1. A method comprising: receiving invoice information from each of a plurality of applications, wherein the invoice information from the each of the plurality of applications is received in an application-specific data object format of the each of the plurality of applications; translating the invoice information into a common invoice data object format, wherein the translating is performed by a processor, the common invoice data object format comprises at least one relationship data element, and at least one custom data element, the relationship data element specifies at least one relationship between a plurality of entities, and the at least one custom data element facilitates customization of the common invoice data object format; determining essential data elements of the common invoice data object format, wherein the essential data elements are stored in a memory coupled to the processor, the essential data elements comprise an identification data element, a base data element, a pricing data element, a shipping data element, and a line item details data element, and the determining comprises invoking a business routine, wherein the business routine is one of a standard library of business routines stored by an integration server, the business routine is invoked by a business process, the business process is used to define the common data object format, the common data object format comprises a plurality of invoice objects, and an invoice object of the plurality of invoice objects comprises a globally unique identifier; and translating the invoice information in the common invoice data object to another application-specific data object format, wherein the another application-specific data object format is used by a respective application.