Discussing the SAP Business Network Supplier Fees

The SAP Business Network Supplier Fee Schedule has two components: subscriptions and transaction fees. Once a supplier crosses both thresholds with one buyer—5 docs and $50K USD—in a rolling 12-month period, they become chargeable across all buyer relationships.

All accounts are free to start, but they become chargeable in the following situations:

• Crossing the chargeable threshold with 1 buyer relationship
• Transacting 5 or more documents and at least $50K in qualifying spend in a rolling 12-month lookback on one buyer relationship

Once one relationship is chargeable on a supplier account, then all relationships are chargeable.

The transaction fee is billed quarterly based on a percentage (0.155% or 0.35%) of the transacted volume between a supplier and buyer in the quarter prior to the invoice date.

The subscription fee is billed annually based on the previous year's document count and provides access to SAP Business Network features and benefits.

The greater dollar amount between the purchase order (PO) received & invoices issued; non-PO invoices are always qualifying.

Purchase orders, invoices, non-PO invoices, service entry sheets, and service entry responses.

Correctly flagged legacy and blanket POs.

Subscription levels are designed to help suppliers get the most out of SAP Business Network.

Each of the six subscription levels are tailored to a supplier’s needs by combining functionality, services, and other resources into a package that matches their level of e-commerce activity.

Subscriptions are billed on an annual cycle on the Master Anniversary, which is the date that the supplier first becomes chargeable on SAP Business Network.

The full billing structure is based on the following:

• To get to the initial fee calculation, the billing engine looks at all transactions in the past months (up to 12) to determine if they’ve crossed the thresholds
• To determine the subscription level, we look at the last three months of document count and multiply it by four.
• The supplier’s subscription level is then reevaluated each year on their master anniversary date based on the number of documents they transacted during the previous 12 months.
• Document counts are based on each PO and invoice document, even invoices based on POs.

This level of subscription is automatically assigned to suppliers participating in quick enablement with their buyers. There is no fee for the standard level subscription.

The free standard account for suppliers on SAP Business Network is the fast and easy way to start transacting with your customers. A standard account allows you to participate in sourcing events, collaborate on contracts, and transact an unlimited number of documents such as purchase orders and invoices

Join over six million companies using SAP Business Network to simplify their selling processes, improve customer experience, support their growth, and accelerate their transition to the digital age.

This level of subscription is a see-value-first model providing a no-cost service for suppliers who are just getting started and only occasionally transact on SAP Business Network. It includes:

• Basic reporting functionality
• Document repository and status
• Account administration features
• Punchout and CIF catalogs
• Access to Ariba Customer Assistance

This subscription level covers document counts of up to 4 documents/year.

The enterprise account on SAP Business Network is designed to simplify your business transactions across the selling, invoicing, and payments processes. With an enterprise account, you can take advantage of advanced features such as dedicated inboxes, reporting, free responses to leads, and direct integration to your ERP. You also benefit from advanced support, including dedicated assistance for publishing catalogs. Leading suppliers worldwide have chosen this enterprise account to become more efficient, improve customer experience, and grow their business.

In addition to all Standard benefits, this subscription level offers:

• Unlimited proposals and one free response to a buyer RFI/RFQ posting through the SAP Ariba Discovery™ service, which identifies relevant sales opportunities.
• Personalized guidance from our supplier commerce consulting team, which helps them optimize their account for better collaboration with customers and effective management of multiple relationships.
• Collaborative commerce training courses, which give them insights and information to hone their skills and approach.
• Suppliers can showcase their SAP Business Network expertise on their company website and marketing materials by displaying digital achievement badges that denote their specific e-commerce capabilities.

This subscription level covers document counts of 5 to 24 documents/year.

In addition to the benefits provided at the Bronze level the supplier receives:

• Two free sales opportunity responses on SAP Ariba Discovery
• Unlimited use of EDI and cXML-based integration protocols
• Unlimited post-deployment technical support for assistance with technical issues.

Along with all the resources provided at the Silver subscription level, suppliers receive:

• Unlimited free sales opportunity responses through SAP Ariba Discovery.
• The benefits of automated "touchless" transacting with integration adaptors to connect supported versions of accounting systems to SAP Business Network for automated document exchange.
• Priority access to the supplier commerce consulting team which gives them personalized, expert advice and resources to make the most of their SAP Business Network subscription.
• This subscription level covers document counts of 100 to 499 documents/year.

In addition to all the benefits provided at the Gold subscription level, suppliers can take advantage of:

• Extended integration with integration adaptors to enable connectivity to their back-end system
• A free pass to SAP Ariba Live, which gives them access to in-depth e-commerce insights plus exceptional opportunities to network with key prospects and customers

This subscription level covers document counts of over 500 documents/year. Suppliers can upgrade to another level at any time to gain additional functionality and services. Otherwise, the supplier’s subscription level is determined by three factors:

1. The number of documents they transact over the SAP Business Network
2. Their total monetary transaction volume
3. The extent of electronic automation required by their business

Transaction fees are calculated as a percentage (ranging from 0.155% to 0.35%) of the qualifying transacted volume across each buyer relationship. The number caps at $20,000 USD per year for each buyer relationship.

Qualifying transaction volume is calculated as the greater dollar amount between PO and PO invoice; while non-PO invoices are always included in the qualifying transaction volume.

For any customer relationship that includes the use of service entry sheets, the transaction fee is 0.35%. For all other customer relationships that do not include active use of service entry sheets, the fee is 0.155%. The transaction fee is billed either annually or quarterly depending on when the relationship became chargeable.

Suppliers pay 0.155% to 0.35% of their total transactional volume with all their SAP Business Network customers to sustain their subscription. This is equivalent to 15.5 to 35 cents per $100 USD. Network Transaction Service fees are calculated as the total transactional volume multiplied by 0.00155 or 0.0035. Network Transaction Service fees are capped at $20,000 USD per trading relationship. This requires transactional volume above $12.9M USD.

There are some cases where United States-based suppliers who are transacting over the chargeable threshold do not have to pay for their transaction fees.

A supplier may qualify for a fee exemption if:

1. They are transacting with a public sector buying organization, such as a 501c3 non-profit organization or a government agency

2. They are certified by a recognized organization as a:

• Small Disadvantaged Business
• Woman-owned enterprise
• Minority-owned enterprise
• Veteran-owned enterprise

To learn more about Supplier Fee Schedule, watch this video.