Shipping might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about ERP optimization, but for businesses that depend on getting products out the door, it can be the difference between a smooth operation and a business brought to a standstill. In this episode of The acu-connections podcast, we sit down with Nicole Ronchetti, Senior Deployment Specialist at Stellar One and former founding member and board president of acu-connect, to talk integrated shipping in Acumatica. With over seven years of experience in the Acumatica ecosystem, Nicole brings candid, practical perspective on what’s working, what’s changing, and what you should be doing about it.
Understanding the Shipping Integration Landscape in Acumatica
Acumatica has historically offered direct API connections to FedEx and UPS, no add-ons required. But those connections have always come with significant limitations, and the friction has less to do with Acumatica itself and more to do with the carriers. When something breaks, users are left navigating support calls with FedEx or UPS trying to explain why their ERP isn’t connecting properly to an external API – not an enviable position.
In fact, Acumatica recently notified users that the FedEx direct API connection is being phased out entirely. Nicole’s take? Not a huge loss, but it is a signal that now is the time to evaluate your options.
EasyPost: A Fast, Low-Friction Starting Point
One option Acumatica already supports natively is EasyPost, a normalized shipping API that acts as a single connection point to multiple carriers. It’s free to sign up for, and the free tier covers up to 3,000 shipping labels per month, which is a meaningful threshold for many businesses.
Nicole shared a recent customer example where they had EasyPost up and running within 30 minutes: created the account, connected the customer’s existing FedEx and UPS credentials inside EasyPost, dropped the EasyPost credentials into Acumatica’s standard connector, and were printing labels same day – no waiting on a FedEx rep to approve a label connection.
EasyPost is a solid option for businesses with straightforward domestic shipping needs across the major carriers. It won’t replace a full shipping platform, and it’s not designed for complex scenarios, but for many users, especially those currently limping along on the legacy direct connections, it’s a fast and practical bridge.
When You Need More: The Case for ISV Solutions
EasyPost has its limits. It doesn’t provide an enhanced shipper interface, it isn’t built for hazardous materials documentation, and it may not handle complex freight or heavy international volume well. That’s where ISV solutions come in.
Nicole described several areas where purpose-built shipping ISVs go further:
- Enhanced shipper interfaces that improve the packing and shipment entry experience beyond standard Acumatica screens
- Hazmat and special shipment documentation for regulated or oversized freight
- Truck-loading and freight optimization tools that help determine capacity and routing
- Broader carrier and service type coverage, including more international options
For businesses with high-volume, complex, or specialized shipping needs, an ISV solution isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s a necessity.
What Happens When You Don’t Address This
The stakes are real. Nicole put it plainly: if a customer requires FedEx delivery and your FedEx connection goes dark, you’re not shipping their orders that day. And in many cases, you can’t simply swap carriers because trading partners and customers often dictate the carrier, and that’s non-negotiable.
Beyond the immediate revenue impact, broken shipping integrations can ripple into EDI workflows and trading partner communications, compounding the disruption. Businesses that are still manually logging into ups.com or handwriting freight bills may be getting by at low volume, but that approach doesn’t scale, and one change in order volume or customer requirements can expose the gap quickly.
The Bottom Line
The deprecation of Acumatica’s FedEx direct API connection is a good forcing function to evaluate your shipping setup. For many, EasyPost is an easy, immediate win to restore or establish basic connectivity. For those with more complex needs, now is also a good time to explore the ISV options that can provide a truly robust, integrated shipping experience inside Acumatica.
You can listen to this episode and more from The acu-connections Podcast here, or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
