What are Line Item Terms?
To collect and calculate the actual price of a specific item, SAP Ariba Guided Sourcing uses terms.
Terms are line item elements to which a numerical or string value can be assigned. Line items can roll up numerical terms to a line item price as well as string values that have been mapped to numbers.
Term Functions and Applications
Terms can be used to:
- Collect participants’ pricing information or supportive item data.
- Contain owner-defined information about the line item for internal input.
- Display calculated information about line items such as total cost, unit cost, savings or earnings, discount amount, and percentage.
- Factor into cost formulas.
Defining Standard Item Terms
Adding supplementary terms to a line item is optional, but all line items will include the following standard terms:
Standard Term Definitions
Term | Definition |
---|---|
1 Price | The amount that the participant receives for selling an individual item. It is also a term that appears in reports, even if you change its name. |
2 Quantity | The number of items (defined by the line item) that you want to buy. A quantity is always required and is specified by the project owner when creating the line item. |
3 Ceiling/Floor/Initial Value | The ceiling price is the highest price that participants can bid for a line item in a reverse auction. In a forward auction, it is the floor, or lowest price. |
4 Historic Value | The historic price is used to calculate your savings (or earnings in a forward event). This field is usually populated with the price that you paid the last time you sourced the item. |
5 Reserve Value | The reserve price is the price at which it begins to make sense for you to award your business to a new participant. |
Adding Features to Terms Using Common Event Content Fields
New terms include event content fields that will affect how the term functions within the item. Items like Answer Type, Acceptable Values, Response Required, Visible to Participants, Initial Value, and other common event fields can be enabled to add features to a term's abilities.
Item Term Specific Fields
In addition to the common event content fields, Project Owners will see additional settings that are unique to item terms, such as:
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Include in Cost | Appears only if the template you are using allows formulas. The Adder, Subtracter, Multiplier, and % Discount options determine how the term is used in the various functions. If set to Custom, non-numerical answer types can be mapped to numerical values to be used in formulas. |
Apply to Cost For | Appears only if Include in cost is enabled. The options Per Unit and All Units affect where the term is used in calculating total or aggregate costs. |
Rollup in Section Summary | For numerical answer types only. The term sub-values in multiple rows of a line item will be added and displayed at the upper section level. |
Is this a Matrix Term? | Matrix pricing dimensions enable you to create a table of prices for an item or lot. |
Is Term Editable in Alternatives? | Cannot be used with formulas. Choose Editable by Owner and Participant if you want participants to provide different values for a term in their alternative responses. |
Will Participants Compete on This Term? | If yes for this field, the term will appear on the list of terms from which you can choose the competitive term in the "Compete on term" pull-down menu when editing the line item. |
Can participants edit term's primary response? | Allows suppliers to edit their primary bid in Alternative Response events. |