+1 480 485 7373
Microsoft Teams
Pick one route for orders before anything else
Many companies adopt ShipStation before they adopt Business Central, and it already pulls orders from Shopify, Amazon or eBay. Then Business Central arrives and gets those orders through its own connectors too. Now the same order exists in two places. If ShipStation ships from its own copy, Business Central never learns the goods left, inventory stays overstated and nobody may ever invoice the sale.
The cleaner design makes Business Central the order hub. Every channel feeds Business Central, which reserves the stock, and only released orders go to ShipStation. ShipStation then owns carrier choice, rates, labels and package details. Business Central owns the order, the inventory movement and the invoice. You switch off the store connections inside ShipStation, or keep them only for channels you deliberately leave outside the ERP.
Some businesses reverse this for good reasons, such as a marketplace ShipStation supports that Business Central does not. That can work, but then the Business Central ShipStation integration must create the order from ShipStation. You should also agree which fields each side may change.
Sales order fields and their ShipStation counterparts
Ways to connect ShipStation to Business Central
AppSource connector app
Apps from several vendors sync orders and tracking on a schedule. Confirm how each handles partial shipments, warehouse shipments and multiple locations.
ShipStation custom store
ShipStation can poll an endpoint you publish for orders and send shipment notices back to it. A lighter option, but the endpoint still needs building and hosting.
iPaaS or Power Automate
A flow moves released orders and tracking updates through both REST APIs. Suits businesses already running an integration platform for other channels.
Custom API integration
A dedicated service gives full control over batching, splits, returns and costing rules. Justified at high volume or with unusual warehouse processes.
What goes wrong in warehouses running both systems
- ✓Packers split an order into two boxes in ShipStation and only one tracking number returns
- ✓An order shipped from the wrong location because ShipStation and Business Central use different warehouse names
- ✓Kits sold as one SKU but picked as components, with weights that do not add up
- ✓Labels voided in ShipStation after the shipment already posted in Business Central
- ✓Address edits made in ShipStation that never reach the customer record
- ✓Freight charged to customers from a rate table while the real label cost goes unrecorded
Testing with real parcels, then watching the sync
- 1
Run a test warehouse day
Ship a batch of real orders covering single lines, multi-line, partial, multi-box, international and a kit, and check every result in Business Central.
- 2
Reconcile freight cost
Compare label spend in ShipStation to freight posted in Business Central for the test period.
- 3
Build an exceptions view
A list shows orders sent to ShipStation with no tracking after a set time, and shipments posted with no label.
- 4
Review daily at first
Your shipping lead checks the exceptions each morning until the counts stay at zero, then weekly.
ShipStation and Business Central questions
Does Business Central have its own shipping label feature?
No, standard Business Central records shipping agents, services and tracking numbers but does not buy carrier labels or compare rates. That is why companies pair it with a shipping platform such as ShipStation or with carrier apps from AppSource. Business Central can link a tracking number to the carrier's website for customer service. The label purchase happens elsewhere.
Should we keep ShipStation's own store connections?
Usually not, once Business Central receives your orders. Two order paths cause duplicate shipments and stock errors that are painful to unwind. We normally route all channels into Business Central and send released orders to ShipStation. Exceptions are channels you choose to keep outside the ERP entirely.
How are shipping charges billed to customers?
It depends on your policy, and the integration follows it. Some businesses charge the rate quoted at checkout, which comes in with the order. Others bill the actual label cost plus a handling amount, which ShipStation returns after shipping. Always record the actual cost for margin reporting, even when the customer pays a flat rate. We set that rule before building the Business Central ShipStation integration.
More Business Central ShipStation integration questions
Can we use Business Central warehouse picking with ShipStation?
Yes, if you time the handoff correctly. With warehouse shipments and picks, send the order to ShipStation after picking. That way packers pack exactly what the pickers picked. Without warehouse documents, the sales order can go to ShipStation when released. The right point depends on your warehouse setup.
What happens with returns?
You can create return labels in ShipStation, but the credit belongs in Business Central. We usually keep returns as sales return orders in Business Central, with the return label and tracking attached. Then the receipt, restocking and credit memo follow your normal process. Sending return data to ShipStation is optional. Most small teams handle returns manually at first.
Talk to us about your project.
Tell us what you run today and what has to change. A senior consultant replies with a written next step.