# Turn ODP Business Solutions into an API

> Read Order Tracking, an order's detail and the budget left on a cost center from ODP Business with one API call each. Or have a workflow list every order Held for Review each morning and hand last week's orders, with PO number and cost center, to accounting.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/odp-business-solutions
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own ODP Business Solutions account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on ODP Business

### Get orders from Order Tracking

Searches the Order Tracking page by status, date range, PO number or cost center and reads the orders it lists.

- Takes: Date range, status (optional), PO number (optional), cost center (optional)
- Returns: Order number, order date, status, PO number, cost center, ship-to ID, contact, total

### Read an order's detail

Opens one order from Order Tracking and reads its Order Detail page, including the shipments of an order that was split.

- Takes: Order number
- Returns: Order number, status, items, quantities, shipment (for example 1 of 2), PO number, cost center, ship-to

### Check the budget on a cost center

Reads the budget set on a cost center, PO number or ship-to under Manage Account: the limit, its dates and the amount still available.

- Takes: Cost center, PO number or ship-to ID
- Returns: Budget limit, start date, end date, email alert %, budget available

### Release held orders

Ticks the Select box on Order Tracking for the orders you name in Held by Customer or Held for Review status and clicks Release Selected.

- Takes: Order numbers
- Returns: Order number, status before, status after

## Automate ODP Business 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.

### Held orders, every weekday morning

Starts: Every weekday at 8:00

1. Get the orders in Order Tracking from the last 30 days in Held for Review, Held by Customer or Held for Restrictions status.
2. Stop when there are none.
3. Email you the list with order number, order date, contact, cost center, status and total.

### Last week's orders, handed to accounting

Starts: Every Monday at 7:00

1. Get the orders in Order Tracking placed in the last 7 days.
2. Keep the orders that were not there on the last run.
3. Post order number, order date, status, PO number, cost center, ship-to ID and total to your ERP webhook.

### Cost center budgets running low

Starts: Every Monday at 9:00

1. For each cost center you name, check its budget under Manage Account.
2. Keep the cost centers with less than 10% of the budget limit available.
3. Email you the list with budget limit, end date and budget available.

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 orders from Order Tracking” 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": "business.officedepot.com/get_orders",
    "input": {
      "from": "2026-11-02",
      "to": "2026-11-11",
      "status": "Held for Review"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "orders": [
      {
        "order_number": "418837201-001",
        "order_date": "2026-11-10",
        "status": "Held for Review",
        "po_number": "ACME-4471",
        "cost_center": "FAC-210",
        "ship_to_id": "00012",
        "contact": "Front desk, Acme Building B",
        "total": 642.18,
        "currency": "USD"
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}
```

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.

## ODP Business’s own options

ODP Business Solutions documents no public API in its user guide or on its business site. Online Reporting, for the users who have it, covers spending patterns, savings opportunities, invoice payment and proof of delivery. A punchout from your eProcurement system is set up through a representative. Orders, approvals and budgets are worked on the site itself.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Online Reporting | Spending patterns, savings opportunities, paying invoices and requesting proof of delivery. | A login with Online Reporting enabled. Not all users have access. |
| Dashboard | A suite of reports including Spend Analysis, User Activity and Savings Opportunities, under the My Account icon. | Dashboard enabled on your user profile. |
| Punchout from your eProcurement system | Shopping the catalog from your own procurement system, with approved POs sent to ODP Business Solutions. | Set up through an ODP Business Solutions representative, who provides the punchout credentials. |
| ODP Business by hand | Order Tracking and Order Detail, releasing held orders, and budgets under Manage Account. | A login name and password from your Account Manager or Super User. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [ODP Business Solutions user guide](https://media.officedepot.com/image/upload/v1652207327/content/Web_-_Complete_User_Guide.pdf), [Office Depot Business home page](https://business.officedepot.com/).

## Signing in to ODP Business

ODP Business signs you in with a login name and a password, which your Account Manager or Super User provides. Login names are unique across all ODP users, and no second step is described. With Fous you sign in once through the site's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, and an expired session is signed back in.

## Worth knowing

- **Four wrong passwords lock the login**: After the fourth failed attempt the login name is set to inactive and locked, and ODP's Technical Support Desk has to restore it. Update the saved password whenever you change it on the site.
- **Only some held orders can be released**: Release Selected works for orders in Held by Customer or Held for Review status. Orders Held for Restrictions may require workflow approval on the site instead.
- **One order can become several**: An order may be split into two or more orders, shown as shipment 1 of 2 and 2 of 2. Custom Printing items get their own order number.
- **Your profile decides what you see**: Online Reporting and the Dashboard appear only when enabled on your profile. PO, cost center, release and desktop fields can be renamed or hidden at your company's request.

## More in Distribution: industrial and MRO

- [Motion](https://fous.com/automate/motion.md)
- [MISUMI](https://fous.com/automate/misumi.md)
- [Rexel France](https://fous.com/automate/rexel-france.md)
- [Sonepar Onlineshop](https://fous.com/automate/sonepar-onlineshop.md)
- [RS](https://fous.com/automate/rs.md)
- [京东企业购](https://fous.com/automate/jd-enterprise.md)
- [Fastenal](https://fous.com/automate/fastenal.md)
- [Würth Online-Shop](https://fous.com/automate/wurth-online-shop.md)
- [Airgas](https://fous.com/automate/airgas.md)
- [McMaster-Carr](https://fous.com/automate/mcmaster-carr.md)
- [Fisher Scientific](https://fous.com/automate/fisher-scientific.md)
- [VWR (Avantor)](https://fous.com/automate/vwr-avantor.md)
- [thermofisher.com](https://fous.com/automate/thermofisher-com.md)
- [SiePortal](https://fous.com/automate/sieportal.md)
- [mySchneider](https://fous.com/automate/myschneider.md)
- [MSC Industrial Supply](https://fous.com/automate/msc-industrial-supply.md)
- [モノタロウ](https://fous.com/automate/monotaro.md)
- [震坤行](https://fous.com/automate/zkh-com.md)
- [Staples Business Advantage](https://fous.com/automate/staples-business-advantage.md)
- [アスクル](https://fous.com/automate/askul.md)
- [Sigma-Aldrich](https://fous.com/automate/sigma-aldrich.md)
- [Uline](https://fous.com/automate/uline.md)
- [Lyreco Webshop](https://fous.com/automate/lyreco-webshop.md)

Other industries: [ShiftWise Flex](/automate/shiftwise-flex), [PCSE Online](/automate/pcse-online), [Allianz Maklerportal](/automate/allianz-maklerportal), [Authorized Paid Representative Portal](/automate/authorized-paid-representative-portal), [Lufthansa Cargo eServices](/automate/lufthansa-cargo-eservices), [Fidelity Wealthscape](/automate/fidelity-wealthscape).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does ODP Business Solutions have an API?

No public API is documented in its user guide or on its business site. Online Reporting covers spending, savings opportunities, invoice payment and proof of delivery for the users who have it, and a punchout from your eProcurement system is set up through an ODP Business Solutions representative.

### How do I find orders waiting for approval?

Search Order Tracking by Status or by Approver. Orders on hold show as Held by Customer, Held for Review or Held for Restrictions, and approvers who receive HTML approval emails can approve, disapprove or release from the email.

### Can I see orders placed by other users on our account?

Only if your profile allows it. A Super User sets whether each user can view (Query) or modify orders, and a method reads only what your own login can see in Order Tracking.

### How long does an ODP Business session last?

The site may time out after 30 minutes without a click. ODP suggests saving an unfinished cart as a shopping list or Save for Later first.

### Is Fous affiliated with The ODP Corporation?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own ODP Business Solutions login, and a method reads and does only what that login can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of ODP Business Solutions (The ODP Corporation). 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.