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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.


Maintain Controlling Area

In this IMG activity you

• create new controlling areas or
  
• Copy existing ones.
  

The controlling area is an organizational unit in Accounting used to subdivide the business organization from a cost accounting standpoint.

The controlling area is embedded in the organizational structure as follows:

A controlling area may be assigned one or more company codes.

1:1 relationship

You carry out cost accounting on a cross-company code basis.

The internal and external accounting viewpoints are identical.

1:n relationship

In cross-company-code cost accounting, all data relevant to cost accounting appears in a common controlling area and is available for allocations and evaluations. The internal and external accounting goals diverge. This method is preferred when, for example, a corporation posesses several independent subsidiaries and undertakes centralized cost accounting for all.

If you implement the CO (Controlling) component, you must maintain basic data and control indicators in the for the controlling area. You make these settings in the Controlling IMG.

Recommendation

We recommend that you use the controlling area "0001" supplied by SAP "0001" or that you copy this controlling area to your own controlling area and then making adjustments to suit your needs. Preliminary settings such as the definition of number ranges are already maintained for this controlling area.

Activities

Copy Controlling Area "0001"

1. Adapt the default settings to your country.

a) To do this, choose Enterprise Structure -> Country-Specific Settings in Customizing.

b) Choose Change Country-Specific Settings and Country version.

2. Create your own controlling area with company code as a Copy of controlling area "0001" with company code "0001".

3. Adjust this copy to your requirements.

a) To do so, in the dialog box, choose Maintain controlling area.

b) Select your controlling area and change the settings.

Create Controlling Area

1. Choose Maintain controlling area

2. Choose New entries and enter the basic data.

3. Enter a key and a name for your company code.

4. Specify the allocation of company codes and controlling area.

5. Make the currency settings.

6. Speciy a chart of accounts for the controlling area.

7. Enter a fiscal year variant.


Delete controlling area

You can delete the controlling areas supplied by SAP if you:

• Create all organizational units afresh.
  
• Have created all organizational units using the SAP delivery data.
  

To do so, create your own controlling area with company code as a copy of the controlling area "0001" with company code "0001".


Now delete the controlling areas you no longer require.


To delete a controlling area supplied by SAP, proceed as follows:

1. In the dialog box, choose Delete SAP Delivery Data.
2. From the list, select the controlling areas you want to delete.
3. Choose Delete.

Note on deleting SAP delivery data


Further Notes

In cross-company code cost accounting, where a controlling area includes several company codes with differing currencies, assign the group currency as controlling area currency. The related company codes must all use the same operative chart of accounts .

During number assignment for organizational units in the controlling area ( cost center, profit center, etc.), keep the possible addition of other company codes in mind as you work.

All internal allocation transactions refer only to objects belonging to the same controlling area.

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Enterprise Structure

In this section, you will learn how to portray the specific organizational structure of your business in the R/3 System.

To help you portray your company structure, different Accounting, Logistics and Human Resources organization units are provided.

First analyze the structures and procedures in your company, and then match them to the SAP structures. There are various organization elements defined as examples in the standard version. Normally these would not cover all your needs. Extend the elements as required.

During the clarification stage, work with the structures delivered by SAP. In order to obtain a high degree of indentification and acceptance from project members and user departments from the start, you may have to change some of SAP's terminology.

You should limit the number of persons authorized to maintain organization elements. Define the authorization profiles accordingly. As soon as your organization units are ready, access should be locked so that no other changes can be made.

Note

The definition of organization units is a fundamental step in your project. It is a critical factor in how the project will be structured.

You should not use more organization units than necessary. Only use new organization units if this is required by the existing data structures.

Once you have decided on an organizational structure it is not easy to change it.

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.


Edit, Copy, Delete, Check Company Code

In this activity you create your company codes. The company code is an organizational unit used in accounting. It is used to structure the business organization from a financial accounting perspective.

We recommend that you copy a company code from an existing company code. This has the advantage that you also copy the existing company code-specific parameters. If necessary, you can then change certain data in the relevant application. This is much less time-consuming than creating a new company code. See "Recommendations" for more details about copying a company code.

If you do not wish to copy an existing company code, you can create a new company code and make all the settings yourself. You define your company codes by specifying the following information:

• Company code key
  

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 code-specific master data, for example.

• Company code name
  

• 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 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.

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

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Enter picked materials on delivery document

From the SAP Easy Access Menu: Logistics -> Sales and distribution -> Shipping and transportation-> Outbound delivery-> Change -> Single document

Enter your delivery document number from the previous exercise, and click the enter button. On the Outbound delivery screen, click on the picking tab. Notice that the BC-S line lists the storage location (SLoc) as 30. Also note that the box under Pick quantity is blank. This is because the quantity loaded onto the trucks has not yet been entered. Now look at the OvrllPickStatus (Overall Pick Status) and note that shows that the order has not yet been picked. Enter 20 in the box under Pick quantity, and click the enter button. Now look at the OvrllPickStatus, and confirm that it shows that the order has been fully picked. The order is now ready to be sent to Southwest Recreational Vehicles.

The last task for Clara is to update the inventory of S Beach Cruisers at SOS. This process is called posting of goods issue. Click save to record the picked quantity. You should be taken back to the initial Change Outbound Delivery screen. If your delivery document number is not already shown in the Outbound delivery box, enter it now. Now click the Post goods issue button near the top of the screen. A message telling you that your outbound delivery has been saved should flash across the bottom of the screen.

To confirm that the correct amount of Beach Cruisers was automatically removed from the R/3 system inventory, let’s take a quick look at the available inventory.

From the SAP Easy Access Menu: Logistics-> Materials Management -> Inventory Management-> Environment -> Stock è Stock overview

• Enter BC-S in the Material box.
• Enter your Arizona Plant in the Plant box.
• Enter 30 for Storage location.

Make sure Display version is set to 1, and click the execute button (looks like a small clock with a green checkmark). Then Stock Overview screen should now be displayed. Look at the number in the Unrestricted use column. It should be 20 less than the ATP number you wrote down in the first exercise.

Now that the delivery of the S Beach Cruisers has sent, and the cruisers have been removed from SOS inventory, Southwest Recreational Vehicles can be billed for the purchase. Let’s walk across the hall and visit SOS’s billing/accounts receivable employee, Tom Hudson.

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

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Creating delivery for a sales order

Since the Southwest Recreational Vehicles order is due to be delivered in two days, and SOS has enough S Beach Cruisers to fulfill the order, the Beach Cruisers will be loaded and shipped today. This will allow them to be driven to Phoenix, and delivered in two days time. After Keith posted the sales order document, the sales order was automatically entered into the SAP R/3 system shared database. This means that the sales order information is automatically, and instantly, available to the shipping department. Once again, this is accomplished without the use of paperwork.

Once the SOS shipping clerk, Clara Smith, sees that a new sales order has been posted, she checks the delivery date on the document. Noticing that the order must be shipped immediately, Clara creates a shipping document for the order.

From the SAP Easy Access Menu: Logistics è Sales and distribution è Shipping and transportation è Outbound delivery è Create è Single document è With reference to sales order

• Enter SPBC (shipping point, Beach Cruiser) for Shipping point.
• Enter the order delivery date for the Selection date (two days from today).
• Enter the sales order document number from the last exercise for Order.

Click enter, and you will be taken to the Outbound Delivery Create screen. The sales order information should already be entered on the form. At SOS there are three storage areas. Storage area 10 is the raw materials warehouse. Storage area 20 is the Work In Progress area. Storage area 30 is the Finished goods shipping area. Clara must record the storage area from which the Beach Cruisers will be taken (many businesses have several different warehouses to ship inventory from).

To do this, highlight the line for BC-S, and click the Item details button on the bottom of the screen (looks like a small magnifying glass on the left part of the screen). Now click on the picking tab. In the SAP R/3 system, the term picking refers to the physical act of taking goods out of inventory storage for a delivery.

You will notice that the pick status on the lower left portion of the screen shows that the order has not yet been picked. Enter 30 in the Stor. location box to tell the system that the Beach Cruisers will be picked from the finished goods shipping area. Click save, and record the delivery document number displayed at the bottom of the screen on the information sheet. At this point, Clara tells the loading employees in the warehouse to place 20 S Beach Cruisers in delivery trucks. After the loading employees report to Clara that the S Beach Cruisers have been loaded, she returns to the delivery document to enter the amount picked.

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

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Creating a sales order

The SOS sales division consists of one full time employee. Before SOS implemented their SAP R/3 system, three full time employees were needed to keep track of, enter, and forward incoming sales orders. Due to SAP’s ability to store, produce, and forward sales information, a single employee can now easily complete all the necessary functions.

Upon arrival to the SOS sales office, it is learned that the manager of Southwest Recreational Vehicles is on the phone and is ready to turn the sales inquiry created earlier into a formal sales order. The SOS sales order employee Keith Brown, has learned from the Southwest Recreational Vehicles manager that he wishes to place an order identical to the inquiry created by Patty Teller. After asking for the inquiry number, Keith goes about creating the sales order.

From the SAP Easy Access Menu: Logistics è Sales and distribution è Order è Create

• Enter OR for Order type.
• Enter your sales organization in the Sales organization box.
• Distribution channel will be WH for wholesale.
• Division will be BC for Beach Cruiser.

Since the customer does not wish to change any of the information on the inquiry, Keith clicks the Create with reference button (click the Create with reference button now). A pop-up box will appear, with the quotation tab showing. We will be referencing an inquiry for this sales order, so click on the inquiry tab. Now enter your inquiry number from the last exercise, and click the copy button. You should now be at the Create Standard Order screen. The information from the Southwest Recreational Vehicles inquiry has already been entered. Enter the customer initials and date in the Purch. Order no. box (SWRV and today’s date), and click enter. You might see a pop-up telling you that the document is incomplete. Disregard this warning and click save. Record the sales order document number, which will flash across the bottom of the screen, on the information sheet. Keith gives the sales order document number to the customer for future reference, and thanks the customer for the order. That’s all there is to creating an order using the SAP R/3 system.

Now that the formal sales order has been created, why don’t we go next door to the SOS shipping warehouse to watch what they do with the sales order. It is important to note that we will not be taking any paperwork to the shipping department. In fact, none of the transactions so far have required any paperwork to change hands. This means that everything is kept accurate and available in the R/3 system. At no time can writing be smeared or erased to accidentally change the order agreed upon during the initial sales call made by Patty.

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

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As you can see, the rest of the inquiry form looks very much like a blank order form. On the first line of the blank order form, enter BC-S under material. Now enter the amount of Beach Cruisers (20) under order quantity. After Patty confirms that no Beach Cruisers model S need to be ordered also, she presses the enter button (press enter button now). Notice that the R/3 system fills in the rest of the form automatically. Now let’s check the availability of the Beach Cruisers to see if there will be enough in stock to make delivery. Highlight the BC-S line by clicking the small gray box to the left of the Item column. Now select Environment from the menu at the top of the page, and choose Availability.

You should now be at the Availability Overview screen. Look at the Cum. ATP qty column. This is the Cumulative Available To Promise quantity. If this number is equal to or larger than the quantity ordered, SOS has enough S Beach Cruisers to fulfill the order. Record the number of S Beach Cruisers available to promise on the attached information sheet. As you can see, SOS has enough S Beach Cruisers, and will easily be able to fulfill the order for 20. After informing the manager of Southwest Recreation Vehicles that the Beach Cruisers can be delivered on the date he requested, Patty clicks the green back button to return to the inquiry order form screen (click the green back button now). Patty now needs to access the pricing information to confirm the sales price with the customer.


To view the pricing information of the inquiry; highlight the BC-S row, and click the Item conditions button at the bottom of the screen (looks like a small yellow coin with the number 5 in it). You will be taken to the Item data screen. On the left side of the screen, you will see pricing and cost information on a per unit basis. The numbers on the right side of the screen show the totals for the current inquiry. As you can see, the per unit price of the S model Beach Cruiser is $1,000.00. The cost to produce the Beach Cruiser is $500.00, leaving SOS with a gross margin of $500.00 per unit sold. Patty looks at the right side of the screen, and informs the customer that the 20 Beach Cruisers will cost $20,000.00. She can also see that the sale will be profitable by looking at the $10,000.00 gross margin resulting from the sale. After the customer agrees to the price, Patty returns to the inquiry order screen using the green back button (click the green back button now). As the inquiry is acceptable to both her and the customer, Patty clicks the save button, and writes down the document number which flashes across the bottom of the screen (click save and record the document number on the information sheet). Patty writes the inquiry document number on the back of one of her business cards and gives it to the Southwest Recreational Vehicle manager. As is the procedure at SOS, Patty instructs the customer to call the sales staff at SOS to place his order using the inquiry number. Patty thanks the customer, and moves on to her next sales call.


Although some companies create the actual sales orders during sales calls, SOS has found that creating an inquiry helps in many ways. First, the process allows customers to look at their financial position before committing to an actual order. For instance, if the manager at Southwest Recreational Vehicles discovers that his business will not have the cash on hand to make the purchase of the 20 S Beach Cruisers, he simply calls Patty back to change the inquiry. This way no solid information concerning a sale needs to be removed from the R/3 system. Second, many SOS customers must send any major stock purchases to a purchasing division before the order can be confirmed. The manager at Southwest Recreation Vehicles can simply pass the inquiry number onto his purchaser, who can then call the SOS sales division to place the order.

This greatly decreases the amount of paperwork customers must pass around at their own companies. Not only does this cut down on mistakes at the customer’s company, but it lessens the amount of time an SOS sales employee spends on the phone with a customer’s purchasing staff confirming the contents of the order.

Now that the sales inquiry has been saved, let’s go over to the sales division at the SOS home office to see how the inquiry is turned into a formal sales order.

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

>>Previous>>

As you can see, the rest of the inquiry form looks very much like a blank order form. On the first line of the blank order form, enter BC-S under material. Now enter the amount of Beach Cruisers (20) under order quantity. After Patty confirms that no Beach Cruisers model S need to be ordered also, she presses the enter button (press enter button now). Notice that the R/3 system fills in the rest of the form automatically. Now let’s check the availability of the Beach Cruisers to see if there will be enough in stock to make delivery. Highlight the BC-S line by clicking the small gray box to the left of the Item column. Now select Environment from the menu at the top of the page, and choose Availability. You should now be at the Availability Overview screen. Look at the Cum. ATP qty column. This is the Cumulative Available To Promise quantity. If this number is equal to or larger than the quantity ordered, SOS has enough S Beach Cruisers to fulfill the order. Record the number of S Beach Cruisers available to promise on the attached information sheet. As you can see, SOS has enough S Beach Cruisers, and will easily be able to fulfill the order for 20. After informing the manager of Southwest Recreation Vehicles that the Beach Cruisers can be delivered on the date he requested, Patty clicks the green back button to return to the inquiry order form screen (click the green back button now). Patty now needs to access the pricing information to confirm the sales price with the customer.


To view the pricing information of the inquiry; highlight the BC-S row, and click the Item conditions button at the bottom of the screen (looks like a small yellow coin with the number 5 in it). You will be taken to the Item data screen. On the left side of the screen, you will see pricing and cost information on a per unit basis. The numbers on the right side of the screen show the totals for the current inquiry. As you can see, the per unit price of the S model Beach Cruiser is $1,000.00. The cost to produce the Beach Cruiser is $500.00, leaving SOS with a gross margin of $500.00 per unit sold. Patty looks at the right side of the screen, and informs the customer that the 20 Beach Cruisers will cost $20,000.00. She can also see that the sale will be profitable by looking at the $10,000.00 gross margin resulting from the sale. After the customer agrees to the price, Patty returns to the inquiry order screen using the green back button (click the green back button now). As the inquiry is acceptable to both her and the customer, Patty clicks the save button, and writes down the document number which flashes across the bottom of the screen (click save and record the document number on the information sheet). Patty writes the inquiry document number on the back of one of her business cards and gives it to the Southwest Recreational Vehicle manager. As is the procedure at SOS, Patty instructs the customer to call the sales staff at SOS to place his order using the inquiry number. Patty thanks the customer, and moves on to her next sales call.


Although some companies create the actual sales orders during sales calls, SOS has found that creating an inquiry helps in many ways. First, the process allows customers to look at their financial position before committing to an actual order. For instance, if the manager at Southwest Recreational Vehicles discovers that his business will not have the cash on hand to make the purchase of the 20 S Beach Cruisers, he simply calls Patty back to change the inquiry. This way no solid information concerning a sale needs to be removed from the R/3 system. Second, many SOS customers must send any major stock purchases to a purchasing division before the order can be confirmed. The manager at Southwest Recreation Vehicles can simply pass the inquiry number onto his purchaser, who can then call the SOS sales division to place the order.

This greatly decreases the amount of paperwork customers must pass around at their own companies. Not only does this cut down on mistakes at the customer’s company, but it lessens the amount of time an SOS sales employee spends on the phone with a customer’s purchasing staff confirming the contents of the order.

Now that the sales inquiry has been saved, let’s go over to the sales division at the SOS home office to see how the inquiry is turned into a formal sales order.

>>>Next>>>

Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

>>Previous>>

SAP Sales and Distribution Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to enter sales orders, create delivery documents, post goods issues to customers, and receive payment for SOS Beach Cruisers.

For this demonstration, we will look at the sales and distribution process as an order for 20 S model Beach Cruisers is taken by one of SOS’s salespersons, Patty Teller.

Creating a sales inquiry

During a weekly sales call, Patty Teller contacted the manager of Southwest Recreational Vehicles. Southwest Recreational Vehicles is one of SOS’s wholesale customers located in Phoenix. Currently SOS sells Beach Cruisers to both wholesale and direct sales customers. SOS tried retail sales a couple years ago, but discontinued the practice due to increased sales costs, and large levels of uncollectible accounts receivable.

Through a conversation with the manager of Southwest Recreational Vehicles, Patty discovered that the Beach Cruiser S is selling rather well. As a matter of fact, Southwest Recreational Vehicles just sold the last of their initial stock of 5 Beach Cruiser Ss earlier in the day. The manager of Southwest Recreational Vehicles has decided to purchase 20 additional S models immediately, with the promise of a larger order dependant upon the speed in which he can sell the next 20 cruisers.

Patty’s first step in the sales order process is the creation of a sales inquiry. By creating a sales inquiry, Patty will be able to check the pricing of the potential sales order, and check inventory status. This allows the manager at Southwest Recreational Vehicles to say yes or no dependant upon pricing or delivery date before a final sales order is entered into SOS’s SAP R/3 system. Now let’s create the sales inquiry for the order of 20 Beach Cruisers for Southwest Recreational Vehicles.

From the SAP Easy Access Menu: Logistics è Sales and distribution è Sales è Inquiry è Create

• Enter IN for Inquiry type.
• Enter your sales organization in the Sales organization box.
• Distribution channel will be WH for wholesale.
• Division will be BC for Beach Cruiser.
• Click the enter button. You will be taken to the sales inquiry initial screen.

Leave the inquiry box blank. SOS’s R/3 system has been configured to generate the inquiry number automatically. This is to prevent different salespersons from issuing the same inquiry/sales order numbers to different customers.

In the Sold-to-party box, select Southwest using the dropdown menu (click inside the Sold-to-party box, then click the small round gray button that appears to the right of the box; then click enter to see the options). Leave Ship-to party blank, as the Beach Cruisers will be shipped directly to Southwest Recreational Vehicles. In the Purch. Order no. box, enter a number to be used as a reference. SOS asks sales persons to enter the customer company’s initials and the date (enter SWRZ and today’s date).

On the Item overview tab, enter today’s date for Valid from. Enter a date one month from today in the Valid to box. By entering these dates, you are telling the R/3 system that this inquiry, and any pricing or product amounts therein, is valid for one month from today.

Although Southwest Recreation Vehicles is not receiving any type of discount for this order, SOS does offer price breaks during high volume months if customers place orders and take shipment within a week of the sales inquiry.

This procedure is used to keep finished goods stock low, saving SOS inventory costs. The inquiry validity dates allow salespersons to make discounted prices good for only one week during the high volume months. After the week is up, the inquiry containing the price break is no longer valid, and a sales order without a discount will be created.

Now enter a date two days from today in the Req. deliv. Date box.This is the date that the manager of Southwest Recreational Vehicles wishes to take delivery of the Beach Cruisers. Record the delivery date on the attached information sheet.

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

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4. Inventory Levels for a Material

From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Logistics->Materials Management->Physical Inventory->Environment->Stock Overview.

Use material P-109. No other entries are needed. Do not press Enter. It is useless in this context. Instead, click on Execute (the green checkmark with a clock behind it).

The table shows the company code and name (there are several different “companies” in this SAP system), the plant code and name, the storage location code and name, and the batch.

What is the total inventory in unrestricted use? ___________________

How many pieces are in the New York plant? ______________________

This time use the Exit button to go back to the SAP Easy Access Menu in just one step instead of using repeatedly (Backward Arrow)


5. Document Flow

Now we want to see all documents that are part of the chain including this order.

From the SAP Easy Access Menu, choose Logistics->Sales and Distribution->Sales->Order->Display.

Put the order number in: 5404

If you select (Enter) at this point it will display the order document. However, from this
Display Sales Order Initial Screen, you can also go directly to the document flow display by clicking , the document flow button on the buttons line after the white bar displaying the window title.

You can see all documents in this chain. You will see the order itself, the delivery document which is summary document needed to control delivery, along with the detailed documents showing the steps in the process.

The transfer document records that the items ordered are no longer available, and is used to create a picking document.
The goods issue documents says that picking is complete and the items are no longer on the shelf. The invoice says the items have been billed, and the accounting document gives the related accounting entries. We will go into each of these document and the processes they relate to in more depth, as we get deeper into the course.

6. Explore some more

If you have more time, go back and explore the same general material with another customer order: 5729. SAP is a strange beast – very powerful, very complex, and easy to get confused about. It is a tiger, and you now have it by the tail! Best to start getting to know it.

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

>>Previous>>

3. Material Master Tables

Now we will look at master table information on each material (product), using the material from the above order as our example.

From the SAP Easy Access screen, select Logistics ->Materials Management -> Material Master ->Material->Display->Display Current.

Use the material from the example order, which is P-109. Choose (TIck) button or just press Enter.

Now check the tables you want to see. Check the following views: Basic Data 1,


Sales: General/Plant Data, and Costing 2. Scroll down and use any of the following (DownArrow) buttons to get to the Costing 1 view.

Choose (Tick) to continue.

In the Organizational Levels window, click on Plant to see which plants this material is located in. Choose the Werk Hamburg plant by double clicking on it,and then choose (Tick) to continue.

It seems you get all the data, even if you only asked for a few tables. Notice, however, that the ones you checked are specially marked .

Under (Basic Data1) tab

What is the description of the material? __________________________

What is the unit of measure? ______

What is the gross weight? ___________________

Under (sales:General/Plant) tab

What are the transportation group and the loading group? ____________________

To see what the other possibilities are for transportation group and loading group, click once on the field with the value, then click on the listing icon that will become visible. Use the browser back command to return.

What is another possible transportation group, beyond pallets?

What is another possible loading group beyond cranes? __________________________

Under (costing2) tab

What is the standard price? _______________________

Is this what was charged on the order? ___________________

(1 DEM = 0.51129 EUR)

Why might these two be different?

Now lets look at inventory levels for this material. Back out to the SAP Easy Access initial screen by repeatedly using (backward arrow ) on the button bar below the SAP menu bar.

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

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2. Customer Master Tables.


Now we wish to look at some of the data that SAP stores about each customer. This data is the source for much of the information that goes on the order you have already looked at. (The order requires a customer identifier (sold to party) and automatically fills in much of the information from that.)

We will use the sold-to party from the earlier document. Start at the SAP Easy Access initial screen.

Choose Logisticsà Sales and Distribution à Master Data à Business Partners à Customer à Display à Complete.

For customer, enter the identifier 1400 for the sold to party from the earlier order document.

On the Sales Area, select the (CustomerSalesAreas) button.

A customer can conceivably purchase material from several different sales areas. In this case, there is just one Sales Area: 1000/10/00, which is the one used in Sales Order 5404. Double click on that line to import the data into the “Display Customer: Initial Screen”. Choose (Tick) botton to continue.

By looking into the several areas for general data, answer the following questions:


How many employees does the firm have? _______

What industry are they in? ___________________

Who is the contact person and what is his function?

What is the name of the person who serves as the Sales employee partner in this relationship? (Hint: Look into (Sales Area Data) Tab __________________

Return to the SAP Easy Access initial screen by using ((X)Cancel buttons)

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Sales and Distribution Process Online Learning

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Look at an existing order

Go back to “Display Sales Order: Initial Screen” (follow the menu path: Logistics à Sales and Distribution à Sales à Order à Display)

For the order number, use 5404. You don’t need to fill anything else out.
Choose (or press the Enter key).
You will see the overview of the document, which includes much of the header information. You won’t have to understand all the information on these documents, but you will need to understand some of it.

Who is the sold-to party for this order? (Get the customer identifier and the name --You’ll need this later.)

Identifier _______, Name ___________________

Who is the ship-to party? ____________________________________________

Under what circumstances might they be different? ________________________

Now look at the order lines. What “Material” (i.e. product code) is being ordered? You will need this later.___________________

What quantity is being ordered? ___

What is the description of the material? ____________________________

You are looking at the Order Overview screen, which has only some of the Header information, and some of the line item information. Note that you have a number of tabs you can choose from. Use the Shipping tab.

What is the total weight in kilograms for this order? ___________________

What is the delivery status? ___________________

Under what circumstances would you get a different answer to the previous question? _____________________________________________________

You can look at the rest of the Header information by going to Header Details as follows. On the Display Standard Order 5404: Overview screen, note the magnifying glass just above the tabs, on the right. Place your cursor over it and you will see what it does (shows “Display doc. header details”). Click on the magnifying glass. Note that you now have more tabs you can choose from.

What kind of information is now available at the Details level that was not before at the Overview level?

You can use the left arrow on the green ball (on the button bar) to back out to the overview screen to compare. You can also use the left or right arrows at the right of the tabs to bring other tabs into view, or get a list of the tabs by clicking on the list icon to the right of the arrows.

(Give one example of new info at the details level ) __________________

Choose the Partners tab.

Who will be paying for this order? ___________________

Choose the Status tab.

What is the rejection status of this document? _____________

Note the delivery status that you have already obtained. You will notice while using SAP that you can find the same information either in different locations or in the same location reached through different ways.

On the Main Menu (dark blue bar on top), from the “Goto” dropdown menu, choose Overview. (Goto à Overview).

Now look at the schedule lines for a line item. (A line item is a particular material that is ordered. The schedule lines tell when parts of a line item will be delivered etc. There may be more than one schedule line for a line item, if not all is delivered at the same time.) On the Display Standard Order: Overview screen, select the first line item by clicking to the left of the line (toward the bottom). The line will turn dark yellow.

Having selected the line, go to the bottom of the form and click on the Display Item Details button . (You may have to use the scroll bar on the right to down to the bottom of the screen to see the buttons.)

Once again you have tabs to choose from. Select the Schedule Line tab. Then choose the line with a confirmed quantity by clicking on the corresponding blank button on the left side of the quantities/dates table (line turns dark yellow). Now click on the magnifying glass at the bottom left (Sched. line-detail).

On the Display Standard Order 5404: Schedule Line Data screen, choose the shipping tab.

What is the material availability date (the date the material is in the warehouse and ready to be delivered)? ___________________

What is the loading date? ___________________

What is the delivery date? ___________________

Return to the Display Standard Order: Item Data screen by clicking (the green back arrow icon at the top of the screen).

Select the Shipping tab.

Who is the ship-to party? ___________________

What is the unloading point at the ship-to party’s location? __________________

What plant of IDES is this coming from? ___________________

Select some of the other tabs to see what information is available. Some information is not filled out, since it has not been entered, but much of it is available.

Now choose the Condition tab. This shows information used in pricing and discounting the sale, as well as things like cost and profit margins. Use the down arrows to also see the bottom portion of the table. What is the cost per item?

how much tax is charged for this line item? __________________

Is there any discount? ___________________

Use twice the cancel button at the top of the screen to back out to the initial SAP Easy Access screen.

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