This guide walks you through connecting your Coupa account through Makini Link.Set aside about 15 minutes. You'll need your Coupa login and the phone that has your authenticator app on it (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy, or similar).
Before you start#
Use a shared company account if you can. Part of this setup changes how the Coupa account signs in. If you use your own personal login, the connection breaks whenever you change your password or reset your phone - and it stops working entirely if you leave the company. A shared account set up for integrations avoids all of that.Have your authenticator app ready. You'll be asked to enter a code from it partway through, so keep your phone next to you.One note on Coupa's own system: Coupa also offers a direct connection that skips all the authenticator steps below, but Coupa has to turn it on for your company first, and that takes a request to them. The steps in this guide get you running right away. You can switch to the direct connection later without redoing anything else.
Step 1: Open the connection page#
2.
Find Coupa in the list of available connections and click Connect.
3.
The first screen is already filled in. Click Continue. (The email address shown here is just a contact address - it's not a login.)
4.
When asked how you want to sign in, choose User account.
Step 2: Get your setup key from Coupa#
Coupa requires a 6-digit code every time you log in. For the connection to work on its own, it needs the key that those codes are generated from.Open a new browser tab and log in to Coupa, then:1.
Go to your user account settings, then Security (this is where your multi-factor authentication settings live).
2.
Click Change authentication app. It's a blue link just below the checkbox.
3.
Enter the current 6-digit code from your authenticator app to confirm it's you.
4.
A QR code appears, with a long string of letters and numbers underneath it. That string is what we need. Copy it and paste it somewhere safe for a moment - a password manager is best.
5.
Scan the QR code with your authenticator app. This adds a new entry for Coupa.
6.
Coupa will offer you recovery codes. Copy and save these. They're how you get back in if you lose your phone.
Quick check before you move on#
You'll now have two Coupa entries in your authenticator app — the old one and the new one. Compare the 6-digit codes they show:If the codes are different: normal. Delete the old entry and continue.
If the codes are identical: this happens sometimes with Coupa. The connection will still work fine, so go ahead and continue - but let your IT or security contact know, because it means Coupa didn't actually issue a new key. Delete the old entry either way.
Step 3: Finish the connection#
1.
Go back to the Makini Link tab you left open in Step 1.
2.
Username: your Coupa username
Password: your Coupa password
OTP Token: the long string of letters and numbers you copied in Step 2 (not a 6-digit code)
4.
That's it - you're connected.
Keeping the connection working#
Treat that long string like a password. Anyone who has it can generate valid login codes for the Coupa account. Keep it in a password manager. Don't email it, don't put it in a chat message, don't save it in a shared document.Things that will break the connection:Changing the Coupa password: redo Step 3 with the new password
Setting up the authenticator app again on that Coupa account: redo Steps 2 and 3
The Coupa account being disabled or deleted: you'll need a new account, then start again from Step 1
If something goes wrong#
The connection failed right after I clicked Connect.
Most often this means a 6-digit code was pasted into the Token field instead of the long string. Go back to Step 2 and copy the full string from underneath the QR code.Coupa won't accept my 6-digit code when I try to change the authentication app.
Check that your phone's clock is set to update automatically - codes fail if the time is off by more than a minute. Also make sure you're reading the code from the right entry in your app, especially if you have several.It was working, now it isn't.
Someone almost certainly changed the password or reset the authenticator on that Coupa account. See "Things that will break the connection" above.I'm stuck.
Send us a note describing which step you're on and what you're seeing. Don't include the password or the long string in that message. Modified at 2026-09-03 13:37:55
