Chris has learned a lot this week. He now knows what a contract is, understands what is important, and has learned about the different processes behind it. Now he wants to combine this knowledge into a complete contract lifecycle approach.
Select the play button to learn more about the lifecycle of a contract.
To get a better understanding of the contract lifecycle, Chris opens the S/4HANA Public Cloud training system and looks at the interface of the Contract Management app. The Contract Management app is the central entry point to create and maintain contracts.
Chris learns there are many steps you need to take in the system to ensure a contract can be stored, maintained, and posted correctly. Chris summarizes the steps to better understand the lifecycle of a contract. Once all the relevant contract contents have been maintained, a contract must be activated so it can then be used in periodic posting processes.
At the conclusion of a contract, the contract data must be entered into the SAP system. Therefore, you must assign any contract objects that are going to be leased in or out, or objects representing another asset or service. Contracts can be either external or internal. Depending on the contract type, you will assign external business partners to external contracts, and assign cost centers, internal orders, or projects to internal contracts.
Also, the fees agreed to between the contract partners have to be entered as contract conditions (payment conditions). The posting and frequency data of the contract must be entered as well, as they influence the posting documents for the contract.
When all necessary data is entered, you will activate the contract. Posting processes and other business processes that are relevant for a contract can only be carried out after activation.
Chris opens an existing contract in the training system to prove to himself that what he learned is working. The contract which he opens is not activated. First, he ensures that all the relevant data for the contract is input, then he tries to activate the contract in the system.