4 min read
What to Check in Your ERP Before Starting a B2B E-Commerce Project: A 10-Point Checklist
Before a B2B portal or e-commerce project, check 10 things in your ERP: product data, dealer pricing, stock, credit limits, API access and go-live readiness.
Most B2B e-commerce and dealer portal projects aren't delayed by design or software. They're delayed because the data in the ERP isn't ready. The portal is built, but prices come through wrong, stock doesn't match, and the same product appears under three different codes.
Running a readiness check on your ERP before the project starts prevents fixes that can otherwise take months. Use the 10 points below as a checklist.
1. Are your product records clean?
Every product should have one code. Duplicate records, inactive but undeleted items and missing barcodes are carried straight into the portal. Ask: Does the same product exist in more than one record? Can discontinued items be identified? Are product names written so dealers understand them?
2. Are variants and units clearly defined?
Are variants such as color, size or dimension stored as separate products or as variants of one product? Do dealers order by case, pack or unit? If unit conversions (for example, 1 case = 12 units) aren't defined in the ERP, quantities will go wrong in the portal.
3. Where do dealer prices and discounts live?
Pricing is the heart of B2B. Are dealer-specific price lists, discount rates and campaigns defined in the ERP, or in spreadsheets and your sales team's memory? Every pricing rule kept outside the ERP should be moved in, or a clear decision made about where it lives, before the project starts.
4. Are customer accounts and dealer data up to date?
Each dealer should have a single account. Closed, merged or duplicate accounts can lead to the wrong person seeing the wrong balance. The assigned sales rep, region and price group should also be defined on the account.
5. Are credit limits and payment terms set?
If you want orders that exceed a limit or have overdue balances to go to approval, that data must be current and accurate in the ERP. Payment terms, methods and approval rights should be agreed up front.
6. Is your stock data reliable?
The stock shown in the portal comes from the ERP. Count discrepancies, reserved but undeducted stock, or unclear rules about which warehouse feeds the portal lead to dealers ordering items that aren't really available, and to cancelled orders.
7. Are tax and invoicing settings correct?
Are prices stored with or without tax? Are different tax rates correctly assigned to product groups? Will e-invoicing work with orders coming from the portal? Changing these later usually means retroactive corrections.
8. Can your ERP talk to external systems?
Many ERPs offer web services or APIs for data exchange, but some editions require an extra module or license. Before starting, ask your ERP vendor: Does our edition and license allow writing orders and reading stock and prices from an external system?
9. Is there a test environment?
Testing integration on your live ERP is risky; a wrong test order can turn into a real invoice. Where possible, set up a test environment using a copy of live data.
10. Who owns which data, and how will go-live work?
Each type of data needs one source of truth: products and prices in the ERP, orders created in the portal, and so on. Also plan who is responsible for which data, which dealers go live first, and how phone orders are handled during the transition.
Quick checklist
- No duplicate product records; codes are unique
- Variants and unit conversions defined
- Dealer prices and discounts in the ERP
- Customer accounts clean and current
- Credit limits and payment terms set
- Stock reliable, warehouse rules clear
- Tax and invoicing settings correct
- API or web service access included in your license
- Test environment ready
- Data ownership and go-live plan agreed
Frequently asked questions
How long does this preparation take?
It depends on the state of your data. A well-maintained ERP may need only a few weeks; in a system that hasn't been cleaned for years, data cleanup can be the longest phase of the project.
Do we need to replace our ERP?
Usually not. Widely used ERPs support B2B integration. If yours can't meet your needs, custom software or an additional module may be worth considering.
Can we do this check ourselves?
Yes, most points can be checked by your internal team. Support from an experienced team speeds up the technical parts: access, licensing and data mapping.
Conclusion
A successful B2B e-commerce project starts with a clean, project-ready ERP. Checking these 10 points beforehand greatly reduces delays and post-launch surprises. For the bigger picture, see our guide to B2B ERP integration. Let's review your ERP setup and B2B goals together in a short call.