Executing Sales Order Management

As shown in the sales process cycle, the actual order-to cash process starts with creating the sales order. That is the task of a sales representative. If you have the role of Sally, the sales representative in our example, learn now how to create and maintain a sales order.

As a first step, watch the video below to get an introduction to why a sales order is relevant for the entire sales process in SAP S/4HANA.

What do you need to consider when creating a sales order?

A sales order is one of various sales documents in SAP S/4HANA Sales. A sales document stores any information for the required business transactions. When creating a sales document, such as a sales order or a quotation, the first step is to assign it to a sales area. As introduced before, the sales area is a combination of a sales organization, a distribution channel, and a division. All sales documents must contain a customer number and at least one item with a material number.

Explore the figure below to identify what relevant information must be maintained in a sales order.

The illustration is just a simplified overview. A sales order includes a lot of information, but the SAP system helps you. All you need to do as a sales representative is to enter the customer (sold-to party number), the product (material number), and the order quantity. The rest is automatically done by the system. It determines all necessary data for the sales process:

• When entering the sold-to party, the order header data is automatically filled, such as terms of payment and incoterms.
• When entering a product and a quantity, the item data is automatically filled, such as pricing information.
• As soon as you enter the item data, the schedule line data is automatically filled, such as delivery dates and quantities.
• The system checks whether the material is available for the requested delivery date. If necessary, it transfers the requirements to materials planning.
• The system completes the billing information.

As a prerequisite, ensure a proper system setup and master data creation.

How to Create a Sales Order in SAP S/4HANA Sales: System Demonstration

Watch the system demonstration to learn how to create a sales order in S/4HANA Sales.

DemoWatch Demo

Note

If you have access to the SAP practice system, go to the practice system now and do the exercise Create a Sales Order.

The figure shows an example of how a sales document is usually structured. It is divided into three levels: header, item, and schedule line. The data is distributed across these levels as follows:

1. Header Level:

   The data for the document header is valid for the entire document. This includes the document number and customer-related data, such as the relevant sold-to party.

2. Item Level:

   Each item in the sales document contains its own data. This includes data about the ordered materials and corresponding quantities. Each sales document can contain several items. The individual items can be controlled differently. Examples include the material item, service item, free-of-charge item, or text item.

3. Schedule Line Level:

   Schedule lines contain confirmed delivery quantities and confirmed delivery dates. They clearly belong to an item. Every item that should be physically delivered must have at least one schedule line. The item can have several schedule lines - for example if the ordered quantity is to be delivered in several partial deliveries at different times.

Note

Some header data can also be maintained on item level (for example, the ship-to party). If this is the case, the entry at item level is relevant for follow-up processes.

Before the material that is ordered via a sales order can be delivered, it has to be sourced. The actual sourcing process is organized and monitored in SAP Material Management (MM). Let´s do a little excursion to SAP Materials Management to complete the lesson about sales order creation and maintenance.

The way in which a material is sourced depends on the material itself and on the sales transaction. It can be sourced as follows:

• Directly from stock (in the case of existing stock)

• Through external procurement by replenishment from a vendor (through a purchase requisition or a purchase order)

• Through in-house production (through a planned order or a production order)

How to Review a Sales Order: System Demonstration

During sales order creation, everything happens at once. Watch the demo below to review the sales order structure and check: Can inventory sourcing confirm the ordered quantity?.

DemoWatch Demo

Note

If you have access to the SAP practice system, go to the practice system now and do the exercise Display a Sales Order.