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SAP ERP combines the most complete, scalable, and effective software for enterprise resource planning (ERP) with a flexible,
open technology platform that can leverage and integrate SAP and non-SAP systems. Our industry-leading solution provides
end-to-end software functionality for enterprise management and support -- plus support for systems management -- all
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three decades of SAP experience. The solution enables organizations to reduce total cost of ownership, achieve a faster return
on investment, and benefit from a more flexible IT infrastructure that helps drive innovation. And SAP ERP offers a complete
solution designed to support international operations so that businesses can efficiently and successfully operate and compete
on a global scale.
Copy
Delete
Check
Copy
This function is for creating a new organizational unit using the settings for an existing OrgUnit as your
template.
If you have already made system settings for the new OrgUnit you can still use copy functions. Only
the missing settings will be copied. Settings you have already made are not affected.
When you use the copy functions a Project IMG view is generated that contains all the objects that
are copied into the new OrgUnit so you can work on them.
Delete
This function is for deleting an existing OrgUnit and all its settings.
Check
This function is for checking all the settings for an existing OrgUnit.
There are two stages
First all the tables that have the OrgUnit in their table key are checked to ensure the entry is
present.
Then the dependent tables that are tested against the table key are also checked to ensure
the specified entry is present.
Project IMG
This function is for generating a new Customizing project view. The view generated contains all the
IMG activities needed for work on the OrgUnit as part of the project. There must already be a
Customizing project for this to work.
Further Notes
Only system settings are copied or deleted. Master data is not affected.
To delete an OrgUnit:
1. Carry out a reorganization for the data that is dependent on the OrgUnit.
2. Delete the OrgUnit.
Recommendation
If you want to limit your system settings work to the mandatory activities, you must create your new
OrgUnit using the copy functions. This ensures the required system settings are generated.
Mandatory activities are the IMG activities that you have to configure because meaningful standard
settings cannot be suplied. You are expected to create all OrgUnits with the copy function, because
otherwise all system settings that have an Orgnit in their keys would have to be mandatory activities.
Organizational units are used to structure business functions and for reporting. The organizational units of Financial Accounting
are used for external reporting purposes, that is, they fulfil requirements that your business is subject to from external parties,
for example, legal regulations. The financial statements for example, are created based on the organizational units of Financial
Accounting .
Basic settings in Financial Accounting are Customizing settings that you have to make in order to be able to carry out
processes in Financial Accounting .
Use
You create your company-specific organizational structure in the SAP System by defining the organizational units and making
the basic settings. Defining organizational units for Financial Accounting is obligatory, that is, you have to define these units in
order to be able to implement the Financial Accounting component.
Organizational unit
Definition
Client
Obligatory
Company
Optional
Company code
Obligatory
Business area
Optional
Basic setting
Chart of accounts
Obligatory
Fiscal year
Obligatory
Currencies
Obligatory
Integration
In the SAP System, you define the relevant organizational units for each component that you are implementing. For example,
for Sales and Distribution , you define sales organizations, distribution channels, and divisions (product groups). Similarly, for
Purchasing , you define purchasing organizations, evaluation levels, plants, and storage locations. The organizational units are
independent of one another at this stage.
Components and Organizational Units
Component
Organizational unit
Logistics
Financial Accounting
Controlling
Human Resources
To transfer data between the individual components, you have to assign the organizational units to each other. You only need to
make these assignments once in the system. Whenever you enter data subsequently, it is automatically transferred.
Example
For example, invoices that are posted in SD are transferred to FI.
Client
Definition
A commercially, organizationally, and technically self-contained unit within an SAP System. Clients have their own master
records and set of tables.
The definition of the client organizational unit is obligatory .
Use
The client is the highest level in the SAP System hierarchy. Specifications that you make, or data that you enter at this level are
valid for all company codes and for all other organizational structures. You therefore only need to make these specifications, or
enter this data once. This ensures that the data is consistent.
Users must enter a client key when they log on to the SAP System. This defines the client in which they wish to work. All the
entries you make are saved per client. Data processing and analysis is also carried out per client.
Example
This means that you cannot include customer accounts from different clients in one dunning run.
End of the example.
Access authorization is assigned per client. You must create a user master record for each user in the client where he or she
wishes to work.
Note
The SAP System is delivered with the clients 000 and 001 - these clients already contain default settings. For more information,
see Setting Up Clients in Customizing. These sections are automatically selected when you create your implementation
projects (company IMG, project IMG).
Define clients
In the R/3 System, the client is a legally and organizationally independent unit. This means all
business and commercial data are secure from other clients.
Clients are identified by a three-figure client number. A client has the following parameters:
The possible roles are: production ("live"), Customizing, test, training, and demonstration.
This parameter controls whether or not changes to Customizing settings are automatically recorded in
a change request.
This parameter controls whether or not changes to R/3 Repository objects or cross-client Customizing
objects are permitted.
Note
For information on the above parameters, use F1 help in the maintenance transaction.
Standard Settings
When you install the standard R/3 delivery system, you have the following clients:
Client 000
Client 000 is the SAP Reference Client. It contains a complete set of preconfigured tables. This client
is continuously updated by SAP.
You should not work in client 000.
The parameters for client 000 are set as follows:
Client role
SAP Reference
No changes permitted
Client 001
Client 001 is a complete copy of client 000, and is intended for your Customizing work.
It is preconfigured with some settings you can work with right away and with some sample settings
that help you in your configuration work.
Set the parameters for client 001 as follows:
Client role
Customizing
Client role
The client set for Customizing is the one in which the system generates the SAPoffice folder
hierarchies for your Customizing project documentation, so set this parameter to "Customizing" for
your Customizing client.
Activities
Set the parameters for each of your clients.
Further notes
Take care with the settings concerning changes to Repository objects and cross-client Customizing
objects. Such changes should be permitted only in the Customizing client, and you should on no
account allow them to be made in a training or test client.
The standard settings for country-specific parameters in client 001 are for Germany (DE).
Resetting those table contents in the target client that have not been copied. This is to create
a consistent environment.
Note
Most of the time is taken up by the physical copying, as all the client-specific data of the SAP System
is copied. For production systems, this can be several 100 MB (when copying application data) and
can take several hours.
Pure Customizing data can still be up to 100 MB in size. Depending on computer hardware and load
copying can still take hours.
Recommendation
For this reason, SAP recommends that you execute client copy in the background. You can find out
the status of an online run directly from the monitor; for a background run, you can query the status at
any time using transaction SCC3. The client copy is restartable, so you can always restart if a run is
canceled.
Requirements
You must not work in the source or target client during a copy run.
This is why the target client is locked for all users other than SAP* or DDIC during the copy run.
To avoid data inconsistencies, you must not work in the source client, that is you must not change any
of the tables to copied.
This is another good reason for scheduling a background processing job at night.
Authorizations
Because of possible damage resulting from faulty copying of a client to the target client, authorization
is necessary, as follows:
If you want to copy user master data and user profiles, you must have the appropriate authorizations:
Restrictions
General Restrictions
During the client copy, the tables are always deleted in the target system first, and then the new data
is read block by block from the source client and inserted in the target client. If the tables are very
large, this can result in very long runtimes and, depending on the database, can also cause an
overflow of the rollback segments.
When copying a client, you must take the number ranges into consideration. There are three
possibilities:
1. Copying customizing data and application data.
In this case, the number ranges are also copied, as the application data refers to these number
ranges.
2. Customizing data only is copied; the application data is deleted.
The number ranges are reset, since the application data that refers to them is deleted and application
data set up again.
3. Customizing data only is copied; the application data is not deleted.
The number ranges are kept with the application data.
Activities
To copy a client within a single R/3 System:
1. Log on in the target client as user SAP* with using password PASS.
2. Start the client copier.
3. Choose the copier profile you require.
SAP provides the following profiles:
a) SAP_UPRF
Only user master data and profiles are copied.
b) SAP_CUST
All Customizing tables, inlcuding user profiles, are copied.
c) SAP_UCUS
All Customizing tables, inlcuding user data and user profiles, are copied.
d) SAP_APPL
All Customizing data and application data, including user profiles, is copied.
e) SAP_UAPP
All Customizing data and application data, including user profiles and user data, is copied.
4. Specify the source client.
5. Run the program in the background, or, if you are only copying user data and profiles, run it online.
Additional Information
For more information see the R/3 Online Documentation under Basis -> System administration ->
Client copy
Define company
In this step you can create companies. A company is an organizational unit in Accounting which
represents a business organization according to the requirements of commercial law in a particular
country.
You store basic data for each company in company definition. You only specify particular functions
when you customize in Financial Accounting. Company G0000 is preset in all foreign key tables.
In the SAP system, consolidation functions in financial accounting are based on companies. A
company can comprise one or more company codes.
When you create a company you should bear in mind the following points relating to group
accounting:
If your organization uses several clients , the companies which only appear as group-internal
business partners, and are not operational in each system, must be maintained in each
client. This is a precondition for the account assignment of a group-internal trading partner.
Companies must be cataloged in a list of company IDs which is consistent across the group.
The parent company usually provides this list of company IDs.
It is also acceptable to designate legally dependent branches 'companies' and join them
together as a legal unit by consolidation.
Recommendation
SAP recommends that you keep the preset company ID G00000 if you only require one company. In
this way you reduce the number of tables which you need to adjust.
Activities
Create your companies.
Further Notes
All company codes for a company must work with the same operational chart of accounts and fiscal
year . The currencies used can be different.
Company Code
Definition
Smallest organizational unit of external accounting for which a complete, self-contained set of accounts can be created. This
includes the entry of all transactions that must be posted and the creation of all items for legal individual financial statements,
such as the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement.
The definition of the company code organizational unit is obligatory .
Use
The company code is the central organizational unit of external accounting within the SAP System. You must define at least
one company code before implementing the Financial Accounting component. The business transactions relevant for Financial
Accounting are entered, saved, and evaluated at company code level.
You usually create a legally independent company in the SAP System with one company code. However, you can also define a
company code according to other criteria. A company code could also be a separate, but not independent, commercial place of
work. This is necessary for example, if the place of work is actually situated in a different country and evaluations therefore
have to be carried out in the appropriate national currency and in accordance with other tax and legal specifications.
If you want to manage the accounting for several independent companies simultaneously, you can set up several company
codes in one client. You must set up at least one company code in each client.
To define a company code, choose the following in Customizing for the
Accounting Define, Copy, Delete, Check Company Codes
Integration
If you use other components of the SAP System, you have to make assignments between the company code as the central
organizational unit of Financial Accounting , and the organizational units of the other components. This is necessary to ensure
that data can be transferred between the components.
The assignment between the controlling area and the company code is particularly important. The controlling area is the
central organizational unit of the Controlling (CO) component.
For more information about the assignment between the company code and the controlling area, see Company Codes and
Controlling Areas
You can select a four-character alpha-numeric key as the company code key. This key identifies the
company code and must be entered when posting business transactions or creating company codespecific master data, for example.
Address data
The address data is necessary for correspondence and is printed on reports, such as the advance
return for tax on sales/purchases.
Country currency
Your accounts must be managed in the national currency. This currency is also known as the local
currency or the company code currency. Amounts that are posted in foreign currency are translated
into local currency.
Country key
The country key specifies which country is to be seen as the home country; all other countries are
interpreted as "abroad". This is significant for business and payment transactions because different
forms are used for foreign payment transactions. This setting also enables you to use different
address formatting for foreign correspondence.
Language key
The system uses the language key to determine text automatically in the language of the relevant
country. This is necessary when creating checks, for example.
You do not specify the functional characteristic of the company code until configuring the relevant
application.
You can set up several company codes per client to manage the accounts of independent
organizations simultaneously. At least one company code must be set up in each client.
To take full advantage of SAP system integration, you must link company codes to the organizational
units of other applications. If, for example, you specify a CO account assignment (for example, cost
center or internal order ) when entering a document in FI, then the system must determine a
controlling area to transfer this data to CO. You must specify how the system is to determine the
appropriate controlling area.
The system derives the controlling area from the company code if you assign it directly to a company
code. You can also assign several company codes to one controlling area.
Standard Settings
Company code 0001 has already been created in clients 000 and 001 for the country DE (Germany).
All country-specific information ("parameters") is preset in this company code, such as the payment
methods, tax calculation procedures, and chart of accounts typical for this country.
If you want to create a company code for the USA and its legal requirements, you must first of all run
the country installation program in client 001. The country of company code 0001 is then set to "US"
and all country-specific parameters related to it are set to the USA. For more information, see the
Set Up Clients activity under "Basic Functions" in the Customizing menu.
Recommendation
You should keep the preset company code number 0001 if you only require one company code. This
keeps to a minimum the number of tables you need to set up.
You can copy a company code using a special Customizing function. Company code-specific
specifications are copied to your new company code. The target company code must not yet be
defined, it is defined automatically during the copying procedure.
SAP recommends the following procedure when creating company codes:
1. Create the company code using the function "Copy Company Code".
2. Enter special company code data with the function "Edit Company Code Data".
You can also use the function "Edit Company Code Data" to create a company code. However, in this
instance, the company code "global data" is not copied. If you create a company code using the
"Copy" function, most of the "global data" is also copied.
Further Notes
You should create a company code according to tax law, commercial law, and other financial
accounting criteria. As a rule, a company code in the SAP system represents a legally independent
company. The company code can also represent a legally dependent operating unit based abroad if
there are external reporting requirements for this operating unit, which can also be in the relevant
local currency.
For segment reporting according to Anglo-American accounting practices, you need to represent the
regions in which the company has significant dealings. This reporting data can be generated entirely
on the basis of company codes.
For processing company codes, there are extended functions that you can access with the function
call "administer" or "Copy, delete, check company code". The entry in the company code table is
processed in these functions as well as all dependent Customizing and system tables in which the
plant is a key.
For more information on the extended functions, see Copy/Delete/Check/Process Project IMG.
In addition to these functions, there is also the "Replace" function. You use this function if you want to
change a company code key. This is only possible if no postings have been made in the company
code that is to be replaced. You should therefore only use this function for newly-created company
codes.
Activities
1. Create your company codes based on the reference (company code 0001) delivered with the
standard system. SAP recommends using the function "Copy Company Code" to create your
company codes.
2. Go to the activity "Edit Company Code Data" and change the name, description, address, and
currency. Maintain the company code data that has not been copied.
3. Use the project IMG view to postprocess data that is changed automatically. You can also carry out
postprocessing at a later stage since the system keeps the generated project view.
The company code can correspond to exactly one controlling area (see the following figure, 1 ).
Several company codes can correspond to one controlling area (see the following figure, 2 ).
For more information, see Assignment of Company Codes and Controlling Areas .
Activities
Define consolidation business areas by assigning them 4-character IDs.
Chart of Accounts
Definition
This is a list of all G/L accounts used by one or several company codes.
For each G/L account, the chart of accounts contains the account number, account name, and the information that controls how
an account functions and how a G/L account is created in a company code.
Use
You have to assign a chart of accounts to each company code. This chart of accounts is the operating chart of accounts and is
used for the daily postings in this company code.
You have the following options when using multiple company codes:
You can use the same chart of accounts for all company codes
If the company codes all have the same requirements for the chart of accounts set up, assign all of the individual company
codes to the same chart of accounts. This could be the case if all company codes are in the same country.
In addition to the operating chart of accounts, you can use two additional charts of accounts
If the individual company codes need different charts of accounts, you can assign up to two charts of accounts in addition to the
operating chart of accounts. This could be the case if company codes lie in multiple countries.
Note
The use of different charts of accounts has no effect on the balance sheet and profit and loss statement. When creating the
balance sheet or the profit and loss statement, you can choose whether to balance the company codes which use different
charts of accounts together or separately.
End of the note.
Structure
Charts of accounts can have three different functions in the system:
The operating chart of accounts contains the G/L accounts that you use for posting in your company code during daily activities.
Financial Accounting and Controlling both use this chart of accounts.
You have to assign an operating chart of accounts to a company code.
The group chart of accounts contains the G/L accounts that are used by the entire corporate group. This allows the company to
provide reports for the entire corporate group.
The assigning of an corporate group chart of accounts to a company code is optional.
The country-specific chart of accounts contains the G/L accounts needed to meet the country's legal requirements. This allows
you to provide statements for the country's legal requirements.
The assigning of an country-specific chart of accounts to a company code is optional.
Integration
The operating chart of accounts is shared by Financial Accounting as well as Controlling. The accounts in a chart of accounts
can be both expense or revenue accounts in Financial Accounting and cost or revenue elements in cost/revenue accounting.
You can find additional information on this subject under Cost Accounting and Chart of Accounts .
Use
You enter all the charts of accounts that you require for your company in this list. To do this, in the Financial Accounting
Implementation Guide, choose
Accounts List
General Ledger Accounting G/L Accounts Master Data Preparations Maintain Chart of
In the FI system, you can use as many charts of accounts as you require within a client. You can thus meet the varying needs
of the individual company codes regarding the chart of accounts structure. The following characteristics of the individual
company codes could, for example, place various demands on how the chart of accounts is set up:
Location (country)
Branch
Corporate structure
Corporate size
Legal requirements
However, several company codes can also use a common chart of accounts if a different grouping of the chart of accounts is
not required.
You must assign one chart of accounts to each company code. You therefore need at least one chart of accounts for your
company in the system.
Note
The chart of accounts is shared by Financial Accounting as well as cost/revenue accounting. The items in a chart of accounts
can be both expense or revenue accounts in Financial Accounting and cost or revenue elements in cost/revenue accounting.
End of the note.
Structure
If you enter a chart of accounts in the chart of accounts list, note the importance of the following settings:
Maintenance language
The chart of accounts is created and changed in one language, the maintenance language. This means that the names of the
G/L accounts are created and changed in the maintenance language. If the chart of accounts is used by multiple company
codes using varying languages, you can translate the account names into the languages needed. For more information on this,
see Translating a Chart of Accounts .
You can assign an alternative group chart of accounts to the chart of accounts. For more information, see Chart of Accounts .
You can define the length of the G/L account numbers. The maximum length is ten characters. Internally, the system keeps the
account numbers with a ten character length. The system pads purely numeric account numbers with zeroes from the left, and
alphanumeric account numbers from the right.
To change the chart of accounts list, read Changing the Chart of Accounts List .
Central organization
At the corporate group level, a chart of account is defined which contains all accounts and can be used by all company codes.
This chart of accounts is the operating chart of accounts for all company codes. To meet specific country requirements, you can
enter an additional (country-specific) chart of accounts for each company code.
Advantage: Cross-company code cost accounting is possible. Consolidation is carried out using the operating chart of
accounts, which is the corporate group chart of accounts.
Disadvantage: The accountants cannot work with their own country-specific charts of accounts.
Decentral organization
Each company code uses its country-specific chart of accounts as the operating chart of accounts. For consolidation, you enter
the corporate group chart of accounts additionally for each company code.
Advantage: The accountants can work in their own country-specific charts of accounts. You cannot consolidate data using the
corporate group chart of accounts.
Disadvantage: Cross-company code cost accounting is not possible.
Organization of the chart of
Cost accounting
accounts
Charts of accounts
Corporate group chart of
accounts
Central
accounts
Corporate group chart of
accounts
Decentral
Country-specific chart of
level
requirements
accounts
Currencies
Definition
Legal means of payment in a country.
Use
For each monetary amount that you enter in the SAP System, you must specify a currency. You enter currencies as the ISO
standards, for example, USD for US dollar.
You define currencies in Customizing.To do this, in Customizing choose
Check Currency Codes
In Financial Accounting, you have to specify for each of your company codes, in which currency ledgers should be managed.
This currency is the national currency of the company code, that is, the local currency (or company code currency). From a
company code view, all other currencies are then foreign currencies .
You can manage ledgers in two parallel currencies in addition to the local currency, for example, group currency or hard
currency. For more information, see
General Ledger Accounting (new) under Parallel Currencies in Parallel Ledgers and
In order for the system to translate amounts into various currencies, you must define exchange rates . For each currency pair,
you can define different exchange rates and then differentiate between them by using exchange rate types .
Integration
In Financial Accounting , currencies and currency translation are relevant in the following circumstances:
General Ledger Accounting
Post
Clearing
Fiscal Year
Definition
Usually a period of twelve months for which a company regularly creates financial statements and checks inventories.
The fiscal year may correspond exactly to the calendar year, but this is not obligatory.
Under certain circumstances a fiscal year may be less than twelve months (shortened fiscal year).
Structure
A fiscal year is divided into posting periods . Each posting period is defined by a start and a finish date. Before you can post
documents, you must define posting periods, which in turn define the fiscal year.
In addition to the posting periods, you can also define special periods for year-end closing.
In General Ledger Accounting , a fiscal year can have a maximum of twelve posting periods and four special periods. You can
define up to 366 posting periods in the Special Purpose Ledger .
Use
In order to assign business transactions to different time periods, you must define a fiscal year with posting periods. Defining
the fiscal year is obligatory .
You define your fiscal year as fiscal year variants which you then assign to your company code. One fiscal year variant can be
used by several company codes.
You have the following options for defining fiscal year variants:
Fiscal year differs from calendar year (non-calendar fiscal year). The posting periods can also be different to the
calendar months.
You define your fiscal year variants in Customizing for Financial Accounting as follows:
Fiscal Year Maintain Fiscal Year Variant (Maintain Shortened Fiscal Year)
Integration
When you enter a posting, the system automatically determines the posting period. For more information, see Determining
Posting Periods During Posting
In the general ledger, the system saves the transaction figures for all accounts for each posting period and each special period
separately according to debits and credits. In the Special Purpose Ledger component (FI-SL), you can save the transaction
figures as a balance.
Establishment of a company
Use
When you define a shortened fiscal year, you have to make the following specifications:
A shortened fiscal year must always be defined as year-dependent, since it can only apply to a specific year and
must be followed by a complete fiscal year.
You define a shortened fiscal year and the following or previous complete fiscal year in one fiscal year variant.
You define a shortened fiscal year in Customizing for Financial Accounting as follows:
Fiscal Year Maintain Fiscal Year Variant (Maintain Shortened Fiscal Year)
Integration
The options available for defining a shortened fiscal year depend on whether you are using Financial Accounting with or without
Asset Accounting .
If you are using Financial Accounting without Asset Accounting , each fiscal year can start with any period.
If you use Financial Accounting with Asset Accounting , each fiscal year must start with period 001, so that the
depreciation can be calculated correctly.
For more information, see the Asset Accounting documentation under Shortened Fiscal Years
Special Periods
Definition
Special posting periods that subdivide the last regular posting period for closing operations.
Use
Irrespective of how you have defined your fiscal year, you can also use special periods. Special periods subdivide the year-end
closing period. They therefore merely divide the last posting period into several closing periods. This enables you to create
several supplementary financial statements.
A fiscal year usually has 12 posting periods. In General Ledger Accounting , you can define up to four special periods.
Note
If you do not need 12 posting periods, you can use the posting periods that are not required as special periods. If you use these
additional closing periods, you must specify the number you require in the field No. special periods . when defining the fiscal
year variants. You cannot exceed a maximum of 16 periods.
End of the note.
Integration
When posting to special periods, you must take the following into consideration:
The posting date must fall within the last regular posting period.
You have to enter the special periods in the document header in the Period field, since the special periods cannot be
determined automatically by the system.
Integration
If you use the Special Purpose Ledger , you can define different posting periods per ledger. Only the posting period defined for
the general ledger is stored in the document.
Prerequisites
In order for the system to determine posting periods, you must fulfil the following prerequisites:
Define your fiscal year. For more information, see Fiscal Year and Calendar Year .
The periods in which you want to post must be open. For more information, see Opening and Closing Posting
Periods
Features
For postings to the previous fiscal year, the system carries out the following adjustments:
For balance sheet accounts , the system adjusts the carry forward balance of the accounts concerned in the current
fiscal year.
For profit and loss accounts , the profit or loss carried forward to the retained earnings account is adjusted.
Fiscal year differs from calendar year (non-calendar fiscal year). The posting periods can also be different to the
Your fiscal year is year-dependent. This means that the fiscal year only applies to a specific calendar year.
calendar months.
The periods correspond to calendar months. You do not have to define the individual periods. The system
automatically uses the calendar months.
How the system should determine the posting period and fiscal year from the posting date during posting:
Posting Periods
To enable the system to determine the posting period, specify month and day limits for the end of each period.
Caution
Enter 29 as the day limit for February . This ensures that the system can also determine the posting period correctly in a leap
year. If you enter 28 as the day limit for February, transaction figures posted on 29 February will be updated in the next period.
If the next period is not open, the system issues an error message.
End of the caution.
Fiscal Year
Since your fiscal year is not the same as the calendar year, you have to specify the year displacement for each posting period.
You can use the entries -1, 0 , and +1 for this.
Example
In the illustration that follows, your fiscal year begins on April 1 and ends on March 31. The period limits correspond to the
beginning and end of the calendar months.
Since the fiscal year does not correspond to the calendar year, you specify how the fiscal year is to be determined by entering
the year displacement. If you post with a posting date of 02/03/99, the system uses your definition of the fiscal year variant to
determine that posting period 11 is in fiscal year 1998.
You must split the period 12/16 to 01/15 in two posting periods, since you require different specifications for the year
displacement. This means that for posting period 9, you have to define two posting periods (with year displacements 0 and -1).
In the example given, the system would determine the following posting periods and fiscal years from the posting dates given:
End of the example.
Posting Date
Year Displacement
Period
Fiscal Year
20.12.1998
1998
13.01.1999
-1
1998
Features
You have the following options for opening and closing posting periods.
Account Type
You can differentiate the opening and closing of posting periods by account type. This means that for a specific
posting period, postings can be permitted to customer accounts, but not to vendor accounts.
Caution
For each posting period that should be open, you must always specify at least account type + (valid for all account
types). You can exercise more detailed control by specifying further account types.
Using the minimum entry, when you enter the posting date in the document header, the system checks whether the
posting period determined in the posting period variant can be posted to. As soon as you then enter an account
number, in a second step, the system checks whether the posting period is permitted for the account specified.
End of the caution.
Account Interval
You can differentiate the opening and closing of posting periods by account intervals. This means that you only open
a posting period for posting to specific G/L accounts.
Account intervals are used exclusively with G/L accounts. If you want to open subledger accounts, you have to enter
the corresponding reconciliation account and the account type.
Example
During the closing operations, you can use the reconciliation accounts to close customer and vendor accounts before
G/L accounts, for example. This allows you to prevent further postings to these accounts after you have confirmed
the balances with your customers and vendors. Balance confirmation is one of the prerequisites for further closing
operations.
End of the example.
Users
You can open and close posting periods only for specific users. To do this, enter an authorization group for account
type + (at document header level) and, if necessary, for other account types (at the line item level).
Note
This authorization group is effective only in time period 1 and prevents users who do not have the appropriate
authorization for the authorization object F_BKPF_BUP (accounting document: Authorization for posting periods)
from posting in periods that are only open for time period 1 .
For more information on allocating authorizations, see the following sections of the Implementation Guide:
o
Activities
You make the settings for opening and closing posting periods in Customizing:
1.
Specify the minimum entry + to open the periods you need for all your accounts.
2.
Open the current period and the following period for all your G/L accounts by entering an account number interval
containing all account numbers.
3.
For the interval 140100 to 149999, specify the current, the following and the previous period.
4.
For account 140150, specify only the current and the following period.
5.
For your customer and vendor accounts, use the reconciliation accounts to specify the permitted posting periods. To
do this, enter the account type in the column headed A . Then specify the permitted posting periods for the desired
account number interval.
Note
For account types D and K , you specify the numbers of the reconciliation accounts rather than those of the customer and
vendor accounts themselves. This entry determines the posting periods permitted for the sub-ledger accounts.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites for posting to a new fiscal year are as follows:
If you are using a fiscal year variant which is year-specific, you first have to create a variant for this fiscal year and
assign it to the relevant company code. See Fiscal Year and Calendar Year
If you have also defined year-dependent document number assignment , you must have already set up the document
number ranges for the new fiscal year. For more information, see Document Number Assignment
The relevant posting periods must be open in the new fiscal year. See Opening and Closing Posting
Balance Carryforward
Balance carryforward involves carrying forward account balances into the new fiscal year. The balance to be carried forward is
shown in the account balance display. To carry forward balances, you can use a program for G/L accounts and another
program for customer and vendor accounts.
Caution
You have to carry out the balance carryforward manually; it is not performed automatically even if you have already made
postings to the new fiscal year.
End of the caution.
The system carries balances forward as follows:
The balances on these accounts are carried forward to the same accounts in the new fiscal year.
P&L accounts are carried forward to one or more retained earnings accounts. The balances of the profit and loss
accounts are set to 0.
Transaction currencies are no longer applicable and are summarized in local currency.
Prerequisites
A profit and loss account type must be specified in the master record of every profit and loss account. This
is the key with which you define a retained earnings account for each chart of accounts.
For the Special Purpose Ledger, you make the setting in Customizing for Financial Accounting under
Special Purpose Ledger Periodic Processing Balance Carryforward Retained Earnings Accounts
Maintain Local/Global Retained Earnings Accounts
Note
Most companies use only one retained earnings account. However, by using the profit and loss account
type, you can use more than one retained earnings account. This could be useful for international
corporations, for example, that have to meet various requirements when producing their profit and loss
statement. For more information, see Special Features in P&L Accounts.
End of the note.
Features
General Functions
Account Adjustments
If, in the new fiscal year, you find that a G/L account was mistakenly set up as a P&L account in the prior year instead
of as a balance sheet account (or vice versa), you must first adjust the master data of the affected account record
and then repeat the balance carryforward.
Parallel Currencies
If you use parallel currencies in General Ledger Accounting, and the second or third currency of your general ledger
is the group currency, the balances are managed in this group currency in ledger 00 and carried forward as part of
the balance carryforward.
If you run parallel currencies in additional parallel general ledgers other than ledger 00, you have to perform the
balance carry forward separately for the parallel general ledgers.
Caution
If you want to use a field movement for balance sheet accounts, your field movement must contain the dimension
Account. However, the field movement for P&L accounts must not contain the dimension Account (except for when
you want to change the account using a user exit).
Activities
To perform the balance carryforward, you must call the program as follows:
G/L Accounts
From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose
Caution
For the balance carryforward in Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable, you can only perform balance
carryforward for individual accounts. For the balance carryforward in General Ledger Accounting, you have to
perform balance carryforward for all G/L accounts.
End of the caution.
Document Types
A key that is used to classify accounting documents and distinguish between business transactions to be posted. The
document type is entered in the document header and applies to the whole document.
The document type has the following functions:
Differentiating between business transactions. The document type tells you immediately what sort of business
transaction is involved. This is useful, for example, when displaying line items for an account.
Controlling the posting to account types (vendor, customer, or G/L accounts). The document type determines which
account types that particular document can be posted to.
Assigning document numbers. A number range is assigned to every document type from which the number of the
document in the SAP system is selected. The original documents from one number range should be stored together.
In this way, the document type controls document storage.
For more information, see Document Number Assignment and Controlling Document Storage Using the Document Type.
Applying the vendor net procedure. This means that any discount and the net amount are calculated (and posted)
when the vendor invoice is posted.
The accounting clerk enters the number of the original document during document entry, or the number is transferred
automatically from a pre-invoicing system. A prerequisite is that the document numbers are unique. The system checks whether
the number entered already exists and prevents users from assigning the same number twice. Numbers assigned to
documents that have been archived however, can be reused.
The system automatically assigns a sequential number. The accounting clerk transfers this SAP document number to the
printed original document and then files it using this number. This method is used if the original documents do not have a
unique document number. This is the case, for example, with vendor invoices.
You use a number range to define how the document number is assigned. Each document type has a specific number range
from which the document number is selected.
Integration
Reversing Documents
When you reverse documents, the system automatically assigns a number for the reverse document. To do this, the system
requires a document type that has internal number assignment. Every document type with external number assignment must
therefore be assigned a reverse document type that has internal number assignment.
Note
Documents posted with a document type that has internal number assignment are reversed by the system using the same
document type if you do not specify a separate reverse document type.
End of the note.
Sales and Distribution (SD)
If you have installed the Sales and Distribution (SD) component, your system administrator can configure the system so that
either the invoice number from SD is used for the accounting document, or separate document numbers are assigned to
invoices from SD. For more information, see the SD - Sales and Distribution documentation Number Assignment for Material
Master Records and Validity Period for the Document Number Interval
Document Header
Definition
The part of a document that contains information valid for the whole document, for example, document date and number. It also
contains controlling information such as the document type.
Procedure
1.
2.
To enter a document in Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable , from the SAP Easy Access screen choose
Accounting Financial accounting Accounts receivable/Accounts payable Document entry Other Invoice general/Credit memo - general
3.
Enter the data required on the Enter G/L Account Posting: Header Data screen. Depending on your settings in
Customizing, the following entries are required:
Document date
The document date is the date the business transaction (such as a transfer posting, or the issue date of an invoice or payment)
took place. The document date can be different from the posting date, which is the date that G/L account balances or the
customer/vendor balances are updated.
Document type
For some document types, you also have to make entries in the fields Reference and Document header text .
Document number
Depending on the document type, document numbers are either internally assigned by the system or entered by you externally.
Company code
The system defaults this company code in all subsequent documents you enter that day.
Posting date
The system automatically defaults the current date as the document date. When you post the document however, you can
enter any other date (past or future) from a permitted posting period. The posting date can be different to the document entry
date and the document date (date the original document was created).
The posting date determines the posting period.
Period
The periods that are permitted for posting are determined by your system configuration. You can also post to periods in a
previous fiscal year. If you do this, the carry forward balance for the current year is automatically corrected in special periods.
Currency/Exchange rate
When you enter the first document of the day, you must enter a currency key. The system defaults this currency key in all
subsequent documents entered on that day.
You have the following options when entering an exchange rate in a document header:
Enter the currency key. The system automatically transfers the exchange rate valid on the posting date. The
exchange rate must be defined in the system.
or
Enter the currency key and the translation date required. The system transfers the exchange rate valid on the
translation date. The exchange rate must be defined in the system.
or
Enter the currency key and the exchange rate manually in the document header.
This entry is then defaulted in each G/L account item that is not generated automatically. It can however be overwritten if
required.
Doc.header text
The document header text contains explanations or notes that are applicable to the whole document, not just specific document
line items.
Reference number
Either you enter the number of a cross-company code document manually, or it is determined by the system.
Reference
Doc.header text
Line Items
Definition
The part of a document that contains information about an item. This includes an amount, an account number, the credit or
debit assignment, and additional details specific to the transaction being posted.
Use
You can enter terms of payment, a cost center, or an explanatory text in a line item for example
Features
In the document overview you can:
Delete items
Note that before you post the document, you can edit any field in any line item, except the following:
Pk (Posting key)
Account
Company code
Integration
Which line items are generated depends on which business transactions you have entered:
Features
The following table gives you an overview of the different business transactions for which line items can be generated
automatically.
Business transaction
Entering a customer or vendor invoice
Line items
Tax on sales/purchases (output tax when posting a customer invoice, input tax when
Backdated tax calculation for tax on sales/purchases (after cash discount deduction)
Gains and losses from exchange rate differences (between invoice and payment)
Residual items
Bank charges
Activities
Adding Details to Automatically Generated Line Items
Prerequisites
Make sure that the G/L account is marked as adjustable and that the appropriate field is defined as optional or required in the
field status group.
Procedure
1.
Select the item for which you want to make an additional account assignment by placing the cursor on an
automatically generated line item and choosing
2.
3.
Choose
Document Post
Note
If you use fast entry to enter G/L account line items, and required fields are not displayed on the fast entry screen, you must
add details to the G/L account line items. This process is the same as adjusting an automatically generated line item.
You can also adjust line items after posting by changing the document
Document Reversal
Purpose
If you have entered an incorrect document, you can reverse it, thereby also clearing the open items.
A document can only be reversed if:
All entered values (such as business area, cost center, and tax code) are still valid
Note
If a line item from a source document has been cleared, a reversal can only be carried out after the clearing is reset.
Information on clearing is available in FI General Ledger Accounting as well as FI Accounts Receivable and Accounts
Payable .
End of the note.
Integration
Documents from SD can be reversed with a credit memo. Documents from MM must be reversed with functions in that
component because the reversal function in FI does not reverse all the values required. For more information on reversals in
SD and MM, see the documentation for those applications.
Features
There are two ways of updating transaction figures when reversing a document:
The document and the reverse document increase the account transaction debit and credit figures by the same
amount.
After a document has been reversed, the balance of the account affected is shown as if the document had never
been posted. ( Negative Postings)
Constraints
You generally post the reversal document in the same posting period as the corresponding original document. If the posting
period of the source document has already been closed, you have to enter a date that falls in an open posting period (for
example, the current one) in the Posting date field.
Negative Postings
Use
Reverse and adjustment postings can also be marked as negative postings. Negative postings are used to reduce the
transaction figures in G/L, customer, and vendor accounts. This allows you to give the transaction figures (following the
reversal) the status they would have had without posting the reversed document and its reversal document. This type of
reversal is called a negative posting.
Use
Reverse and adjustment postings can also be marked as negative postings. Negative postings are used to reduce the
transaction figures in G/L, customer, and vendor accounts. This allows you to give the transaction figures (following the
reversal) the status they would have had without posting the reversed document and its reversal document. This type of
reversal is called a negative posting.
Integration
Integration
Other applications have to mark reversal transactions that affect Accounting with a checkbox. This obligation to inform is
independent of the marking of negative postings in FI and applies to reversals for:
Negative postings give rise to changes in the reconciliation between documents and transaction figures. A debit item marked as
a negative posting reduces the credit transaction figures, a credit item correspondingly reduces the debit transaction figures.
These changes are considered in the standard reconciliation programs and various standard reports (for example, SAPF070
and RFBELJ00).
Prerequisites
Permit negative postings. You do this per company code in Customizing for Financial Accounting according to account type in
General Ledger Accounting/Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable Business Transactions Document Reversal
Permit Negative Postings
Features
Reversal
You must specify the reasons for the reversal transaction. For each reason, you specify whether negative postings are to be
generated. The reversal reason is noted in the header of the reversed document. This additional information cannot be
accessed in reversals which take place via invoice verification (MM) or billing (SD).
If the reversed document had already been revaluated, additional line items are generated during reversal for resetting the
foreign currency valuation. The system automatically marks these items as negative postings.
If the reversed document already contains negative postings, then the corresponding line items in the reversal document are
not negative postings.
You must enter a reason for a reverse posting when entering an accrual/deferral document. The reason for the reverse posting
is noted in the accrual/deferral document and used as a reversal reason during resetting. You can enter any reversal reason for
which a reversal with an alternative posting date can be carried out.
Residual items
The system marks residual items as negative postings. This prevents debit and credit transaction figures increasing simply
because of the creation of residual items.
Outstanding payables and receivables that the system generates according to an amount entered in the field Difference
postings are also automatically marked as negative postings.
Adjustment documents
In order to exclude the effects of incorrect postings on the transaction figures, you can enter adjustment documents in which
individual line items are marked as negative postings.
If, for example, you posted a line item to the wrong account, you can use an adjustment document to correct the wrong account
using a negative posting, and make the posting to the correct account.
Adjustment postings of this sort are only possible for document types specifically defined for this.
To mark individual line items as negative postings when entering a document, select the field Negative posting under More data
.
Automatic postings
If you mark manually entered document items as negative postings, this does not affect the generation of automatic postings
such as tax postings for example. These are not immediately marked as negative postings. You can however mark the relevant
items as negative postings within a supplementary account assignment. The account must not however be marked for
supplementary account assignment in the master record.
During automatic account determination, you have to mark individual items of the document as negative postings for those
transactions where debit and credit postings affect different accounts.
The indicator for negative postings is available as a display field for the line item display.
Activities
To enter reversal and accrual/deferral documents, you have to specify reversal reasons . For each reversal reason, specify
whether negative postings are to be created in the reversal document and whether the reversal date may differ from the posting
date of the document to be reversed. You define reversal reasons in Customizing for Financial Accounting according to account
type in General Ledger Accounting/Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable Business Transactions Document
Reversal Define Reasons for Reversal
You define document types for adjustment postings in Customizing for Financial Accounting under Document Document
header Financial Accounting Global Settings Define Document Types
If you want to see the indicator for negative postings in the line item display, you must either create appropriate display variants
or expand existing variants. You do this in Customizing for Financial Accounting according to account type in General Ledger
Accounting (G/L Accounts) and/or Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable (Customer/Vendor Accounts) Line Items
Line Item Display Define Line Layout
General Ledger
Accounting G/L Accounts Master Data G/L Account Creation Preparations Define Retained Earnings Account
Normally, companies use one retained earnings account. For this reason, X can be used as the key. In the chart of
accounts you enter X in theP+L statement account typefield, and for account determination you enter the retained
earnings account under the key X .
Taxes (FI-AP/AR)
Purpose
You can use the SAP System to manage various types of tax according to the legal requirements of a country or a region. The
Financial Accounting components Accounts Receivable (FI-AR) , Accounts Payable (FI/AP) , and General Ledger provide the
following comprehensive tax functions:
Tax calculation
The system calculates tax amounts with or without cash discount based on the tax base amount.
Tax codes are used to calculate and check the amounts.
Tax posting
The system posts the tax amounts to defined tax accounts.
Adjustments
The system corrects tax amounts, in the case of cash discount or other deductions, for example.
Tax reporting
You can use the system to create tax returns.
Implementation considerations
To make use of the various tax types, make the relevant settings in the Implementation Guide (IMG) for Financial Accounting
under Financial Accounting Global Settings .
For more information, see the individual activities in the IMG.
Integration
You can process tax in all components in which tax is incurred as a result of business transactions that are later posted to
Financial Accounting.
Features
The SAP System supports the following tax types for calculating, posting, and correcting tax, as well as for tax reporting.
Tax type
Description
Taxes on sales and purchases are levied on every sales transaction in accordance with the principles of VAT. This applies
purchases
Input tax is calculated using the net invoice amount and is charged by the vendor.
Output tax is calculated using the net price of products and is charged to the customer.
Companies can offset input tax against output tax, paying the balance to the tax authorities. Tax authorities can set a
nondeductible portion for input tax which cannot then be claimed from the tax authorities.
Additional tax
Additional taxes are taxes that are posted in addition to tax on sales/purchases. They are usually country-specific, such as
investment tax in Norway, or sales equalization tax in Belgium.
Sales tax
An example of sales tax is the sales and use tax that exists in the USA. Sales transactions that are taxed must be kept
strictly separate from sales transactions that are not taxed.
In general, goods that are intended for production or for resale to a third party are procured untaxed; that is, the vendor
does not calculate tax on the sale of these goods (sales tax). Procurement transactions for individual consumption, on the
other hand, are taxable (use tax).
The principle of sales tax does not permit the option of offsetting input tax against output tax. The vendor must pay the
taxes to the tax authorities.
The system calculates sales tax based on material and customer location and posts it in Sales and Distribution (SD) and
Materials Management (MM). If customers or vendors are exempt from taxation, you can specify this in their master
records by entering the appropriate indicator.
Withholding tax
In some countries, a portion of the invoice amount must be withheld for certain vendors and paid or reported directly to the
tax authorities.
SAP currently provides two functions for calculating withholding tax: Classic withholding tax and extended withholding
tax .
Extended withholding tax includes all the features of classic withholding tax and, in addition, also fulfills a number of further
country-specific requirements.
If you wish to implement the withholding tax functions in your organization, you should choose extended withholding tax.
For more information about changing over from classic withholding tax to extended withholding tax, see Withholding Tax
Changeover .
Description
At national level
At regional/jurisdiction
Tax calculation with tax rates levied for the region or the tax jurisdiction
level
USA: In the USA, there are more than 67,000 tax jurisdictions. Software from third parties is used in this case, and
supported by SAP using generic interface software (see also the SAP Library under Country-Specific Documentation ).
Taxes on sales/purchases, additional taxes, and sales taxes are determined and calculated using condition methods. For the
calculation, the system requires details of the calculation procedure, the tax code, the jurisdiction code if applicable, and so on.
These taxes are posted when the documents are processed.
Withholding tax, by contrast, is not calculated using condition methods, nor is it posted during document processing.
Withholding tax is not considered until the outgoing payment is made.
A tax adjustment can be performed automatically, if required, for cash discount postings and other deductions
These transactions are controlled using Customizing, whereby the following specifications need to be made:
To determine the tax amount, the system calculates a base amount , the composition of which varies from country to
country. You determine whether the base amount for tax calculation is to include the specified cash discount amount.
This information must be defined for each company code. See also Base Amount and Cash Discount .
To enter and determine taxes automatically, a tax code is required, which will include the tax rate prescribed by law.
See also Tax Codes .
The tax amount is generally posted automatically . For posting, specify the tax accounts to which the individual taxes
are to be posted. See also Automatic Tax Posting .
In a G/L account master record , you can specify whether the account is a tax account, and if so, which tax type
(input tax or output tax) can be posted to the account. For all other G/L accounts, you can use the master record to
specify a tax rate and a tax type, or specify that it is not tax-relevant. See also Specifications in G/L Accounts .
See also:
Tax on Sales/Purchases for Down Payments
Specifications for the Tax Type
Separate Exchange Rate for Translating Taxes into Foreign Currency
Tax Return to the Tax Authorities
Net tax base and gross cash discount base only for tax calculation with jurisdiction code
Tax Codes
Tax codes are used to:
Check if a tax account with tax type (input or output tax) can be posted to
You define a tax code by entering a two-digit code to represent a tax percentage rate. See also Tax Rates . In addition, the
following technical specifications (characteristics) are required:
Tax type: You specify whether it is input or output tax. See also Input or Output Tax .
Check indicator: You use this indicator to specify whether the system is to output a warning message or an error
message if the tax amount entered manually does not match the amount calculated automatically. See also Check
Indicators .
EU indicator
The system defaults tax types when you define a tax code. These tax types are the taxes that are relevant to your country or
group of countries.
The tax types are defined in the system as country-specific and they determine how the tax is calculated and posted. The
system determines the tax types by means of the country key that you specify when you define a tax code. For more
information on the tax type, see Specifications for the Tax Type .
For information on how to proceed if you need a tax code for tax-exempt sales, see Tax Codes for Tax-Exempt Sales .
For information on how to define tax codes, see the Implementation Guide for Financial Accounting under the documentation
for the activity Define Tax Codes for Sales and Purchases. See also Configuring the System Using the Implementation
Guide .
If the non-deductible portion of the input tax can be assigned, it can be apportioned to the G/L accounts and fixed asset
accounts which have the same tax code. If it cannot be assigned, it is posted to a separate account. Whether or not the posting
can be assigned is predefined for the tax types that the system defaults. If you want to post the input tax amount to a separate
account, you define the account number for the automatic posting in the system.
The Define Tax Accounts activity in the Implementation Guide for Financial Accounting explains how to make the settings for
automatic posting of taxes. See also Configuring the System Using the Implementation Guide .
Withholding Tax
Definition
Tax that is charged at the beginning of the payment flow in some countries. Usually, the party that is subject to tax does not pay
the withholding tax over to the tax authorities himself.
When a customer that is authorized to deduct withholding tax pays invoices from a vendor subject to withholding tax, the
customer reduces the payment amount by the withholding tax proportion. The customer then pays the tax withheld directly to
the appropriate tax authorities (see diagram).
Withholding Tax
An exception to this rule is self-withholding. The vendor subject to tax then has the right to pay the tax to the authorities himself.
Use
To calculate, pay, and report the withholding tax, the SAP System provides two functions:
Classic Withholding Tax (all Releases)
Extended Withholding Tax (from Release 4.0)
For each company code, you can decide whether you want to use classic or extended withholding tax. Since the extended
withholding tax option includes all the functions of classic withholding tax, SAP recommends the use of extended withholding
tax (see below: Table of Classic and Extended Withholding Tax Functions).
If you have previously used classic withholding tax, and now wish to change over to extended withholding tax, you must first
convert the withholding tax data in all the company codes affected.
Do not activate extended withholding tax before you have converted the data.
SAP has developed a special tool to support the withholding tax changeover. For more information, see Withholding Tax
Changeover
X
X
Max. 1
Several
Net amount
Modified net amount
Gross amount
X
X
Tax amount
Rounding rule
Accumulation
Calculation formulas
Country-Specific Requirements
Due to legal requirements, the following countries use extended withholding tax:
America
Asia/Pacific
Argentina
United Kingdom
India
Brazil
Slovakia
The Philippines
Chile
Turkey
South Korea
Colombia
Thailand
Mexico
Peru
Venezuela
V1
V1
V1
When the payment transaction is posted, the system uses tax code V1 to calculate the tax amount for the cash discount
amount. It then automatically adjusts the tax on sales/purchases amount previously posted to the tax account.
Case 2: The document contains different tax rates. A tax code has been entered in the customer/vendor line item.
Customer/vendor line item
V1
V2
V3
In this case, the system corrects the tax on sales/purchases amount per tax on sales/purchases code. Line items that are not
liable for cash discount are ignored when the adjustment posting is made. When the payment transaction is posted, the system
uses the tax code in the customer/vendor line item to make the adjustment. As above, the tax on sales/purchases amounts
already posted to the tax accounts are automatically adjusted per tax on sales/purchases code.
Case 3: The document contains different tax rates. A "**" is entered in the customer/vendor line item in place of a tax code.
Customer/vendor line item
**
V1
V2
If the customer/vendor line item does not contain a code, the codes from the G/L account line items are used. The system
calculates the tax amount for the cash discount amount for each tax code. As above, the tax on sales/purchases amounts
already posted to the tax accounts are automatically adjusted per tax on sales/purchases code.
Example
You have posted an outgoing invoice for USD 3,370 (see the following figure, 1 ). The tax amount (USD 370) was posted
automatically to the tax account.
The customer pays the invoice amount of USD 3,370 minus three percent cash discount, that is, USD 3,268.90 (see the
following figure, 2 ). The invoice contained one line item for USD 2,000 with 15 percent tax (A1) and an item of USD 1,000 with
7 percent tax (A2). When posting the payment transaction, the system determines (per code) the net cash discount amount and
the tax amount. From these tax amounts, the system automatically makes an adjustment posting to the tax accounts.
End of the example.
The system posts the following amounts during the payment transaction:
Number Range
Definition
Area in which numbers are assigned that refer to business objects of the same type. Examples of objects:
Business partners
G/L accounts
Orders
Posting documents
Materials
One or more number range intervals are specified for each number range, as well as the type of number assignment.
There are two types of number assignment:
Internal
When saving a data record, the SAP system assigns a sequential number that lies within the corresponding number
range interval.
External
When saving a data record, either the user or an external system assigns a number. The number must lie within the
corresponding number range interval.
Note
You maintain number ranges
Use
The system generates a document number for each business transaction. Business transactions are classified according to CO
transactions.
Example
The business transaction Direct Internal Activity Allocation belongs to the Controlling transaction Actual Activity Allocation .
End of the example.
This means that you must assign each transaction to a number range interval. It is also possible to define multiple business
transactions in one number range interval.
The Controlling component provides a large number of transactions for each controlling area.
Prerequisites
You define number ranges in Customizing under
Documents
You can:
Maintain number range intervals and number range statuses in the controlling area
Process Flow
You define number ranges in two steps:
1.
You create individual business transaction groups for each controlling area.
2.
You can, for example, group all planning transactions into a business transaction group and then assign it to a
number range interval.
You can also create a business transaction group for each business transaction if you require a greater level of detail
for the number assignment. If this is the case, you make assignments to the number range on the business
transaction level.
3.
This enables you to combine similar or related business transactions into one number range.
Example
If all planning transactions are grouped together, the system processes all the business transactions connected with planning in
one number range.
The SAP system includes standard default assignments of business transactions to number ranges for controlling area 0001.
You can copy these assignments to other controlling areas if you wish. You then only need to maintain the number ranges if you
require other assignments or other number range groups.
End of the example.
The following graphic illustrates the steps required for defining number ranges.
Chart of accounts
Account group
The sample account and the data transfer rules are optional and provide special functions. The following figure gives an
overview of these objects.
The chart of accounts list contains all of the charts of accounts that you support within a client.
The chart of accounts in the SAP system is a list of all G/L account master records which are used in one or several
company codes. For every G/L account master record, the chart of accounts contains the account number, the
account name and controlling information.
The sample account and the data transfer rules determine which field values are predefined when creating a G/L
account master record and whether these values can be overwritten.
The account group is a summary of characteristics that control the creation of master records. You can use it to
determine which fields must or can be filled when creating the master record. In addition, it can be used to predefine
a number interval, from which the numbers for the master records should be chosen. Accounts that require the same
master record fields and use the same number interval are created with the same account group.
The G/L account master record in the company code contains company code-specific information which controls the
entry of data to this account and the management of the account.
Use
To make certain that company codes using the same chart of accounts can also use the same G/L accounts, a master record is
created for the G/L account in the chart of accounts and in the company code-specific areas.
Structure
The following information is contained in the chart of accounts area of a G/L account master record.
The account number and account name (short and long text)
The indicator that specifies whether the account is a balance sheet account or an P&L statement account .
At the start of a new fiscal year, the balance of a balance sheet account is carried forward to itself. With P&L statement
accounts, you must specify the account to which the profit or loss is carried forward at the end of a fiscal year.
With the account group, you group similar accounts together and control the creating and changing of master records. They
control
The account number interval in which the account number must lie.
The screen layout for creating G/L accounts in the company code-specific area. This means that you can define
whether fields require an entry, may have an entry, or are hidden when creating or changing a master record in the
company code-specific area.
You defined the account groups prior to creating G/L accounts. For more information, read Account Group
Entries which are necessary for consolidation are trading partner and group account number
Use
Before you can make postings to a G/L account, you have to create a master record in your company code for the account. The
G/L account must already be in the chart of accounts. For more information, see G/L Account Master Records in Chart of
Accounts .
Structure
When creating a G/L account in a company code, you have to make several specifications. These specifications are saved in
the G/L account master record and will affect future transactions, such as postings to this G/L account.
Some of the specifications have serious impact on future work and are described in the following sections. Before you make
your specifications, you should read these sections.
Use
To make certain that company codes using the same chart of accounts can also use the same G/L accounts, a master record is
created for the G/L account in the chart of accounts and in the company code-specific areas.
Structure
The following information is contained in the chart of accounts area of a G/L account master record.
The account number and account name (short and long text)
The indicator that specifies whether the account is a balance sheet account or an P&L statement account .
At the start of a new fiscal year, the balance of a balance sheet account is carried forward to itself. With P&L statement
accounts, you must specify the account to which the profit or loss is carried forward at the end of a fiscal year.
With the account group, you group similar accounts together and control the creating and changing of master records. They
control
The account number interval in which the account number must lie.
The screen layout for creating G/L accounts in the company code-specific area. This means that you can define
whether fields require an entry, may have an entry, or are hidden when creating or changing a master record in the
company code-specific area.
You defined the account groups prior to creating G/L accounts. For more information, read Account Group
Entries which are necessary for consolidation are trading partner and group account number.
Account group
Definition
The account group is a summary of accounts based on criteria that effects how master records are created.
The account group determines:
The number interval from which the account number is selected when a G/L account is created.
The screen layout for creating G/L accounts in the company code-specific area
Use
When you create a G/L account in the chart of accounts area, you must specify an account group.
Using the account group, you can group the G/L accounts according to functional area.
Example
For example, you can group all bank accounts, postal giro accounts, and cash in the account group FIN. for "liquid funds".
End of the example.
The account group also defines the set up when creating a G/L account in the company code and chart of accounts. By
defining the number interval and the screen layout, you simplify G/L account creation by reducing the number of entry fields.
The account groups are entered in Customizing per chart of accounts. You do this in Financial Accounting Customizing under
General Ledger Accounting G/L Accounts Master Data Preparations Define Account Group
Structure
The account group contains the following definitions:
Number interval
Standard charts of accounts are recommended in most countries. These are generally created so that the numbers of accounts
belonging to the same functional area begin with the same digits. You use the account group in the chart of accounts to indicate
this grouping principle. For more information on this, see Defining Number Ranges .
Screen Layout
The accounts within a functional area require the same fields for storing information when entering and processing business
transactions. Using the account group, you define the fields needed for each functional area and the form needed. For more
information on this, see Defining the Screen Layout .
Note
Make certain you define the field status when defining an account group. Otherwise, all fields are hidden. For more information,
see Field Status Definition
Prerequisites
If you want to delete an account group, note the following:
Caution
You can only delete an account group is no G/L account master records exist for this account group. Otherwise, you cannot
display or change the G/L accounts.
End of the caution.
Features
You may make the following changes:
You can enter an account group for an existing G/L account. By doing so, you change the field status definition and the number
interval (see the following points).
Optional field
Required field
Hide
Display
You can change the number interval of an account group. If you have chosen a number interval that is too small, you can
increase it as necessary.
This change only has an effect when creating new G/L accounts. The system checks whether the account number entered is in
the number interval.
Integration
You can change the number interval of an account group at a later time. For more information, see hierzu Changing the
Account Group .
Prerequisites
In the chart of accounts list, you define the length of the account numbers for the entire chart of accounts. The maximum length
is ten characters. For more information, see Chart of Accounts List .
Features
You have the following options when assigning account numbers.
You can reassign the account numbers of G/L accounts that were previously deleted.
In order to have an orderly display of the account numbers, you should note the following points.
Equal length
Use either alphanumeric or numerical account numbers. The system pads purely numeric account numbers with zeroes from
the left, and alphanumeric account numbers from the right.
Example
113000 0000113000
1131DB 1131DB0000
End of the example.
Activities
To define the number interval for an account group, from Financial Accounting Customizing choose
Accounting G/L Accounts Master Data Preparations Define Account Group
General Ledger
Description
Required entry
Optional entry
You may make an entry in this field when creating a G/L account
Display
Suppressed
The field is not displayed, that is, you do not see the field when creating a G/L account.
Caution
If you do not assign a field status, the field status "Suppress" is automatically used.
End of the caution.
Features
The screen layout does not only effect the creation of G/L accounts in the company code-specific area, but also the changing
G/L account master records. When you make changes, the system always uses the current definition. For more information,
see also Changing the Account Group .
Note
The fields "Currency" and "Field status group" require an entry. These fields must be contained in the master record of the G/L
account.
End of the note.
Activities
To define the screen layout, in Financial Accounting Customizing choose
Master Data Preparations Define Account Group
You set the field status by selecting the required field status for each field group:
Reconciliation account
These accounts will never be used as reconciliation accounts, that is, this field has no relevance for this account group and can
thus be suppressed.
These accounts are posted to directly, that is, the fields can be suppressed.
Cash flow
Each G/L account in this account group is relevant to cash flow. The system requires this information, for example, to determine
the payment amount from a customer for a payment confirmation. This field thus requires an entry.
This figure shows the screen layout for creating G/L account in the company code-specific area for the field groups "Account
control", "Document entry", Bank/financial details" with all the fields and the screen layout for the account group "Liquid funds
account".
2.
Note
Do not forget to maintain the field status. Otherwise, all fields are suppressed.
End of the note.
Example of a field status group
You defined a separate field status group for bank accounts because you always need the same fields for posting to bank
accounts. Within this group, the assignment number, text, and value date fields are optional. You have specified that all other
fields be suppressed.
The figure below shows the standard screen in which no fields are suppressed, and the screen for posting to a bank account.
Integration
Besides the field status group in the account master record, your posting key specifications also effect posting. For each
posting key, you can decide what status the fields should have when posting with a key. But because there are only two posting
keys for posting to G/L accounts in the standard system, you should use the field status groups from accounts in the master
record for your screen layouts. The field status definition for posting keys 40 (debit posting to G/L accounts) and 50 (credit
posting to G/L accounts) have optional status for each field in the standard system. Do not change this.
Some fields are controlled by other specifications. If you work with business areas, display the field centrally using company
code specifications. The component documentation for general ledger accounting (FI-GL) as well as accounts receivable and
payable (FI-AP/FI-AR) explains in greater detail when fields can be suppressed or shown independently of a field status group.
Field status groups and reconciliation accounts
You must also enter field status groups in reconciliation accounts. These specifications affect the customer or vendor accounts
during posting. You cannot enter any field status groups in the master records of these accounts.
Display
Create
Change
For each editing function, you can specify the field status for the company code-specific area of a G/L account.
Integration
When you create, display, or change a master record, the system links the field status definitions you made for the account
group with those made for the editing function. The fields in a field group take the status with the highest priority.
The status with the highest priority is the suppressed field, followed by display, optional, and required entry fields.
Customers
Sales prospects
Competitors
Products
Sales materials
Competitors products
Every company is structured in a certain way. In order to work with the SAP System your company structure has to
be represented in the system. This is done with the help of various organizational structures.
In sales and distribution, products are sold or sent to business partners or services are performed for them. Data
about the products and services as well as about the business partners is the basis for sales processing. Sales
processing with the SAP System requires that the master data has been stored in the system.
In addition to sales and distribution, other departments of the company such asaccounting or materials management
access the master data. The material master data is stored in a specific structure in order to allow access from these
different views.
The processing of business transactions in sales and distribution is based on the master data. In the SAP System,
business transaction are stored in the form of documents. These sales and distribution documents are structured
according to certain criteria so that all necessary information in the document is stored in a systematic way.
Organizational Structures in
Accounting
A group can be represented in the system using the terms client and company code. Generally, a client represents a group,
while a company code represents a company in the sense of an independent accounting unit. Company codes are independent
from each other in the legal sense.
The following figure illustrates how the client is subdivided in company codes.
Plants 1, 2 and 3 belong to company code 1. Sales organization 1 uses plants 1 and 2. Sales organization 2 uses plants 2 and
3. Sales organizations 1 and 2 can make cross-company sales for goods from plants 4 or 5
Procedure
1.
Choose an account group such as sold-to party from the Account group field in the Create customer: Entry screen.
2.
Enter a customer number in the customer field or leave it empty, depending on whether external or internal
assignment is set for the account group.
3.
Sales organization
Distribution channel
Division
By selecting All sales areas you can find out which combination of sales organization, distribution channel, and division is
possible for the customer.
1.
Press Enter.
Address
Enter a name in the field Search term which will later make it possible for you to retrieve the customer master record using a
matchcode.
Control data
Enter data for account control and control processing. If the customer comes from an EU country, you must enter a sales tax
number.
Contact person
Here you can enter data on the contact persons. You can use the buttons to enter additional data for each contact person, for
example, visiting times, etc.
1.
You reach the Create Customer: Sales area data You can enter the following data on the tab pages:
Sales
Shipping
Billing document
Partner functions
Define the possible partner functions for this customer and the business partner, that should be automatically proposed in a
sales document such as a sales order. These functions could be, for example, contact partners, sales executives, different
payers and so on.
You can display additional information, for example, on the account group, when processing the data. You can find further
information under Displaying Additional Information on Customer Master Records .
1.
If you want to work in the central view, you can enter company code specific data using the Company code data
button.
2.
Menu path
Create
Whole
Distribution
Distribution
Creating central customer master record, for Sales and
Create
Change
Sales and
view
Distribution
Change
Whole
Display
Sales and
view
Distribution
Displaying central customer master record (Sales and
Display
Whole
Note
You often need to enter a valid sales area in the entry screen for customer master record maintenance. There are two buttons
to help you with this entry.
End of the note.
You can use the button All sales areas ... to select one of the sales areas created in the system
You can use the button Customer sales areas ... to display all sales areas valid for the customer and then select the
required sales area
Additional Functions
When processing a customer master record, you can execute other functions such as creating text or setting blocks. When you
are in display mode, you can only display these functions.
To call up the individual functions in the table, choose Extras in the Change Customer or Display customer screen .
Function
Menu path
Blocking
Blocking data
Sales order
Delivery
Billing document
Sales support
for example.
Deletion indicators
Deletion indicators The company code data can be marked for deletion separately from the sales and distribution data.
Texts
Texts
Different text types and the first line of the text are listed.
By double clicking on the first line you reach the detail display for a text.
See also:
Displaying Additional Information for Customer Master Records
Business Partners
Definition
Business partners are the different legal persons or natural persons with whom a company has a business relationship. The
following partners are important for Sales Support:
Customers
Sales prospects
Competitors
Internal personnel
Suppliers
Business partners
A company has contact with its business partners, who are customers and vendors. Data on each of these and on the
company's personnel is stored in a separate master record.
Customers
The term customer is used to define all customers to whom the company has contact. The term vendor is used to define all
business partners who carry out a delivery or a service for the company. A business partner can be a customer and a vendor at
the same time if, for example, your customer also supplies goods to you. In this case, both a customer master record and a
vendor master record must be created for the business partner. You can create a link between the master records by entering
the vendor number in the customer master record and the customer number in the vendor master record.
Vendors
Data on business partners who are vendors, for example, forwarding agents, is managed in the vendor master record. If a
vendor is also a customer, a link can be created.
Personnel
Data on employees of your own company, for example, sales personnel or clerical staff, is managed in the personnel master
record. Data on each employee can be managed by his or her personnel number.
Only the personnel department of your company is authorized to create a personnel master record, using Human Resources
(HR). The personnel department of your company manages the personnel numbers of the employees. If HR is not used in your
company, you can create a personnel master record yourself for employees in sales and distribution.
See also:
Logistics General: Master Data Business Partners
Partner Determination in Sales and Distribution
Features
You can create and change master records using groups of data that differ in the level of detail.
Master records for business partners who are customers or vendors have the following structures:
Customer Master Records
General Data
General data does not depend on the company code, the sales and distribution organization or the purchasing organization.
General data applies to one business partner for all company codes, and in all sales areas and purchasing organizations. It
includes:
Company name
Address
Telephone number
General data is not limited to information used by both Financial Accounting and Logistics. The unloading point, for example, is
unique for a customer and is only relevant for Sales and Distribution. However, because it is not part of the sales and
distribution organization of your company, it is not sales and distribution data. It is general data.
If you edit a master record using the customer or vendor number without specifying a sales area, a purchasing organization, or
a company code, the system displays only general data screens.
The department that creates the master record for a business partner also enters general data. If Financial Accounting creates
the master record, it must also enter general data, such as the address. When Logistics then enters data, the general data for
the business partner exists. Logistics can display the general data.
Company code data only applies to one company code. This data is only relevant to Financial Accounting, and includes:
Insurance data
If you edit a master record, you must specify the customer or vendor number and company code to access the screens
containing company code data.
You can only invoice a business transaction if the data on the payer partner function is entered in the Financial Accounting view.
The data for one customer can differ for each sales area. The sales area is a combination of sales organization, distribution
channel and division. This data is only relevant to Sales and Distribution, and includes:
Pricing data
Delivery priority
Shipping conditions
If you edit a customer master record, you must enter the customer number and the sales area in order to access screens
containing sales and distribution data.
You can only process sales and distribution transactions, for example, a sales order, after entering the sales and distribution
data for a customer.
The data for one vendor can differ for each purchasing organization. This data is only relevant to Purchasing, and includes:
Purchasing data
Partner functions
In addition to data that is valid for the whole purchasing organization, you can enter information on the Purchasing data and
Partner functions screens that is only valid for a particular site or vendor sub-range. This includes terms of payment or
incoterms that differ from those valid for the purchasing organization. Such data is retained at the following levels:
Vendor sub-range
Site
Example
You negotiate better prices and conditions for a particular vendor sub-range than those valid for the purchasing organization.
You create a vendor sub-range and maintain the different terms of payment for it.
Customer Hierarchies
Use
With customer hierarchies you can now create flexible hierarchies to reflect the structure of customer organizations. For
example, if your customer base includes multi-level buying groups, cooperatives, or chains of retail outlets, you can create
hierarchies to reflect the structure of these groups. You use customer hierarchies in order and billing document processing for
partner and pricing determination (including rebate determination) and for creating statistics.
You can use customer hierarchies to assign price conditions and rebate agreements to one of the customers subordinate
levels, to ensure that all subordinate levels are valid for the customer. For each node that you indicate as relevant for pricing,
you can create condition records for pricing. If one or more nodes in a hierarchy path for a sales order contain pricing data, this
is automatically taken into account in pricing.
Integration
You can also use customer hierarchies for evaluations in profitability analysis (CO-PA) and in the Sales Information System
(SIS):
To evaluate customer hierarchies with the sales information system and in the profitability analysis, you can maintain the field
Hierarchy assignment on the Marketing tab page in the customer master record for a hierarchy customer. Here you can
maintain 10 features for hierarchy customers (HIEZU01 to HIEZU10). You can use these to evaluate hierarchies statistically
with up to 10 levels. (Field catalogue VHIE)
Note
Note that the hierarchy assignment is statistical. If you change the customer hierarchy, you may need to change the hierarchy
level manually in the customer master record in the Hierarchy assignment field.
End of the note.
Features
A customer hierarchy is a flexible structure consisting of customers . Each customer - with the exception of the uppermost
customer - refers to another customer at a higher level in the hierarchy (known as a higher-level customer ). Customers that are
assigned to higher-level customers are known as dependent customers .
To be able to display organizational elements, that are not independent partners, you can assign pure hierarchy nodes (account
group 0012) in the hierarchy. Specific data can be assigned to a hierarchy node (for example, address, price conditions, rebate
agreements) and this then applies to all subordinate customers.
As all nodes in a hierarchy are time-dependent, you can adapt the customer hierarchy to changes in the structure of a customer
at any time.
Customers can be reassigned in a hierarchy When reassigning a customer, all subordinate customers are moved
with it
You can add new customers to a hierarchy When you assign a new customer to an existing hierarchy, all pricing
data, that applies to the higher-level hierarchy node, is automatically copied from the customer
See also:
Customer Hierarchies and Pricing
Basic Functions in SD
Purpose
The most important basic functions are:
Pricing
Availability Check
Credit Management
Material Determination
Output Determination
Text Processing
Tax Determination
Account Determination
1.
The system determines the pricing procedure according to information defined in the sales document type and the
customer master record.
2.
The pricing procedure defines the valid condition types and the sequence in which they appear in the sales order. In
the example, the system takes the first condition type (PR00) in the pricing procedure and begins the search for a
valid condition record.
3.
Each condition type in the pricing procedure can have an access sequence assigned to it. In this case, the system
uses access sequence PR00. The system checks the accesses until it finds a valid condition record. (Although you
cannot see this in the diagram, each access specifies a particular condition table. The table provides the key with
which the system searches for records).
4.
In the example, the first access (searching for a customer-specific material price) is unsuccessful. The system moves
on to the next access and finds a valid record.
5.
The system determines the price according to information stored in the condition record. If a pricing scale exists, the
system calculates the appropriate price. In the example, the sales order item is for 120 pieces of the material. Using
the scale price that applies to quantities from 100 pieces and more, the system determines a price of USD 99 per
piece.
The system repeats this process for each condition type in the pricing procedure determines a final price.
For further information on the condition technique, see Introduction to the Condition Technique
Define condition types for each of the price elements (prices, discounts, and surcharges) that occur in your daily
business transactions.
2.
Define the condition tables that enable you to store and retrieve condition records for each of the different condition
types.
3.
Define the access sequences that enable the system to find valid condition records.
4.
For more information about implementing and customizing pricing in sales order processing, see Customizing for Sales and
Distribution.
For a more technical description of how the condition technique works, see the Business Workflow documentation for Message
Control.
Condition Types
Use
A condition type is a representation in the system of some aspect of your daily pricing activities. For example, you can define a
different condition type for each kind of price, discount or surcharge that occurs in your business transactions.
Example
Example of a Condition Type
You define the condition type for a special material discount. You specify that the system calculates the discount as an amount
(for example, a discount of USD 1 per sales unit). Alternatively, you can specify that the system calculates the discount as a
percentage (for example: a 2% discount for orders over 1,000 units). If you want to use both possibilities, you must define two
separate condition types. The following figure illustrates how condition types can be used during pricing in a sales document.
End of the example.
In the example in the preceding figure, two discounts apply to the item in the sales order. The first discount is a percentage
discount based on the quantity ordered. The second discount is a fixed discount based on the total weight of the item.
Note
You determine the calculation type for a condition type in Customizing. This determines how the system calculates prices,
discounts and surcharges for a condition. When setting up condition records, you can enter a different calculation type than the
one in Customizing. At present all available calculation types are permitted. The field Calculation type can however not be
accessed if this field is left empty. After the data release has been printed, if the field has not been completed manually, the
proposal is automatically taken from Customizing. After this it is no longer possible to make manual changes.
If you use different calculation types for what are otherwise the same conditions (for example, percentage, as a fixed amount or
quantity-dependent), you do not have to define different condition types in Customizing. You can set a different calculation type
when maintaining the individual condition records.
End of the note.
Description
PR00
Price
K004
Material discount
K005
K007
Customer discount
K020
KF00
UTX1
State tax
UTX2
County tax
UTX3
City tax
A dialog-box appears, listing the transaction options. Select the corresponding transaction for defining the condition
types.
2.
In the Conditions: Condition Types view, you can change existing condition types or create new ones
Condition Tables
Use
A condition table defines the combination of fields (the key) that identifies an individual condition record. A condition record is
how the system stores the specific condition data that you enter in the system as condition records. For example, when you
enter the price for a product or a special discount for a good customer, you create individual condition records.
Example
Example of a Condition Table
A sales department creates condition records for customer-specific material prices. The standard version of the SAP System
includes condition table 005 for this purpose. The key of table 005 includes the following fields:
End of the example.
Sales organization
Distribution channel
Customer
Material
The first two fields identify important organizational data and the last two fields express the relationship between customers and
specific materials. When the sales department creates a condition record for a material price or discount that is specific to one
customer, the system automatically uses condition table 005 to define the key and store the record.
The following figure illustrates the connection between the condition table and the subsequent condition records.
Basic
Then select the mode you want to work with (create, change,
display).
Selected Fields
The preceding figure shows the fields that make up the key for condition table 005 (the table for customer/material condition
records in Sales). The selected fields show organizational data, such as Sales organization .The fields Customer and Material
define the relationship between a particular customer and material.
Do the following...
After you make changes to a condition table, choose F16 Generate) to regenerate the table.
Which fields you want to appear in the header and item areas of the corresponding fast-entry screens
Important Fields
In sales, the fields you should take into consideration are Sales organization and Distribution channel . The sales organization
is nearly always used as a criteria in pricing, because different sales organizations often want to use their own prices,
discounts, and surcharges. If you use the sales organization as a criterion in pricing, you should also use the distribution
channel. If you do not want to establish different prices, discounts, and surcharges for each distribution channel, use the field
anyway. In Customizing for Sales, you can use one distribution channel as a reference for all others (thereby sharing the same
pricing data).
If you select fields that are connected to the structure of your organization (for example, sales organization and
distribution channel), assign the fields according to the level of general applicability: Put the most general field, for
example, the sales organization in the highest position and the most specific field in the lowest.
2.
After organizational fields, place fields from the document header before those that come from the item level. (For
example, Customer comes before Material )
After you have selected the fields for the key on the screen where you maintain and define condition tables, choose F16
Generate to generate the table in the system. Generation prepares the condition table for storing condition data.
Access Sequences
Use
An access sequence is a search strategy that the system uses to find valid data for a particular condition type. It determines the
sequence in which the system searches for data. The access sequence consists of one or more accesses. The sequence of the
accesses establishes which condition records have priority over others. The accesses tell the system where to look first,
second, and so on, until it finds a valid condition record. You specify an access sequence for each condition type for which you
create condition records.
Note
There are some condition types for which you do not create condition records (header discounts that you can only enter
manually, for example). These condition types do not require an access sequence.
End of the note.
Example
A sales department may offer customers different kinds of prices. The department may create, for example, the following
condition records in the system:
A basic price for a material
A special customer-specific price for the same material
A price list for major customers
End of the example.
During sales order processing, a customer may, in theory, qualify for all three prices. The access sequence enables the system
to access the data records in a particular sequence until it finds a valid price. In this example, the sales department may want to
use the most favourable price for a certain customer. For this reason, it ensures that the system searches for a customerspecific price. The following figure shows how the system searches for the relevant record.
Pricing Procedures
Use
The primary job of a pricing procedure is to define a group of condition types in a particular sequence. The pricing procedure
also determines:
Which method the system uses to calculate percentage discounts and surcharges
Which requirements for a particular condition type must be fulfilled before the system takes the condition into account
Example
Example of a Pricing Procedure
If a sales department processes sales orders for a variety of foreign customers, the department can group the
customers by country or region. A pricing procedure can then be defined for each group of customers. Each
procedure can include condition types that determine, for example, country-specific taxes. In sales order processing,
you can specify pricing procedures for specific customers and for sales document types. The system automatically
determines which procedure to use.
End of the example.
Choose
2.
Basic Functions Pricing Pricing control Define and assign pricing procedures.
delivery or goods issue) a credit limit should take place. General information functions are also available for use with credit
checks.
Features
If you are using both the SD and FI-AR components, Credit Management includes the following features:
Depending on your credit management needs, you can specify your own automatic credit checks based on a variety
of criteria. You can also specify at which critical points in the sales and distribution cycle (for example, order entry,
delivery, goods issue) the system carries out these checks.
During order processing, the credit representative automatically receives information about a customers critical credit
situation.
Critical credit situations can also be automatically communicated to credit management personnel through internal
electronic mail.
Your credit representatives are in a position to review the credit situation of a customer quickly and accurately and,
according to your credit policy, decide whether or not to extend credit.
You can also work with Credit Management in distributed systems; for example if you were using centralized
Financial Accounting and decentralized SD on several sales computers.
Note
You can find information about where to make Customizing settings for Credit and Risk Management in Settings for Credit
and Risk Management
End of the note.
Material Determination
Use
Material determination enables the automatic substitution of materials in sales documents during sales order processing. For
example, during the course of a sales promotion, the system can, during sales order entry, automatically substitute a material
that has promotional packaging. A consumer product may have a special wrapper for, for example, the Christmas season.
Using material determination, the system substitutes the material only during the specified period.
The following graphic illustrates the determination of a promotional product in the sales order.
In addition, you can use material determination if you want the system to automatically substitute, for example:
Free Goods
Use
In many industry sectors it is common in the sales of certain goods for other goods to be supplied in addition for free, or,
indeed, to supply the customer with a portion of the goods for free.
The following kinds of free goods exist:
The customer only pays for some of the goods requested. The rest of the goods are free of charge. The inclusive bonus
quantity is also called inclusive free goods and means that a proportion of the order quantity is granted as free goods, i.e. is not
paid for.
The materials delivered as free goods also match the ordered material in terms of the unit of measure.
Example
Two out of ten bottles of sparkling wine are free goods. Therefore, if you order 10 bottles, 10 will be delivered and you will not
be charged for 2 of them. So in this case, you have ordered an inclusive bonus quantity.
End of the example.
The customer pays for the goods ordered and is given extra goods free of charge. The exclusive bonus quantity is also called
exclusive free goods and means that in addition to the purchase order, a certain quantity of materials are guaranteed as free
goods. In other words, a larger quantity is delivered than is ordered, whereby no charge is made for the additional quantity
delivered.
The materials delivered as free goods do not necessarily have to be the same as the materials orders.
Example
If the customer buys 4 coffee machines, the vendor provides a packet of coffee as free goods. So if you order 4 coffee
machines, a packet of coffee is delivered too, but you are not charged for it.
End of the example.
Scope of Functions
You create a free goods agreement like a condition. For this, you can create conditions when a free goods is guaranteed on
any levels, for example, at customer/material level or customer hierarchy/material level. In the standard system, you use
customer/material level. The free goods agreement has a validity period. In the free goods agreement, you can create different
rules to determine the free goods quantity. You can define a minimum quantity for the sold material. Once this minimum
quantity is reached, the free goods are guaranteed. The free goods quantity can be defined as a quantity proportional to the
sold quantity. Another rule defines the free goods quantity for each whole-number unit of the sold quantity. For example, the
free goods here are only guaranteed for full pallets and not for pallets that have already been opened.
Free goods can be mapped in the sales order in sales from the warehouse. When creating a sales order, the free goods items
are automatically created in accordance with the agreement. The free goods are displayed as a separate item. The free goods
item is a subitem of the original item. The free goods items are delivery-relevant and are copied to the delivery. The free goods
item can be copied to the billing document. This makes it possible to prove the free goods are items that are free of charge on
the invoice.
Pricing can be carried out for a free goods item in the sales order and in the billing document. The item becomes an item that is
free of charge once the pricing is finished due to the automatic 100 percent markdown. This enables the prices and items to be
displayed very precisely in the statistics and in the profitability analysis. The free goods cannot be displayed with the production
costs, but they can be displayed as a special form of sales deduction.
Constraints
Free goods can only be supported on a 1:1 ratio. This means that an order item can lead to a free goods item. Agreements in
the following form are not supported: With material 1, material 2 and material 3 are free of charge or If material 1 and material
2 are ordered at the same time, then material 3 is free of charge.
Free goods are not supported in combinations with material structures (for example, product selection, BOM, variants with
BOM explosion).
Free goods are only supported for sales orders with document category C (for example, not quotations).
Free goods are not supported for deliveries without reference to a sales order.
Free goods cannot be used in make-to-order production, third-party order processing and scheduling agreements.
If you defined a free goods for variants in a generic article (only SAP Retail), you can only process the variants in the purchase
order and goods receipt individually (as single articles). In other words, you cannot process them using the generic article
matrix.
Cross Selling
Use
Mail order catalog retailers frequently use cross selling to increase sales. When a customer orders an article over the phone,
the order taker can suggest additional articles that the customer might buy. For example, if the customer orders a VCR, you
might suggest purchasing some blank tapes; for a cellular phone, a leather carrying case.
The sales transaction takes place as normal: The customer chooses an article and the order taker enters it on the sales order
screen. The order taker can press Enter after each article, or wait until the customer has finished selecting the article he or she
wants.
If the order taker presses Enter after entering the data for one article, then a dialog box appears automatically,
displaying a list of articles to be suggested to the customer. These cross selling articles are ones that pertain
specifically to the purchased article.
If the order taker waits to press Enter until the customer has finished ordering, then the dialog box appears
automatically, this time showing all of the articles in the sales order, along with their corresponding cross selling
articles.
Note
The articles that appear in the cross selling dialog box always depend on which articles are in the sales order. If you
want to have the system suggest articles based on the customer's past purchasing history or other factors, see
Dynamic Product Proposal in the standard SD documentation.
End of the note.
The cross selling dialog box displays the following information:
Article number
Description
Price per unit of measure (calculated either by the standard SAP pricing scheme or by a custom pricing scheme you
have defined)
Availability check
Delivery flag (that is, whether the cross selling articles can be delivered independently of their corresponding main
articles in the sales order, or whether the cross selling articles can only be shipped either together with or after the
main articles have been shipped)
Note
You can turn off the availability check in Customizing, thereby increasing system performance.
End of the note.
Integration
You can set up the system so that if a customer orders a specific article, a list of other suggested articles appears as well. If the
customer chooses to accept one of the suggested articles, the article is flagged in the sales transaction data indicating that this
article was a result of cross selling. You can then analyze the results in the Business Workbench or Retail Information System
to see how successful your cross selling strategy is (that is, how frequently a suggested article is actually purchased by the
customer).
For each article, you can assign one or more cross selling articles.
Prerequisites
To set up cross selling, you must make the following settings in Customizing:
Create the conditions tables, access sequence, and calculation schemes for determining cross selling articles, since
the cross selling function relies on the conditions technique. (Alternatively, you can use the analysis discussed in
Activities below to create the data automatically.)
Assign the cross selling profile to a sales area, document scheme, and customer scheme.
Activities
In order to determine which products are most frequently purchased together, you can use report SDCRSL01 (transaction
SE38) to analyze sales orders for a specified period time (for example, for the previous 30 days). The system will search
through all the orders, list all the articles purchased, and how often certain pairs of articles (or even three or more) appeared in
the same sales order: for example, 10% of the time, customers purchased a specific shirt-and-tie combination. In this way, you
can mine the database to find article combinations that might not have occurred to you (for example, a movie and a CD with the
sound track for the movie.
Alternatively, you can manually assign combinations of articles for cross selling purposes, based on other information you may
have.
Integration
The output determination component is used for output control. Output control is used to exchange information with internal and
external partners.
Output control includes the following functions, described in the cross-application (CA) - Output Control documentation:
Output Determination
Output Processing
Features
The system can automatically propose output for a sales and distribution document. You can change this output in the sales
and distribution document.
The system uses the condition technique to determine output. For more information on the condition technique, see
Conditions and Pricing .
See also:
For further information on output, refer to the following documentation:
Application
Documentation
Basis-Services
Cross-Application Components
CA Output Control
BC - SAP Business Workflow
SD Sales and Distribution: Workflow-Scenarios
For information on Customizing settings and examples, refer to Output Control Customizing in Sales and Distribution (SD) in
the CA - Output Control documentation.