Introduction
SAP Business Network for Procurement Buyer Account functions as a passthrough for transactional documents exchanged between Buyers and Trading Partners.
SAP Business Network for Procurement Buyer Account is mainly used for enabling Trading Partners to the network, troubleshooting Trading Relationships and failed documents, network Reporting, and maintenance of Trading Partners relevant data.
Buyers create a Purchase Order on their Procurement Application, such as their ERP, and send it via the network to their Trading Partners (to account or per email). Trading Partners, in return, send Order Confirmations from their Supplier Account back to the Buyer Account, which is then forwarded to the Buyer Procurement Application.
Suppliers are required to accept the Trading Relationship Request on their Supplier Account before being able to send back any required document such as an Order Confirmation, Advance Ship Notice, Service Entry Sheet, or Invoice.
In addition, the Transaction Rules defined on the Buyer account and assigned to each Trading Partner, specify any Buyer business-related requirements (i.e. price and quantity change tolerance, change of delivery date, etc.).
Further explanation on how to set up and manage Transaction Rules on the Buyer Account will be discussed in a separate training module.
We will now cover the following topics:
- How to search for a document on Buyer Account?
- What is the document status?
- What are the filter options?
- How to review a document that has been processed through the network?
Orders: Purchase Orders
The Buyer Account tab "Orders" summarizes documents initiating business with Suppliers: Purchase Order, Order Inquiries, Requisitions and Requests for Quotation. Depending on the transactional, business cases documents from the Buyer Procurement Application received on the network can be searched and reviewed in the dedicated sub-section.
The section will display the most recent Purchase Orders sent from the Buyer Procurement Application.
On top of the view, several tiles summarize activities of the past 31 days. Multiple filter options (drop-down and open text) simplify a search for Purchase Orders by supplier name, order type, Purchase Order status, and more.
Clicking on the Purchase Order number, full document content and technical details are accessible. The first tab "Order Detail" displays the document content sent to Supplier:
- "From" and "To" contact details.
- Purchase Order status (new, changed, canceled, etc.).
- Purchase Order version and further related documents (if sent through SAP Business Network for Procurement).
- Payment Terms.
- Ship To, Bill To, and Deliver To addresses.
- Detailed line-item information.
- Total sum of amount.
Depending on the Buyers’ individual system configuration, further information can be displayed on the Purchase Order.
If required, Purchase Orders can be downloaded in several formats, each one providing a different view of the same content. The options are available per the download icon on the top right within the document. The PDF format Purchase Order is generated directly from the User Interface. Documents in CSV or cXML format show the full document structure, including content and Trading Partner Master Data.
- Order Detail
The Order Detail tab gives a detailed view of the full Purchase Order content.
- Order History
The Order History will have information regarding the changes made to the Purchase Orders along as any change in the Purchase Order status, including the associated dates. This section is useful in troubleshooting errors.
- Download the Purchase Order
You can download a PDF, CSV or export a CXML version of your Purchase Order.
- Purchase Order Information
Contains the Purchase Order status (new, changes, etc.), the Purchase Order number, the amount and if applicable, the document version are specified.
- Line Items
The line level contains information about the line number, part number, type, quantity, unit price, subtotal, etc.
The second tab "Order History" provides further information on your document. For example, content changes or how the document has been sent through SAP Business Network for Procurement.
The History section discloses a step-by-step view of how the Purchase Order has been received, processed, and forwarded to its destination.
This key information is very useful to understand if the document has been sent out to the correct destination and if it has reached the Supplier without any error.
Important: Buyers define the Purchase Order output for each Supplier on their Procurement Application, not on their Buyer Account. The options "electronic output", "email" and "Fax" route Purchase Orders through SAP Business Network for Procurement.
For any troubleshooting, review the listed error message either on the Help Center (symbol "?" in the SAP Business Network for Procurement Buyer Account) or on SAP Ariba Connect .
See the SAP Business Network Buyer Administration Guide for more information on Supplier Order Routing Methods.
Fulfillment: Order Confirmation & Ship Notice
The tab "Fulfillment" lists documents received from Suppliers through SAP Business Network for Procurement. Each buying organization defines which of these documents to receive from their Trading Partners through the network: Order Confirmation, Service Entry Sheets, Time and Expense Sheets, Ship Notices, Goods Receipts or Sales Orders.
Same as the "Orders" tab, multiple search options are available to filter through the documents.
Invoices
The dedicated "Invoice" tab provides a full view of all Invoices received from Suppliers on SAP Business Network for Procurement and forwarded to the Buyers’ Procurement Application. Multiple filter options allow for a detailed search.
Clicking on an Invoice number displays the following details: Invoice and Routing Statuses, Invoice Date, Original Purchase Order number, any related documents such as Order Confirmation, line level details, and more.
Should any required information not be provided by Suppliers, Buyers need to follow up with them and specify the missing content. Suppliers then are to reopen the Invoice, update the missing content and resend the Invoice from their SAP Business Network for Procurement Supplier Account.
Just as with the Purchase Order document, the tab "History" discloses a step-by-step view on how the document has been received, processed, and forwarded to the Buyers’ Procurement Application.
In case of troubleshooting, Buyers are to review the listed error message and investigate the root cause using the available support options: either on the Help Center (symbol "?" in the SAP Business Network for Procurement Buyer Account) or on SAP Ariba Connect.
Important: In addition to consulting the document on SAP Business Network for Procurement, consult the Invoice reception status on your Procurement Application (ERP).
- Standard Invoice This section lists full Invoice content provided by the Supplier, including Routing Status, Invoice Date, Original Purchase Number, and other related documents, etc.
- History This History section provides information about past changes. This section is useful in troubleshooting errors.