Create Business Partner – Vendor in SAP S4HANA

Introduction

In this post, we will discuss the concept of the Business Partner in SAP S/4HANA, its benefits, and how to create a Business Partner for a Plant in SAP.

1. What is a Business Partner?

A Business Partner can be a:

• Person
• Organization
• Group of People
• Group of Organizations

A Business Partner is the single point of entry to create, edit, and display master data for business partners, customers, and vendors. It consists of:

• General data (Name, Address, Bank Information)
• Role-specific data (Customer, Vendor, or Employee)

2. Why use Business Partner?

• Eliminate Data Redundancy:
  A single object is needed to represent a person who is both a vendor and a customer, rather than creating two separate objects in traditional ERP.
• Simplified Transactions:
  The Business Partner concept uses a single transaction code “BP” to manage both vendor and customer objects.

Centrally managing master data for business partners, customers, and vendors simplifies the process.
In Traditional ERP:

• Vendor views are separated into:
  • General
  • Finance
  • Purchasing
• Transaction Codes required for creating:
  • Customer: XD01, FD01, VD01
  • Vendor: XK01, FK01, MK01

In SAP S/4HANA, both customer and vendor objects are created through the BP transaction.

How to Create a Business Partner for a Plant in SAP

This tutorial walks you through the steps to create a Business Partner for a Plant Vendor in SAP S/4HANA.

Step-by-Step Procedure

Step 1:
Execute transaction code BP in the command field to enter the Business Partner screen.

Step 2:
From the Maintain Business Partner screen, you can define the business partner as a Person, Organization, or Group.
For this tutorial, we will create a business partner for the Plant Vendor.
Click on Create Organization to start.

Then update the following details :

• Title
• Name
• Address

Step 3:
On the Create Organization BP screen, update the following details:

1. Business Partner Role:
   Choose the appropriate BP role. In this example, select “FLVN01 – Vendor.”
2. A message will appear:
   “Do you want to create a business partner in BP role ‘FLVVendor’ or save it first in BP role ‘Business Partner Gen’ and then change it?”
   Click Create to proceed with creating the business partner as a vendor.

On the Create Organization: Role FLVN01 – Vendor screen, update if necessary the following details:

• Address: Title, Name, Standard Address Details, Language, etc.
• Address Overview
• Identification Details
• Search Term

Make sure to update all mandatory fields to successfully save the details.

Additional Steps to Activate the Vendor Role

To use the Business Partner as a Vendor, follow these steps:

Click on the Purchasing button:
This will open the purchasing-related settings for the vendor.

Select the Purchasing Organization:
Choose the organization where you want to create your supplier.

• In this case, select DE00.

Select the Order Currency:
Set the appropriate currency for transactions with this vendor.

• In this case, choose USD.

Assign Partner Functions:
Navigate to the Partner Functions section and add the partner role VN (Vendor) to use this vendor in procurement activities.

Hit “Save”, and the Business Partner will be created. A pop-up message will appear to confirm the creation.

As you can see above, we have generated the Vendor code. However, this alone is not sufficient to initiate procurement activities; the Business Partner must also have the FI (Financial Information) view configured.

Step 4 :

Search for the Business Partner:
Use the transaction code BP to search for the Business Partner you created.

Change the Business Partner:
After finding the Business Partner, click the Change button to update the necessary details.

Update the FI View:
In the Financial Accounting (FI) view, update the required fields such as:

• Company Code
• Reconciliation Account
• Payment Terms

Update Vendor Tax Data

1. Navigate to the Vendor: Tax Data tab.
2. In the Additional Tax Data field group:
   • Enter 12-3456 as the Tax Number.
3. Confirm your entry by clicking the relevant button in the menu bar.

Confirm your entry and click on the button in the menu bar.

Enter DE00 for the company code. Confirm with Enter.

In the Vendor: Account Management tab:

• Enter 300000 as the Reconciliation Account.
• Confirm with Enter.

In the Vendor: Payment Transactions tab:

• Enter 0001 as the Terms of Payment.
• Select the checkbox for Check Double Invoice.

In the Vendor: Correspondence tab, enter your name as the Clerk for the vendor.

After making the necessary updates in the FI view, hit Save. This action will ensure that the changes to the Business Partner are successfully recorded in the system.

With these changes saved:

• The supplier will now be fully configured for purchasing activities, meaning you can create purchase orders and process procurement transactions using this vendor.
• Additionally, the vendor will be ready for invoice posting and other financial operations, allowing you to manage payments, perform reconciliations, and handle tax-related matters.