Explaining Transfer Postings

In any enterprise, goods movements do not only take the form of goods receipts (GRs) and goods issues (GIs). For organizational reasons (for example, decentralized storage) or due to other factors (for example, quality assurance) internal transfer postings and physical stock transfers may be necessary.

In the case of transfer postings, the key aspect is a change in the stock ID number or the stock category of a material. Transfer postings do not need to involve an actual (physical) goods movement. In the case of stock transfers, on the other hand, there is always a physical movement of goods.

Examples of transfer postings and physical stock transfers are as follows:

• Transfer postings: stock to stock (for example, in quality inspection to unrestricted use) or material to material.
• Physical stock transfers: storage location to storage location or plant to plant.

As you can see from the examples, transfer postings and physical stock transfers can take place at different organizational levels. If stock is transferred between two storage locations within a plant, we speak of a storage location-to-storage-location stock transfer. If stock is transferred between two plants and the plants belong to the same company code, we speak of a plant-to-plant stock transfer. If the plants are assigned to different company codes, we speak of a company code-to-company-code stock transfer.

In inventory management, three stock types indicate the usability of a material: unrestricted-use stock, stock in quality inspection, and blocked stock.

The 3-digit numbers in the following picture are the corresponding movement types to post materials between the different stock types. For example, you use movement type 321 to post material from quality inspection stock to unrestricted use stock.

If a material’s usability changes, you need to make transfer postings between the different stock types. With a stock-to-stock transfer posting, you can also enter a physical goods movement to a different storage location.

The following are examples of stock-to-stock transfer postings:

• A damaged water pipe in a warehouse means that a material can no longer be used and is transferred to blocked stock.
• Material is posted to stock in quality inspection at the time of a goods receipt (GR) against a purchase or production order. Following quality inspection, the quantity is posted to unrestricted-use stock.
• A default document type for the purchase order must be specified for the goods receipt.

You can use the app to enter transfer postings (stock-to-stock) and physical stock transfer (storage location-to-storage location) for one material within a plant. The app is part of the Business Roles Inventory Manager (SAP_BR_INVENTORY_MANAGER) and Warehouse Clerk (SAP_BR_WAREHOUSE_CLERK).

Since SAP S/4HANA 2023, with the Transfer Stock – In-Plant app, you can also post more than one material at the same time if you first temporarily save the transfer postings to be done in an item list. To achieve this use the Add To List action. From this item list, you can later select the materials to be posted at once.

• Distinguish between transfer postings (change in stock category) and physical stock transfers (physical movement of materials).
• Transfer postings can change stock types or material numbers without physical movement; stock transfers always move materials physically.
• Examples include stock-to-stock transfer postings (for example, quality inspection to unrestricted) and storage location-to-storage location transfers.
• The Transfer Stock – In-Plant app enables both transfer postings and physical stock transfers within a plant.
• With SAP S/4HANA 2023, you can post multiple materials at once using the item list in this app.