Getting Started with Text Control

Welcome to the "Setting up Text Control in SAP S/4HANA Sales" course. Before we look at the text control in detail, we look back to understand the core idea of ERP software. The core idea of ERP software is the documentation of business transactions. In addition, ERP software is intended to support the processing of business transactions by the company or, in the best case scenario, to fully automate it if possible by using AI. Another aspect is the analysis of the data. In SAP S/4HANA, business transactions are documented, processed, and evaluated in the form of documents. Sales business transactions through sales documents. Shipping activities are triggered and documented by an delivery document. The in invoice processing or the credit memo are represented by billing documents.

All information about the business transaction is stored in the documents. For example, in a sales order, the sold-to party, the ship-to address, the agreed payment term, the ordered material, the delivery quantity and date, and many other types of information are stored. Most information is stored in coded form. For example, the payment term payable immediately due net as payment term 0001. However, it is possible and sometimes necessary to store information in the form of texts in SAP S/4HANA. For example, special information about the customer: "Please treat customer culturally" or marketing information in the quotation item: "The product will be sold in a set at a special price by the end of the month" or information for colleagues: "Hello Markus, please call Spedition Müller for collection."

On your journey through this course, Jim and Liv will accompany you. Jim works as an SAP S/4HANA Sales Application Consultant. Liv, a Sales Business Process Owner, is very familiar with the sales business requirements.

Play the video to learn about Liv´s business requirement for processing texts in SAP S/4HANA Sales.

After their call, Jim collects information to introduce Liv to the text control concept. Read the following content to learn how to use text objects and text types.

Texts can be stored in different places in SAP S/4HANA: At the customer master data, at the material master data, at condition master data, at the SD documents, and therefore also for the sales documents.

In the figure below, identify various text types that are stored in those places.

The places where texts can be saved in the system are referred to as text objects.

• The sales document header is the text object VBBK.
• The sales document item is the text object VBBP.

The text is entered in a text type or synonym text ID. A text type has a 4-character alphanumeric technical name and a description. To better understand this, you can imagine a text type as a paper sheet on which you can write text.

Texts can be entered in different languages. Examples of text types in SAP S/4HANA are 0001 Form Header, 0002 Header Note 1, 0005 Purchase Order Text, or 0003 Packing Note.