SAP Coupa Integration Whitepaper

Whitepaper
Integrating Coupa with SAP
w e b w w w . c o u p a . c o m | b l o g M a k i n g C e n t s | t w i t t e r @C o u p a | l i n k e d i n C o u p a S o ft w a r e
Summary
SAP is the ERP system most commonly used by Coupa customers. The options for integrating
Coupa and SAP are varied both in their architecture (which objects get integrated and where) and
in their means (which integration technologies are used), but taken together they provide a flexible
range of proven reliability. This paper is an overview of the most common available options, and
can be used as a starting point in developing your integration strategy.
Building on the ERP Core

SAP sits at the center of many corporate IT landscapes, holding the core financials of the
organization. Coupas customers build on that ERP core with easy-to-use financial applications that
can be deployed to end users throughout the company with far less time and expense than is
typically required with SAP. Through near-universal adoption, Coupa brings enterprise wide
business process consistency and spend visibility to employees and managers at organizations
running SAP, including those running multiple instances of SAP.
Coupa also provides a much-needed layer of agility in financial applications. Success in
procurement, invoicing, sourcing, expense management and other financial applications requires
adapting to change as the organization optimizes business processes and adds suppliers. With
Coupa, IT is spared from the maintenance burden associated with customized on-premise
solutions. Coupas organically developed suite allows authorized business users to change
workflows or add fields as needed without IT involvement. In addition, suppliers are given multiple
options when interacting with buyers. This freedom of choice drives supplier adoption while also
minimizing IT involvement.
Coupa has invested heavily in both our software and our people to ensure that SAP customers are
successful. Implementation projects include a data modeling workshop to plan how Coupa will
work together with SAP. This workshop includes designing how master data such as company
codes, accounts, projects, and assets will be passed from SAP to Coupa. Master data is stored in
Coupa to match the way it is stored in SAP to ensure consistency and data integrity. Coupa has
extensive experience as well as pre-packaged tools for integrating with SAP to help customers
throughout the process.
SAP Certification
Coupas applications have been certified by the SAP Integration and Certification Center (SAP ICC).
This certification includes Coupas capability to use SAPs IDoc (intermediate document)
technology for bidirectional integration.
Co u p a W h i t ep a p er I n t egr a t i n g Co u pa wi t h S A P
Data Workshop
During the early stages of an implementation, Coupa runs a data modeling workshop with the
customer to define the data flows needed to support end-to-end business processes across Coupa
and SAP. SAP landscapes vary widely due to the many ways that customers tailor SAP to address
their business requirements. The customers SAP landscape must be well understood and the
project integration approach must be adopted to fit with the customers unique landscape. The
data modeling workshop lets Coupa and the customer jointly define the data flows and integration
approach that lay the foundation for integration project success.
SAP Integration Flows

A typical integration flow between SAP, Coupa, and the customers suppliers starts with enterprise
master data being passed from SAP into Coupa. The integration scope, processes, and data flows
vary based on the set of Coupa products that the customer chooses to deploy. Customers may
choose to deploy the entire Coupa spend management suite, a few Coupa products, or even a
single product. Some of the most typical data objects that customers choose to integrate are listed
below.
From SAP to Coupa
Vendors - vendors with necessary details for completing transactions

Accounting Data - company code, account category, general ledger, project, asset, WBS,
internal order
Budgets - budgets for each account to inform purchase approval decisions
Exchange Rates - rates for international payments
Invoice Payments - payments that have been made to suppliers
From Coupa to SAP
Purchase Orders - POs that have been approved

PO Revisions - changes to POs that need to be logged in SAP
Invoices - Invoices from suppliers that are approved as OK to Pay
Receipts - end user receipt of goods or services from suppliers
Integration Flow #1: Procure to Pay (P2P)

Many customers choose to run the full Procure to Pay (P2P) process using Coupa. Under this
scenario the entire process from purchase requisition through requisition approval, PO, receipt,
invoice, and invoice approval is managed through Coupa. Suppliers get many flexible options to
connect so that they can receive POs, acknowledge POs and send invoices. Suppliers can upload
their information and catalogs and can make comments through the system to ask questions or
resolve any issues. Suppliers also receive status updates by email or through the portal. Integration
flows with SAP occur at the beginning of the process to bring in master data and at the end to push
back process results including approved invoice for payment.
Integration Flow #2: Procure to Order (P2O)

Customers may also choose to implement Coupa Procurement while continuing to receive and pay
invoices using their SAP ERP system. Under this scenario, the process starts with purchase
requisition, approval, and purchase order in Coupa. POs are passed to SAP and then to the
supplier. Receiving may occur either in Coupa or in SAP depending on the customers
requirements. Invoice receipt through supplier payments occurs within SAP.
Integration Flow #3: Network-Only (for suppliers)

Customers can use the Coupa network to dramatically improve online collaboration with their
suppliers. The open Coupa network can be implemented as part of a P2P deployment, a P2O
deployment, or it can even be implemented as a direct extension to SAP. Network-only
deployments minimize change within SAP while extending flexibility to suppliers. Suppliers can
choose to integrate through cXML or EDI, to register for the Coupa portal, to simply email PDF
invoices, or to use Coupas patent-pending Supplier Actionable Notifications. Registration is
completely optional for suppliers and there are no supplier fees. The customers AP team can also
use invoice quick-entry for any paper invoices that are received. Interaction between suppliers and
AP is streamlined with Coupas automatic status update emails, leaving no need for suppliers to
pick up the phone to ask for updates. While customers have many options when implementing
Coupas open business network, the below diagram illustrates a Network-Only deployment.
Integration Flow #4: Storefront

Customers who want to provide the Coupa user experience for shopping only may choose to
implement Coupa Storefront as a front end to their SAP ERP system. The Storefront option gives
users the full Coupa guided buying experience including catalogs, search, tiered pricing, web forms,
and in-context purchasing policies. After the user finds what they need, a completed shopping cart
is sent back to SAP for approvals.
Integration Flow #5: Expenses

Data on expenses is gathered directly from travel booking and corporate card providers so that
users do not have to manually enter expense data into the system. Once submitted and approved,
payment requirements are sent to SAP where they are processed, with details sent back to Coupa
to close the loop.
Integrating with Other Systems

Coupas open architecture also supports integrations with other 3rd party systems. Integrations
with outside systems for purchasing and invoicing of specialized products or services such as
laboratory chemicals and utilities are common. As noted above, customers with Coupa Expenses
typically integrate with their travel and credit card providers to save time for employees and
prevent errors by automatically loading expense data. While not directly related to SAP, using
Coupa to gather and centralize data across multiple, disparate systems can both simplify the
overall corporate IT landscape and provide new insights into spend patterns and savings
opportunities.
Data Modeling
A key benefit that Coupa provides is the ability to replicate a customers SAP accounting model
and data segregation across one or more SAP instances (or even multiple ERP systems) in a single
instance of Coupa. Coupas Chart of Accounts allows customers to segregate accounting data,
define relationships between segments, and define accounting validation rules to ensure valid
coding of each transaction prior to integrating with SAP. In addition, vendors and users can also be
restricted to specific company codes as they are in SAP through the use of Content Groups in
Coupa. All of these relationships, validation rules, and visibility restrictions are defined during the
data modeling workshops to determine the appropriate configuration needed in Coupa. Most SAP
customers implement some variation of the following three models:
Model #1: Traditional Approach

All possible segments are displayed and accounting validation rules are used to drive which fields
can be populated based on the Account Assignment Category selected. Each of the drop-down
lists can be filtered based on the Company Code if needed.
Model #2: Cost-Element Based Approach

A simplified model which ensures that only one cost element (Cost Center, WBS, Internal Order, or
Asset) is assigned to each transaction without the need for additional validation rules. Again, each
of the drop-down lists can be filtered by Company Code if needed:
Model #3: Account Category-Based Approach

This approach allows the user to be presented with the specific segments that need to be
populated based on the Account Category selected. The set of fields displayed would be different
for Cost Center, WBS, or Asset for example.
Integration Technologies
Coupa supports various technologies to integrate with customer ERP systems. These range from
simple unidirectional flat file based on CSV formats to SAP IDocs and a rich and robust API that
allows complex integrations to be built using middleware. Coupa does not restrict customers to
one technology when integrating, but allows a hybrid model whereby flat file and API can be used
together in order to suit customer needs.
SAP IDoc
Coupa provides native support for integration with SAP using IDoc, one of the most common and
stable methods for integrating with SAP. Each business object has a specified IDoc format that can
be used to import and export data between SAP and external systems. Coupa includes the ability
to generate and consume IDoc files for a number of specific business objects. A table listing each
integration point along with the IDoc format for the most common business objects shared by
customers between Coupa and SAP ECC appears in Appendix A.
Flat File
Coupa has the ability to export flat files and make them available via SFTP to customers for import.
This approach requires the customer to translate the data files from Coupas CSV format to the
formats required for import to SAP. Coupa can also consume master data from SAP via flat file
integration.
Coupa API
Customers who rely on a middleware package for integration may choose to use the Coupa API to
pass data into and out of Coupa in a more direct, real-time fashion. The API supports all master
data objects as well as business objects such as Purchase Orders, Receipts, Invoices and Expense
Reports. The Coupa API is very open and enables complex and flexible business processes to be
extended by allowing integration into external systems. For example, a customer may require
external approval on a requisition that can only take place via a project approval step in SAP. The
API can be called through middleware to pull the requisition information out of Coupa, perform the
approval in SAP, and then call another API call to approve the requisition in Coupa.
10
Using Middleware
Coupa customers often use middleware when integrating Coupa to SAP such as SAP PI, TIBCO,
Oracle Fusion, and webMethods. Middleware is typically used to transfer CSV files, map data
between Coupa and SAP, orchestrate API-based integration, route messages to multiple ERPs and
monitor and handle any error situations.
SAP Process Integration

Coupas certified support for SAP integration includes content that can be used with SAPs Process
Integration (PI) solution. Coupa provides SAP PI processes for each business object that will broker
IDocs between SAP ECC and Coupas SFTP server. Customers who do not have PI may choose
another method to transfer IDocs between Coupa and SAP ECC.
Error Handling
As part of the Integration workshops, Coupa works with partners and customers to devise the best
strategy for error handling based on customer specific requirements. Each customer has different
requirements for handling integration errors, whether they are technical (i.e. message failures) or
application errors (i.e. Period closed for posting). Coupa supports a number of ways in which
integrations can be monitored. Issues with the load of master data are identified and reported with
email triggers. Errors and warning messages and any associated statistics regarding files loaded via
SFTP can be reported through API call. Status messages, whether successful or in error, can be
logged through attachments to transactional objects such as POs, Receipts, Invoices and Expenses
via an Integration History API. This allows for easy recovery from technical and functional errors by
re-execution of middleware processes on reported error conditions. IT teams can understand issues
by reviewing status codes that identify unique business scenarios. All of the above can be
combined to build an effective error handling process.
11
Appendix A Integration Points with IDoc Formats

Object
Source
Target
IDoc Format
Cost Centers
SAP
Coupa
COSMAS01
GL Accounts
SAP
Coupa
GLMAST01
Internal Order
SAP
Coupa
INTERNAL_ORDER01
WBS
SAP
Coupa
PROJECT01
Vendors
SAP
Coupa
CREMAS05
Purchase Orders
Coupa
SAP
PORDCR102
PO Confirmation
SAP
Coupa
ORDERS02
PO Revisions
Coupa
SAP
PORDCH02
Invoices
Coupa
SAP
INVOIC02
Payments
SAP
Coupa
PEXR2002
Receipts
Coupa
SAP
MBGMCR02
2014 Coupa Software, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Coupa is a registered trademark of Coupa Software, Inc. Other names mentioned herein may be trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders.
12

SAP Coupa Integration Whitepaper

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SAP Coupa Integration Whitepaper

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

SAP Coupa Integration Whitepaper

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What are the common options for integrating Coupa and SAP?

What are the common options for integrating Coupa and SAP?

What is involved in the data modeling workshop?

What is involved in the data modeling workshop?

Whitepaper

Integrating Coupa with SAP

Building on the ERP Core

SAP Integration Flows

From SAP to Coupa

Vendors - vendors with necessary details for completing transactions

From Coupa to SAP

Purchase Orders - POs that have been approved

Integration Flow #1: Procure to Pay (P2P)

Integration Flow #2: Procure to Order (P2O)

Integration Flow #3: Network-Only (for suppliers)

Integration Flow #4: Storefront

Integration Flow #5: Expenses

Integrating with Other Systems

Model #1: Traditional Approach

Model #2: Cost-Element Based Approach

Model #3: Account Category-Based Approach

SAP Process Integration

Appendix A Integration Points with IDoc Formats

You might also like