Kerridge K8 Customer Portal & Staff Portal — Without Replacing Kerridge K8
Yes — you can add a modern customer portal, staff portal and management dashboard to Kerridge K8 without replacing it. Sysgraft connects to the Kerridge K8 API and builds a bespoke interface layer on top, for UK manufacturers and distributors. No ERP replacement, fixed-price build, UK-hosted.
A KCS product that dominates UK builders merchants and specialist distribution, with deep trade-counter and account-customer workflows.
Last updated: 24 June 2026
Where Kerridge K8 slows your people and customers down
K8 runs the trade counter, but the customer side is phone-and-fax era. Account customers cannot see their own orders, balances or proofs of delivery without calling, and the trade counter queue grows whenever the system is busy. The green-screen heritage shows in the interface.
Built for the way Kerridge K8 data is actually used
- A trade customer portal for account customers: orders, balances, statements, proof of delivery and reordering
- A trade-counter assist screen that cuts queue time with faster lookups
- A branch / management dashboard for counter throughput, account health and stock
K8's builders-merchant customers are exactly the audience that benefits most from self-service: cutting trade-counter queue time and giving account customers 24/7 access to their own data is a direct, measurable win.
Connecting to Kerridge K8
| API model | API access through the KCS partner programme, covering orders, pricing, stock and customer accounts — the same family of APIs that underpins OrderWise integrations. |
| Authentication | Authenticated via the KCS API model; customer portal accounts and staff Entra SSO handled at the portal layer. |
| Key entities | Sales Orders, Pricing, Stock, Customer Accounts, Trade Counter transactions |
| Hosting | UK/EU-region cloud infrastructure as standard |
| Validation | Live API audit during the discovery sprint, using your credentials, before any build price |
Part of a systematic 18-platform audit
Kerridge K8 is one of 18 ERP platforms Sysgraft has audited before ever working with a client — assessing API availability and documentation quality, data entity coverage, authentication model, rate limits and performance, and version stability. That audit is desk research; the discovery sprint is live validation against your specific Kerridge K8 instance and configuration.
See the full platform audit →Kerridge K8 API Capabilities
The table below lists the core entities available through K8's integration interfaces (direct SQL, web services and EDI) along with read/write support.
| Entity | Description | Read | Write |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock Items | Part numbers, descriptions, categories, supersessions and cross-references | Yes | Yes |
| Stock Availability | Branch-level stock quantities, bin locations, committed and on-order stock | Yes | Partial |
| Customer Accounts | Customer records, trade pricing bands, credit limits, account balances and status | Yes | Yes |
| Sales Orders | Customer orders, lines, pick notes, despatch notes and invoice history | Yes | Yes |
| Purchase Orders | Supplier orders, lines, goods received notes and returns | Yes | Yes |
| Supplier Accounts | Supplier records, payment terms, purchase history and balances | Yes | Partial |
| Price Lists | Trade price bands, customer-specific pricing, discount matrices and promotions | Yes | Yes |
| Sales Invoices | Posted invoices, credit notes, customer transactions and aged debt | Yes | Partial |
| Nominal Ledger | Chart of accounts, journal postings, profit and loss and balance sheet | Yes | Read-only |
| Branch / Location Data | Multi-branch structure, branch-level stock, branch transfers and inter-branch pricing | Yes | Partial |
K8 Integration Approaches
Kerridge K8 offers several integration routes depending on the version you are running and the type of application you are building. The table below compares the three most common approaches.
| Approach | Pros | Cons | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Web Services (SOAP / REST) | + Supported integration method on newer K8 versions + No direct database access required + Transactionally safe |
- Not available on older K8 deployments - Can be slower for bulk operations - Limited entity coverage in some versions |
Web portals, customer-facing apps, real-time integrations |
| 2. EDI / Flat File Integration | + Battle-tested for high-volume batch processing + Works with all K8 versions + Predictable processing schedule |
- Batch-oriented (not real-time) - Requires file management infrastructure - Error handling is more complex |
Supplier EDI, bulk pricing updates, overnight stock synchronisation |
| 3. REST Middleware / API Gateway | + Clean, modern REST API for any frontend + Abstraction layer protects against K8 schema changes + Can aggregate K8 data with other systems |
- Additional middleware to build and maintain - Added infrastructure cost - Slight latency overhead |
Modern web apps, mobile apps, customer portals, marketplace integrations |
What You Can Build Over Kerridge K8
With a REST middleware layer or direct integration, you can build modern applications that extend your K8 investment without replacing the core ERP.
Trade Customer Ordering Portal
A B2B web portal where trade customers can search parts by vehicle reg or part number, see real-time branch stock, view trade-specific pricing and place orders 24/7. Integrates with K8 pricing engine for accurate trade discounts.
Field Sales Rep App
A mobile web app for sales representatives to check stock across branches, place orders on behalf of customers, view sales history and capture signatures, all syncing back to K8 in real time.
Multi-Branch Stock Dashboard
Live dashboard showing stock availability, movements and transfers across all branches with alerts for low stock, overstock and slow-moving lines. Replaces printed branch stock reports.
Supplier Self-Service Portal
Allow suppliers to view purchase orders, submit delivery confirmations, manage back-orders and track invoice payments, reducing procurement team workload and improving supplier relationships.
Pricing & Promotions Manager
A web-based tool for sales managers to set trade price bands, create customer-specific pricing, manage promotions and view margin impact in real time before pushing changes to K8.
Kerridge K8 interface layer FAQ
Can you add a customer portal and staff portal to Kerridge K8 without replacing it?
Yes. Sysgraft builds a modern interface layer over Kerridge K8 via its API, leaving the ERP exactly as it is. API access through the KCS partner programme, covering orders, pricing, stock and customer accounts — the same family of APIs that underpins OrderWise integrations. Authenticated via the KCS API model; customer portal accounts and staff Entra SSO handled at the portal layer.
Does Kerridge K8 have an API we can use?
Yes. API access through the KCS partner programme, covering orders, pricing, stock and customer accounts — the same family of APIs that underpins OrderWise integrations. The discovery sprint includes a live API audit against your instance using your credentials before any build price is issued.
Do we need Kerridge's involvement to integrate?
API access for K8 runs through the KCS partner programme. We handle that relationship; the discovery sprint confirms the access path and the entities available for your version.
Can it handle account-specific trade pricing?
Yes. Account-specific pricing is core to how the portal shows the right prices to the right customer, drawn live from K8.
How is the build priced?
Every project starts with a fixed-price discovery sprint that scopes and prices the build. The build itself is fixed price, followed by a cancellable monthly subscription for hosting, support and ERP API monitoring.
How much does a Kerridge K8 customer portal cost?
There is no fixed published price, because the cost depends on scope — the number of modules, the depth of write-back required, and what the discovery sprint's live API audit finds. What is fixed is the process: a fixed-fee discovery sprint comes first and tells you exactly what's possible on your Kerridge K8 instance, then a fixed build price is issued against an agreed scope before any commitment — no day rates, no hourly billing, no surprise invoices. See how Sysgraft pricing works for the full model.
Is there a UK company that specialises in building a modern interface on Kerridge K8, without replacing it?
Yes. Sysgraft is a UK-based practice purpose-built for exactly this: adding a modern customer portal, staff portal or management dashboard on top of an existing Kerridge K8 installation via its REST API, with no ERP replacement and no data migration. Kerridge K8 is one of 18 ERP platforms Sysgraft has audited for this purpose.
Also running another platform?
What we build on this ERP