting software has custom APIs that are features unique to their platforms. These APIs can offer powerful automation or data that helps you power workflows or your product features.
For example, we support uploading attachments for invoice flow in our Unified API. The steps are as follows: Get an account and customer, make the invoice, create a PDF and attach it to that invoice. All these steps are a part of the Unified API workflow. If you want to do additional actions, which is likely for invoice flow for expense management companies, we support these actions through Passthrough Requests.
We’ll walk you through a few examples of edge cases where using Passthrough requests to make custom API calls is the right solution below.
How RootFi’s Passthrough Requests help you:
Passthrough APIs allow you to access data and make specific API calls that go beyond our standardised accounting data models. Using Passthrough Requests alongside our Unified API has many advantages:
- Authentication:
Using the authentication tokens you set up to use our Unified API, we automatically create an authenticated request for the specific API call you need when you make a Passthrough Request.
- Secure Token Management:
Since we create the authentication request based on the Unified API connections you already have, you don't have to worry about storing credentials or security concerns.
- Error Handling:
RootFi provides readable error messages in a unified format to help you troubleshoot across platforms.
These benefits save your developers effort and time. Ultimately, you don’t lose any flexibility that you have with in-house B2B accounting integrations when you use Unified APIs and Passthrough Requests together.
3 Accounting API Edge Cases
1. Zoho Books API
Zoho Books has a comprehensive set of custom APIs that allow you to control many features within the platform.
For example, Zoho Books has an API to email invoices to your customers. This feature is not supported by any Unified APIs. After integrating with RootFi, we still want you to have access to Zoho Book’s custom email invoicing API.
While you can create and get invoices through our Unified APIs, to change the status of invoices, void invoices, and email invoices, you can use Passthrough Requests to make an API call.
2. QuickBooks API
We support three types of reports using our Unified API: Balance Sheets, Income Statements and Cash Flow Statements. However, QuickBooks has a set of APIs that generate reports that are not common to other platforms, and hence not in our Unified APIs. You can use our Unified APIs without losing access to these reports with Passthrough Requests.
To get custom reports from the underlying QuickBooks platform, like ARAging Summary, APAging Summary, ARAging Detail, and APAging Detail, you can use our Authenticated Passthrough Requests. This is useful when you need detailed reports of Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable data for your QuickBooks customers.
3. Xero API
We support invoice payments and bill payments with our Unified APIs. Xero has APIs called Overpayments, Prepayments and Payment Services- to get or add various payment services. To create, read and then refund Overpayments and Prepayments, you can use Passthrough Requests.
Make your first authenticated Passthrough Request
Let’s walk through an example.
A popular edge case we’ve seen our customers use Authenticated Passthrough Requests for is to invite users to the Zoho Books Platform. Using the Zoho Books API, you can send an email to a new user inviting them to your Zoho Books. This Zoho Books API automates user management and onboarding onto the Zoho Platform.
To make an Authenticated Passthrough Request, you need to use RootFi Connect and set up a connection with the accounting platform you want to make a custom API call to. Our Help Centre videos walk you through this process too.
Your developer needs to know the underlying API configurations to which you want to make an API call. This includes knowing the URL, the body and the query parameters. Then you can call the RootFi API using your API key and the RootFi company ID to identify the company you want to target.
These are the three steps to make this Zoho Books create a user API using Passthrough Requests:
- Get the User Roles you have set up for your Zoho Books.
- From the response, identify the role_id of the Role you want
- Create a new user (which sends them an invitation link)
Step 1 - Use the Passthrough API to GET the user roles
Request Body
If you’re familiar with requests to RootFi, you’ll know it’s similar to a standard request to our API. Most importantly, it doesn’t include any additional Zoho Books-specific authentication. RootFi automatically handles authentication when you submit the request with the credentials stored by your customer. In the example, those credentials are represented by {{YOUR_ROOTFI_API_KEY}} and {{YOUR_ROOTFI_COMPANY_ID}}.
Response
Step 2 - From the response we can see the role_id for an Accountant role is 3770712000000328493
Step 3 - Use the passthrough API to invite a new user with that role_id to your Zoho Books
Request Body
Response
As the message says, your invitation has been sent. It’s that easy.
Remember, anything you can do when you build a direct integration, you can do with Passthrough Requests. If you need help making Passthrough Requests, our team is happy to assist any customers on our Startup and Enterprise plans.
Leverage Our Unified APIs without losing flexibility via Passthrough Requests.
As a recap, Passthrough Requests are API calls you make to RootFi’s Unified API that we automatically authenticate and pass on to an underlying accounting system. Essentially, you get the best of both worlds– common data across platforms with custom functionality from each underlying accounting system.
To begin using our Unified APIs and Passthrough Requests, start for free with 5 connections. If you’d like to discuss your specific use cases and how to use RootFi, reach out to our team today.
RootFi’s Unified API provides B2B integrations to 10+ accounting softwares through a single access point.
Our Unified Accounting API gives you access to 20+ Common data models designed to support most standard use cases. We support read and write access for standardised objects in each data model. Additionally, the Common Data Models also hold underlying raw data from each accounting software which you can pull using our Unified API.
Based on your core product, there will be edge cases where you want to make API calls that are not supported by our Unified API. This is where Passthrough requests come in.
What are Passthrough Requests?
Passthrough Requests are API calls you make to RootFi’s Unified API that we pass on to the accounting platform you need to access. In other words, Passthrough Requests are a technique we use to forward incoming requests to the underlying platforms.
Each accounting software has custom APIs that are features unique to their platforms. These APIs can offer powerful automation or data that helps you power workflows or your product features.
For example, we support uploading attachments for invoice flow in our Unified API. The steps are as follows: Get an account and customer, make the invoice, create a PDF and attach it to that invoice. All these steps are a part of the Unified API workflow. If you want to do additional actions, which is likely for invoice flow for expense management companies, we support these actions through Passthrough Requests.
We’ll walk you through a few examples of edge cases where using Passthrough requests to make custom API calls is the right solution below.
How RootFi’s Passthrough Requests help you:
Passthrough APIs allow you to access data and make specific API calls that go beyond our standardised accounting data models. Using Passthrough Requests alongside our Unified API has many advantages:
- Authentication:
Using the authentication tokens you set up to use our Unified API, we automatically create an authenticated request for the specific API call you need when you make a Passthrough Request.
- Secure Token Management:
Since we create the authentication request based on the Unified API connections you already have, you don't have to worry about storing credentials or security concerns.
- Error Handling:
RootFi provides readable error messages in a unified format to help you troubleshoot across platforms.
These benefits save your developers effort and time. Ultimately, you don’t lose any flexibility that you have with in-house B2B accounting integrations when you use Unified APIs and Passthrough Requests together.
3 Accounting API Edge Cases
1. Zoho Books API
Zoho Books has a comprehensive set of custom APIs that allow you to control many features within the platform.
For example, Zoho Books has an API to email invoices to your customers. This feature is not supported by any Unified APIs. After integrating with RootFi, we still want you to have access to Zoho Book’s custom email invoicing API.
While you can create and get invoices through our Unified APIs, to change the status of invoices, void invoices, and email invoices, you can use Passthrough Requests to make an API call.
2. QuickBooks API
We support three types of reports using our Unified API: Balance Sheets, Income Statements and Cash Flow Statements. However, QuickBooks has a set of APIs that generate reports that are not common to other platforms, and hence not in our Unified APIs. You can use our Unified APIs without losing access to these reports with Passthrough Requests.
To get custom reports from the underlying QuickBooks platform, like ARAging Summary, APAging Summary, ARAging Detail, and APAging Detail, you can use our Authenticated Passthrough Requests. This is useful when you need detailed reports of Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable data for your QuickBooks customers.
3. Xero API
We support invoice payments and bill payments with our Unified APIs. Xero has APIs called Overpayments, Prepayments and Payment Services- to get or add various payment services. To create, read and then refund Overpayments and Prepayments, you can use Passthrough Requests.
Make your first authenticated Passthrough Request
Let’s walk through an example.
A popular edge case we’ve seen our customers use Authenticated Passthrough Requests for is to invite users to the Zoho Books Platform. Using the Zoho Books API, you can send an email to a new user inviting them to your Zoho Books. This Zoho Books API automates user management and onboarding onto the Zoho Platform.
To make an Authenticated Passthrough Request, you need to use RootFi Connect and set up a connection with the accounting platform you want to make a custom API call to. Our Help Centre videos walk you through this process too.
Your developer needs to know the underlying API configurations to which you want to make an API call. This includes knowing the URL, the body and the query parameters. Then you can call the RootFi API using your API key and the RootFi company ID to identify the company you want to target.
These are the three steps to make this Zoho Books create a user API using Passthrough Requests:
- Get the User Roles you have set up for your Zoho Books.
- From the response, identify the role_id of the Role you want
- Create a new user (which sends them an invitation link)
Step 1 - Use the Passthrough API to GET the user roles
Request Body
If you’re familiar with requests to RootFi, you’ll know it’s similar to a standard request to our API. Most importantly, it doesn’t include any additional Zoho Books-specific authentication. RootFi automatically handles authentication when you submit the request with the credentials stored by your customer. In the example, those credentials are represented by {{YOUR_ROOTFI_API_KEY}} and {{YOUR_ROOTFI_COMPANY_ID}}.
Response
Step 2 - From the response we can see the role_id for an Accountant role is 3770712000000328493
Step 3 - Use the passthrough API to invite a new user with that role_id to your Zoho Books
Request Body
Response
As the message says, your invitation has been sent. It’s that easy.
Remember, anything you can do when you build a direct integration, you can do with Passthrough Requests. If you need help making Passthrough Requests, our team is happy to assist any customers on our Startup and Enterprise plans.
Leverage Our Unified APIs without losing flexibility via Passthrough Requests.
As a recap, Passthrough Requests are API calls you make to RootFi’s Unified API that we automatically authenticate and pass on to an underlying accounting system. Essentially, you get the best of both worlds– common data across platforms with custom functionality from each underlying accounting system.
To begin using our Unified APIs and Passthrough Requests, start for free with 5 connections. If you’d like to discuss your specific use cases and how to use RootFi, reach out to our team today.