Business Requirement
In the past design of advanced return, when you refunded a customer, the returned product was valuated and you take over the product ownership from the customer.
However, there may be cases where you want to refund the customer but do not want the refund to signal the decision on the ownership because the product inspection has not yet been completed.
We have now introduced the feature Suspend Product Valuation Initiated by Early Refund to allow users to postpone the product valuation until the final inspection.
The path to the Feature Activation via IMG: → Sales and Distribution → Sales → Advanced Returns Management → Activate Advanced Returns Management for Returns Order Types.
Note
If the function is active, users can specify whether to suspend the product valuation initiated by a refund in the returns order item. Otherwise, you cannot use this feature.
In the Suspend Product Valuation Initiated by Early Refund feature, the user selects the follow-up activity 0001 (Receive into Plant) and gives an early refund with the refund control P - Create Credit Memo Request / Create Replacement Order.
Consequently, the returned product is valuated. The accounting document and controlling document are created. The ownership of returned product is changed from the customer to the seller.
Refund Control = ‘P’ with Suspend Valuation = ‘’ System Behavior
In the refund control P with Suspend Valuation system, FI document is created when the goods receipt after returns delivery; the ownership of returned product is transferred from customer to you. No FI document is created after inspection.
When it comes to Early Refund with Suspend Valuation of Returned Product, if the Suspend Valuation flag is checked, even if the refund already happened, the returned product is not valuated. The ownership of returned product still belongs to the customer.
Consequently, whether the product is valuated or not is decided by the final follow-up activity in the material inspection step.
No FI document is created when posting goods receipt after returns delivery; the ownership of returned product still belong to customer. FI document is created after inspection; the ownership of returned product is transferred from customer to you.
Refund Control 'R - Decide Later' with Suspend Valuation = 'X'
Use Case
When you created a returns order, you did not decide how to refund it. That's why you choose refund control 'R' to decide the refund later. After returns order creation, you got a customer call to ask for the urgently replacement product before you complete the product inspection.
Attention
The user needs to decide whether to suspend valuation or not while creating the returns order. There is no opportunity to set the flag after the returns order has been creation.
If the user does not select the Suspend Valuation flag on the returns order, the returned products will be valuated after the early refund.
If the user selects the Suspend Valuation flag on the returns order, even if the refund happened before material inspection, the returned product is not valuated, and the ownership of return goods will not change.
Supported Channels - UI
If the feature is active in your system, the option to suspend the product valuation can be supported by using the following channels. You can press F1 to display the hotspot for the detailed explanation.
- Manage Customer Returns - Version 2
- VA01 - Create Customer Return
- VA02 - Change Customer Return
If the feature is active in your system, the option to suspend the product valuation also be supported by using the following channels:
- Customer Return (A2X) - API_CUSTOMER_RETURN_SRV
- Customer Return (A2A) - CustomerReturnBulkRequest_In
- Customer Return - Replicate (A2A) - CO_SDSLS_ESR_CUST_RETURN_REPL
- You also can use BADI 'SD_SLS_MODIFY_RETURNS_ITEM' to set the suspend valuation flag in your own business logic
Exceptions:
- Product valuation cannot be suspended if the following refund controls are selected:
- Refund Control: 'I' - Indicates an immediate refund and a takeover of the product ownership from the customer. As a result, the system immediately posts the goods receipt to the valuated stock.
- Refund Control 'N' - Indicates that the customer return is irrelevant for a refund and thus the product valuation is not applicable.
- Product valuation suspension is not applicable if any of the following logistical follow-up activities is selected:
- 0002 - Immediately move to available stock
- 0003 - Immediately move to scrap
- 0007 - Direct shipment to supplier
- 0008 - Inspection at customer site
- 0013 - Product remains at customer site
- 0014 - Immediately move to specified stock
- 0021 - Send back to customer
- 0026 - In-house repair (service)
- Product valuation suspension is not applicable in cross-company returns process. When we do a cross-company movement, by legal requirement, we must move the value to the receiving company code. This means the movement must be valuated. In this scenario, it is impossible to post the stock into sales order stock (special stock 'E') and the stock must be received into valuated stock due to the change of ownership.