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A supplier portal for S/4HANA without SAP Business Network.
SAP Business Network requires suppliers to register, learn SAP's interface, and pay tiered fees for full functionality. Sourced is the alternative: vendors use a white-label portal carrying your brand, free of charge, while the data syncs to S/4HANA via OData.
- 9 ERP integrations
- Multi-country
- EN / ES / PT support
- 2-3 week deployment
70%
less procurement time
5-8%
average savings per PO
2-3 weeks
to go live
The problem
SAP Business Network is SAP's official supplier portal solution for S/4HANA — inherited from the Ariba acquisition. It's a shared multi-tenant network where all suppliers register globally. The friction: suppliers pay tiered fees (Enterprise Account has annual fees based on document volume), have to learn SAP's interface, and onboarding adoption is a constant sales/success problem for buyers. Mid-market S/4HANA shops often struggle to get suppliers to complete onboarding at all.
The solution
Sourced provides a white-label supplier portal that lives outside SAP. Suppliers use your-brand.suppliers.yourcompany.com, pay nothing, onboard through guided forms, upload invoices, submit advance shipment notices, and respond to RFQs. Every action syncs bi-directionally to S/4HANA via OData REST API — vendor records, vendor invoices (FI documents), goods receipts. No Business Network account required for vendors.
Vendors pay nothing — no SAP Business Network supplier fees
OData REST API syncs invoices, vendor records, and receipts to S/4HANA bi-directionally
Suppliers onboard in days through guided forms — not weeks of Business Network registration
How the portal works with S/4HANA.
Supplier invited
Your team invites a supplier from Sourced. The supplier lands on your white-label portal, creates credentials, and starts onboarding — no SAP Business Network account required.
Self-onboarding with guided forms
Company details, tax IDs, banking information, certifications, and compliance documents are collected. Completed profiles create or update the vendor master record in S/4HANA via OData.
RFQ and RFP participation
Active RFQs and RFPs appear in the portal. Suppliers respond with structured quotes, technical documents, and pricing. Data flows directly into Sourced's comparison engine.
Invoice submission
Suppliers upload invoices (PDF/XML). Sourced runs OCR, matches against the PO and goods receipt via OData, and creates the vendor invoice (FI document) in S/4HANA when matching clears.
ASN and delivery confirmation
Suppliers send advance shipment notices from the portal. When goods arrive, your warehouse confirms and Sourced creates the goods receipt (inbound delivery confirmation) in S/4HANA automatically.
Options for a S/4HANA supplier portal.
| Capability | Sourced portal | SAP Business Network | Custom S/4HANA portal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier fees to participate | None | Tiered fees (Enterprise Account) | None (build it) |
| White-label branding (your logo + domain) | Shared SAP Business Network branding | Yes (build it) | |
| Self-onboarding without shared registry | Required Business Network registration | Build from scratch | |
| Invoice submission with OCR | Structured XML / document upload | Build from scratch | |
| RFQ and RFP participation | Sourcing Network (paid tier) | Build from scratch | |
| Time to first supplier onboarded | Days | Weeks (Business Network registration + training) | 3-6 months |
| S/4HANA integration | OData REST | Native | Native (RFC/OData) |
| Manufacturing-first UX | Generic B2B | Build from scratch |
Why S/4HANA shops choose Sourced over Business Network.
No supplier fees, ever
Suppliers pay zero to use the Sourced portal. Unlike Business Network's tiered Enterprise Accounts (with annual fees based on document volume), Sourced is paid entirely by you — suppliers get a better experience at no cost.
White-label — your brand, not SAP's
The portal carries your logo, colors, and custom domain. Suppliers experience a first-party vendor hub from your company, not a shared SAP network.
Faster supplier adoption
Getting suppliers onboarded onto Business Network is a real success challenge — many mid-market buyers report months of delays. Sourced's guided onboarding gets suppliers active in days.
OData REST sync — no BN messaging standards
Sourced integrates with S/4HANA via standard OData. No cXML, no BN-specific messaging standards, no multi-tier routing complexity.
RFQ, RFP, messaging, and invoicing in one portal
Suppliers respond to sourcing events, exchange structured messages per PO/RFQ, upload invoices, and track payment status — all in one unified vendor workspace.
Works alongside existing Business Network (optional)
If you already have critical suppliers on Business Network, Sourced coexists — Business Network handles them, Sourced handles the rest. Your team uses a unified dashboard.
Frequently asked questions.
How is this different from SAP Business Network?
SAP Business Network is a shared multi-tenant supplier platform where suppliers register globally and pay tiered fees for full functionality. Sourced is your private, white-label supplier portal — vendors pay nothing, use your brand, and interact only with your company. Data syncs to S/4HANA via OData REST; no cXML or BN messaging required.
Do suppliers need to create an SAP account?
No. The Sourced portal is completely independent of SAP Business Network. Suppliers create credentials on your Sourced portal and interact with your company directly. No SAP account, no Business Network registration.
What S/4HANA records does Sourced write to?
Via OData REST API: vendor master (create/update), vendor invoices (FI documents after matching), goods receipts (inbound delivery confirmations), and optionally purchasing info records for catalog sync. All access is authorized through service-user credentials you control.
Does this work with S/4HANA Cloud?
Yes. Sourced connects to S/4HANA Cloud via its standard OData endpoints. Public edition, private edition, and on-premise all work the same way from the integration perspective.
Can we migrate suppliers from Business Network to Sourced?
Yes. You can onboard suppliers to Sourced while keeping Business Network active for legacy relationships. New suppliers go straight to Sourced; existing Business Network relationships can migrate at your pace.
Does it support multi-company S/4HANA deployments?
Yes. Each S/4HANA company code connects separately. A single Sourced portal can front multiple company codes with per-code scoping per supplier.
How does invoice OCR handle S/4HANA's complexity?
Sourced OCR extracts line items, matches against the purchase order and goods receipt already in S/4HANA, flags discrepancies, and creates the vendor invoice (FI document) via OData only when matching clears. Your AP team reviews exceptions in Sourced before anything posts to SAP.
What's the implementation timeline?
Two to four weeks including OData integration setup in sandbox and production, portal branding configuration, onboarding workflow definition, and initial supplier invites.
See the portal running on SAP S/4HANA
Book a 30-minute demo. We'll connect to a sandbox S/4HANA, onboard a test supplier, submit an invoice, and show the vendor invoice document flowing back via OData — no Business Network, no supplier fees.