--- title: "Manage a Multi-Supplier Contract Workflow" canonical: "https://hub.freewheel.tv/space/OS/115015716/Manage%20a%20Multi-Supplier%20Contract%20Workflow" format: markdown --- Overview This page explains why and how to use a Contract with multiple Suppliers. About Contracts Contracts are records that link three important vendor entities: Payee : The entity that is paid for the media activity. Order Partner : The entity that processes the order for the media activity. Supplier : The entity that runs the media activity. There are two main types of Contracts: Contract Type Description Single-Supplier Contract The Contract links one Payee to one Order Partner to one Supplier. For enterprises with an external master data source of SBMS, creating a Vendor in SBMS automatically creates the following records in OneStrata: Payee (same name as the SBMS Vendor) Order Partner (same name as the SBMS Vendor) Supplier (same name as the SBMS Vendor) A single-Supplier Contract (same name as the SBMS Vendor) that links those Payee, Order Partner, and Supplier records Multi-Supplier Contract For enterprises with an external master data source of SBMS: The Contract links one Payee to one Order Partner to multiple Suppliers. For enterprises with an internal master data source: The Contract links one Payee to one or more Order Partners to multiple Suppliers. Multi-Supplier Contracts enable a workflow where media activity run by different Suppliers is handled as a single order, instead of as different orders. This is particularly useful for internal seller team workflows. Single-Supplier Contracts vs. Multi-Supplier Contracts Imagine an enterprise with the following four social media-related Contracts: Three single-Supplier Contracts One multi-Supplier Contract This enterprise has an internal specialist team that activates all of their social media campaigns. Contract ID Contract Name Payee Name Order Partner Name Supplier Name 1193 Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram 1194 LinkedIn LinkedIn LinkedIn LinkedIn 1195 TikTok TikTok TikTok TikTok 1196 Internal Team - Social Media Internal Team - Social Media Internal Team - Social Media Instagram TikTok LinkedIn Single-Supplier Contract When building the schedule for a social media campaign that has media activity run by different Suppliers, the enterprise could apply the single-Supplier Contracts. In this scenario, committing the schedule creates three orders, one for each unique combination of Payee and Order Partner. Cost Line ID Payee / Order Partner Supplier Commit Order ID 314181 Instagram Instagram → 120764 314182 Instagram Instagram 314183 Instagram Instagram 314184 LinkedIn LinkedIn →  120765 314185 TikTok TikTok →  120766 Multi-Supplier Contract Alternatively, the enterprise could apply a multi-Supplier Contract. In this scenario, committing the schedule creates a single order because there is only one unique combination of Payee and Order Partner. Creating one unified order makes it easier for the internal team to manage all of the social media activity for this campaign. Cost Line ID Payee / Order Partner Supplier Commit Order ID 314181 Internal Team - Social Media Instagram →  120767 314182 Internal Team - Social Media Instagram 314183 Internal Team - Social Media Instagram 314184 Internal Team - Social Media LinkedIn 314185 Internal Team - Social Media TikTok Even though the Cost Lines are grouped into one order, Supplier-level information is preserved within OneStrata, meaning that: On the Order Details page, costs and units can still be tracked by Supplier. For Cost Lines with Suppliers linked to an external integration provider, that Cost Line is still automatically available on the appropriate external integration dashboard. Multi-Supplier Contracts and SBMS For enterprises with an external master data source of SBMS, exporting an order with multiple Suppliers from OneStrata to SBMS does  not preserve Supplier-level information. Instead, the Vendor of the corresponding SBMS placement is set as the Payee of the original Cost Line. OneStrata Export SBMS Cost Line ID Payee / Order Partner Supplier Vendor Net Cost Commit Order ID Financial Order ID Placement ID Vendor (Publisher) Net Cost 314183 Internal Team - Social Media Instagram $900.00 →  120767 193259 →  25757 Internal Team - Social Media $900.00 314184 Internal Team - Social Media LinkedIn $400.50 120767 193258 25758 Internal Team - Social Media $400.50 314185 Internal Team - Social Media TikTok $200.00 120767 193259 25759 Internal Team - Social Media $200.00 Add a Supplier to an Existing Contract Notes: Once a Supplier is added to a Contract, it cannot be removed from the Contract.  To add a Supplier to an existing Contract, do the following: Go to the Admin > Entity Management > Contracts page. Open the desired Contract. In the Vendor Hierarchy section, for the Suppliers field, select the desired Supplier(s). Click Save . Use a Multi-Supplier Contract To use a multi-Supplier Contract, do the following: Go to the Schedule tab of the desired campaign. In the Schedule grid. do the following: Check that the Payee , Order Partner , and Supplier columns are displayed. If they are not displayed, add them to the Schedule grid via the column picker. For each Cost Line, select the desired Payee, Order Partner, and Supplier. In the default single-Supplier Contract workflow where the Payee is the same as the Order Partner is the same as the Supplier, selecting a value for one of these columns automatically fills in the other two columns. In the multi-Supplier workflow, the Payee/Order Partner and Supplier must be manually and separately selected. Continue building the schedule as normal.