What is the Ivalua supplier portal, and how does supplier onboarding work?

What is the Ivalua supplier portal?

The Ivalua supplier portal is the part of a buyer’s Ivalua platform that suppliers log in to. Suppliers register, enter company data, contacts, documents and bank details, then answer questionnaires. Depending on the modules the buyer uses, they also answer tenders, confirm orders, send shipping notices or submit invoices. The buyer decides which suppliers get access.

Ivalua presents it as “a comprehensive, branded supplier portal”, part of supplier management. Its 2023 contract terms say suppliers “may access and use only the ‘supplier portal’ portion” of the platform. The customer approves, identifies and controls their access. In practice the portal carries the buyer’s name and address, such as suppliers.borregaard.com for Borregaard or ccf.ivalua.com for Cleveland Clinic.

For what a supplier portal is in general, whatever the software, start with eProcurement Toolkit’s neutral guide to supplier management. This page is about the Ivalua portal, from the side of the team that sets it up.

How does supplier onboarding work in the Ivalua portal?

The supplier guides published by Ivalua customers show the same steps from one buyer to the next. The fields and questionnaires change; the order does not.

1. Invitation or self-registration. The supplier clicks a link in an invitation e-mail, or opens the portal and clicks “New Supplier? Register Now”. Cleveland Clinic adds a captcha, tax ID and DUNS number.
2. First login. The supplier sets a password and accepts the terms of use. At Peraton, the portal asks for an access code sent by e-mail.
3. Profile. Company data, contacts with roles (Cleveland Clinic requires an administrator, an accounts receivable contact, a customer service contact and a sales contact), documents and certificates with their dates, and order and payment addresses. Peraton also asks for bank details and a US tax form (W-9 or W-8).
4. Questionnaires. Qualification, compliance or risk questions set by the buyer, by supplier type or category.
5. Validation by the buyer. The buyer checks for duplicates, reviews the profile and approves the supplier. Only then can the supplier be used in tenders or orders.

Registration often has two steps. At Cleveland Clinic, the registration is “not yet complete” after the supplier clicks Register. The supplier must log in again and submit the full profile. Maryland’s portal works the same way, and only sends the second invitation after a duplicate check.

What can suppliers do in the portal, depending on the modules deployed?

The portal only shows the modules the buyer has deployed. The same software gives very different portals, as the buyers’ own guides show.

Invoices are the clearest case. Ivalua’s AP automation can read PDF invoices sent by e-mail, “no supplier onboarding required”. So a buyer can run invoices through Ivalua while suppliers never log in to invoice. The Ivalua modules page shows which module brings which task.

What does the buyer get from the supplier portal?

One door for every supplier task, and supplier data that suppliers keep up to date themselves. A US public contract describes it well. The NASPO scope asks for a supplier portal that is a “single point of entry” for all supplier tasks. Suppliers use their account for tenders, answers, order receipts, contract awards, sales reports and invoices.

• Less data entry by buyers. Suppliers enter and update their own company data, contacts, documents and certificates.
• Bank details changed in a controlled place. Ivalua’s AP page lists “supplier master data and banking updates” in the supplier environment, with workflows that it says prevent fraud. Someone in your team still approves each change.
• Fewer calls to accounts payable. When AP automation is deployed, suppliers see invoice and payment status themselves.
• Access under your control. Under Ivalua’s terms, the customer approves supplier access and identifies its users. Your process decides who is invited and who is blocked.

The supplier data in the portal must also reach the ERP that pays the supplier. Ivalua says it can act as the master for supplier data and send approved changes to the ERP. Who owns which field is a decision for the ERP integration. On the BNP Paribas v182 programme I work on, delivered and still evolving, supplier interfaces are part of the integration scope.

Do suppliers pay to use the Ivalua supplier portal?

Not to Ivalua. Ivalua calls the portal “free” on its AP automation page and “no-cost” on its direct materials page. DRÄXLMAIER writes that “the Ivalua supplier portal is free of charge for suppliers”. Maryland’s eMMA guide says “Registration is free”.

Virginia is the public exception. Registration in eVA, which runs on Ivalua through CGI, is free. But a state procurement form says all bidders “must register in eVA and pay the Vendor Transaction Fees”. The Commonwealth of Virginia sets and charges these fees, not Ivalua. The current rates are on the eVA website.

What goes wrong with Ivalua supplier onboarding?

The problems that buyers publish are about e-mails, invitations and data, not the software. Each one stops a supplier before it can answer a tender or receive an order.

• Blocked e-mails. In May 2026, Cummins told its suppliers that “some supplier email systems are currently blocking or bouncing emails sent from Ivalua”. It asked them to allow its sender address. Missing e-mails may mean missed sourcing events and deadlines.
• Codes and invitations by e-mail. At Peraton, the portal asks for an access code sent by e-mail. At Cummins, login details only arrive when an event is published. When these e-mails are blocked, the supplier may not be able to log in at all.
• Invitations that expire. At the European Patent Office, the first credentials are valid for seven days. After that, the supplier needs a new invitation.
• Duplicates. At Cleveland Clinic, a registration flagged as a possible duplicate waits for a review before it can go on. Maryland checks for duplicates before sending the second invitation.
• Registration left half done. Clicking Register is only the first step. A supplier who stops there has no complete profile, and cannot be used.
• A change of channel. When Virginia moved eVA to Ivalua in 2022, orders stopped going to the Ariba Network and went to the supplier’s eVA account. Suppliers had to test their punchout catalogues again.

No public supplier reviews of the Ivalua portal were found. The problems above come from buyers’ notices to their suppliers, so they show what buyers saw and fixed, not what suppliers felt.

What should you decide before the supplier portal goes live?

Most onboarding problems can be seen before go-live. These are the decisions to take and test with a few real suppliers first:

1. What moves to the portal. List the tasks suppliers will do in the portal at go-live (tenders, orders, invoices) and what stays by e-mail. Write it in the invitation.
2. Who is invited, and how. Invitation by the buyer, self-registration, or both. For existing suppliers, decide whether they are loaded from the ERP or the old portal, or asked to register again.
3. Duplicate rules. Which fields identify a supplier (tax ID, DUNS, VAT number), and who clears a possible duplicate, within how many days.
4. Mandatory data by supplier type. Which documents, certificates, bank details and questionnaires are required for a small local supplier and for a strategic one. Who approves a change of bank details.
5. E-mail delivery. The sender address, a test with the IT teams of your largest suppliers, and a message that tells suppliers to allow it.
6. Expiry and help. What happens when an invitation expires, who sends a new one, and where suppliers get help: a guide, a help desk, a named contact.
7. The link to the ERP. Which supplier fields go to the ERP, when, and who corrects a rejected record.

If you need a certified Ivalua consultant to prepare this with your team, I take senior missions. If the portal is already live and suppliers are stuck, or the go-live date keeps moving, Ivalua project rescue starts with a fixed-price diagnosis, from €9,500.