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When starting business with a new supplier, we need to collect tax data, address, contact information, bank documentation and much more, depending on the industry. This means there are usually forms, spreadsheets and emails back-and-forth. Wouldn’t it be great to have a platform where suppliers can submit their information to and where procurement and accounting teams can review and approve all suppliers? When building a Supplier onboarding process with Power Pages, Power Apps and Power Automate, all of this – and much more – is possible.
In this blog, we will talk about how our Power Platform consulting services helped some of our clients to create a standard, automated end-to-end process for their supplier onboarding tasks.
What is supplier onboarding?
Supplier onboarding is the process of integrating and incorporating a new supplier into the company, aiming to start doing businesses together. The onboarding process usually involves collecting information from the supplier, verifying it and approving the final creation in one or multiple systems within the company.
Why is supplier onboarding critical for business success?
Having a standard process for supplier onboarding is important because it’s the first step of every business’ supply chain. It reduces operational headaches, ensures compliance and allows suppliers to have better communication and follow standard requirements.
Common challenges in supplier onboarding
Manual Processes and Paperwork
Collecting different types of documents and information from suppliers can end up being an operational headache for sure: plenty of emails, all-over-the-place spreadsheets or physical documents, missed approvals, duplicate suppliers, and the list could go on. Having a manual process can slow down the process of onboarding and allows for many human errors and potential inconsistencies. With a streamlined process, there will be better visibility and both suppliers and the procurement team will follow standard stages and steps.
Lack of Integration with ERP and CRM Systems
Once a supplier is approved internally, here comes the next headache: having to create supplier profiles and contacts in one or many systems. This means entering the very same data in different places, which might end in human errors and data inconsistency. By implementing an automated process, the procurement and accounts payable team will focus on tasks that add value and forget about those boring and repetitive tasks.
Compliance and Data Security Issues
When there isn’t a standard process, it’s really difficult to ensure every single supplier meets all the compliance requirements and it’s also very difficult to ensure only the authorized team members can see supplier’s sensitive information (such as tax forms, bank details, legal documents, agreements or contracts).
How does a standard and automated Onboarding process look in Power Platform?
Below is an example of how a standard, automated process would look when using a combination Power Pages, Power Apps and Power Automate:
- Procurement team sends the link to the portal to the Supplier
- Supplier registers to the portal
- Supplier fills out information forms and upload required documents
- Supplier submits the form
- Supplier receives a summary of the responses in a PDF document
- Documents are uploaded to SharePoint repository
- Procurement team receives notification of new supplier
- Procurement team reviews supplier information in a Power Apps app
- Procurement team adds additional information in the form (payment terms, supplier classification, notes or comments)
- Procurement team approves or rejects supplier information in a Power Apps app
- Supplier receives notification of approval or rejection
- Supplier profile is created in the accounting system
Above list can vary depending on each company’s unique process.
Key Power Platform Tools for Supplier Onboarding
Power Pages – Secure and Scalable Supplier Portals
Power Pages is the Power Platform tool that allows the creation of websites or portals that users outside the organization can access. It’s specifically designed for external-facing scenarios, making it a perfect choice for supplier onboarding processes.
There are many features that could be built in a Power Pages portal:
- Create an account or register in the portal
- Fill out registration forms
- Complete contact information
- Upload Bank documents
- Upload legal and tax documents
- Upload Excel spreadsheets
- Track onboarding request status
- Get help from the procurement team directly through a contact form
Power Pages can also be enabled to allow users to register and sign in to see a list of all their requests and track each of them, or it can also be created as an anonymous website where suppliers can submit their information once.
Power Apps – Internal review and approval tools
Power Apps is the Power Platform tool for creating custom apps for different business needs, allowing internal users to interact with a process through a beautiful and friendly interface.
Once suppliers submit the form from the Power Pages portal, the procurement team can review all the submissions from a Power Apps app. This Power App can either be a Model-driven app or a Canvas app, depending on the level of customization required.
Depending on the company’s specific onboarding process, the procurement team can perform different reviews in the application:
- Review company information
- Confirm contact details
- Review Bank details and Bank statement
- Legal checks
- Compliance
- Review contracts or agreements
Apart from just reviewing the submitted information, the app can also be used to add comments, to request more information from the supplier or to add details to the submission, such as payment terms, delivery and payment method or supplier classification.
Once revision is complete, the procurement team can approve or reject the supplier based on the final results and allow the record to move to the next step.
Power Automate – Automating Workflows and Approvals
Many processes can run in the background when it comes to supplier onboarding:
- Send a summary of responses to the supplier once form is submitted – Microsoft Word templates and Power Automate can be leveraged to create a PDF summary of responses to the supplier’s email address.
- Upload submitted documents to a SharePoint repository – Bank statements, legal documents, agreements or contracts.
- Automated approval routing based on supplier attributes (country, supplier type, legal checks)
- Automatic notifications and reminders:
- Notify Procurement team when a supplier a submits a new form
- Notify supplier if more information is requested or if their submissions was approved
- Create supplier profiles and contacts in accounting systems such as Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, SAP andOracle (or any other system required).
- Integrate with other Microsoft Apps such as Microsoft Teams, Planner, Outlook or Excel.
Dataverse – Centralized and Secure Data Management
Dataverse is Power Plaftorm’s platform that allows you to securely store and manage data. It’s the underlying data engine behind Power Pages. All Power Pages data is stored in Dataverse and it’s fully integrated with Power Apps and Power Automate.
One or many custom tables can be created in Dataverse to add as many attributes as required to create the form(s) where suppliers will submit the information in – these attributes can include attachments (PDF, XLSX, DOCX), custom lists, date pickers, open text and many more. When combining multiple tables in a single form, multi-steps forms can be leveraged and will allow suppliers to have a glimpse of the different stages or steps of the submission process.
Dataverse also enables data validation and ensures required fields are actually filled out before the supplier submits the form.
When the procurement team starts the review process, since Dataverse is integrated with Microsoft Entra ID, it will use the user’s profile to know the records they are authorized to see, enabling a very secure platform.
How Microsoft Power Platform Transforms Supplier Onboarding
Power Platform is transforming many business processes due to its integration with all the Microsoft 365 toolkit and due to its low code approach, enabling faster development.
The Role of Low-Code
Creating a portal in Power Pages is in some ways a simple process – you just need to create the Dataverse table which the submission form will be based on and then connect the form in the portal. Of course, there are many customizations that can be added on top of the form and these would require web development knowledge, but creating a simple website using Power Pages is a matter of just a few steps that allow users build quick demos or proof of concept products that show the value of the Power Platform tools.
Integration with Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Other Business Systems
As stated above, a key feature of the Power Platform is its integration with all the Microsoft ecosystem. This ensures that supplier onboarding becomes a connected, data-driven process—not a siloed one.
Some examples of the Microsoft 365 and Dynamics integrations are:
- Outlook and Teams: Send email or chat notifications, reminders, and status updates to both internal users and suppliers.
- Word Templates: Create templates for contracts, agreements or checklists and convert them to PDF format.
- SharePoint: Create a document repository for all documents submitted by suppliers and all generated templates and agreements.
- Planner: Track internal tasks or issues during the onboarding process. Manage assignments and due dates.
- Dynamics 365 F&O: Automatically create approved suppliers in the accounting system or connect Dataverse to catalog tables from Dynamics such as Payment methods, Payment terms or supplier classification.
When it comes to external systems, some examples are:
- Adobe sign / Docusign: Upload contracts or agreements and automate signatures between supplier and the procurement, finance or legal teams.
- Jira or Trello: Similarly to Microsoft Planner, track internal tasks, assignments and due dates.
- Hubspot: Update status or create supplier profile once approved.
Either by using Power Platform’s built-in connectors or third-party API services, Power Automate allows syncing data between one or multiple systems and creates a standardized process that can integrate to both Microsoft apps and other apps outside its ecosystem.
Elevate your supplier onboarding process
Using the Power Platform tools for supplier onboarding offers significant benefits, including waving goodbye to repetitive tasks, collecting standard data and documents, and improved communication both internally and externally. With our Power Platform consulting services, we can help your business implement an automated and streamlined supplier onboarding process, contact us if you would like to start a conversation on how to get started!
