Ariba is the University's electronic procurement system to manage all ordering, purchasing, receiving, invoicing, sourcing, payments and reporting with a single point of entry. Ariba provides sellers with the ability to manage catalogs, bids, purchases and invoices, and it provides buyers with the ability to search for suppliers, negotiate savings, procure goods and services, and track their spend.

Getting to Know the System:

Terms:

Like many systems, there is a vocabulary used for the Ariba system. To get to know some of these common terms, click here.

Roles:

Any staff (employee) with a UW Net ID and password can access Ariba and begin a transaction. Every transaction will require approvers to complete it. Get to know the roles associated with Ariba by clicking here.

Benefits:

To get to know the benefits of our purchasing system, click here.

Using Ariba

Buying methods in Ariba:

  1. Catalog Purchase Orders​ :

    • The first choice for buying goods at UW

    • Fastest order method

    • Negotiated contract pricing

    • See list of all catalog suppliers

  2. Non-Catalog Purchase Orders​​  :

    • For buying items not in a catalog

    • Onetime purchase with fixed quantities and prices

  3. Blanket Purchase Orders​ :

    • For reoccurring purchases where goods or services may change over time

    • Adjustable order amount with start and end dates.

Other Transactions

Along with purchasing, there are payments, reimbursements and other types of transactions in Ariba as well. 

Transaction ID Prefix Search Term in Ariba
Blanket Purchase Order (initiated as a Contract Request (CR), once fully approved becomes a BPO) BPO Contract
Catalog Order (initiated as a Requisition (S), once fully approved becomes a Purchase Order EI) EI Purchase Order
Non-Catalog Order (initiated as a Requisition (S), once fully approved becomes a Purchase Order EI) EI

Purchase Order
Non-PO Invoice INV Invoice
Payment to Individual XP Payment to Individual
eReimbursement XR Reimbursement
Travel Expense Report ER Expense Report
Contract Review RV Contract Review

 

Best Practices:

  • Ariba is supported through most major browsers, except for Internet Explorer in 64-bit mode and the Edge browser in Microsoft's new Windows 10 operating system.
  • Accept cookies when using punchout catalogs.
  • If you are scanning paper records and attaching them in Ariba, you must follow the University Scanning Policy which can be found on the Records Management website.

Training:

  • To view our tutorials on how to use Ariba, visit our Tutorial webpage by clicking here.
  • To watch past live webcast training on Ariba, click here.