Discussion on aligning Logistic Invoice Verification

Transaction document numbers in MM and FI

How many times have you wondered why the same invoice document from SAP MM that got posted to
SAP FI-AP (through a logistics invoice verification-LIV transaction), will have a document number in FI
different from the one in MM?, and how much of your precious time is spent on drill downs from FI in
order to retrieve the corresponding MM document?

The logistic invoice verification process results in the creation of two separate documents, one MM
invoice document and one FI invoice document for a single procurement transaction. Ordinarily these
documents should have the same document numbers, because they are outcomes of a single event.
This, quite often is not the case, to the inconvenience of users.

Inconvenient because any attempt to process this document for any reason like reversing it or retrieving
it (say by the accounts payable guys) brings about the issue of identifying the corresponding logistic/MM
document which has a different number.

This post discusses how we can align these two types of documents (the MM and the FI document of a
single transaction) to avoid this inconvenience and confusion.

Now, how is it possible that the same transaction in an integrated system like SAP can result in two
different document numbers?

In order to understand why this happens, we have to grasp the following:

1) Document number configuration settings in MM and FI

2) The concept of document number structure in FI and MM

1) Determining which MM document number range is used

for LIV transactions

Here we will see the configuration settings for document number ranges in MM.

Follow the configuration menu path below to assign or determine the number range assigned for LIV
transactions in MM.

IMG -- Materials Management -- Logistics Invoice Verification -- Incoming Invoice -- Number

Assignment -- Maintain Number Assignment for Logistics Documents -- Transaction - Assign Number
Range

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We are only concern about RD here, which is the invoice document. This means that number range
01 is what is assigned to LIV documents in MM.

Now we have to find out which number range interval is assigned to this number range 01. To do that
follow the menu path below:

IMG -- Materials Management -- Logistics Invoice Verification -- Incoming Invoice -- Number

Assignment -- Maintain Number Assignment for Logistics Documents -- Maintain Number Range
Intervals for Invoice Documents

OR use transaction OMRJ

Note: that there is no Company Code object here. Therefore, the object company code is not in the
MM document Structure. This piece of information is important for the section on the document
number structure.

Here we know that the number range 01 is assigned to the number range interval from 5105600101 to
5105699999.

Note: The number range status indicates the last document number issued by the system.
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2) Determining which FI document number range is used for
LIV transactions
Here we will see the configuration settings for LIV document number ranges in FI.

Follow the configuration menu path below to maintain or determine the number range assigned for LIV
transactions in FI.

IMG -- Materials Management -- Logistics Invoice Verification -- Incoming Invoice -- Number

Assignment -- Maintain Number Assignments for Accounting Documents

OR use transaction OMR4

This configuration step has three configuration settings in one step as can be seen in the screen shot
below:

Note: the configuration settings are already done, what we are trying to do is:

a) Find out which document type has been assigned to the transaction MIRO (Logistics Invoice
Verification)

Click on document types in invoice verification.

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Double click on the MIRO transaction

We now determine that the document type assigned to the MIRO transaction is RE .

b) Find out which number range is assigned to document type RE.

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Double click on document type.

Double click on the RE document type.

Having determined the Number range assigned to the document type RE (which is 51) go back and find
out which number range intervals are assigned to this document number range.

c) Determine the document range interval assigned to the number range 51

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Double click on number range for document type in FI.

Click on intervals.

Now notice the main difference in the document number structure between MM and FI (this will be
useful in the subsequent dscussion below). The company code is a characteristic in the FI document
structure.

We see that the same number range interval (from 5105600101 to 5105699999) is assigned to the FI
invoice document also. However, the number range status is different.

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Now, the question is how come the two documents of an LIV transaction, the MM document and its
corresponding FI document will be different and misaligned even when they are assigned the same
document number range interval.

The answer to this brings us to the concept of document number structure in MM and FI.

3) Document Number structure in MM

Document number structure explains the components of a document number generated by the system
as an outcome of a transaction processed through it. In SAP, the make-up of a document number may
vary depending on which module you are processing from.

As we saw in Para 1 above, the MM document structure is made up of fiscal year and the number
assigned to the document. So if you have an LIV transaction (say transaction number 1) for company
code 9999and the system assign a number 5105600101, the next transaction 2 the system will
issue a number 5105600102. Let assume you have transaction number 3 but this time in company code
1000, the system will issue document number 5105600103, and so on. Let us put this in a table below:

Transaction Document Number in Document Number in

C. code 9999 C. code 1000
1 5105600101
2 5105600102
3 5105600103
4 5105600104

4) Number structure in FI

As we saw in Para 2C above, the FI document structure is made up of company code, fiscal year and the
number assigned to the document. So if you post an LIV transaction to FI AP, say transaction number 1
for company code 9999and the system assign a number 5105600101, the next transaction 2 the
system will issue a number 5105600102. Let assume you have transaction number 3 but this time in
company code 1000, the system will issue document number 5105600101 and not 5105600103 (as in
the case of MM), because as far as the system is concern document number 5105600101 is still
available in company code 1000.

From the system stand point 5105600101 2016 9999 is different from 5105600101 2016 1000, whilst in
MM it would have been a duplication, because you already have 5105600101 2016 and you cannot have
it again. Remember in MM the document number structure has no company code in it.

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Now let us put this in a table again and see when the two documents of an LIV transaction will misalign.

Transaction Document Numbering in MM Document Numbering in FI

C. Code 999 C. Code 1000 C. Code 999 C. Code 1000
1 5105600101 5105600101
2 5105600102 5105600102
3 5105600103 5105600101
4 5105600104 5105600102

As can be seen above the document numbering from the two modules (MM and FI) diverge at
transaction number 3.

5) Now, how do we avoid this misalignment?

Two scenarios can happen and the approaches may differ depending on which one:

a) Both MM and FI have the same document number range intervals (as in our example above)
but the document numbering diverge at some point.
In this scenario we can maintain the current document number range assignment, but set the
number range assignment in FI to be external. Meaning that the document number should be
assign externally instead of being system generated. By this approach the document number
assigned in MM will be automatically assigned as the FI document number as well.

Note: Before flagging the external number indicator, you may have noticed that document
numbers were assigned up to 5105620013 in FI (see the number range status of the previous
screen shot). This has to be reset to nil before the system allows you to flag the external
check box.

Delete the number status with the following steps:

Click on NR Status

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 Delete the document number in the NR Status field.

You can now set the number range to external, and save.

With this setting the document number in FI for LIV transactions will inherit the document
number of the transaction from MM, and in this way FI and MM document will always align.

Note: that the MM document numbers assignment should be define to be internally generated
by the system.

b) The second scenario is that, the document number range interval assigned in MM is different
from the one assigned in FI.
In this scenario the best approach to align the number ranges is to define a new number range
and number range interval and assign that in both MM and FI, set the MM document numbers
to be internally generated and the FI document numbers to be externally generated (as in the
above example).

It is important to note that by stating that the two documents will now be continuously aligned, we
are assuming among other things:

i. That the document number range settings are the same across all your company codes, in a
multiple company code situation.
ii. We are assuming that the KR document type (direct invoice posting from FI AP) is assigned
a different number range from that of the RE document type.

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