Configuring a Legal Entity

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to create a Legal Entity in SAP Fieldglass.

Legal Entity

A Legal Entity is a data unit that allows Buyers to establish relationships between various data elements such as business units, cost centers, sites, and users in the SAP Fieldglass application. They’re combinations of associations used to limit and enforce the manner in which those items can interact with each other.

Play the video to learn how Legal Entities contribute to corporate structures in SAP Fieldglass.

To use a legal entity, it must be activated during company configuration. When activated, business units, cost centers, sites, and users must be associated to legal entities in order for those data elements to be available when performing transactions.

Navigating the Legal Entity Admin Object

The Company Structure section of the Admin Menu, the Legal Entity selection is highlighted.

1	To view the list of legal entities associated to WorkingNet’s tenant, select Legal Entity from the Company Structure section of the admin menu.

Legal Entity List page

As illustrated here, WorkingNet has two legal entities: the default and one called Software Dev. The default legal entity is established when the SAP Fieldglass tenant is created and the legal entity functionality is activated. All of the master data elements are automatically associated to it.

Other legal entities, such as the Software Dev listed here, are created when specific associations between data elements must be established. The data associations to these new legal entities are established from within the individual data elements by selecting a type of legal entity association, and then the legal entity itself.

Legal Entity List page; the link to Software Dev details page listed in the Name column is highlighted.

2	To view the details of a legal entity, select an appropriate link in the Code column

Legal Entity Details page

A legal entity requires few characteristics, namely the name of the legal entity and its associations. Since it is a data object that is used primarily to establish associations, the associations tree displays the important information about the legal entity.

Legal entities must be associated to all business units, cost centers, sites, and users in order for those elements to be available when creating documents.

Additional associations can include:

Activity Checklist
Task Code
Expense Code
Invoice Tax Information
Job Posting Distribution Lists
Job Posting Templates

Create a Legal Entity

WorkingNet, a global manufacturer of networking equipment, has formed a new product unit, called NetAlysis, to develop network diagnostic software for its networking equipment.

A company profile has already been created in the application to accommodate the new division, but WorkingNet has decided that hiring managers within NetAlysis should only be able to access cost centers that are associated with NetAlysis and not with other units within WorkingNet.

As the SAP Fieldglass administrator for WorkingNet, you’ll create a legal entity to limit access to the NetAlysis cost center.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Summary

Legal Entities are data units that establish relationships between various data elements to enforce interaction limits.

Key Points:

Role in Transactions: Legal entities dictate available cost centers and other elements during job postings without being chosen directly.
Activation and Association: Must be activated during configuration, and data elements need association with legal entities to be accessible.
Important Associations: Legal entities are associated with business units, cost centers, sites, users, and additional elements like activity checklists, task codes, etc.

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