Verifying Carrier Invoices and Self-Billing

In SAP MM, the purchase order and service entry sheets are created using the worklist for the invoice verification. There is also an option to do a self-billing (ERS).

The invoice verification is performed in SAP MM and can be done with reference to an SAP TM freight order, carrier, bill of lading, air waybill, flight number, or voyage number. If SAP MM successfully verifies the actual invoice against the expected invoice, SAP TM is notified by updating the freight settlement document (FSD) with the invoice ID and actual amounts. SAP TM updates the Life Cycle Status of the FSD to Invoice Verified. Once the FSD has reached this status, it is not possible to cancel the invoice.

In MM, for logistics invoice verification, internal documents such as a purchase order and a service entry sheet that the system requires for invoice creation are created based on TM data. When incoming invoices are entered or canceled, external TM is informed by enterprise service Supplier Invoice Notification (InvoiceNotification_Out). When working with TM as an internal component, the updates to the freight settlement document are done online.

When verifying invoices in MM, you can navigate to the TM freight order details by clicking on the Details for the invoice item.

Ready for Settlement

Once the settlement process is completed, the process for paying the carrier invoice can begin. Using transaction MIRO, the vendor invoice can be entered. However, if the evaluated receipt settlement (ERS) procedure is in place, this process occurs automatically.

For SAP TM-related invoices, there is a TM Reference tab in the MIRO transaction. To view this tab, you must set up the user parameter TM_INVOICE_CLERK in the user data. With the user parameter TM_INVOICE_CLERK, you control which tabs the user sees when entering or changing incoming invoices in the transaction. The user parameter can be set to Blank (where the user sees both the TM Reference and PO Reference tabs) or X (where the user sees the TM Reference tab only). ​

Financial Postings

 When a payment is made, financial postings are carried out. These are the same postings that would be made for non-TM related invoices.

Evaluated Receipt Settlement (ERS)

Evaluated Receipt Settlement, also known as "self-billing" is the process of settling goods receipts directly without receiving an invoice from the carrier. The system can generate the corresponding invoices and post them. A carrier invoice is no longer required. You can execute the evaluated receipt settlement with reference to documents in Transportation Management.

If you have a long-term partnership with your carriers and the respective carrier executes many orders for your company with an outstanding performance, this process is a common practice to reduce the administrative effort regards financial settlement.

In the same way as when incoming invoices are entered, in evaluated receipt settlement TM is informed by an enterprise service (SupplierInvoiceNotification - InvoiceNotification_Out) when you use an external SAP TM system. When you use an internal TM system, the ERS process notifies the freight settlement document when the system creates an invoice online.

For using the self-billing scenario, the carrier business partner has to be enabled for ERS.

To check if the carrier is enabled, go to Transaction BP, choose your carrier and the role FLVN01 MM Vendor. In the header bar, click on Purchasing. In the Purchasing Data tab, check if the flag for ERS is set.

Note

The ERS flag comes from the MM BP settings. It cannot be set in the TM.

In the same tab, section Additional Control Data, check that the flag "Auto GRSet. Ret." is set. This "Automatic evaluated receipt settlement for return items" flag enables the creation of the Credit Memo via the ERS process. If the carrier is ERS-enabled, a posted and invoiced FSD (lifecycle status "invoice verified") can be reversed via the "Reverse Document" action button directly in the FSD or in the worklist. A new SES with the returns indicator set will be created.

The ERS process and a variance called carrier invoice submission, can also be performed using the SAP Business Network for Logistics (SAP BN4L), which is a cloud-based carrier portal solution available with a separate licence.

Freight Settlement and Dispute Management are the process of publishing the freight charges in the SAP Business Network for Logistics and resolving differences in charges in a freight order (FO) or freight booking (FB) between a carrier or logistics service provider (LSP) and a requester of transportation services, such as a shipper or an LSP. This functionality simplifies and accelerates the carrier invoicing and correction processes. Also, there is no need to set up extra interfaces from third parties to SAP MM for uploading incoming carrier invoices for invoice verification. The carrier creates an invoice directly in the SAP Business Network for Logistics. This invoice gets matched to the calculated freight order amount, and the freight settlement process can be executed later.

Freight Settlement and Dispute Management via SAP Business Network for Logistics are supported for modes of transports road, ocean, and air. Invoice submission is supported via API or web UI, dispute management via backend integration for shippers and via web UI for carriers.

The carrier can verify all relevant logistical and the respective charge amounts. If the carrier wants to change or add data, the collaborative invoice dispute management functionality can be triggered. The dispute can involve changes in logistics item quantities (weight, volume, and distance) or item charges, and can lead to changes in charge amounts in freight order.

The freight settlement in SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration addresses invoice creation, including potential dispute management. It is currently available for road and ocean shipments. It enables you to manage freight settlement with your carriers in sync with your transportation management system as it is integrated into SAP Transportation Management and SAP S/4HANA Transportation Management out-of- the-box. You can define your settlement process centrally, which includes the mapping of internal charge codes from your transport management system to the charge codes visible to your carriers. In addition, you can configure tolerance levels, for example, which discrepancies you are willing to accept (and maybe even auto approve) and above which level you enter into a dispute process.

While large carriers create invoices themselves that they can share using the standardized EDI 210 format, you as a shipper can also trigger the billing process. You can initiate self-billing based on freight documents in your transportation management system that the carrier receives through SAP Business Network for Logistics (‘Review Freight Document’ Tile). In case there is a discrepancy between the agreed and the actual amount charged in the carrier invoice, a dispute can be raised (based on your tolerance settings). As a shipper, you receive a worklist of disputes. You can navigate into each invoice and review the details to decide whether you will accept, propose other values or decline. If the shipper has updated or resolved a dispute, you are notified via e-mail.

In this process, we assume that the carrier creates the invoice based on the freight documents shared via SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration. From their worklist in the Web UI, the carrier can start creating the invoice, which contains the items as of the freight documents. Extra charges can be added such as tax, road tolls, and so on. Then the invoice is submitted for review to you as the shipper.

In case there are any discrepancies between the planned and the actual invoice, a dispute can be raised. You can automatically identify invoices for dispute based on the tolerance settings configured. These can be specific amounts or percentages. Relevant approver(s) are notified automatically about new disputes (via e-mail) and can process the dispute in the SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration Web UI. As a shipper, approvers will be able to include internal notes (for example, for the next level approver) or a note to the carrier. Once the dispute has been settled, the initial invoice can be canceled with a credit memo (the entire invoice amount will be canceled) and a new invoice can be resubmitted by the carrier. Once you receive this new invoice, you can further process it, creating a service PO in your transport management system and forwarding it to Finance.