This topic will walk you through how to set up your Coupa instance.

This topic outlines how to configure your Coupa instance to launch workflows in Ironclad that have already been connected to Coupa. If you have not set up your mappings yet, see Set Up Mappings for Coupa Integration before moving forward with the steps below.

Complete the following steps in order:

• Set Up Your Workflow Link
• Set Up Your Workflow Launch Trigger
• Connect Your Workflow
• Set Up Your Approval Sync
• Onboarding Suppliers
• Related Topics

Set Up Your Workflow Link

Required Permissions: Administrator
Ironclad’s launch-from-Coupa functionality relies on an External Approval that calls out to Ironclad telling it a contract is needed. We can use Coupa’s full approval conditions functionality to decide when a contract should be launched. This gives you the freedom to create a number of custom fields and decide exactly what responses should trigger an Ironclad Workflow.

In the example below, we’ll take the most simple approach simply ask the requester to specify if this is a new or renewing contract.

1. In Coupa, click Setup > Custom Fields.
2. Verify that under Select an object to customize, Requisitions is selected.
3. Create a custom text box. Name the field ironclad_workflow. Select a format of HTML. Deselect the Editable checkbox.

Set Up Your Workflow Launch Trigger

Required Permissions: Administrator
How you trigger an Ironclad workflow launch from Coupa depends on both your business process and how many different Ironclad workflows you want to launch from Coupa. For this example, we’ll take the most simple case, where a single checkbox is used to indicate whether a single generic contracting workflow is needed.
This involves creating a custom field for your business user to answer. Be sure to provide a prompt that the business user will understand such as “Is there a new contract associated with this purchase?”

If you want to launch multiple workflows instead, you must replace the checkbox with a dropdown that asks “Which contract type is required for this purchase?”. Remember to include none in your list of options.

Connect Your Workflow

Required Permissions: Administrator
Now you have you have created the custom field in Coupa that controls when a contract is launched, you can set up the approval that will trigger its launch.

Note: We recommend that you save the token in a password wallet as it can not be accessed again.

1. Decide whether you are launching a single or multiple workflows.
   • If you want to launch multiple workflows, you must add a Coupa approval for each workflow type and set your approval conditions so that the correct launch approval is applied each time.
2. In Coupa, click Setup > Call Outs.
3. Create a call out. Name the call out Launch Contract. Set the Type as RemoteApprover and the Format to JSON.
4. Create an endpoint. Set the Type as HTTP. Under Hostname, paste the Launch Remote Approver URL you saved when you connected Ironclad to Coupa.
5. In Ironclad, click your name in the top right corner > Company Settings > API.
6. In the box titled Create New Token, add a description of what you’re doing with the token. Click Create.
7. Copy the Token and paste it into the Password section of your Coupa call out.
8. In the User Name field, add Bearer.
9. Click Save. You’ve told Coupa that it should notify Ironclad that a launch is required. Now, you must ensure that the notification is sent at the correct part of your requisition approval chain.
10. In Coupa, click Setup > Approvals.
11. Create a new requisition approval chain. Name your approval chain, set it as Active, and set the priority. We recommend setting the Priority to 1. This ensures that when a contract is needed, it is requested as early in the flow as possible. However, you can also put the launch approval after the initial procurement approval to ensure that legal is only looped in when necessary and when all of the data in the requisition is correct.
12. Set the Approval Chain Conditions for when the approval is needed. You can use any conditions supported by the Coupa system. This is usually based on your answer to the custom field you added as your Workflow Launch Trigger, but you can use any conditions supported by the Coupa system.
13. Scroll down to the Specific Approvers section and click the green plus button.
14. Add the Launch Contract approval you created as a call out. This notifies Ironclad when the approval is reached. Similar to how a standard approval notifies a user or group via email.
15. Click Save.

Set Up Your Approval Sync

Required Permissions: Administrator
Your Ironclad contracts now launch automatically. The final step is to sync approvals between Ironclad and Coupa. The goal is to ensure that contracts aren’t signed prematurely and, depending on your settings, control the timing of the purchase order being issued.

1. For each of the workflow launch approvals you configured, set up a second call out and approval in Coupa. Each time, copy the Legal Remote Approval that corresponds to the Launch Remote Approval and add it to the new call out in the same way the you did when you connected your workflow. The only difference is that the approval’s priority should be 100 to ensure that all other Coupa approvals are collected before the contract is issued.
2. Configure the the Format, Endpoint, and Authentication.
3. Use each of the call outs in their own approval chain, matching the conditions set in the corresponding launch approval. This creates a pair of approvals for each workflow type you are syncing with Coupa.
4. You should now have two remote approvals for each Ironclad workflow you want to sync with Coupa: one to initiate contract launches, and the other to coordinate the end-of-process approvals. Each pair should have the same conditions, ensuring they appear in tandem whenever an Ironclad workflow is needed.  

Onboarding Suppliers

The Ironclad Coupa integration synchronizes your requisition and contracting process to ensure that contracts are tied to spend when needed. One of the outcomes of this approach is that each team must decide how they want to onboard new suppliers when processing a requisition.

1. By default, Coupa “Routes requisition to buyer if supplier is in draft status”. If you want to keep this setting, there are a few options.
   • ​​​​​​​Trigger Supplier onboarding as part of the requisition request process, either via SIM or standard Coupa functionality. Do not begin contracting until supplier onboarding is complete.
   • Trigger Supplier onboarding as part of the requisition request process. Complete initial onboarding before making the supplier active and triggering requisition approvals & contracting. For example, one customer only requires internal Supplier Onboarding forms to be completed before setting the supplier to active, with requisition approvals & contracting happening while waiting for the supplier to complete their SIM forms.
   • Have a dummy “new vendor” supplier. In this approach customers create a dummy supplier that can be quickly added to requisitions by requesters. During the requisition/contracting process the supplier is reviewed and procurement does not give their final approval until fully vetting, activating, and associating the correct new supplier with the requisition.
2. Alternatively, you can disable the “Route requisition to buyer if supplier is in draft status” in Coupa by going to Set Up > Company Information. This allows the requisition approval process and associated contracting to begin while the vendor is being onboarded (either through SIM or Coupa’s standard functionality). When taking this approach, we recommend having a “Supplier Check” approval later in your approval chain to ensure contracts don’t get signed nor POs issued for suppliers who are not fully onboarded.

Related Topics

Coupa Requisition Sync Setup

• Step 1: Set Up Workflows for Coupa Integration
• Step 2: Set Up Mappings for Coupa Integration
• Step 3: Set Up Your Coupa Instance (Current Topic)

Coupa Contract Sync Setup

• Set Up Coupa Contract Sync

Other Topics

• Use Custom Fields and Easy Forms in Coupa
• Manage Purchase Order Changes with Requisition Sync