Improve Your Company's Revenues With SAP's Customer Down Payment Process

2/13/2014
SAPexperts | Improve Your Companys Revenues with SAPs Customer Down Payment Process
Hom e > S CM > Artic les > Impr ove Y our Companys Revenues0 wi th SAPs Custom er Down Pa yment Proc ess
More
Share
Improve Your Companys Revenues with SAPs Customer Down

Payment Process
by Gaetano Altavilla, S enior SAP Solut ions Architect, Inst ructor, Project Manager, and Team Leader
January 6, 2012
SAP experts/SCM
SAP experts/Fi nanci als
Lea rn about the down pa yment process using the sales and distri bution (SD) module, including detai ls about the
mai n customiz ing settings to be done i n the system from a sales and financial point of view. See soluti ons
already imple mente d in production envi ronme nts for SD and Financial Accounting (FI) in S AP ERP Central
Com ponent (SAP ECC) 6.0. The se processes al so apply to pre vious versions.
Key Concept
Using mi lestone bi lling, you dist ribut e the total amount t o be billed over multiple billing dates in the billing plan. As
eac h milestone is successfully reached, the cust omer is billed either a percentage of the ent ire produc t cos t or simply
a pre-defined amount. During sales order process ing, the s ystem determines from the item category whether a billing
plan is required and, if so, whic h type of plan to us e. The type of billing plan that is determined at this point is s et up
in Customizing and cannot be changed in the sales doc ument .
Companies normally deal with down payment proces ses when s elling complex equipment or services. Us ing a down
pay ment process with a billing plan based on milestones for those sales c an improve cash flow and relat ionships with
cus tomers. It allows you to monit or process es such as sales order history using standard SAP reports and transact ions. A
functional ex pert takes care of c ustomizing prerequis ites to run this process in the sales and dis tribution (SD) and
Financial Acc ounting (FI) modules . Then the logistics and financials departments can set up t he down payment proc ess in
SAP ERP Central Component (S AP ECC) 6. 0.
Business Activities
Figure 1 is an overview of t he main ac tivit ies relevant to the down payment process :
Ent er the sales order with down payment det ails (i.e. , price condition and billing plan)
Create and print t he down payment request in the SD module
Pos t the FI down payment request in FI with reference to t he SD down payment reques t
Ent er the cus tomers billing in t he SD module with evidenc e of the down payment plan
Pos t the incoming down payments in FI
Set tle t he down payment s in FI
http://sapexperts.wispubs.com/SCM/Articles/Improve-Your-Company-s-Revenues-with-SAP-s-Customer-Down-Payment-Process?id=FB1485776AB449268B2
1/22
2/13/2014
Fi gure 1
Mai n activiti es involve d in the down payment process
Customizing Prerequisites
The following are the most import ant c ustomizing sett ings to be chec ked in the SD and FI modules. Check the standard
SAP sett ings and if something does not matc h the cust omers requirements, you can c opy t he st andard SAP objects into
Z object s and update them.
SD-Relevant Customizing
Before t esting the down payment proces s using the milestone billing plan, you need to perform the following customizing
steps.
Maintain billing plan t ypes for milest one billing. The billing plan type determines the billing rule (percentage or value
down pay ment) for the down payment request. The system ass igns billing ty pe FA Z (payment request) defined in the
standard syst em with billing category P. (The st andard sys tem has cancellation billing document ty pe FA S for the
billing type FAZ.) Use customizing transact ion OVBO. The details are shown in Figure 2. Check if t he value fields
for the start date, online order, and FCode-OverScrn (default function code for the overview screen of the billing plan)
mat ch your requirements .
2/22
2/13/2014
Fi gure 2
Display standard billing pla nt type 01
Define date descriptions by entering t he meaning of t he codes, such as Rent or Maintenance. Use customizing
transact ion OVBN (Figure 3).
Fi gure 3
Define the da te de scriptions
Define rules for determining the date. To define (or change and display) the rules for determining the date, use
cus tomiz ing t ransaction OVBS . The syst em provides the details in Figure 4.
3/22
2/13/2014
Fi gure 4
Define rules for determ ining the date
Maintain the date category for the billing plan type. Use customizing transact ion OVBJ (Figure 5). Chec k if the
values match the requirement s for the Billing rule, Fixed date, Billing block, and Billing Ty pe. If they do not match,
change t hem and then click t he save ic on.
Fi gure 5
Define date category for bil ling plan type
Allocate the date category t o the billing plan t ype. Use c ustomizing transaction OV BJ (Figure 6). Specify the values
in the DD (default date category) column (i.e., 01 or 03).
Fi gure 6
Assign date category for bil ling plan
4/22
2/13/2014
Ass ign t he billing plan type to t he sales documents t ype. With this customizing step, you can assign a specific
billing plan type to the companys sales order t ype. To do so, use c ustomizing transaction OV BP (Figure 7). Use
the pick ing list available in the BillPlanTy field.
Fi gure 7
Assign billing pla n type to sales orde r document type
Ass ign t he billing plan type to item c ategories by us ing c ustomizing transaction OV BR (Figure 8). Enter the billing
plan type and clic k the save icon.
Fi gure 8
Assign billing pla n type to item category
Maintain a pricing proc edure with the condition type AZWR. In t he st andard sys tem t he condition ty pe AZWR is
delivered for the down payment value already provided but not y et calculated. You include this condition type in the
relevant pric ing procedure before the Output Tax , as shown in Figure 9. E nter condition 2 (it em with pricing) and the
calculat ion formula 48 (down payment c learing value must not be bigger than the item value) for the condition type
AZW R.
Before t he condition AZWR you can create a subtotal with t he base value c alculation formula 2 (net value). If the condition
AZW R is changed manually, you can get information on the original sy stem proposal from t he subtotal. To do s o, follow
cus tomiz ing menu path S ales and Distribution > B asic Funct ions > Pricing > Pricing Control > Define and Assign Pricing
Procedures > Maint ain pricing procedures. Then s elect proc edure RVAA 04 from the lis t of values in the t able. Clic k the
Control data button (Fi gure 9). Usually every company has its own custom pricing procedure.
5/22
2/13/2014
Fi gure 9
Che ck price procedure detail s for down paym ent
The pric ing procedure c annot be marked as a transaction-specific pricing procedure (field Spec.proc.), which you can s ee
using customizing trans action V/08 in the P rocedure option. The condition type AZWR has the c alculation type B (fixed
amount) and t he condition category E (down payment request /clearing). No statistical or inact ive c ondit ions are s et in a
down pay ment item. If y ou require thes e conditions, use the user exit USE REXIT_PRICING_COPY in the include
RV61AFZA .
Maintain the billing document. The standard syst em has billing type FAZ (down payment request ) and FAS (for
cancelling the billing type). Controlling t he down payment is done using the billing cat egory P of the billing ty pe. A
billing type becomes a down payment request when the billing category P is ass igned. You have to maintain
blocking reas on 02 (complete confirmat ion missing) for the billing documents and as sign it to billing t ype FAZ. If the
billing document t ype FAZ doesnt meet your requirements, then you c an copy it into a custom document, for
example ZAZ, using the copying function icon
. Use customizing trans action VOFA (Fi gure 10) t o dis play all
the relevant customizing parameters for the down payment reques t doc ument type. If needed you can updat e them
bas ed on your requests.
Figure 10
Display the m ain detail s of the billing type FAZ
Maintain copy ing c ontrol using copying requirement 20, which represents a set of st andard SAP rules that should be
sat isfied in order to c opy a sales order line it em into a billing line it em. Y ou must enter it in copying control at t he
6/22
2/13/2014
item level for the down payment reques t. In the standard s ystem, the order type TA for c opying control is set up
acc ording to the billing type FAZ for the item c ategory TA O. To display t hese settings, use c ustomizing transaction
VTFA (Fi gure 11). If these s ettings dont match your requirements, t hen y ou can create a cust om object and apply
the relevant changes.
Figure 11
Display the i tem copy control between the billing type FAZ and standard custom er order
type OR
Ent er the copying requirement using copying requirement 23 in c opying control at the item level for down pay ment
clearing. In the s tandard sy stem, order type TA for c opying control is set up according to the billing type F2 for the
item cat egory TAO. To display these settings, us e cus tomiz ing t ransaction VTFA (Figure 12). If these settings do
not matc h your requirements, then you can c reate a custom objec t and apply the relevant changes.
Figure 12
Display the i tem copy control between the billing type F2 and order type OR
FI-Relevant Customizing
A prerequisit e for down payment proces sing is that you ass ign t he ac count to t he underly ing s ales document. To do this ,
change t he field s tatus sett ings in Customizing as follows .
Set reconciliation accounts. Assign the rec onciliation acc ounts , special G/L accounts, planning levels, and output
tax clearings to t he combination of Chart of Acc ounts /Account Type/S pecial G/L Ind. To do so, use customizing
transact ion OBXR as shown in Figure 13.
7/22
2/13/2014
Figure 13
Define a ccounting confi guration for special G/L account A
Maintain accounting configuration using transact ion OBXB (Figure 14). Double-c lick each relevant entry to maintain
it.
Figure 14
Mai ntain the accounting configura tion relevant for custome rs down payment
You must maintain the posting key relevant for t he customers down payments us ing t ransactions ANB , ANF, ANZ, AUD,
and MVA, detailed below. (Note that AUK and VVA are for vendor down payments while this artic le is only about cus tomer
down pay ments .)
The details t o be specified, per each trans action, are lis ted in Figures 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19.
The transaction keys listed in these figures are thos e relevant for the down payment process. They are used to determine
aut omatically the appropriat e G/L accounts to us e for financial post ings. Transaction key ANB automatic ally determines the
bank G/L (Figure 15).
8/22
2/13/2014
Figure 15
Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key ANB
Transact ion k ey ANF aut omatically determines the down payment reques t G/L (Figure 16).
Figure 16
Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key ANF
Transact ion k ey ANZ aut omatically determines the final down pay ment G/L (Figure 17).
Figure 17
Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key ANZ
Transact ion k ey AUD aut omatically determines the cust omer down payment transfer pos ting G/L (Figure 18).
9/22
2/13/2014
Figure 18
Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key AUD
Transact ion k ey MV A aut omatically determines the tax code G/L. In this case, it is 170010 as shown in Figure 19.
Figure 19
Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key MV A
Maintain the posting key using transac tion OB41. For posting key 19 set t he sales order as an optional field (Figure
20) by c hecking the Opt . ent ry check boxes. Having it as optional makes t he posting key compatible with the G/L
acc ount. The other chec k box es are checked by default . The user should change only the s ales order value.
Figure 20
Sta tus field group deta ils for sa les order at posting key/ speci al G/ L level
http://sapexperts.wispubs.com/SCM/Articles/Improve-Your-Company-s-Revenues-with-SAP-s-Customer-Down-Payment-Process?id=FB1485776AB449268B
10/22
2/13/2014
Maintain the field stat us definit ion using trans action OB14. Set the sales order as an optional field for Field s tatus
variant 0001, Group G031 (Fi gure 21). All t hese boxes are marked by default, and the user only changes the value
for the sales order.
Figure 21
Sta tus field Group deta ils for sa les order at status varia nt/Group/Account level
As sign the c ompany code to the field status variants using cus tomiz ing t ransaction OBC5 (Figure 22). In my
example, I as sign just one c ompany code to one c ountry. The screen refers to c ompany code 2000. In a real
production environment, the user should link eac h company code with the appropriate field status variants.
Figure 22
Assign the company code to field status group 0001
Test the Down Payment Process

Following are the 11 st eps y ou need to perform in the syst em to test the down payment process now that it is set up.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Create a sales order

Create a down payment reques t
Dis play and print the down payment request
Pos t the payment agains t the down payment reques t
5.
6.
7.
8.
Create t he outbound delivery

Perform the picking of the outbound delivery
Pos t the goods iss ue against the outbound delivery
Create t he final invoic e
11/22
2/13/2014
9. Print the final invoice

10. Dis play the financ ial document as sociated with t he final invoic e
11. Dis play the s ales order document flow
Let s delve deeper into thes e act ivities.
1. Create a Sales Order

To creat e a s ales order relevant for t he down payment proc ess, use t he billing plan func tionalities available at the s ales
order line it em (and header) level. Us e transact ion V A01 or follow menu path Logist ics > Sales and Dist ribut ion > Sales >
Order > Creat e. To display t he billing plan details, go to the billing plan tab of the s ales orders line it em and look at the
down pay ment amounts and due dates. Alternatively, you can select the sales order line item and choose Goto > Item >
Billing Plan.
Figures 23 and 24 show the main details of the order from the billing plan and the price conditions points of view,
res pectively. To get to Figure 23, use transaction VA 03 (s ales order display). In Figure 23, the user validates t he following
det ails of the billing plan to ensure they meet business requirement s:
Billing dates
Milestone det ails
Billing values
Rule in billing plan/invoice plan
Billing status
Pay ment terms
Dat e cat egory
Billing type
Figure 23
Bil ling plan detai ls of the sales orde r line ite m
The user next chec ks the screen s hown in Fi gure 24 to ensure that price c ondit ion A ZWR has been proposed. To get to
Figure 24 use transactions V A01, VA02, or V A03 and then go to t he Conditions t ab of the sales order line item. In my
example, I us ed transac tion VA02.
12/22
2/13/2014
Figure 24
Sal es order l ine i tem price condi tion detai ls re levant to down payme nt
If you want t o print the sales order, use t ransaction VA03, then ent er the sales order document number. Follow menu path
Sales document > Issue Output To. Select the mes sage type BA00 from the pop-up screen and click the Print button.
2. Create a Down Payment Request

To creat e a down payment request in SD and FI, remove any billing block from t he billing plan defined in the sales order
using transac tion VA02. Then use trans action VF04 or follow menu pat h Logistic s > S ales and Distribution > B illing >
Billing Document > Proc ess B illing Due List . Specify the appropriate details in the report selection sc reen and run the
report. For example, enter enterprise struc ture details such as your sales organization, billing date, and billing type. The
sys tem provides the det ails shown in Figure 25.
Figure 25
Bil ling due l ist detail s
Select t he line it em and click the save icon

doc ument number).
Figure 26
. The sy stem provides t he information shown in Figure 26 (reporting the S D
Dow n payment docum ent genera ted i n SD
3. Display and Print the Down Payment Request

To display and print the down pay ment request in SD, use t ransaction VF03 or follow menu path Logistics > Sales and
13/22
2/13/2014
Dis tribution > Billing > Billing Document > Display. Figure 27 shows the main details of the down payment request from a
pricing point of view. The user needs to verify that the billing plan det ails defined in the sales orders line item have been
reported correctly in t he billing line item (i.e., value, quant ity, billing ty pe and billing number range). Then the user s aves
the document by clicking the save icon.
Figure 27
Pri cing detai ls of the down payme nt re quest
Not e that in the s tandard sy stem, condition type AZWR is used for down payment proc essing. If you only want to carry out
a partial set tlement, y ou can select t he down payment item to be set tled in the billing document, branc h to the pricing
screen, and c hange the value of c ondit ion t ype A ZWR. If needed, the user can manually change the propos ed value of the
condition type AZW R during t he creation of the billing doc ument .
To print the billing document, us e eit her t ransaction VF31 or t ransaction VF03 with the message ty pe RD00. Figure 28
shows the standard SAP sales orders layout of t he down payment request. This layout is usually customized based on the
companys bus iness requirements.
14/22
2/13/2014
Figure 28
Sta ndard layout of the down payme nt re quest
15/22
2/13/2014
4. Post the Payment Against the Down Payment Request

You can post down payments either manually or automat ically in FI (payment program SAPF110, automatic debit or bank
direct debit payment method). In this section, I post the customer down payment manually . To post the payment in FI with
referenc e to the down payment request in SD, use transaction F-29 or follow menu path Ac count ing > Financial Accounting
> A ccounts Receivable > Document Entry > Down Payment > Down Payment .
Figure 29 shows the main det ails of the down pay ment. As a prerequis ite y ou need to perform c ustomizing for special
general ledger transact ion A with alternative general ledger ac count 113100. For more detail about this cust omizing setting,
see the Financial Accounting Set tings . section.
Figure 29
Dow n payment detai ls
When you save the trans action using the save icon, the down pay ment is posted and t he down payment request identified
for the payment is cleared.
5. Create the Outbound Delivery

To creat e the outbound delivery with reference t o the sales order, use transac tion VL10C or follow menu path Logistics >
Logistic s Execution > Outbound Process > Goods Issue for Outbound Delivery > Outbound Delivery > Create > Collect ive
16/22
2/13/2014
Processing of Documents Due for Delivery > Sales Order Items. The sc reen displays t he main logistic det ails defined for
the outbound delivery (i.e., ship-to party, goods, quantit y, and the stat us of the picking ac tivit ies.
The user chec ks them, t hen c licks the save icon if they are correct. Figure 30 shows the main details of the outbound
delivery document.
Figure 30
Display the outbound de livery mai n details
6. Perform the Picking of the Outbound Delivery

A s ubsequent phase of t he shipping act ivities is to perform the pick ing from t he warehouse.
The transaction to be used t o perform this step depends on the SAP implementat ion t hat manages your warehous e. If only
the Inventory Management (IM) module has been implemented, as in my example, y ou perform the picking us ing
transact ion V L02N or by following menu path Logistics > Sales and Distribution > Shipping and Transport ation > Outbound
Delivery > Change > Single Document. E nter the document number and press Enter to s pecify the pick ed quantit y (Fi gure
31).
Figure 31
Picking of the outbound deli very
7. Post the Goods Issue Against the Outbound Delivery

To post the goods issue, use transaction VL02N or follow menu path Logist ics > Logistics Exec ution > Outbound Process
> Goods Issue for Outbound Delivery > Post Goods Issue > Outbound Delivery Single Document. E nter the delivery
doc ument number and press Enter. The s ystem displays the s creen shown in Figure 32, whic h shows the Pos t Goods
Iss ue button available to perform the goods issue wit h referenc e to the outbound delivery doc ument .
17/22
2/13/2014
Figure 32
Post Goods Issue for outbound del ivery
8. Create the Final Invoice

To creat e the final invoice with reference to the sales order, use t ransaction VF01 or follow menu path Logistics > Sales
and Dist ribut ion > Sales > Order > Subsequent functions > Billing Document. Fi gures 33 and 34 show the main details of
the outbound delivery document from the line item and pric ing points of view. The accounts receivable depart ment should
mak e sure that the down payment amount has been deduc ted from t he total billing amount. Note that there is an additional
line item in the billing doc ument for the down payment set tlement, as highlighted in Figure 33. Then click t he save ic on.
Figure 33
Details about the invoi ce li ne items
As you c an see, two items appear in the billing document: the amount from the first part ial billing doc ument and the down
pay ment made by the cus tomer that still needs to be c leared.
18/22
2/13/2014
Figure 34
Details about the invoi ce price conditions
Aft er you save the document, the system provides a similar document number range as reported in Fi gure 34: document
90000036.
9. Print the Final Invoice

The user can print the billing document using either trans action VF31 or trans action VF03.
To print the final invoice document us ing t ransaction VF31, specify the message type RD00 in the output type field and the
billing document number in t he billing document field.
Then use transaction VF03 or follow menu path Logistics > Sales and Distribution > Billing > Billing Document > Display.
Ent er the billing document number and choos e More > B illing Doc ument > Is sue Output to. Selec t the relevant output
(RD00). This is an option available in a pop-up screen. Choose the P rint Preview button. Figure 35 shows the layout of the
final invoice.
19/22
2/13/2014
Figure 35
Layout of the fina l invoice
10. Display the Financial Document Associated with the Final Invoice
20/22
2/13/2014
To display the final invoice document, use trans action VF03 or follow menu pat h Logistic s > S ales and Distribution > B illing
> B illing Doc ument > Display . Ent er the billing document number and click the Accounting butt on. The sy stem shows the
det ails (Figure 36).
Figure 36
Final invoice fina ncial deta ils
11. Display the Sales Order Document Flow

To display the sales order document flow, use transac tion VA03 or follow menu path Logis tics > Sales and Dis tribution >
Sales > Order > Display . Ent er the appropriate s ales order document number and clic k the display document flow ic on
. The sy stem shows the details (Figure 37).
21/22
2/13/2014
Figure 37
Sal es order history
Gaetano Altavilla
Dr. Gaet ano A ltavilla is a c ertified associate s enior SAP solut ions architect, inst ructor, project
manager, and team leader loc ated in Naples, Italy. His foc us is on pre-sales, delivery of SAP
applicat ion s olutions for large international corporations and SAP K nowledge Management in
EME A. In his 14 years of IT experience, working for many multinational companies, s uch as
Procter & Gamble and Hewlett -Pack ard, he has covered a wide range of ERP logis tics areas ,
foc using on MM, WM, SD, LES, PP, PP-PI, and PLM (QM, PM, P S) modules , as well as
CRM (TFM), SRM (EB P), and SCM (AP O) components. Dr. A ltavilla holds a degree with firstclass honors in mathematics from the University of Naples and he is certified in many SA P
modules: SAP Logis tics Bootc amp, SAP MM, SD, LE, PP, PM, QM, PS , SRM, SCM (APO),
CRM, FI, CO, and S olution Manager. He also has experience in AB AP/4 and A LE/IDOCs. He
has part icipated in numerous industry conferences, such as the SAP S kills Conferenc e in
Walldorf at S AP AG.
See more by t his author

You may contact the aut hor at Gaetano_altavilla@hotmail.com.
If you have c omments about t his article or publication, or would lik e to submit an artic le idea,
please c ontac t the edit or.
22/22

Improve Your Company's Revenues With SAP's Customer Down Payment Process

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Improve Your Company's Revenues With SAP's Customer Down Payment Process

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

2/13/2014

Improve Your Companys Revenues with SAPs Customer Down

Mai n activiti es involve d in the down payment process

Display standard billing pla nt type 01

Define the da te de scriptions

Define rules for determ ining the date

Define date category for bil ling plan type

Assign date category for bil ling plan

Assign billing pla n type to sales orde r document type

Assign billing pla n type to item category

Che ck price procedure detail s for down paym ent

Display the m ain detail s of the billing type FAZ

Define a ccounting confi guration for special G/L account A

Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key ANB

Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key ANF

Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key ANZ

Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key AUD

Automati c posting detai ls for tra nsaction key MV A

Assign the company code to field status group 0001

Test the Down Payment Process

Create a sales order

Create t he outbound delivery

9. Print the final invoice

1. Create a Sales Order

Bil ling plan detai ls of the sales orde r line ite m

2. Create a Down Payment Request

Bil ling due l ist detail s

Select t he line it em and click the save icon

. The sy stem provides t he information shown in Figure 26 (reporting the S D

Dow n payment docum ent genera ted i n SD

3. Display and Print the Down Payment Request

Pri cing detai ls of the down payme nt re quest

Sta ndard layout of the down payme nt re quest

4. Post the Payment Against the Down Payment Request

Dow n payment detai ls

5. Create the Outbound Delivery

Display the outbound de livery mai n details

6. Perform the Picking of the Outbound Delivery

Picking of the outbound deli very

7. Post the Goods Issue Against the Outbound Delivery

Post Goods Issue for outbound del ivery

8. Create the Final Invoice

Details about the invoi ce li ne items

Details about the invoi ce price conditions

9. Print the Final Invoice

Layout of the fina l invoice

Final invoice fina ncial deta ils

11. Display the Sales Order Document Flow

Sal es order history

See more by t his author

You might also like