Whether you are a Spendesk customer or a partner willing to start using Spendesk API to build an integration, this article is for you:
For customers, to connect Spendesk to your finance and business tool stack.
For partners, to grow and expand your offering with Spendesk.
Discovering our API developer portal
First you can check our dedicated developer portal for Spendesk API where you can find all relevant information:
Documentation
Changelog
Postman collection
Webhooks admin
If you are specifically looking for building an accounting integration to retrieve spend data from Spendesk, here are the following features that you would need:
Retrieve payables
Retrieve payable attachments
Retrieve settlements
Retrieve bank fees
Retrieve wallet loads
Retrieve wallet summary
Retrieve members
Retrieve suppliers
Retrieve analytical fields and values
Retrieve cost centers
Retrieve expense categories
Creating API credentials
Once you have checked our developer portal, you need to contact Spendesk sales team either directly or through our customer support. They will authorize you to gain access to the API. Then, you will be able to manage your API credentials under Settings > Integrations > API access management.
API credentials allow developers to connect to your Spendesk entity, retrieve and edit information in it according to the permissions you grant.
Prerequisites:
You must be under the 'Premium' or 'Enterprise' pricing plan.
You must be the Account Owner on Spendesk to create API credentials.
Implementing API access
In order to create a new API client ID and client secret, make sure you comply with the prerequisites and then follow these steps:
Click on Create new key.
Enter a name and a description for this API access. It is important to mention the purpose of these credentials so that anyone can easily identify them later.
Choose an expiration date. The expiration date cannot be later than one year from today. But if you are sharing these credentials with an external development team, make it as short as practically possible. If unsure, always start with shorter validity periods (e.g. one month) - you can always create new API credentials later on, with the same validity period or longer. However, is not possible to extend the validity of existing API credentials - new ones need to be created.
Select permissions you want to grant to this set of credentials.
Check the box to acknowledge that the new API credentials will provide access to the features and data selected above. It is important to note that permissions should align strictly with usage needs to minimize risk and ensure secure API operations.
Once you click on Create API key you will see a modal with a client ID and client secret. This is the only moment you will ever see the client secret in clear text - it is not possible to retrieve it again.
Important notes:
If you lose the client secret, you will need to generate a new set of credentials.
Store API credentials in a secure password vault and never share them via messaging/email. Additionally, it is recommended to conduct periodic reviews of stored credentials and revoke those that are no longer in use.