# Turn the Invoice Processing Platform into an API

> Build one API call each for your purchase orders, invoice statuses and payments in the IPP Collector module. Then have a workflow check the Invoices tab every morning for status changes, In Exception first, and hand settled payments to accounting.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/invoice-processing-platform
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own Invoice Processing Platform account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on IPP

### Get purchase orders

Searches the Orders tab of the Collector module and reads each PO on the PO Search Results page, for one agency or all of them.

- Takes: Agency (optional), PO number (optional), open only (optional)
- Returns: PO number, agency, PO date, status, version, total amount

### Check invoice statuses

Searches the Invoices tab and reads each invoice's status, such as Pending Approval, Approved to Pay or In Exception.

- Takes: Status (optional), agency (optional), invoice number (optional)
- Returns: Invoice number, agency, PO number, invoice date, status, amount

### Get payments with remittance details

Searches the Payments tab by payment date range and, optionally, agency payer name, and reads each payment's remittance details.

- Takes: Payment date from, payment date to, agency payer name (optional)
- Returns: ACH trace number, agency, status, amount, payment date, invoice number, PO number, discount, bank name, account last 4, remittance addenda

### Create an invoice from a purchase order

Opens a PO from the Orders tab, selects Create Invoice on the PO detail page, completes the pre-filled invoice and saves it as a draft or submits it.

- Takes: PO number, invoice number, invoice date, lines with quantity, comments (optional), draft or submit
- Returns: Invoice number, PO number, status, amount

## Automate IPP with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### New purchase orders and change orders, every morning

Starts: Every weekday at 7:00

1. Get the purchase orders on the Orders tab for every agency.
2. Keep the POs, and new PO versions, that were not there on the last run.
3. Email you the list grouped by agency, with PO number, PO date, version and total amount.

### Invoices that changed status, sent to your team

Starts: Every weekday at 9:00

1. Check the status of every invoice on the Invoices tab.
2. Keep the invoices whose status changed since the last run.
3. Post each one, In Exception first, to your Slack or ERP webhook.

### Settled payments, handed to accounting

Starts: Every weekday at 8:00

1. Get the payments on the Payments tab from the last 7 days, with remittance details.
2. Keep the payments that were not there on the last run, and stop when there are none.
3. Post each payment to your accounting system's webhook for cash application.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Get purchase orders” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "ipp.for.fiscal.treasury.gov/get_purchase_orders",
    "input": {
      "agency": "Northwind Field Office",
      "open_only": true
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "agency": "Northwind Field Office",
    "purchase_orders": [
      {
        "po_number": "NFO-26-0418",
        "po_date": "2026-11-06",
        "status": "Open",
        "version": 2,
        "total_amount": 18450
      },
      {
        "po_number": "NFO-26-0392",
        "po_date": "2026-10-28",
        "status": "Open",
        "version": 1,
        "total_amount": 4120.5
      }
    ],
    "count": 2
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## IPP’s own options

IPP's vendor documentation describes no API. It is free, and in the Collector module you can download purchase orders as XML or CSV batch files, export remittance records to CSV, create invoices from an eFile upload and choose payment notification emails. The agency you do business with enrolls you.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PO batch files | Purchase orders and change orders your agencies sent to IPP, downloaded as a batch file. | XML (preferred) or CSV, created by a vendor user in IPP. No fee. |
| Remittance export and payment emails | Selected payment records exported to CSV, and emails with or without remittance detail as payments settle. | An IPP user. The vendor administrator sets which notifications go out. No fee. |
| eFile invoice upload | Creating invoices by uploading an electronic file instead of filling in the form, as the IPP Collector User Guide describes. | An IPP user with permission to create invoices. |
| IPP by hand | The Orders, Invoices and Payments tabs of the Collector module, with Quick Links on the Home tab. | Enrollment by your agency and a sign-in through ID.me or Login.gov with multifactor authentication. Free. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [IPP vendor FAQ](https://www.ipp.gov/knowledge-center/vendors/faq-vendors), [Getting started with the IPP Collector module](https://www.ipp.gov/knowledge-center/vendors/user-guides/ipp-collector-module), [IPP system features](https://www.ipp.gov/about/system-features).

## Signing in to IPP

IPP signs vendors in through ID.me or Login.gov, and multifactor authentication is required. Each user verifies their identity with one of the two, using the same email address as their IPP account. With Fous you sign in through IPP's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256 and never seen by your code or AI agents.

## Worth knowing

- **Your agency enrolls you**: Vendors do not sign up for IPP themselves. The agency you do business with starts enrollment, and the first user becomes the Collector Administrator, who creates the other users and their roles.
- **Default views show recent records only**: The Orders tab opens on open POs from the last 30 days, and the Invoices and Payments tabs on the last 90 days. Searching with %, the wildcard, shows everything, so a method you build can search that way.
- **Creating invoices needs a permission**: If the Home tab has no Create Invoice link in Quick Links, your user cannot create invoices. Use Create Invoice on the PO detail page: the buttons outside the PO start from a blank form.
- **What the Payments tab does not show**: IPP does not report payments returned by a bank. A reduced payment shows as settled reduced, and its offset details need a permission your Collector Administrator assigns.

## More in Government: US federal

- [BSA E-Filing System](https://fous.com/automate/bsa-e-filing-system.md)
- [FINRA Gateway](https://fous.com/automate/finra-gateway.md)
- [PostalOne](https://fous.com/automate/postalone.md)
- [USPS Business Customer Gateway](https://fous.com/automate/usps-business-customer-gateway.md)
- [FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse](https://fous.com/automate/fmcsa-drug-and-alcohol-clearinghouse.md)
- [Wide Area Workflow](https://fous.com/automate/wide-area-workflow.md)
- [E-Verify](https://fous.com/automate/e-verify.md)
- [EPA Central Data Exchange](https://fous.com/automate/epa-central-data-exchange.md)
- [SAM.gov](https://fous.com/automate/sam-gov.md)
- [CM/ECF](https://fous.com/automate/cm-ecf.md)
- [EFTPS](https://fous.com/automate/eftps.md)
- [FBI NICS E-Check](https://fous.com/automate/fbi-nics-e-check.md)
- [FLAG](https://fous.com/automate/flag.md)
- [HUD Secure Systems](https://fous.com/automate/hud-secure-systems.md)
- [USCIS online account](https://fous.com/automate/uscis-online-account.md)
- [IRIS Taxpayer Portal](https://fous.com/automate/iris-taxpayer-portal.md)
- [Motus](https://fous.com/automate/motus.md)
- [TRACS / iMAX](https://fous.com/automate/tracs-imax.md)
- [USPTO Patent Center](https://fous.com/automate/uspto-patent-center.md)
- [EDGAR Filer Management](https://fous.com/automate/edgar-filer-management.md)
- [COD](https://fous.com/automate/cod.md)
- [IRS e-Services](https://fous.com/automate/irs-e-services.md)
- [IRS Tax Pro Account](https://fous.com/automate/irs-tax-pro-account.md)
- [EIV](https://fous.com/automate/eiv.md)
- [USPTO Trademark Center](https://fous.com/automate/uspto-trademark-center.md)
- [SSA Business Services Online](https://fous.com/automate/ssa-business-services-online.md)
- [NetDMR](https://fous.com/automate/netdmr.md)

Other industries: [OpenGov Procurement](/automate/opengov-procurement), [Florida DOR eServices File and Pay](/automate/florida-dor-eservices-file-and-pay), [CalSavers](/automate/calsavers), [RS](/automate/rs), [Beeline](/automate/beeline), [340B ESP](/automate/340b-esp).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does the Invoice Processing Platform have an API?

No. IPP's vendor documentation describes no API. It offers PO batch files in XML or CSV, a CSV export of remittance records, eFile invoice uploads and payment notification emails, all free. With Fous you can build methods that read your POs, invoice statuses and payments in the Collector module and return JSON.

### Can I download my IPP purchase orders in bulk?

Yes. Vendor users can create PO batch files in XML, the preferred format, or CSV. Change orders are kept as new versions linked to the original PO, so you can see every version.

### How do I see whether an IPP invoice has been paid?

Open the Payments tab, or use the Paid link on the Invoices tab. Payment statuses are settled and settled reduced, and the remittance export includes the ACH trace number, amount, dates, invoice and PO numbers, discount and remittance addenda.

### Do I use IPP for Department of Defense contracts?

Usually not. DoD agencies invoice through WAWF, which is a separate system from IPP. Some DoD components that buy through shared services, such as the Department of the Interior's AQD, do use IPP.

### Is Fous affiliated with the Bureau of the Fiscal Service?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own IPP account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of Invoice Processing Platform (US Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.