Exploring Service with Advanced Execution

The following two options have been available to map service processes up to SAP S/4HANA 2021 OP:

• SAP S/4HANA Service 2021 OP
• SAP S/4HANA CS Compatibility pack 2030

The design of SAP S/4HANA Service eliminates functional redundancies and data replication. It unifies CRM and SAP S/4HANA objects, so that unified objects share the same database representation, thus require no middleware. Furthermore, it identifies functional redundancies and is optimized by using the most suitable object, engine, and process.

In order to help customers get the highest business value from their SAP S/4HANA systems, SAP has decided to align the usage rights for Customer Service as well as for Transport and Production Planning for Process Industries with the SAP Business Suite maintenance timeline. SAP is extending the usage rights exclusively for Customer Service, Transport, and Production Planning for Process Industries until the end of 2030.

Obviously, there are two almost independent options to map service processes as of SAP S/4HANA 2021 OP. This interim stage has been optimized and harmonized as you will find out now.

Service with advanced execution is a process that is suitable for services, which require extensive planning and execution. They generally have longer service times with a requirement to bill the time and service parts used for the service. The core characteristic of this process is the integration of the commercial aspects of Service with the planning and execution capabilities of Maintenance Management.

Items created in the Service with Advanced Execution process are called execution order items. In corrective service, these items can be entered as part of a service order quotation or a service order, with or without reference to a service contract. Execution order items can also be the result of a maintenance plan, which will facilitate preventive maintenance. Each execution order item creates a corresponding maintenance order. The maintenance order that is created enables the planning and execution of the service.

The following diagram provides an overview of the Service with Advanced Execution process. The process can be understood as interactions between elements of Service, Maintenance Management, and Billing.

Service contracts are used to determine the terms of the service. A service order quotation is used to provide a cost estimate for a requested service, and a service order is used to manage the service. A service order quotation or service order can have multiple execution order items. A Service Request can be used to define the demand of a Service.

The maintenance order that is created when the execution order item is released is used to plan and execute the service. Maintenance plans in recurring service are used to schedule periodic service orders, thereby facilitating preventive maintenance.

Maintenance orders are used for the detailed planning of tasks and for monitoring their execution. The planning process involves task lists, scheduling, availability checks for material, and assignment of work centers. After the planning is completed, the actual service is performed and costs are recorded. Maintenance notifications can be used to document the performed tasks from a technical perspective.

The billing process is carried out through the Dynamic Item Processor (DIP). A debit memo request is used to generate an invoice. The entire process works using item-based accounting in which service transaction items are recognized as account assignment objects to which costs and revenues are posted.

The Service with Advanced Execution process is typically suited to support the following scenarios:

• Corrective Service
• Preventive Service
• Billable Maintenance
• In-House Repair with Advanced Execution

You can use a service order to record information about a service that has been agreed between the service provider and service recipient. A service order provides the necessary information regarding the service process and the cost that is incurred. An execution order item in the service order creates a corresponding billable maintenance order that facilitates the planning and execution of the service.

Each execution order item creates a maintenance order. The maintenance order is used for the execution planning and execution of the service. For each execution order item, you need to select a billing relevance. You need to enter a DIP profile if you select summarized billing or itemized billing as the billing relevance.

In Service with Advanced Execution, you can create a service order as follows:

• As a standalone service order
• As a follow-up transaction, from a service order quotation
• As a call object in a service plan
• As a billable maintenance order as part of billable maintenance

Billing represents the final processing stage for a service transaction in Service with Advanced Execution. Depending on the scenario the order can be billed as ad hoc, fixed price, or resource-related.

The following types of Billing are available:

• Resource-Related Billing

• Fixed Price Billing

• Ad Hoc Billing

• Not Relevant for Billing

In the following, you'll find out further details regarding each type of Billing.

Here customers are billed for the resources used (for example, labor, material, travel) to carry out services. Data is summarized from defined sources, such as actual cost line items using the dynamic item processor (DIP) profile. The dynamic item processor is a tool that the system uses to summarize data into dynamic items in resource-related billing, sales price calculation, or data determination. Resource-related billing can be either itemized billing or summarized billing.

They're identified with the billing relevance field attribute at the item level and can be differentiated as follows:

• Itemized billing: A service is billed as a list of subitems. Itemized billing also supports event-based revenue recognition.
• Summarized billing: A service is billed as a single main item. Summarized billing does not currently support event-based revenue recognition.

In fixed price billing, the service is billed at a predetermined price irrespective of the actual cost incurred during the service. It's based on the price master data of the service product. The price master data (along with discounts) is maintained in Sales and Distribution area of SAP S/4HANA.

This type of billing is used to define billing values and dates freely for fixed price execution order items. Billing document requests (BDRs) are generated for fixed price items with long duration that need to be billed on specific dates and not just when the execution order item is completed.

This type of billing is used when the customer is not being billed for the service. Goodwill, under warranty, free-of-charge service may be some of the business decisions for the use of this billing type.

In the following, you'll explore Corrective Service with Advanced Execution.

In the following, you'll see how to create a Service Order with Advanced Execution.