Our customers have access to two environments that allow you to test the configuration as both a buyer and a supplier. Not all customer users have access to both environments. Access is granted on an as needed basis by your Technical Account Manager or your internal Graphite Program Manager.
These environments are referred to as: POC (Sandbox) and Staging. Learn more about how these environments are used here >
Sending yourself a supplier invitation
Once logged in to the testing environment, you can test the supplier onboarding process from the Home page.
- On the left-hand side of the screen, click on the "Request new supplier" link.
- Enter any company name, supplier contact and email address* to get started.
- Enter the supplier's name and supplier contact name/email address.
- Before an invitation is sent to the supplier, you will fill out the New Supplier Justification (NSJ). This is the form which, in the live environment, your business requestors will be required to complete in order to kickoff a new supplier request. This form is completely customizable to meet your company's needs.
Email delivery is *live* in the sandbox. For this reason, please enter dummy email addresses or a personal email address when setting up a supplier. To view an invitation from the supplier's perspective, enter an email address that you have access to, but a different email address than your @company email.
Tip: If you have Google-based email account, you can add a +XXX after your personal email address to create a unique user in the system (e.g. laura+test1@gmail.com). Open the link in the co-branded invitation email you received in an incognito browser window, create your user password, and build your company using dummy data.
Using a second browser to view the supplier experience
You must logout of the first session before accepting the invitation, or open the invitation in a second browser window. If you have two Graphite Connect windows open at the same time in the same browser type, the session variables can cause issues. This unique situation isn’t a typical scenario during normal use because users would rarely encounter the situations we fabricate during testing.
Opening the supplier invitation in a new browser window allows you to login as a new user and to go through the process that a new supplier would experience. In this instance, you will be able to see the questions that are currently required for your suppliers as part of the out-of-the-box configuration. Your required questions will be configured during implementation based on your specific business needs.
TIP: Open the invitation in an incognito window or a different browser (for example, one Chrome and one Firefox). We generally use a Chrome incognito window for a second session while testing. You can even have these screens open side by side so you can see how the buyer view is updated as the supplier proceeds through onboarding.
Things to consider as you accept the invitation
- Play around with the Country of Registration and see how the tax requirements change based on country
- Graphite will enforce tax formats and will disallow repeating characters, but otherwise you should enter dummy tax details when setting up the supplier profile
- To streamline the experience, enter 1 as the company size
- If you select >1 employee, then you will be required to add a second admin and complete a bank approval prior to submitting your information for review
- Play around with the Bank Country and see how the bank requirements change based on country
- Only legitimate routing numbers and IBAN numbers will be accepted in Graphite (use 021000021 for a US-based bank routing number)
- You should always enter dummy account number information
Additional Resources