Capabilities of Business Partner in SAP S4 HANA

Capabilities of a Business Partner in SAP S4 HANA

The Business Partner in SAP S4 HANA is capable of centrally managing master data for business partners, Customers and suppliers. This makes it a single point of entry to create, edit and display master data for business partners, customers and suppliers.

This approach to master data maintenance eliminates redundant object models in the traditional ERP system. This is where we used the Vendor master and customer master. Now in SAP S/4 HANA, it’s mandatory to create a Business Partner.

SAP Business Suite Customers and SAP S/4 HANA Conversion

SAP Business Suite customers with Customer Vendor Integration (CVI) in place can move to on-premise SAP S/4 HANA via the conversion.

The Business Partner number range and customer/vendor number ranges are the same in S/4 HANA. Though we recommend it, it’s not mandatory. The single transaction to maintain a Business Partner in SAP S/4 HANA is transaction BP.

A detailed Guide on What is is Business Partner – Read it here

Roles of Business Partner in SAP S4 HANA

A Business Partner can be a person, a group of persons or an organization with some interest in the company’s business.

We don’t need to create the general data for each business partner role as it is the same for all business partner roles. As a result, the same business partner can be used for different business functions.

For example, a company can interact with business partner number 10006 as a customer in a customer role. Similarly as a vendor in a vendor role. In this way, a business partner can play multiple roles.

All this is a business partner’s general or basic information that a company can maintain. Subsequently, we can maintain or extend the existing BP’s general information into one or more of these areas.

Areas of Business Partner in SAP S4 HANA

A) SAP S/4 HANA Finance

In SAP S/4HANA Finance, a business user maintains specific information such as the c ompany code associated with a Business Partner. It is either a vendor’s or a customer’s.

Business controls such as reconciliation account maintenance, tolerance limits reminders for payment (due from customers), tax details, legal data etc.

B) Material Management

A Business Partner plays an important role in the procurement processes of the materials management area of SAP S/4 HANA.

Some of the business controls available for maintaining or extending purchasing information include:-

Purchasing organization order currency payment terms
Average delivery time of a product by a business partner
Automatic purchase order creation
Etc.

C) Sales Delivery

We can use a business partner for Sales, Delivery and billing processes in SAP S/4 HANA.

Some of the Business controls available while maintaining or extending sales information include:-

A sales area Sales Organization
Distribution channel and Division order currency
Payment terms, dunning process
Shipping and billing etc.

Master Data Synchronization

In an SAP S/4 HANA system, the master data synchronization process synchronizes the business master data objects. These objects are similar not only from a technical point of view but also from a functional view. In this way, a company can integrate different SAP applications seamlessly into business processes.

For example, we can use master data synchronization to set up the integration of the business partner with the vendor master.

As a result, we can integrate SAP applications, which technically use Business Partners in their user interfaces (UIs). Also, we can use the vendor master as a functional basis in subsequent business processes. Consequently, CVI for business partners is mandatory in S4 HANA.

Data Model Concept in Business Partner in SAP S4 HANA

Now let’s discuss the details of the business partner data model concept. It is the leading and strategic object model in SAP S/4 HANA.

It has three categories for a user to create a business partner:-

As a person
As an organization or
As a group in the business partner data model.

You must know that the business partner is not a new functionality in SAP S/4 HANA. In fact, we have been using it with many solutions since 2001. Such as-

SAP Credit Management
SAP Collection & Dispute Management
SAP Treasury & Risk Management
SAP Loan Management
SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM)
SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM)
SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SAP SRM)

Benefits of a Business Partner Approach

Below are some of the key benefits that the business partner concept offers:-

A Business partner can assume several roles such as Customer FI, Customer SD Vendor FI and Vendor MM
We can use different Business Partner categories -organization, person or group
It enables maximum exchange of data among various roles
Only one Business partner represents a legal entity
We can use a single legal entity for various business relationships
Many options are available for standardization and harmonization of data, interface and process
We can share Master data across different SAP systems
General data is available for all the different business partner roles whereas we can assign and store specific data for each individual role
We can also make multiple assignments to the customer master data or vendor master data record
Additionally, we can change over Business Partner roles. This helps us to create a business partner only once in its lifecycle.
Further, we can map Contacts, ownership or company structures

Business Partner in SAP S4 HANA Vs. SAP ERP

The Business Partner is the leading object in SAP S/4 HANA. Thus, it is the only access point for processing customer and vendor master data.

This means that special UIs per customer and vendor as known from SAP Business Suite are no longer available.

In SAP S/4 HANA transaction BP is the only entry point for creating Business Partner. Both the Customer master data and vendor master data are now assigned to these business partners as roles.

The complete handling such as creating, changing and displaying customer and vendor master data takes place within Transaction BP.

In addition, a number of specific ERP transactions in SAP S/4 HANA are redirected to Transaction BP. These transactions are contained in the simplification list. This is a list of all simplifications in the context of the conversion from SAP ERP to SAP S/4 HANA.

No Longer Available Transactions

The following SAP ERP transactions are no longer available in SAP S/4 HANA

Customer (FI) – FD01, FD02, FD03, FD06, FD08- Create, Change, Display, Deletion Flag, Confirm Change
Vendor (FI) – FK01, FK02, FK03, FK06, FK08-Create, Change, Display, Deletion Flag, Confirm Change
Contact Person (Vendor)- MAP1, MAP2, MAP3- Create, Change, Display)
Vendor (MM) – MK01, MK02, MK03, MK06, MK12, MK18, MK19- Create, change, Display, Delete Flag, Plan Vendor, Activate Vendor & Display in Future Vendor
Customer (SD) – VD01, VD02, VD03, VD06 (Create, change, Display, Delete)
Customer (central) – XD01, XD02, XD03, XD06, XD07 (create, change, Display, Deletion Flag and change Account Group)
Vendor (Central) – XK01, XK02, XK03, XK06, XK07 (Create, Change, Display, Deletion Flag & Change Account Group)

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Business Partner concept in SAP S/4 HANA streamlines master data management. Thus, acting as a central hub for business partners, customers, and suppliers. Its adaptability, allowing one entity to fulfil multiple roles, simplifies data handling.

Businesses can extend data into various functional areas, enhancing control. The synchronization process ensures seamless integration of SAP applications. With CVI mandatory in S/4 HANA, the Business Partner concept revolutionizes data management. Thus, offering efficiency and data consistency across functions.

Watch Related Video: SAP BP Concept

Pradeep