The organizational structure of SAP Collections Management can be broken down into several key components and roles, which are designed to ensure efficient and effective collections processes.
The teams that work together in receivables management are categorized by collection groups, as an example, a group of collection specialists. Collection specialists could be in charge of a particular region’s or line of business’ collections. To each of the collection groups, you assign a collection strategy. Based upon the strategy, customers are analyzed, prioritized, portrayed, and contacted.
Company Codes whose receivables are to be considered together are grouped in a collection segment.
Using collection profiles which are assigned to the Business Partner, the system determines the priority and the processor of a worklist item. Collection profiles with segments, groups and strategies influence the prioritization of the business partner in the worklist and therefore control the work of a collection specialist.
The image above shows the relationship of each of the items in the organizational structure. These are created during the customizing process of the initial implementation. The collection specialists are assigned to a collection group. A collection group will also have a collection strategy assigned. Using the same strategy for everyone in the group helps to make the collections process more streamlined and efficient.
The collection group is then assigned to a collection segment. This assignment determines the company codes that the collection group can process.
A collection segment is then assigned to a collection profile. When a collection profile is assigned to a Business Partner, then the receivables from that Business Partner can be correctly identified, prioritized and assigned accordingly in the collections worklist.
For this configuration, some important concepts should be considered
- Each worklist item represents one Business Partner in one Collection Segment.
- A Collection Segment is a group of Company Codes.
- A Collection Segment is the smallest division that can be done with Company Codes, so, if you include two Company Codes in one Collections Segment, they will always go together.
- One Credit Segment cannot be at the same time in two Collection Segments.
- A Collection Group is a group of Collection Specialists.
- One Specialist can be in several Collection Groups at the same time.
- One Collection Group can only have one Collection Strategy.
- One Collection Strategy can rule in several Collection Groups.
- One Collection Segment can have several Collection Groups.
- One Collection Profile can contain several Collection Segments.
- Business Partners are assigned ONE Collection Profile.
The Business Partner (BP) must have a Business Partner Role for Collections Management. With this BP role you can assign the Collection Profile. The system can then determine defaults for each of the areas but can be overwritten in the Business Partner Master Data.
The organizational structure of SAP Collections Management is designed to be flexible and scalable, allowing organizations to adapt to their specific needs and operational contexts. By leveraging the various roles, processes, and tools within SAP Collections Management, companies can significantly improve their collections efficiency and cash flow.