Applying the Partner Function Concept

This unit builds on the basics of the business partner and customer master data concept you could recap at the beginning of this course.

In this lesson, you go one step deeper and learn how to consider the relations of business partners in S/4HANA Sales. You learn to differentiate between partner functions and partner types.

As described in the general business partner concept, for each business partner (BP), you must maintain a BP category (for example "person"), a BP grouping (for example "external"), and a BP role (for example "customer"). In SAP S/4HANA Sales, you can assign one or more partner functions to a business partner (in the BP role "customer").

Partner functions can be very specific and you might want to maintain all characteristics and relations of real business partners that are relevant for your sales business. For example you might want the system to display a contact person and its relation to the company. A contact person can, for example, be a person in your own company that is responsible for a specific customer. It also can be a person on customer side that is responsible for a specific vendor.

The figure illustrates various business partners that exist on the market and their possible relations to each other.

On the graphic, you can identify the following relations:

1. Vendor-customer: The vendor acts as the forwarding agent for the customer.
2. Contact person-customer: The contact person is employed at the customer's company.
3. Contact person-customer: The contact person is the customer’s consultant but does not work in the same company.
4. Customer-customer: Sold-to party and ship-to party are not the same.
5. Employee-contact person: Contact person is looked after individually.
6. Employee-customer: Customer manager.

To distinguish between the various business partners, SAP S/4HANA represents business partners as partner types. The following partner types are defined in partner processing of the Sales and Distribution application module in SAP S/4HANA:

• AP - Contact person
• KU - Customer
• LI - Vendor
• PE - Personnel

How are partner types now related to partner functions?

• Partner types allow you to distinguish between the generic business partner roles.
• Partner functions represent the specific roles the business partners play within the business transaction.

Example: A sales process can include different customers (customer partners) that all have the partner type customer, but play different roles in a business transaction. For example, the customer who places the order does not necessarily have to be the same customer who receives the goods or the customer who is responsible for paying the invoice. Means: The customer has different partner functions.

The figure illustrates how you can assign partners functions to the four partner types.

As the figure shows, the partner function sold-to-party, for example, is assigned to the partner type customer. This means that you assign a customer number to the sold-to-party. The purchaser is assigned to the partner type contact person. This means that you assign a contact person number to the purchaser.

Further partner functions are for example O organizational unit, S position, or A work center. They are used in other applications (for example, service management).

As outlined, assigning partner functions in the SAP system determines the function(s) of particular partners in the sales process. One partner may take on several functions. The following graphic shows an example how a business partner can be assigned to partner functions and partner types.

• The simplest case is to assign all partner functions within the partner type customer to one business partner. In other words, the same customer is the sold-to party, ship-to party, payer, and bill-to party.

• You can enter contact persons for a customer directly in the customer master so that they are automatically assigned to that customer. The contact person can also be assigned to another customer, for example, in a consultant role.

• The forwarding agent is an example of the partner type vendor.

• Employees at your own company (such as sales representatives or clerks) are managed in the employee master records. They can assume partner functions of partner type Personnel, such as the partner function ER, responsible employee.