Creating a Requisition

There are two ways to initiate a purchase requisition in SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing:

1. Create → Requisition from the Common Actions menu.
   • From the dashboard, select Create → Requisition to start a new requisition.
   • A PR ID is reserved, and can be seen by selecting the cart icon.
   • Once a PR has been opened, users can begin adding items to their cart.
   
2. Catalog Shopping
   • Browse the Catalog, then add items to your shopping cart.
     • Access the catalog using the search bar on the dashboard, or by selecting the Catalog tab.
   • A PR ID is immediately assigned once you add at least one item, and can be found by accessing the cart icon.
   • Additional items can be added to the cart.
   

Watch the video below to review how to initiate the creation of a PR.

In SAP Ariba Procurement, the Catalog tab provides a centralized location for users to search, browse, and select pre-approved goods and services from catalogs or punchout catalogs. It ensures compliance by offering negotiated pricing and preferred supplier agreements while streamlining the purchasing process. Items can be added to the Cart, where users can review and modify details such as quantity, delivery location, and accounting information. The cart serves as the Purchase Requisition (PR) staging area for all items before finalizing a PR for submission.

• Access the Catalog

  • Navigate to the Catalog tab.
  • Use the Search Bar to find specific items by name, keyword, part number, or supplier.
  • Apply Filters if needed (e.g., category, price, supplier) to refine search results.

• Select Items

  • Browse the search results and select the desired item.
  • Review item details, such as description, price, and availability.

• Add to Cart

  • Enter the required quantity for the selected item.
  • Select Add to Cart to include the item in the requisition.

• Repeat as Needed

  • Continue searching and adding items until the requisition includes all necessary goods or services.

Play the video to learn how to add catalog items to a cart.

A punchout catalog is a remote catalog hosted by suppliers. The system displays these items as links to the supplier's punchout website, where the catalog content is located. Users can access the supplier's site by clicking the Buy from Supplier button. End users can recognize punchout catalog items by the punchout icon next to the item's field name, commodity code, or supplier description.​

Below, you can see an example of an item from a punchout catalog. You can recognize it by the icon and the Buy from Supplier button.

A supplier can have one or multiple links to the punchout catalog:​

Level 1 punchout suppliers have one punchout link that displays a store-level view of the catalog. ​

Level 2 punchout suppliers have multiple punchout links that display views at the aisle-level (commodity code), shelf-level, or item-level of the catalog.​

The screenshot below shows the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 punchout items displayed in the SAP Ariba Catalog.

The punchout process involves three parties: the buyer, the supplier, and SAP Business Network for Procurement. SAP Business Network for Procurement validates and authenticates the punchout messages routed through it.​

Here's how the process works:​

1. Select a punchout item in the SAP Ariba catalog. This action sends a request to SAP Business Network for Procurement to connect with the remote catalog.​
2. SAP Business Network for Procurement authenticates the buying organization and forwards the request to the supplier’s punchout site.​
3. The supplier responds with a URL of a webpage on their punchout site, designed specifically for the buyer. SAP Ariba redirects to this URL, where the remote shopping site appears, and users can begin shopping.​
4. After shopping, select the site’s Check Out button. This action transfers the contents of the shopping cart from the supplier site back to SAP Ariba.

If you can't find what you need in the catalog, you can add a non-catalog item, also called an ad hoc item, to your purchase request using the Add Non-Catalog Item button on the catalog dashboard.

You manually enter text to describe these items, which typically includes the price, commodity code, and item description. Other fields may be optional.​

To add a non-catalog item:​

1. Enter a description for the item.​
2. Select a Commodity Code for the item from the list.​
3. Provide Quantity of the item and Unit of Measure.​
4. Enter a Price for the item.​
5. Select a Supplier from the list.

   In some realms, the Supplier field is optional. If so, the PR is routed to Purchasing Agents or other purchasing groups for approval. The purchasing group would be required to fill in any missing information, such as theSupplier before approving the PR.

6. Select Add to Cart to add the item to your requisition.​

Requisitions containing non-catalog items are typically routed to purchasing groups who will check the entries and fill in any missing information after communicating with the supplier.

Administrators can control which users are allowed to create non-catalog items.​

It is a recommended best practice to minimize the use of non-catalog items for the following reasons:​

• They require review and approval by the purchasing department, which can lead to longer approval times and higher processing costs.​
• Suppliers often have longer lead times for non-catalog items.

Partial Items are regular catalog items that require additional input from users before being added to a cart. The Add to Cart button for partial items includes a dropdown box, allowing users to choose values for the item's various parametric data fields (see figure below).​

These parametric data fields can also be used as search filters. When a Catalog search returns results that include partial items, the parametric data fields may be available as search filters. For example, when browsing shirts, you could filter by collar type, color, and size.

Play the video to review how to add partial items to a cart.

After searching for an item in the catalog and adding it to the cart, a purchase requisition information box appears. This box displays the purchase number and details of the chosen item. At this point, the end user can:​

• Continue shopping by clicking the X or anywhere outside the box.
• Complete the purchase by clicking Proceed to Checkout, which finalizes the creation of the purchase requisition, and redirects to the PR, where additional details can be completed before submitting the PR.

A Purchase Requisition has two parts: header level fields and the item level fields. At the header level, the end user provides the following information:​

• Title: (Required) A title for the requisition.​
• On Behalf Of: This indicates the preparer of the requisition. By default, the requester is added as the preparer. However, another user can be selected as the preparer. Approvals for the PR are based on the requester, not the preparer.​
• Team Requisition: A checkbox that, when selected, allows team members to manage your requisitions.​ This is an optional feature that must be enabled by parameters and configured before use.
• Team Receiving: A checkbox that, when selected, allows team members to manage receipts associated with your requisitions.​ This is an optional feature that must be enabled by parameters and configured before use.
• Delay Purchase Until: A field to specify the date when the orders associated with this requisition are sent to the supplier or an external ERP system.​ If a future date is selected, once the PR is approved, the Purchase Order will not be sent to suppliers until this date.
• Processing Agent: This field is only visible if the Procurement Operations Desk (POD) feature is enabled and configured. If enabled, a processing agent from the POD is automatically assigned to the requisition.​
• Ship To (Required): Automatically populated from the user's data master record, representing the delivery address.​
• Deliver To (Required): Automatically populated from the user's data master record, representing the person to whom the item will be delivered.​
• Need-by Date: Informs the supplier of the deadline for delivering the requested goods or services.​
• Comments and Attachments: Allows the requester to provide additional information to help approvers evaluate the request. Requesters can attach files of any type. To make comments and attachments visible to suppliers on the resulting purchase orders, select the Visible to Suppliers checkbox. Suppliers can then view these comments and attachments on the purchase orders within the SAP Business Network for Procurement. Comments and attachments can be added at the header level or the item level.​
• Custom Fields: Custom fields can be requested via SAP Ariba Support. These custom fields can be displayed and used in various areas of SAP Ariba, but must be requested and implemented through SAP Ariba Support.

Towards the bottom of a Purchase Requisition, line items are displayed in a table. The table displays each line item's basic information, including the part number, supplier, commodity code, and other fields. Here the line item quantity can be updated as needed. Once a line item has been selected, the Actions menu options allow users to copy, delete, or edit each line item.

To edit line item details in a requisition, select an item from the list of line items, then select Actions > Edit.

Play the video to review how to edit PR line item details.

Accounting in SAP Ariba Procurement is maintained at the line item level. When editing line item details of a PR, users can adjust line item accounting using pre-populated master data values in each accounting field's drop down menu.

1. Open a PR.
2. Select a line item.
3. Open the Actions menu, and choose Edit.
4. Scroll down to Accounting - by Line Item.
5. Chose values from the drop down lists for each field.
6. Select OK to apply changes and return to the PR.

The requester can split accounting for a line item. This accounting can be divided among multiple departments or multiple ledger accounts.​

For example, if the purchased items will be used by several departments, such as Marketing, Human Resources, and Finance, the accounting can be split into three parts, specifying the cost centers for each of those departments.

Users do not have to fill out all accounting fields. Some or all of the field values can be pre-filled based on:​

• Commodity Code​
  • Example: Office supplies are always charged to Account 101325.​
• User's Default Accounting​
  • Example: Agata belongs to Cost Center 16004.

Data values for accounting fields are sourced from the ERP, which serves as the source of truth to ensure validity. Users select from preloaded lists to fill out these fields.​

Accounting can:​

• Determine approval workflows.​
• Define budgets.
• Budgets can be defined by Project Codes and Accounts, similar to journal/ledger entries in the ERP.​

Once transactions are approved for payment, the accounting information is passed to the ERP.

Line item accounting can be split across multiple accounting entities to effectively share the cost of an item.

How to Split Accounting for a Line Item​

1. Open a PR
2. Scroll down to the line items
3. Select a line item
4. Open the Actions menu and choose Edit
5. Scroll down to the Accounting - by Line Item
6. Select the Split Accounting button
7. Indicate whether to split the charge by amount, quantity, or percentage
8. Specify cost center and a percentage of the line-item amount for each accounting field. For example: 50% Purchasing and 50% Marketing .The total must be always 100% of the amount, quantity or percentage of the item or the system will display an error and prevent any changes.​

By following these steps, you can split the cost of a line item across different accounting entities.

Play the video to learn how to add split accounting to line items.