Get your SAP licence right the first time.
SAP Cloud ERP is licensed per user, per month, by what each person does in the system. Get the mix right and you pay for what you use. Get it wrong and you either overpay for years or face a true-up later. We size your licence from your actual roles and check every entitlement, so the contract fits the business you are and the one you're becoming.
Based on SAP's current model. This page reflects SAP's per-user licensing for SAP Cloud ERP, which replaced the older FUE model for new contracts in 2025.
Four levels of user, each one including the level below.
You buy SAP Cloud ERP as a package, mainly Finance or Supply Chain, with a mix of user types. Each user type includes everything below it, so a Finance Base user can also do everything an Operational or Self-Service user can.
The skill is in giving each person the lowest level that covers their actual work. Most companies have far fewer full-access users than they assume.
Premium
Finance Premium · Supply Chain PremiumEverything in Base, plus wider scope such as projects, subscription billing, sustainability and compliance, and premium AI.
Base
Finance Base · Supply Chain Base · Combo BaseFull finance or full supply chain processes. Combo Base covers both for cross-functional power users.
Operational
Day-to-day transaction usersSales orders, purchasing, deliveries, service and project tasks.
Self-Service
Everyone elseApprovals, requests, timesheets, confirmations and display.
Your security roles decide your bill.
In SAP Cloud ERP, each person's user type is set by the highest-level app they can access. Give an accounts payable clerk one advanced finance app "just in case", and they're licensed as Finance Base instead of Operational, for every month of the contract. That's why licence sizing and role design have to be done together.
SAP's standard roles are designed for demos and give people more access than they need. They should never go to production unchanged, for security reasons as well as cost.
Know what you've bought before you buy more.
SAP's Cloud ERP packages include far more than user access. We often find customers planning to buy, or build, something their package already covers. Here's what comes with a Finance package today.
Bank connectivity
A connection to your banks for payments and statements, with a yearly transaction allowance.
E-documents and tax reporting
SAP Document and Reporting Compliance, with an allowance of documents per year.
Supplier and receivables finance
Taulia solutions up to a spend threshold, which is higher with Premium.
SAP Build and developers
SAP Build access for every user, plus developer seats in each system for upgrade-safe extensions.
Digital access
20,000 documents a year per full-access user for third-party systems that create documents in SAP.
Systems and AI
Development, test and production systems, a parallel project line, a memory allowance that grows with users, and Joule.
Entitlements and allowances change with SAP's packages. We check them against SAP's current terms for your quote.
Six things that change the total.
The user mix is the biggest number, but it isn't the only one. These are the items we check on every quote, because they're the ones that surprise people in year two.
Premium AI
Premium packages come with a required purchase of SAP AI Units, which pay for AI agents and assistants. Budget for it from the start.
Integrations
Documents created in SAP by other systems, such as an e-commerce site, count against your digital access allowance.
Data growth
System memory grows with users. High transaction volumes may need extra memory blocks, or archiving.
Add-ons
Some capabilities, such as advanced planning, group consolidation or extra industry scope, are licensed separately. We confirm which ones you need.
Growth and phases
If you roll out in phases or are adding entities, we plan when users join, so you don't pay for users before they go live.
Existing contracts
Customers on older GROW (FUE-based) contracts, or with SAP products like Concur, have specific rules on what they're entitled to.
A 160-person distributor, sized two ways.
A common first estimate is "everyone who logs in needs a full licence". Here's what changes when each role is mapped to the work it actually does.
First estimate
Every system user treated as a full-access user
After role mapping
Each role given the lowest user type that covers its work
Illustrative example, not a quote. Actual results depend on your roles, SAP's minimum user counts, and current SAP terms.
From org chart to signed contract, and every renewal after.
Licensing advice isn't a one-off. Your licence should change as your business does. We stay involved from the first estimate through to every renewal.
Role inventory
Who does what today, by department, entity and location.
User-type mapping
Each role mapped to SAP app catalogs and the lowest user type that fits.
Entitlement check
What the package covers, which add-ons you need, and digital access and AI requirements.
Scenarios
Phased go-lives, growth and new entities, modelled over the contract term.
Contract and renewals
Review of the quote, then a usage check before each renewal.
© 2026 Mawkish Technologies. This guide, its diagrams and illustrations are protected by copyright. You’re welcome to learn from it and to quote it with credit and a link. Reproducing it, by hand or through AI, and publishing it as your own is not allowed. Read our copyright notice
Straight answers.
What happened to FUEs?
For new contracts, SAP replaced Full Use Equivalents with named user types priced per user per month in 2025. Existing GROW customers on FUE contracts can stay on them. Whether to move to the new model is a case-by-case decision, and we can model both for you.
What are SAP AI Units?
They're the currency for SAP's premium AI: agents and assistants that carry out work for you. Basic AI, including Joule and embedded AI features, is included with every user. Premium packages come with a required purchase of AI Units.
What is digital access?
When another system creates documents in SAP, such as sales orders from a web shop or invoices from a portal, those documents are counted. Finance and Supply Chain users come with a yearly allowance that covers most mid-sized companies. We size it from your integration list.
Can we change our user mix later?
You can add users and user types during the contract as you grow. Reducing them usually has to wait until renewal, which is why getting the starting mix right matters.
Does this apply to RISE with SAP too?
SAP Cloud ERP Private has its own packages, but the same principle applies: licence by role, check entitlements, and plan for growth. We advise on both.
You're an SAP partner. Is your advice independent?
We're an SAP partner, and we say so. Our interest is a customer who stays with us for years, and over-selling licences on day one is the fastest way to lose that customer. Every number we give you is backed by your own roles and SAP's published user-type definitions.
Bring us your org chart. We'll bring you a licence that fits.
Whether it's a first quote, a renewal or a move from an older GROW contract, we'll give you a role-based view of what you need and why.
- User mix mapped from your real roles
- Package entitlements checked line by line
- AI, integration and data costs planned up front
- Phasing and growth scenarios
- Renewal check-ins for the life of the contract
SAP, SAP Cloud ERP, SAP Build and Joule are trademarks of SAP SE. Screens shown are illustrations.
At Mawkish, the Corwyn Loop is how we keep SAP Licensing & Commercial Advisory work checked, owned and answered for, whoever does the build.