Supplier portal - SAP Ariba

The SAP Business Network is a cloud-based procurement platform for both buyers and suppliers. Through the SAP Business Network, businesses of all sizes can connect to their trading partners anywhere, at any time and from any application or device to buy, sell and manage their sales and procurement activities more efficiently. SAP Ariba is part of the SAP Business Network. 

SAP Ariba delivers a modern, streamlined, and efficient way of managing procurement in Council which will support improvement opportunities across our end-to-end procurement processes.

Suppliers will need a SAP Business Network account to take part in the supply of goods and services to Council. Council will be using SAP Ariba to alert interested suppliers of upcoming tenders. To be eligible to receive information and submit a tender bid or a quote on services, suppliers will be required to use SAP Ariba.

There is no cost to the supplier to have a SAP Business Network standard account. 

The terms and conditions of your contract and payment of invoices with Council will remain the same.

Email Vendor Master Data to update changes to your business details.

To update your company’s supplier information, log into the SAP Business Network.

A regular internet connection, email and web browser are the only requirements. All the most common browsers are supported.    

Go to SAP Business Network log in page and access Supported browsers and plugins at the bottom left of the page to access a list of currently supported browsers. 

Encryption is an important part of SAP Ariba’s data protection strategy. End-to-end encryption uses both encryption-at-rest and encryption-in-transit to keep your data safe and secure. 

If you require technical assistance or have any questions relating to SAP Ariba, we recommend you contact SAP Ariba support. 

If you have questions relating to Council processes that cannot be answered by the frequently asked questions, contact Council’s Business Hotline on 133 BNE (133 263). 

Council has developed quick reference guides to assist you with onboarding and developing your SAP Ariba profile.

You can register by completing the supplier self-registration request form.  

Registration is a two-step process:

Step one – Self Registration

Upon successful completion and Council approval of the supplier self-registration request form, you will receive a system-generated email from SAP Ariba with the subject "Invitation: Register to become a supplier with Brisbane City Council", sent from @au.cloud.ariba.com. This email is not spam; Council has sent it via the SAP Ariba platform.   

Allow two business days for Council to process and provide approval. 

Step two – Supplier Registration Questionnaire

A link within the email will take you to the SAP Business Network login page. You can create a new account or log into your existing SAP Business Network account. Once logged in, review and complete the Supplier registration questionnaire, and submit it.   

Please note:    

• the link to register is valid for 90 days  
• mandatory fields must be complete
• SAP Ariba requires agreement to its terms and conditions.   

You will receive a confirmation email upon successful completion of the registration process.  

For further information on how to register, download our Supplier Registration Guide (Word – 346kb). 

For more registration information, please refer to our Supplier Registration Guide (Word – 346kb), which provides a step-by-step guide to registering and navigating the system.

If you need more help than provided in the Supplier Registration Guide, please call Council’s Business Hotline on 133 BNE (133 263).

Suppliers will only need a SAP Business Network standard account to transact with Council. There are no fees to collaborate with Council through your SAP Business Network standard account.

There are two types of SAP Business Network accounts: Standard and Enterprise.

Standard accounts are free, easy-to-use accounts that allow suppliers to exchange an unlimited number of basic documents.

Enterprise accounts offer suppliers greater functionality and support but are subject to fees depending on transaction volume. We encourage you to understand the fees associated with an Enterprise Account.   

For more information about accounts and fees, visit SAP Ariba Help.

Yes, Council will accept existing SAP Business Network accounts. If you already have a SAP Business Network account, you do not need to create a new one.  

You will still require a SAP Ariba invitation email from Council. This will happen after you complete the supplier self-registration request form. 

Registration requests are assessed within two business days. Potential suppliers will receive email advice of the outcome of their registration request. 

If your request to register as a supplier for Council is approved, SAP Ariba will send a system generated email inviting you to complete your registration.

The SAP Ariba invitation will ensure that the correct SAP Business Network account is linked with Council. After logging into your SAP Business Network account via the link in the registration invitation, you will automatically be directed to Council’s Supplier registration questionnaire for business information validation and submission. 

If you cannot find the invitation email, we recommend checking your Spam or Junk folder. Check with your Information Technology department to determine if any filters on your email server are blocking emails from SAP Ariba. 

If the issue is unrelated to your email settings, contact Council's Business Hotline on 133 BNE (133 263) to request the registration invitation to be resent. 

Yes. Contact Council's Business Hotline on 133 BNE (133 263) to request a new registration invitation. 

Registration requests are assessed within two business days. Potential suppliers will receive email advice of the outcome of their registration request. 

If your request to register as a supplier for Council is approved, SAP Ariba will send a system generated email inviting you to complete your registration. 

The supplier registration invitation is available for a period of 90 days. The link needs to be activated before expiry. If you need a new registration link, contact Council's Business Hotline at 133 BNE (133 263).  

Upon re-invitation, you will receive a new email with a link, please action immediately. This link will allow you to create a SAP Business Network account and complete the Supplier registration questionnaire, which must also be done within 90 days.  

A supplier registered in SAP Ariba can participate in quoting and sourcing events but will not become a Council supplier until Council has accepted your quote or you have been successful through a tender process. 

Navigate to SAP Business Network and log in with your username and password. In the top left of the screen, you will see SAP Business Network. Access the dropdown and select Ariba proposals and questionnaires. Under the registration questionnaires header, you will find Council’s Supplier registration questionnaire.    

You can also navigate directly to SAP Ariba proposals and questionnaires to log in. We recommend bookmarking this page to easily access SAP Ariba. 

Registering through the email link will ensure that the correct SAP Business Network account is linked with Council. After logging into your SAP Business Network account via the link in the registration invitation you will automatically be directed to Council's Supplier registration questionnaire for business information validation and submission.  

Once you have registered and have a SAP Business Network account:

You can also navigate directly to SAP Ariba proposals and questionnaires to login. We recommend bookmarking this page to easily access SAP Ariba. 

SAP Ariba will use your company name, email domain and company address to scan its network upon submission of your profile. 

If your company already has an account, but you do not have access to it, contact the Account administrator within your organisation for access. 

Depending on your business needs, you can have multiple SAP Business Network accounts. For example, if your company has several locations worldwide, you might want a separate account for each region. Most companies choose to have one account with multiple customer relationships, which provides a centralised location to maintain their company profile information and all their customer relationships. 

Yes, you can have a separate account for each customer (with a different account identification and log in details). 

The Product and Service Category selected when creating your SAP Business Network account helps customers find you by commodity in the SAP Business Network.

SAP Ariba uses United Nations Standard Products and Services Codes (UNSPSC) to standardise category classification. See SAP Help for more information on how to pick the best Product and Service Categories for your company.

In the upper-right corner of the application, navigate to User initials, select Company Profile, scroll down to Product and Service Categories, and click the pencil icon on the right side. Use Add new category pop-up panel on the right side of the screen to search for category. Select the desired category to Add and Save.

The ship-to or service location is the location/s where your company provides a service to or ships to.

Suppliers can access the Supplier registration questionnaire by logging into their account and accessing the Ariba proposals and questionnaires section in the top left of the dashboard. 

You can find Council's Supplier registration questionnaire and its status on this page. To successfully log in, you will require user access permission from your organisation's account administrator. Make sure you have disabled adblocker, as this tool blocks the Supplier registration questionnaire. 

Council will use the responses in the questionnaire to set payment terms and for sourcing event notifications.

The Supplier registration questionnaire expires after 15 months of no activity. Suppliers are required to review and revise their Supplier registration questionnaire response at least once every 15 months to ensure the information provided is maintained.

The Supplier registration questionnaire expires after 15 months of no activity. If the Supplier registration questionnaire is no longer visible, email Vendor Master Data to request this be reinstated. 

This field is unfortunately limited to 35 characters. 

This address field will prepopulate from the address details provided in your registration.

If your main address is not based in Southeast Queensland (SEQ), please provide the street address and contact details for your relevant local office in SEQ that is directly involved in the provision of goods, services or works to Council.

If you do not have a relevant local office in SEQ, please provide the place of business that will provide the goods, services or works to Council.

If you have multiple addresses that provide goods and/or services to Council (i.e. your ABN and bank details remain the same but goods and/or services are provided from a different address and purchase order email), please email vendormasterdata@brisbane.qld.gov.au to set up an additional ordering address for your company. 

Please provide the below information in your email request: 

• Ariba Network ID (ANID)
• Business Name
• ABN

New Address details: 

• Business Name
• Ordering address
• Ordering address Purchase Order email

UNSPSC is the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code, which provides a coded classification standard for goods and services. Council uses the UNSPSC when sending tendering opportunities to market.   

To update your company’s supplier information, log into the SAP Business Network, access the Supplier registration questionnaire, revise response, update the Product and Services categories you offer and submit entire response.  

You can have one or many UNSPSC (Product and Services) classifications against your business record in SAP Ariba.   

It will be mandatory to choose at least one UNSPSC classification so we can ensure we are alerting all our supplier base to relevant business tender opportunities. 

If you are an Australian entity for tax purposes, you must have an ABN. 

For registering as a non-Australian entity and you do not have an ABN for Australian tax purposes, please email Vendor Master Data requesting to become a supplier and provide the following information:

• Business name
• Tax number country/region
• Tax number/s
• Legal entity name
• Supplier main address
  • Street
  • House number
  • Postal code
  • Suburb/city
  • Country
  • Region
• Contact first name
• Contact last name
• Contact email
• Contact phone
• Contact time zone.

It is a requirement of Council that you confirm your ABN in your Supplier registration questionnaire.   

Your ABN confirmation advice is available immediately online once your ABN application is successful. Before you request a paper copy, ensure your contact details on the Australian Business Register (ABR) are current.   

Once you have verified your correct contact details, you can request a paper copy of your ABN Certificate. Within 14 days, the ABR will send a paper copy to the registered postal address.   

To request a paper copy of the certificate, contact the ABR:     

• in Australia: 13 92 26  
• outside Australia: +61 2 6216 1111   
• visit Australian Business Register website.

A social enterprise is a business that operates to address social problems, improve communities, or help the environment. A social enterprise generates most or all of its income from trade (not grants or donations) and can be categorised under one or more of the below models:

• A business that provides employment and training for marginalised groups
• A business that provides products and services in a direct response to a community or environmental need (something not met by the market)
• An ethical for-profit business, with a significant proportion of profits redistributed for a social impact.

Council uses Social Traders as its primary source to determine whether an organisation can be classified as a certified social enterprise. Organisations who meet one of the three criteria above but are not certified by Social Traders may be recognised by Council as an uncertified social enterprise in the event that the organisation can provide supporting evidence to substantiate its claim if required. 

Certified Social Enterprise – A social enterprise who has a current certification with Social Traders. Evidence of Social Traders certification must be provided.

Uncertified Social Enterprise – A social enterprise who is not certified with Social Traders, may be a not-for-profit community enterprise, a registered charity or can provide evidence that they are a social enterprise via other means such as a Queensland Social Enterprise Council (QSEC) member (not an associate member) or via a statutory declaration. 

Please refer to social enterprise opportunities for information about social enterprise and Council’s current social procurement objectives.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander managed business – An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander managed business is one that has 50% or more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ownership. This includes businesses that are managed and controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and businesses established with equal partnerships with non-Indigenous owners.

Council uses Supply Nation as its primary source to determine whether an organisation can be classified as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander managed business and recognises both Supply Nation certified and registered businesses. Organisations who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander controlled or owner in partnership but are not members of Supply Nation may be recognised by Council as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander managed business in the event that the organisation can provide supporting evidence to substantiate its claim if required.

No, your ANID is a number that uniquely identifies your company on SAP Business Network. Your username was set up when you established your SAP Business Network account and is formatted as an email address.  

ANID number is a unique identifier. Suppliers may maintain multiple ANIDs. Suppliers with multiple ANIDs may roll their accounts into a “multi-org” parent-child relationship to take advantage of per-relationship caps. 

The DUNS number field in the supplier profile is not required. DUNS numbers are primarily used in the United States but can be used globally by some companies. If your company has an existing DUNS number, please add it to your supplier profile; otherwise, leave the field blank.

From your SAP Ariba dashboard:   

• navigate to your user initials in the top right corner of the screen   
• select contact administrator.  

Please refer to SAP Ariba Help Centre for instructions on how to reassign your SAP Ariba account administrator.

If the account administrator is no longer with your company and there is no access to the email address on file, contact SAP Support via the SAP Ariba Help Centre. You will be required to provide the ANID number of the account, the listed administrator name, and email address.

Yes, your account can have multiple standard users for a single account. All users from your company have their own username and password to access the account. 

The maximum number of users you can create is 2,000. 

However, for each SAP Business Network account, you can have only one account administrator. 

The designated SAP Business Network account administrator is a key role as they will manage your company’s account information. 

Your SAP Business Network account administrator can add users, grant users’ accessibility permissions, and control which users can access and process purchase orders and invoices.

To navigate between user accounts, you can link your user IDs and switch between the accounts.

Navigate to your user initials in the top right-hand corner of the application, select Link User IDs.

If you know the username and password for the account you wish to link, enter login information under the No Approval Needed heading and Link Accounts.

If you do not know the password for the account you wish to link, select Approval Needed and Send link request.

To switch users once it has been linked, navigate to your user initials, select Switch Account. Click on the name of the account holder.

Note that Link Users IDs cannot be undone.

Please see SAP Ariba Help for more information.

SAP Ariba requires all usernames be formatted like an email address. This does not need to be a valid email; for example, if your username of JoeBloggs@companyabc.com was not accepted, you can try using JoeBloggs1@companyabc.com.

Passwords are case-sensitive, cannot have repetitive or sequential characters, must be at least eight characters long, and can include only alphabetic letters (without accents), numbers, and common symbols. For increased security, you should include at least one numeral between the first and last characters and at least one common symbol. You can update all your user account information, including password changes, from the user profile menu.  

To update your company's Supplier registration questionnaire, log into the SAP Business Network, navigate to Ariba proposals and questionnaires, access Council’s Supplier registration questionnaire, revise response, make the necessary changes, and then submit entire response. 

Access the SAP Business Network page from your SAP Ariba account dashboard.   

Select getting started, then add users.   

(Alternatively - through your user initials in the top right corner of the page, select settings, then users). 

From this page, you can add, delete, and update user details.   

Users will receive emails from Ariba Commerce Cloud with confirmation and login instructions. 

Under Manage Roles, select + to create a role and save. 

Under Manage Users tab, select + to add new user information, assign their role and done.

No, once you have a SAP Business Network account you can self-manage this process.  

Access the SAP Ariba proposals and questionnaires page and make account information changes in Council’s Supplier registration questionnaire and re-submit the form. This information will be sent to Council to validate and update.  

If your ABN has changed, email Vendor Master Data providing your old ABN, your new ABN and change of business details.

A Council officer may contact you to verbally confirm your bank account changes as a requirement of our Risk Management process. 

If your ABN has changed, email Vendor Master Data providing your old ABN, your new ABN and change of business details.

To update your company’s supplier information, log into the SAP Business Network, access the Supplier registration questionnaire, revise response, make the change, and submit.

A Council officer may contact you to verbally confirm your bank account changes as a requirement of our Risk Management process. 

A bank key/routing number is a Bank State Branch (BSB) number in Australia. This is a six-digit number used to identify the individual branch of an Australian bank/financial institution.

SAP Ariba allows suppliers to maintain their own data.    

If at any time your company’s information changes, you should log into the SAP Business Network and update the Supplier registration questionnaire to reflect the change.   

Keeping the Supplier registration questionnaire up to date with accurate details will ensure your company is paid on time and considered for potential business opportunities.    

To update your company's supplier information, log into the SAP Business Network, navigate to Ariba proposals and questionnaires, access Council’s Supplier registration questionnaire, revise response, make the necessary changes, and submit entire response. 

If your ABN has changed, email Vendor Master Data providing your old ABN, your new ABN and change of business details. 

The username you are entering is already associated with a SAP Business Network account. You will still be able to register a new user account, but the new username will need to be unique to satisfy SAP Ariba’s system requirements. SAP Ariba requires that all usernames be formatted like an email address with an @ symbol, but they do not have to be a valid email address.

You have a limited number of attempts to enter your password. After too many failed attempts, your account will be locked. Your account will automatically unlock after a few hours. Alternatively, you can contact SAP Ariba Customer Support via the SAP Ariba Help Centre to request your account be unlocked manually. See Customer Support FAQ for process.

If you are not receiving emails from SAP Ariba, verify that your user email address is correct and that your notification settings are correctly configured. If correct, check with your IT department to determine if any filters on your email server are blocking emails from SAP Ariba. Your IT department can also safelist SAP Ariba’s IP address and email domain if needed. Once safe listed, the messages should stop filtering to spam. 

For more information, please see SAP Ariba Help.

Email notifications will be sent to the primary contact person registered in SAP Ariba during the registration process. Suppliers can maintain their primary contact person and designated user roles via the SAP Ariba portal. 

Yes, when you log in to SAP Ariba, from your home screen: 

• access getting started 
•  set up email notifications and select/deselect notifications that you wish to receive or change 
• save the changes. 

SAP Ariba Supplier portal is a digital self-service portal that allows suppliers to reset usernames and passwords, as well as update business contact information.    

If you forget your username or password, you can have your username sent to your email and reset your password without contacting SAP Ariba Customer Support.   

Go to the SAP Business Network supplier sign-in page and select forgot username or password to begin the reset process.   

If you forgot your username, enter your email address and your username will be sent to the email address on record. If you do not receive an email immediately, check your spam filter.   

If you forgot your password, provide the email address you are using with SAP Ariba and an email will be sent with a link to create a new password. You can then log in with the new password.   

Suppliers are not required to submit invoices through SAP Ariba. Invoices will continue to be submitted via email to accounts payable.

Unless specifically communicated to you, the following electronic SAP Ariba functionality is not yet available between Council and suppliers: 

• Purchase order/confirmation processing 
• Receipting/invoice processing 
• Payment/remittance processing 

Purchase Orders will be sent to the purchase order email address nominated in the supplier registration questionnaire. 

Tender notices are advertised on Council’s website and occasionally they are also advertised in the Tenders section of The Courier Mail (or other papers like The Financial Review or The Australian).

You will need a SAP Business Network account to submit quotes and tenders.

The UNSPSC selected by you at registration lets Council know what goods and services are provided by your business.

When creating your account, choose the UNSPSC categories that are relevant to you.

It is important to keep your account details up to date.

Information on quotes and tenders can be found in Tender opportunities on Council’s website.

To register your interest to become a supplier and participate in a sourcing event that has already been released, please contact Council’s Sourcing lead listed under the relevant tender in Current tenders.

There are 3 types of sourcing requests that Council may initiate via SAP Ariba. These requests are collectively called a 'Request for x' or RFx.   

• Request for Information (RFI) – used to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers and historical data from current suppliers. Do not typically relate to pricing but can precede RFP events that include prices   
• Request for Quotation (RFQ) – an invitation for suppliers to bid on standardised goods and services with a defined specification   
• Request for Proposal (RFP) – an invitation for suppliers to propose a solution for delivering goods and services. There may be alternate delivery models or scope for suppliers to add value in other areas.  

Yes. You need a SAP Business Network account to access tender documents. To begin the registration process please complete Council’s supplier self-registration request form.

If more than one person from your organisation is invited to participate in an event, the administrator can group others from your organisation as a supplier response team. A response team can work on one response as opposed to each person providing their own individual response. This includes the Supplier registration questionnaire. 

If a response team exists for your organisation and additional participants from your organisation are added before bidding starts, the participants are automatically added to your organisation’s existing response team.

Note: Buyers can choose to send messages to specific response team members or send messages to the whole response team.

To view the people from your organisation that have been grouped as a response team, navigate to Response Team on the Review Event Details located under Ariba Proposals and Questionnaires.

Please refer to SAP Ariba Help Centre for further information and instruction about Response Teams including prerequisites and restrictions. 

Once you have submitted your RFx you will receive notification in SAP Ariba advising that you have submitted your RFx.

You will also receive an email notification thanking you for participating in the tender event. 

The status of your events can also be located under Ariba Proposals and Questionnaires from the SAP Ariba dashboard.

To ensure your tender documents are received before the tender closes, please allow adequate time for submission. 

If you experience technical issues or receive error messages, we recommend you contact SAP Ariba support via the SAP Ariba Help Centre.

For matters related to Council, please contact Council’s Sourcing lead listed in the tender documents. Council’s Sourcing lead can also be contacted via the message board feature within SAP Ariba. 

Yes. SAP Ariba supports multi-round bidding and supplementary clarifications. 

Late tenders will not be accepted, however may be considered if there are extenuating circumstances. Contact Council’s souring lead listed in the tender documents for further information.

CPAs include Panel Arrangements, Preferred Supplier Arrangements and Registers of Pre-Qualified Suppliers. Where Council has an ongoing requirement for goods, services or works, it may establish a Corporate Procurement Arrangement (CPA). CPAs are usually established by public tender and involve supplier agreement to terms and conditions of contract and sometimes rates. When Council needs goods, services, or works covered by the CPA, Council does not need to call for tenders and can instead use the CPA.

Yes. The questions in the tender and schedules are designed to ensure the best value for money for Council. Your responses are used in the tender evaluation. Failure to complete the information can result in your tender being marked as non-conforming. 

No. Contacting Councillors or other officers about a tender is forbidden by the Conditions of Tender and will result in your tender being excluded by Council.

Choose the categories that are relevant to your business from the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC) list on registration. 

This will ensure you receive notifications of tender opportunities that are relevant to your business.

Note that tender notifications will be sent to the email that was provided at the time of registration. 

Company information can be updated directly in SAP Ariba. SAP Ariba is a self-service solution that allows suppliers to access and update their own information.

Advice regarding future tenders is available on Tender opportunities.

No. Tenders can only be lodged in the manner specified in the Conditions of Tender. 

Yes. If you don’t use the same login and password, you will not upload your tender to the correct SAP Business Network account.

The maximum size of a file you can upload to each response field in an event is 100 MB. If your file is larger than 100 MB or if you have multiple files to upload for one response field, you can add them to a ZIP file to save space. 

Council has developed a user guide, Responding to Council Requests (Word – 1.1Mb), to assist with viewing and responding to Council tender requests. 

If you experience technical issues, receive error messages, or need help completing registration, we recommend you contact SAP Ariba support.

If your question is related to Council, please contact the Business Hotline on 133 BNE (133 263) and they will assist you through the process.