Join consultant Julia and supply chain manager Paul as they introduce the Business Partner concept in the following video.
In SAP S/4HANA, supplier and customer master data is centrally managed using the business partner (BP) master data model. This unified approach enables streamlined and consistent maintenance of business partner information across the system.
When creating a business partner in SAP S/4HANA, you must first select a business partner category (BP category). This category determines the classification of the business partner as one of the following types:
- Natural Person – an individual, such as a private customer or employee.
- Group – a collective entity, such as a community of heirs.
- Organization – a legal entity or a part of one, such as a company or a department within a company.
The connection between a business partner and various application components is established through business partner roles (BP roles).
By selecting the appropriate business partner roles, you determine whether an organization should function as a customer, a supplier, or both. Each role defines a specific business context in which the business partner operates. For instance, roles such as Supplier and Supplier (Fin. Accounting) are relevant for procurement processes, while Customer and Customer (Fin. Accounting) apply to sales processes. This role-based approach ensures that the appropriate master data is maintained for each scenario, enabling the business partner to perform specific functions - such as acting as a procure-from party - within the relevant processes.
When creating a new business partner, for example a supplier, you first choose the BP category Organization and assign the BP role Business Partner (Gen.). This role allows you to maintain general data that is valid at the client level, meaning it applies across all company codes, purchasing and sales organizations within the system.
The general data includes:
- Address details
- Control data
- Bank information
- Contact persons
After assigning the Business Partner (Gen.) role and maintaining general data, you can assign the Supplier (Fin. Accounting) role to capture financial data relevant at the company code level. This data supports financial accounting processes and includes:
- Reconciliation account number
- Correspondence and withholding tax information
- Payment methods for automatic payment transactions
Then, you assign theSupplier role and maintain data at the purchasing organization level that supports procurement activities. This data includes:
- Purchase order currency
- Incoterms
- Partner roles
- Purchasing-specific controls
- Plant-specific or vendor subrange-specific data
By selecting the appropriate business partner grouping (BP grouping), you define the numbering logic for the business partner master record. Once assigned, the grouping cannot be changed.
Note
Technically, business partners, suppliers, and customers are separate master records.
The basic data (such as number, name, address, bank data, and tax number) is maintained at the business partner level.
Depending on the assigned business partner roles, the business partner can act as a supplier and/or a customer, and customer and/or supplier master records are created in the background.
Since technically three different master records are created, you can decide whether your business partners, suppliers, and customers should have the same or different number ranges. This is a task that your configuration expert can perform in your configuration environment.