SIMBA: Supplier Maintenance FAQs

This article is intended for SIMBA end-users, or suppliers/vendors for Penn State University.

The purpose of this article is to provide answers to Supplier Maintenance Frequently Asked Questions.

If we use a PCARD to pay for a Supplier invoice (county based expense), do they have to register in the system?

No.  Payments by PCARD to vendors do NOT require that those suppliers to be registered.  We pay VISA - not the supplier.  

If a supplier does not have the ability to access the Supplier Self-Service portal can we enter a supplier? For example, the supplier does not have a phone, email, or access to the internet.

They will need to contact the vendor administration team in Purchasing. Individual users will not have the ability to add a supplier.

In the Display in BP Role field, why isn't the information the same in the various roles that you can drop down? (FI Vendor vs. Financial Services BP vs. Business Partner General, etc.)  Does it depend on the role of the individual user's role for what is shown or is it just a different view of various information about the Business Partner?

It is because of the various information about the Business Partner. The FI Vendor information may differ from the purchasing vendor information. One has payment information, the other has ordering information. 

Is supplier registration real time? How long does it take for them to get "into the system" and approved?

Timeframe of supplier registration:

During Penn State’s transition to a new financial system and the high volume of registration requests, the timeframe for supplier approval is 10 business days.

Supplier registration steps:

1. Supplier submits the Supplier Registration Form. The Supplier Registration Tip Sheet (DOCX) or Guide for Individuals (DOCX) is available to help guide the process.  A few tips:

• It is important to fill out all required fields on the form, which are marked with a red asterisk.
• If a required field does not apply to their company, enter “0” but do not leave the field blank. 
• Take careful note of any error messages returned after they click “Send.”
• If the form is completed and submitted successfully, they will see a confirmation message instead of an error message.

2. Registration is approved after the Supplier Administration Team reviews and verifies the data.
3. Suppliers receive two emails from vendor-reg@psu.edu within 10 business days of registration approval.
   1. The first email includes a temporary URL and user ID.
   2. The second email contains a temporary password. Suppliers have 31 business days before the temporary login expires.
4. Suppliers are prompted to change the temporary ID and password upon login.
5. FI role, that is needed for payment, is extended by Accounting Operations.
6. Job runs overnight to finish procurement set-up process, so supplier can be used for shopping carts and purchase orders.

Do all supplier applications go through the Purchasing Department only?

All supplier registrations will come to a central inbox monitored and managed by a vendor administration team.

Once a supplier is approved and in the system, how would they go about updating their information?

Suppliers will have access to update their information online through a secure portal. They will receive a user id and initial password to access the portal after they are approved as a supplier.