Customers and Business Partners in SAP SD

Definition

A company deals with different natural and legal persons during business transactions. A customer orders goods from a company. A forwarding agent might deliver goods to the customer. An employee within the company processes the business transactions. All roles a natural or legal person can assume are represented by business partners in the SAP R/3 System.

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 also create a personnel master record yourself for employees in sales and distribution.

Working with Customer Master Records in SAP SD

Use

You create a customer master record for customers with whom your company has business contacts. This master record contains all data necessary for processing the business transactions. Maintaining the master data correctly can greatly reduce the work needed to process transactions. This is because the master data is automatically copied into the transactions.

How the Customer Master Record is Structured

Both the accounting department and the sales and distribution department have access to the customer master record. In order to avoid data redundancy, the data for both departments is stored in a common master record.

General data, company code data, and sales and distribution data is stored separately in the customer master record. Company code data depends on the company code organization. It is defined individually for each company code. Sales and distribution data depends on the organization in the sales area. It is defined individually for each sales area. General data is independent from company code and sales area. It applies to one customer in all company codes and sales areas.

The following figure displays the structure of a customer master record.

Data in the Customer Master Record

Different data is maintained in each of the three areas:

• General data is maintained for every customer. Such as address, communication, etc. This data is identifiable only via the customer number, not via the number of the company code or the sales area. Maintaining the data is possible from both the accounting view and the sales and distribution view.
• Company code data is only of interest for the accounting department. It includes, for example, information on insurance or account management. This data applies to only one company code.
• Sales and distribution data is only of interest for the sales and distribution department. It includes, for example, data on pricing or shipping. This data only applies to one sales area, and therefore is dependent on the sales structure (sales organization, distribution channel, division).

Partners in the Customer Master Record in SAP SD

Use

In sales and distribution there are:

• Business partners

A customer master record must be created for business partners.

• Contact Persons with the Business Partner

Data on contact persons is stored in the customer master record of the respective business partner. A separate master record for contact persons is not created. A new number is assigned to each contact person within a customer master record.

Business partners

A business partner can be a natural or legal person who is directly involved in a business transaction with you. The following partner functions are defined in the system:

• Sold-to party
• Ship-to party
• Payer
• Bill-to party

Sold-to party

For the sold-to party, data on sales is necessary (for example, the assignment to a sales office or to a valid price list).

In most cases, the company which places an order for the delivery of goods or the rendering of services is at the same time ship-to party, payer and bill-to party. For this reason in the SAP R/3 System the function sold-to party includes all these other functions.

Ship-to party

For the ship-to party only data required for shipping is necessary (for example, unloading point and goods receiving hours).

Payer

A payer is a company or person who settles the invoices for delivered goods or rendered services. For the payer data on billing schedules and bank data is necessary.

Bill-to party

For the bill-to party you need the address, data on output and possibly data on electronic communication.

Contact Persons with the Business Partner

In your customer's company there are always one or more contact persons with whom you are in contact either by phone, in writing or personally to carry out business transactions. Often, the information you need about the contact persons is not the same as the information you need about the customer. The most important data of the contact person is name, telephone number, and department. Since the contact person is part of the customer's company, you enter this data in the respective customer master record. Thus, you do not need a separate master record for contact persons.

However, in the standard version of the SAP R/3 System you can only enter the data on the contact person in the customer master record of the sold-to party, since only contact persons from this master record are proposed for selection in the sales order.

Dividing Partner Functions

The company or person who places an order is often the same company or person who receives both the goods and the invoice, and also pays. In this case the customer fulfills all predefined functions. It is also quite common, however, that subsidiaries place orders, and the head office settles the respective invoices. In this case the partner functions are divided among different companies.

If a customer fulfills all functions at the same time, only one master record is necessary, in which all data required for these functions is entered. In this case you create a master record for the sold-to party.

If the functions are divided among different companies, a corresponding number of master records is needed. In one master record you enter, for example, the address of the sold-to party for correspondence, in another one the address of the ship-to party for the delivery. Only in the customer master record of the sold-to party is a link between the individual partners established, and this is done by entering the customer number of the respective partners.

Screen and Field Selection for Partner Functions

When you enter a customer master record for the ship-to party, you need special data for shipping (for example, the unloading point and goods receiving hours). In this case, data on sales or billing is not necessary, providing the ship-to party is not the payer and sold-to party at the same time.

You can limit the screens and fields accessed in the customer master record so that only the necessary data is entered. You do this using account groups. The function of a customer is defined by assigning an account group.

Account Groups in SAP SD

Use

The account group ensures that for the different customer functions, only the necessary screens and fields are shown and can be used to enter data. If, for example, you want to create a customer master record for a ship-to party, an account group is proposed.

The account group also controls which partner functions the customer can transfer into a document. You can find further information under Assignment of account groups to partner functions

The account group can also be used to determine the numbering of the customer number. You can find further information on numbering customer master records in Number assignment for customer master records

Features

In the standard R/3 system for Sales and Distribution there are, for example, the following partner functions

• Sold-to party
• Ship-to party
• Payer
• Sales prospect
• One-time customer (CPD - conto pro diverse).

You can define individual account groups, if they occur in your company in other combinations, for example if a ship-to party also pays for the goods at the same time.

You can change the account group for a customer at a later date. For further information, see Account groups.

Activities

You define the account groups in Customizing for Logistics General ® Logistics Basic Data Business partners ® Customer ® Control ® Define account groups and customer field selection.

How the Customer Master Record is Structured in SAP SD

Use

Data on customers is important for both the accounting department and the sales and distribution department. In order to avoid data redundancy, accounting data and sales and distribution data is stored in one master record, the customer master record.

A customer master record can be accessed using three different groups of data, which differ in the level of detail they offer. A master record has the following structure.

General data

General data does not depend on the company code, or on your company's organization of sales and distribution. Data on a customer is the same in both views. This includes, for example, the customer name, address and telephone number.

However, general data is not limited to the information which is of importance to both departments. The unloading point, for example, which is regarded as general data, is only relevant for sales and distribution. However, since it is not based on the sales and distribution organization of your company and is always unique for this customer, it is not considered part of the sales and distribution data.

If you edit a customer master record using only the customer number, without specifying a sales and distribution area or a company code, the system will only display the general data screens.

General data is entered by the department which first creates the customer master record for a customer. If the sales and distribution department creates the customer master record, it must also enter the address data. When the accounting department enters accounting data it is then unnecessary for them to enter the general data also. They can use the display function to access the general data.

Company Code Data

This data is only of importance to the accounting department. It includes, for example, data on insurance and account management. Company code data only applies to one company code.

If you edit the customer master record you must specify customer number and company code in order to access the screens containing company code data.

Sales and Distribution Data

This data is only of importance to sales and distribution. It includes data on pricing, delivery priority and shipping conditions. The data for one customer can differ for each sales area. The sales area is a combination of sales organization, distribution channel and division.

Only after entering the sales and distribution data for a customer can you process sales and distribution transactions for the customer (for example, a sales order). Also, you can only invoice a business transaction if the data on the payer has been maintained from the financial accounting view.

If you edit the customer master record you must enter the customer number and the sales area in order to access screens containing sales and distribution data.

Menu Access According to the Department

In the system you can access department-specific data via menus:

• If you want to define customer data for sales you access the customer master record through the sales and distribution menu (Logistics).
• If you want to enter data for the accounting department, you access the customer master record through the accounting menu.
• You can use both initial menus to edit the customer data centrally, i.e. from both the sales view and the accounting view.

In sales and distribution, central maintenance is only provided for the business partners sold-to party and payer, for which central maintenance is worthwhile.

Data in the Customer Master Record in SAP SD

Use

A customer master record contains all data needed for business transactions and correspondence with the customer. This includes address data, shipping data, sales data, and data for invoice creation.

Data Groups in Sales and Distribution

The following figure shows the data important for the sales and distribution department.

Accessing Sales and Distribution Data in the Customer Master Record

You access this data using the sales and distribution menu. Depending on the data groups to be edited, you enter the data that is listed in the column "Access through".

Accessing the Data Groups

Types	Access through	Data groups
General data	Customer number	Address
		Control data
		Marketing
		Payment transactions
		Contact person
		Unloading points
Sales and Distribution data	Customer number	Address
	Sales organization	Control data
	Distribution channel	Marketing
	Division	Payment transactions
		Contact person
		Unloading points
		Sales
		Shipping
		Billing
		Output
		Partner functions

Number Assignment for Customer Master Records in SAP SD

Use

A unique number is assigned to every customer master record. You can use this number to access the master record again later, or to refer to the customer when carrying out business transactions.

Internal and External Number Assignment

The number for the customer master record can either be assigned internally by the system, or you can define the number yourself. The second method is called external number assignment. In the case of external number assignment, a number range that allows for alphanumerical number assignment can be defined.

The account group determines whether internal or external number assignment is allowed for a customer master record. For account groups 0001 to 0005, for example, only internal number assignment is allowed in the standard version of the SAP R/3 System.

Number Range

For every account group a number range is defined from which a serial number is assigned during internal number assignment. In the case of external number assignment the system checks whether the customer number entered lies within the defined number range.

A number range can be valid for different account groups. In the standard version of the SAP R/3 System the account groups for sold-to party, ship-to party, payer and bill-to party belong to the same number range so that the numbers for these master records are assigned consecutively. You can use the number range to assign, for example, different numbers to the head office and the branches.

A customer's number is unique for all sales areas and company codes. If you, for example, have created a customer master record for a customer in a sales area and create another customer master record for the same customer in another sales area, the system identifies the number and does not display the general data from the first master record for maintenance, since the general data exists already. You can also use the change and display functions to access the general data of the newly maintained views.

One-time Customer in SAP SD

Use

With some customers your company has long-lasting business relationships. You have special price agreements with these customers and deliveries are given preferential treatment. At the end of the fiscal year you might honor the reliability of these customers with rebate payments. With other customers you might have only one contact. In the SAP R/3 System you can distinguish between:

• Customers
• One-time customers

Customer

You create a customer master record for every customer. In the standard version of the SAP R/3 System you can choose between the partner functions sold-to party, ship-to party, bill-to party, and payer. For further information on partner functions, see "Partners in the Customer Master Record".

One-time Customer

Customers who only enter into a business transaction with you once are called one-time customers in the SAP R/3 System. It is not necessary to create a customer master record for these customers, since there remains no need for this master record after the business transaction has been carried out, and it would only require unnecessary storage space.

Collective Master Records for One-time Customers

You create a collective master record for all one-time customers. A collective master record refers to a dummy customer and includes only the data that is identical for a certain group of customers.

You can create, for example, a collective master record for all customers of a certain region. This master record would include fields such as a name to identify the master record, the language, the currency and the sales office processing the customer data. If a one-time customer from this region orders goods from your company you will use the customer number of your collective master record when processing the sales order. Only in the sales order itself will you enter the address and all other data not given in the master record.

Screens and Fields for One-time Customers

When you create a customer master record for a one-time customer, the account group CPD (account group for one-time customers) is automatically proposed. This ensures that the screens from different areas (sold-to party, ship-to party, bill-to party, payer) relevant for one-time customers, are accessed. However, only fields which can be identical for all one-time customers are displayed. For example, all address fields are suppressed, since the master record is collective for data of several customers.

On the following screens you can enter a limited amount of data in a master record for one-time customers:

• Address
• Sales
• Shipping
• Billing document
• Output

The account group can restrict the number of screens accessed in the master record for one-time customers even further. If only some of the screens and fields for one-time customers are relevant for your company, ask your system administrator to change the account group CPD or to set up a new account group.

For further information on creating a customer master record for a one-time customer, see Creating a Customer Master Record.

Consumer in SAP SD

Use

A consumer is a natural person for whom you create a customer master record and a master record as a central business partner. In an operative transaction, only the customer data are of any significance.

Consumer maintenance allows you to enter all the data on a single screen. If you are working with a consumer, then reference data (known as the reference customer) must be available for creating the master data and processing sales. The consumer data at company code and sales area level are copied from the reference customer.

You can create the following general information for a consumer:

• Personal data (e.g. name and gender)
• Address
• Banking details
• Payment cards

Reference Customer

You can create a maximum of one reference customer per client. You must maintain all the required sales area and company code segments when creating the reference customer (for this reason, a consumer cannot be a reference customer).

The function for creating master data uses the company code data in the reference customer as a template for creating a consumer master record. In the operative business transaction, e.g. in the sales order, the SD-specific data are required and procured dynamically.

Consumer Master Data

Structure

Central business partner data, address data and customer data are maintained for the consumer in the system. When you create the consumer, the customer data (e.g. address, bank data and payment card information) is automatically copied from central address/business data or from reference segments. The company code data is copied from the reference customer and created automatically. This allows you to use consumers in operative transactions in the same way as for customers.

Maintenance

You maintain the consumer in a single transaction. Select Logistics ® Sales and distribution ® Master data and then Business partners ® Consumers

The maintenance transactions that you use here are designed for processing central business partners and allow you to maintain the consumer data. All consumer data, other than the blocking indicator, can only be processed via these transactions. You have to process the block indicators in customer maintenance.

When you create a consumer, you may have to enter a consumer number. This number depends on the settings made for the consumer account group (0170 for external or internal number assignment). The number of the central business partner is grayed out and is supplied in the background via internal number assignment. Two screens are supplied in the standard system:

• Address
• Controlling payment transactions

You have to enter an address, otherwise the data is considered incomplete. When you have finished entering data, check your data and save.

Processing the Operative Business Transaction

Document Entry

No data is entered at sales area level for a consumer. The sales area-relevant data required during document entry is procured from the master data of the reference customer.

Partner Determination

The partner functions in the reference customer are evaluated. The functions sold-to party, payer, bill-to party and ship-to party are not copied from the reference customer, because they are already taken by the consumer.

The reference customer can be used to determine partner functions such as forwarding agent or employee responsible.

Output

You have to set output determination for consumer processing using the condition technique (i.e. the print proposal does not originate in the master data).

Creating a Customer Master Record in SAP SD

You create a customer master record when you start a business relationship with a new customer. Customer master records can be created for the following business partners:

• Customer:

- Ship-to party

- Payer

- Bill-to party

• One-time customer including all partner functions

Creating a Customer Master Record for a Customer

Because the customer master record for the sold-to party has the widest scope, this example describes how to create a customer master record for the sold-to party. When you call the customer master record initial screen via the menu, select the partner function for the business partner.

Steps

Creating a Master Record for a Sold-to Party

Use the following steps to create a customer master record for a sold-to party:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Sold-to Party ®Create ®Create.

You reach the: Create Customer Initial Screen. The account group for the sold-to party is already proposed on this screen.

2. Enter the following data:

- Sales organization

- Distribution channel

- Division

By selecting Extras ® Sales areas ® All sales areas you can find out which combination of sales organization, distribution channel, and division is possible for the customer.

Do not change the proposed account group, as this will also change the selected business partner. Leave the field Customer blank, because internal number assignment is defined for the account group of the sold-to party.

1. Press ENTER.

You reach the Create Customer: Address screen.

2. Enter the address data. 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.
3. By pressing ENTER, you will access further data screens for this customer master record. Enter all necessary data in these screens.

Some of the data screens that you process require special data input, or are logically linked with other screens which you reach using function keys. For further information on these screens, see Changing a Customer Master Record.

4. If you press the ENTER key after having entered data in the last data screen, a dialog box is displayed in which the system prompts you to save your data.
5. Select Yes and press ENTER to save your customer data.

The following message is displayed at the bottom of the screen:

Account created for SlsOrg. DistCh Div.

If you access the initial menu for the customer master record by selecting Other customers, the account group is not proposed. To find the account groups defined in your company, place the cursor on the field Account group and press the F4 key.

By using menu option Extras ® Account group info ® Acct groups/numbers you can also find out

• whether the corresponding account group identifies a one-time customer (one-time account)
• whether internal or external number assignment is defined for the account group
• which number interval has been defined for the account group

Creating a Customer Master Record for a Customer Centrally

In addition to the sales and distribution data, the accounting data is also important for a payer. You can therefore create a customer master record centrally for the following partner functions:

• For the payer
• For the sold-to party who, in addition to the other partner functions, also takes on the function of the payer

Creating a Customer Master Record for a Payer Centrally

Below you will find a description on how to create a master record for a payer centrally. The procedure is essentially the same for central creation of a customer master record for a sold-to party.

Proceed as follows:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Payer ®Create ®Create centrally.

You reach the Create Customer: Initial Screen. The account group for the payer is already displayed; it is proposed by the system.

2. Enter the data for the payer and press ENTER.
3. By pressing the ENTER key you access all sales and distribution screens and accounting screens in the customer master record.

Some of the data screens you process require special data input or are logically linked with other screens which you reach using function keys. For further information on these screens, see Changing a Customer Master Record.

4. If you press the ENTER key after having entered data in the last data screen, a dialog box is displayed in which the system prompts you to save your data.
5. Select Yes and press ENTER to save your customer data.

You return to the initial screen for creating a customer master record, where you can see the number of the customer master record created.

Reference

If you create a customer master record centrally, you should also enter the data for FI (e.g. insurance data and account information) as well as information for automatic payment transactions. For further information on this accounting data, see the R/3 FI documentation on accounts receivable accounting.

Creating a Customer Master Record for One-time Customers

Use the following steps to create a customer master record for a one-time customer:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®One-time customers ®Create.

You reach the Create Customer: Initial Screen.

2. Enter the following data:

- Sales organization

- Distribution channel

- Division

The account group CPD (one-time account) is proposed. Do not change this account group. The system automatically assigns an internal number for one-time customers

3. Press ENTER.

You access the address screen of the customer master record. This screen is limited to those fields which can be identical for different customers.

4. Enter the following data:

- in the field Name, a generic term for those customers for whom you are creating a customer master record (for example, Dallas and Houston to keep the customers from these two cities separate)

- a search term which will later help you retrieve the customer master record

- the country

5. Press ENTER to access the various data screens of the customer master record.

Some of the data screens that you process require special data input, or are logically linked with other screens which you reach using function keys. You will find detailed information on these screens in "Screens in the Customer Master Record".

6. Enter all necessary data.
7. You can store the master record in each of the customer master record screens by selecting Customer
® Save.

If the master record contains additional required entry fields which you have not yet filled, you access the corresponding screens, where you save the necessary data by selecting the menu options Customer ® Save.

After saving the data, you return to the initial screen for creating a customer master record. The following message is displayed at the bottom of the screen: Account created for SlsOrg. DistCh Div.

When later creating a sales order for a customer whose data fits to the one-time customer master record, after entering the customer number, the system automatically branches to an address screen where you can enter the address, name and other relevant information.

Using a Reference for Customer Master Record Creation

If a customer master record with similar data already exists, you can enter its number in the field Customer in the reference section of the initial screen, which will reduce the effort required to create the new master record.

If you enter only the customer number in the reference section, the system will copy only the general data into the new customer master record. If you also enter data on the sales area, the sales and distribution data will also be copied. Only data which can be identical for both master records is copied. For example, address and unloading points are not copied, while country, language and account group are. You can change all copied data.

If you create a customer master record for a customer for whom a customer master record in another sales area already exists, the general data will not need to be entered again for the second master record because it already exists in the system.

Master Data Grouping

You can specify that customer master records which have been created in a particular sales organization for a specific distribution channel and division are also valid in other distribution channels and/or divisions. This means that you only have create master records which you require in various distribution channels once. This can save you a lot of time and effort.

You can use the same function to edit material master records and prices.

• Master data grouping for distribution channels.

At distribution channel level, you can specify the other distribution channels in which prices and customer and material master records are also valid.

• Master data grouping for divisions

At division level, you can specify the other divisions in which customer master records and prices are also valid.

You make the settings in customizing.

Changing a Customer Master Record in SAP SD

If data about a customer changes, you must add the corresponding changes in the customer master record. The sold-to party is used as an example to show how you can change a customer master record. The procedure is the same for all partner functions.

There are two ways in which you can change a customer master record:

• You can change a customer master record for sales and distribution.
• You can change a customer master record centrally, i.e. simultaneously for sales and distribution and accounting.

Steps

Changing a Customer Master Record for Sales and Distribution

Use the following steps to change a customer master record of a sold-to party in sales and distribution:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Sold-to Party ®Change ®Change.

You reach the Change Customer: Initial Screen.

2. Enter the sales area you want to change, as well as the customer number. Select the views where you want to make changes to the data.

Select Extras ® Sales areas/customer to find out which combinations of sales organization, distribution channel and division are maintained for the customer.

If you do not enter a sales area, the system displays only the general data.

3. Press ENTER to access the selected screens, one after the other, and carry out the changes.

By using the function Goto you can reach every individual screen in the customer master record. You can go forward and backwards in the sequence defined, or access certain screens directly. You can also access screens in the customer master record that you did not select on the initial screen.

4. If you press ENTER after having reached the last screen, a dialog box is displayed in which you can save your data.
5. Select Yes and press ENTER to save the data.

You return to the data screen Change Customer: Initial Screen where the following message is displayed: Changes have been made.

Changing a Customer Master Record Centrally

For the sold-to party and the payer, sales and distribution data as well as accounting data is important. Therefore, you can change the customer master record of the sold-to party and the payer centrally, i.e. for both views simultaneously.

Below you will find a description of how to change a customer master record centrally for the sold-to party. The procedure is the same for the payer.

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Sold-to Party ®Change ®Change centrally.

You reach the Change Customer: Initial Screen.

2. Enter a valid company code, sales area, and the number of the customer whose master record you would like to change centrally. Select the data screen on which you want to carry out changes.

Select Extras ® Sales areas ® Sales areas/customer to find out which combinations of sales organization, distribution channel and division are maintained for the customer, i.e. which sales areas are valid for this customer.

3. Press ENTER to access the selected screens of the customer master record, which you can change, one after the other.
4. If you press ENTER after having reached the last screen, a dialog box is displayed in which you can save your data.
5. Select Yes and press ENTER to save your customer data.

You return to the initial screen Change Customer: Initial Screen where the following message is displayed in the message line: Changes have been made.

Displaying a Customer Master Record in SAP SD

If you want to display a customer master record, it is not necessary to access all the screens that you had to when creating it. You can directly access selected information. You can mark the data screens with the data of interest to you. You can not carry out any changes in the display mode.

By using the function Goto you can reach every individual screen in the customer master record. You can go forward and backwards in the sequence defined, or access certain screens directly. You can also access screens you did not select on the initial screen.

Steps

To display a customer master record, use the following steps:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Sold-to Party ®Display ®Display.

You access the screen Display Customer: Initial Screen.

2. Enter a valid sales area and the number of the sold-to party you want to display. Select the data screens you would like to see.
3. If you have selected several screens, you access these screens of the customer master record one after the other by pressing ENTER.
4. If you press ENTER after having reached the last data screen, a dialog box appears in which you are asked whether you want to end the display of the customer.
5. Select Yes and press ENTER to leave the customer master record.

You return to the initial screen Display Customer: Initial Screen.

Displaying Special Information

If you need special information on a customer master record, such as the name of the user who created the customer master record, or the sales areas, you can use special display functions.

User Who Created Master Record

If you want to display the name of the user who created a customer master record, select Extras ® Administrative data in the customer master record display mode. The names of the users who created the customer master record for the accounting department and for the sales and distribution department are displayed.

Sales Areas

If you want to display the sales areas for which the customer master records are maintained, select Extras ® Sales areas ® Sales areas/customer in the customer master record display mode. The system displays a dialog box which lists all sales areas for that customer.

Blocking

If you want to know whether certain blocks have been set for a customer master record, select Extras ® Blocking data in the customer master record display mode. You access the Display Customer screen: Blocking Data. This screen shows you whether the customer has been blocked for the sales and distribution view or whether he has been blocked for specific business transactions in sales and distribution, such as sales order, delivery or billing in sales and distribution. Select Back to return to the customer master record display mode.

Deletion Indicators

If you want to know whether a customer is marked for deletion, select Extras ® Deletion indicators in the customer master record display mode. You access the Display Customer screen: Deletion indicators. This screen shows which parts of a customer's data is marked for deletion. The company code data can be marked for deletion separately from the sales and distribution data. Select Back to return to the customer master record display mode.

Texts

Depending on the screen you are on, the system offers different text groups for processing. If you are on a general data screen, for example, and select Extras ® Texts in the display mode of the customer master record, you access the screen Display Customer: Central Texts. On this screen all the different general texts are listed. You can display them in more detail via Detail Text. Select Back to return to the customer master record display mode.

Deleting a Customer Master Record in SAP SD

You mark a customer master record for deletion if, for example, you no longer maintain business relationships with the customer. By using the deletion indicator you mark the customer master record, so that the corresponding reorganization program later recognizes this master record and deletes it from the file. The master record is only deleted after all dependent data has been deleted.

The deletion indicator can be recognized by warning and error messages (for example, when entering a sales order).

Steps

To mark a customer master record of a sold-to party for deletion, use the following steps:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Sold-to Party ®Mark for deletion.

You reach the Mark for Deletion Customer: Initial Screen.

2. Enter the number of the sold-to party that you would like to mark for deletion.

If you specify a sales area, you can mark the customer for deletion for selected sales areas on the next data screen. If you do not specify a sales area, you can mark the customer generally for deletion, i.e. for all sales areas, on the next data screen.

3. Press ENTER.
4. Set the deletion indicator.
5. Save the customer master record with Save.

You return to the screen Mark for Deletion Customer: Initial screen and receive the message in the message area Changes have been made.

Removing the Deletion Indicator in a Customer Master Record

You can cancel a block in a customer master record by removing the block indicators. To do this, proceed exactly as if you wanted to set a deletion indicator. As soon as you reach the data screen Mark for Deletion Customer: Details Screen, you can remove the indicator and save the master record. You receive a message that the changes have been made. The deletion indicator has been removed.

You can also set a deletion indicator when you are in the customer master record by selecting Extras ® Deletion indicators in the customer master record change mode and then entering the deletion indicator.

Blocking a Customer Master Record in SAP SD

A customer master record can be blocked, for example, when you want to temporarily stop business relations with a customer.

Steps

To block the customer master record of a sold-to party, for example, use the following steps. The procedure is the same for the other partner functions.

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ® Customer hierarchy ®Block.

You reach the Block/Unblock Customer: Initial Screen.

2. Enter the number of the sold-to party you would like to block.

If you do not specify a sales area, you can set a general block for all sales areas on the following data screen. If you specify a sales area, you can set the blocks for selected sales areas.

3. Press ENTER.

You reach the Block/Unblock Customer: Details screen.

4. Select a sales order block, a delivery block or a billing block or all of them by using the appropriate keys.

You can use predefined keys to indicate the reasons for block, and to determine the blocking type. It is possible, for example, to block the processing of credit memo requests for a particular customer, perhaps until credit difficulties are resolved.

5. Save the changes using Save.

You return to the initial screen Block/Unblock Customer: Initial Screen where the following message is displayed: Changes have been made.

Unblocking Customer Master Records

You can cancel a block in a customer master record by removing the block indicators. First use the same steps as for blocking, as described above. As soon as you access the data screen Block/Unblock Customer: Details screen, you can remove the existing block indicator and save the master record. You receive a message that the changes have been made. The block is canceled.

You can also block a customer master record in the customer master record itself by selecting Extras ® Blocking data in the customer master record change mode, and then entering the appropriate keys on the subsequent screen.

Displaying Changes in Customer Master Record in SAP SD

You can display all changes which have been made in a customer master record. You can display changes in the display mode and in the change mode. There are two ways of doing this:

• By using the function Display changes in the initial menu.
• By displaying the changes in the customer master record.

Steps

Displaying Changes to Sales and Distribution Data

To display changes to sales and distribution data in the customer master record for, for example a sold-to party, proceed as follows:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Sold-to Party ®Display changes ®Display changes.

You reach the Customer Account Changes: Initial Screen.

2. Enter the customer number. In addition, you can enter criteria such as the sales area and the user who made the changes as search terms.
3. Press ENTER.

You reach the screen Customer Changes: Changed Fields screen. The system lists the changed fields. The following functions are available to you:

- You can display the changes made to a field by placing the cursor on the corresponding line and selecting Edit ® Choose.

- You can display all changes made to a customer master record by selecting All changes. You reach the screen Customer Changes: Overview where you see a list of the changed field entries, including the date, and the old and the new value.

4. Select Back until you return to the initial screen.

Displaying Changes to all Data

To display changes to all master record data (accounting data and sales and distribution data), proceed as follows:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Sold-to Party ®Display changes ®Display central.

You reach the Customer Account Changes: Initial Screen.

2. Enter the customer number. In addition, you can enter criteria such as the sales area, the date from which you want to check for changes, the company code, and the name of the user who made the changes as search terms.
3. Select ENTER.

You reach the screen Customer Changes: Changed Fields screen. The system lists the changed fields. You can perform the functions described in the above section.

4. Select Back until you return to the initial screen.

Displaying Changes for Multiple Customers

You can also use the Display changes function to display changes to customer master data for more than one customer. This is done as follows:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ®Sold-to Party ®Display changes ®Multiple customers.

You reach the Display of Customer Changes screen.

2. Enter the range of customer names or numbers which you want to check. In addition, you can specify search terms such as the date from which you want to check for changes and the user who made the changes.
3. Specify the data (general, financial accounting, sales and distribution) which you want to check for changes by marking the appropriate fields. Then enter the corresponding organizational data as required. You can limit the field group(s) which are to be checked.
4. Indicate how you want the list to be sorted by entering the appropriate sort method in the Sorting field. If you want the technical names of the fields to be displayed in the compiled list., mark the Technical field names field.
5. Select ENTER.

You reach the Customer Changes:Changed Fields screen. The system lists the changed fields.

You can search within the list for, for example, records changed on a on a particular date or for a particular customer by selecting Edit ® Find. A dialog box appears in which you can enter a search term which suits your purposes (the creation date or customer name, for example).

6. Select Back until you return to the initial screen.

Display in the Customer Master Record

You can also display the changes in the customer master record when you are in the change or display mode by selecting either Environment ® Field changes or Environment ® Account changes.

Changing an Account Group in SAP SD

If, for example, a customer who has always fulfilled the function of a payer then takes on the role of a sold-to party, you have to assign the new function to the customer. However, since screen and field selection in the customer master record are controlled by the account group, you can only assign the other function by changing the account group.

Changes to the account group and the accompanying partner functions can only be made from a lower level to a higher level. For example, this means that a sold-to party cannot be assigned the function of a payer as fields which have already been maintained for this sold-to party would have to be masked. However, you can assign the sold-to party function to a payer.

Account Groups Which can be Changed

You can change the account group for the following partner functions:

• Ship-to party
• Bill-to party
• Payer

The following topic explains how you change the account group for a payer.

Steps

To change the account group of a payer, proceed as follows:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen, select Business partners ® Payer ®Change account group.

You reach the Change Account Group screen.

2. Enter the number of the payer whose account group you wish to change and press ENTER.

You reach the dialog box Company Codes/Sales Areas by Customer. It shows you which company codes and sales areas for this payer you must maintain after you have changed the account group.

3. Press ENTER.

You reach the Change Account Group Customer: Initial Screen dialog box which informs you of the account group of the previous partner function. Here, you enter the account group of the new partner function you wish to assign to the payer.

4. Enter the required account group in the field New account group and press ENTER.

If fields need to be maintained as a result of the new account group, you reach the dialog box Change Account Group: Critical Field Groups, in which the field groups and fields to be maintained are listed.
If the window is not displayed, no fields need to be maintained and you can proceed to Step 7.

5. Press ENTER.

You reach the Change Account Group dialog box where you can change the account group if you made an error previously.

6. Check your entry and press ENTER.

You branch to the customer master record where you can maintain the new fields for the new account group.
If the customer has been created for several company codes/sales areas, master record maintenance is carried out here for the company code/sales area which was displayed first in the dialog box Company Code/Sales Areas by Customer.



You only branch directly to customer master record maintenance if you have the authorization to change master records. Otherwise, these fields must be maintained at a later point in time by someone who has the authorization to do so.

7. Maintain all the screens in the customer master record which you feel are important. Maintain all the mandatory fields at least.
8. If you press ENTER after having reached the last screen, a dialog box is displayed in which you can save your data.
9. Select yes and press ENTER to save your data.

You receive a message informing you that the account group of the customer master being processed has been changed.

10. Press ENTER.

You return to the Change Customer Account Group : Initial Screen and you receive a message informing you that the changes have been saved.

You have now completed the maintenance of the new fields in the customer master for the first company code/sales area. If the customer has been created for several company codes/sales areas, maintain the fields for the remaining company codes/sales areas as well. The company codes/sales areas for the customer are displayed in the dialog box Company Codes/Sales Areas by Customer (see Step 3).

It may make sense to block the customer until all the necessary data has been maintained.

Comparing Customer Master Records in SAP SD

Steps

Customer master records are created and maintained in Financial Accounting and in Sales and Distribution. In some cases, a customer master record may have been created for a customer in SD but not in FI and vice versa. There is a program which determines which customer records have been maintained in one of these applications but not in the other.

To perform this function for the sold-to party, for example, proceed as follows:

In the

SD Master Data Screen select, Business partners ® Sold-to party ®Master data comp.

You reach the selection screen.

Enter the range of names or numbers of the customers for whom you want to check the master records.

If you want to create a list of customers for whom master records have been created in SD but not in FI, specify a sales area in the Details specific to Sales and Distribution section of the screen and activate the Not in FI button in the Selection parameters section of the screen.

If you want to create a list of customers for whom master records have been created in FI but not in SD, specify a company code in the Details specific to Financial Accounting section of the screen and activate the Not in SD button in the Selection parameters section of the screen.

Enter further selection criteria if you want to limit the scope of the search.

You can enter a freely definable text in the Additional heading field. This text is displayed in the page header of the compiled list.

Select Program

® Execute.

Depending on your selection criteria, you obtain a list of customers for which customer master records exist in SD but not in FI or vice versa.

You can search within the list for, for example, records created on a particular date or for a particular customer by selecting Edit ® Find. A dialog box appears in which you can enter a search term which suits your purposes (the creation date or customer name, for example).

Select Back until you return to the initial screen.

Creating Customer-Material Information Records in SAP SD

If a customer manages a material with a number that differs from the one your company uses, a customer-material information record is created.

Steps:

Use the following steps to create a customer-material information record:

1. In the
SD Master Data Screen select, Agreements ® Cust.-material info ® Create.

You reach the Create Customer-Material Info Record screen.

2. Enter the customer number, the sales organization and a distribution channel. Thus, you can specify to which part of your organization the information record applies.
3. Press ENTER.

You reach the Create Customer-Material Info Record: Overview screen

4. Edit the data screen by entering data in the following fields:

– In the field Material enter the number which identifies the material in your company.

– In the field Customer material enter the number that the customer uses to identify the material.

5. Press ENTER.

The system adds the material description used in your company.

Press Info record details to display the items created, and to enter shipping data, as well as partial delivery agreements.

6. If you want to maintain a text, select Goto
® Texts in the Overview screen

You reach the Text screen, where you can enter your text.

7. If you want to enter several lines of text, mark the text lines and select Edit
® Detail, to get to the SAPscript editor.
8. Save your text after maintaining it in the SAPscript editor. You return to to the Text screen of the sales information record using Goto
® Back.
9. Save the data record.

In the message line, you receive the message that customer-material info record was saved.