The master data records for customers and vendors are managed in SAP S/4HANA by using Business Partner master records. Using this approach, it is possible to centrally maintain all master data related to customers and vendors (and even other business partners in the customer realm).
Business Partner master data can be maintained using transaction code BP in the SAP GUI or by using a corresponding Fiori app (started from the SAP Fiori Launchpad).
When a business partner is created, the Business Partner Category must be selected. Business partners can be categorized as a person, group, or organization. A group represents some sort of shared arrangement (like a married couple or an executive board). An organization represents a unit such as a company, a department of a company, or an association.
The link between a Business Partner master record and the applications where it is used, is set-up by a role concept. A business partner role corresponds to a business context in which a business partner is used. Possible roles are, for example, customer (relevant for sales processes), FI customer (Accounts Receivable processes), or vendor. The role concept ensures that the relevant master data for the various processes is recorded and that the business partner can be used in those processes.
The business partner data that is needed for the order-to-cash process (business partner roles Customer and FI Customer) is grouped into the following levels of data that needs to be maintained: General data, Sales Area data, and Company Code data. It includes all the data necessary for processing sales orders, outbound deliveries, billing documents and customer payments.
Business Partner Master Data for a Customer
The general data is relevant for sales processes and also for accounting processes. It is valid for all organizational units within a client in the SAP S/4HANA system.
Sales Area data is relevant for Sales and Distribution (the order-to-cash process). It is valid for the respective Sales Area (which is a combination of a Sales organization, a Distribution Channel and a Division).
Company Code data is relevant for accounting (Accounts Receivable processes).
To facilitate the maintenance of all the data fields, the relevant fields are grouped into different tab pages. The most important ones for Sales are as follows:
Orders
Shipping
Billing
Partner Functions
The Shipping tab contains fields like the delivering plant and the shipping conditions. The values in these fields are used in sales processes. For example, the shipping conditions are used to determine the shipping point and the route for a sales order item.
Note
The delivering plant can also be maintained in the material master record. The shipping condition can also be assigned to the document type of the sales order.The shipping point to be used when creating an outbound delivery, is determined for each sales order item. During delivery creation, the system can use the shipping point that is automatically determined or a shipping point that you assign manually. The shipping point is also a source of information for scheduling in the shipping process (that is, calculation of the confirmed delivery date(s) for a sales order item).
Business Partner Roles for SAP Transportation Management
Besides the usual business partner roles for sales order and purchase order processing, SAP Transportation Management uses some special business partner roles. Especially relevant are the business partner roles CRM010 Carrier and TM0001 Driver.
The role CRM010 (Carrier) contains the data of role FLVN01 (Vendor) plus additional SAP TM specific data such as:
Regulated Agent Code:
A regulated agent is a freight forwarder that conducts business with an air carrier and provides security controls that are accepted or required by the appropriate authority for cargo or mail (as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)).
IATA Agent Code:
IATA is the International Air Transport Association.
CASS Account:
The Cargo Account Settlement Systems (CASS) is designed to simplify billing and settling of accounts between airlines and freight forwarders.
SCAC Codes:
The Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC®) is a US code used to identify road transport companies.
Airline Codes
Service Level Codes
Carrier Service Codes
For the driver role (TM0001 Driver) information like planned absences, qualifications and location can be maintained.
