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In very general terms, there are two kinds of data in any system:
Master data ”This data is relatively fixed in your system. Your company could continue to run for days without creating new master data. Not all master data has the word master in its name . Customer Master, Personnel Master, and Chart of Accounts are all examples of master data. (These are discussed in more detail in Lesson 15, "Using Master Data.")
Transaction data ”
This data is made up of the normal day-to-day business transactions in a system. If you couldn't create these documents, your business would come to a stop. Purchase orders, invoices, and production orders are all examples of transaction data. With transaction data , there's usually a chain of documents involved in any process. For example, a document may start as an inquiry from a customer, be converted into a quotation, and then work its way through the system to finally become an invoice and a payment.
It's important to know where the documents you work with come from and go to so that you understand the implications of any errors or problems that might be found in the document. Table 22.1 lists the common SAP R/3 documents and their purpose, as well as the R/3 modules that use the information, its predecessor, and some subsequent documents. Information in each document may have been copied in from a predecessor document, or may have information carried forward into a subsequent document.
CAUTION
This List Isn't Definitive
Many documents and relationships in SAP R/3 aren't included in this list. SAP R/3's Business Object Repository lists more than 170 different kinds of business objects. (A purchase order is an example of a business object.) Although this list isn't comprehensive, it covers the most common objects.
Table 22.1 The Most Common SAP R/3 Documents
Name | Description | Used By | Predecessor | Subsequent |
Bill of Materials | Lists items needed to build a product | PP, PM, MM | ||
Credit Memo | Tells customers their account is credited | SD, FI | ||
Customer Payment | Records receipt of payment from customer | FI | Invoice | |
Debit Memo | Tells customers their account is debited | SD, FI | Invoice | |
Delivery | Records delivery of goods | SD, MM | Sales Order | |
Delivery, free of charge | Records delivery of samples or items for complaint resolution | SD, MM | Inquiry | |
Goods Issue | Authorizes goods removed from stock | MM, PP, SD, PM | ||
Goods Receipt | Records receipt of goods from external supplier | MM, FI, QM | Purchase Order | |
Inquiries | Customer request for information | SD | Quotation | |
Inspection Lot | Request for inspection | QM | ||
Invoice (1) | Request for payment sent to customer | SD, FI | Sales Order | |
Invoice (2) | Request for payment received from a vendor | FI | Purchase Order | |
Maintenance Notification | Request for maintenance | PM | ||
Maintenance Order | Order authorizing service | PM, MM, CO | Maintenance Notification | |
Material Reservation | Reserves a material that is in stock | PP, SD, PM | ||
Order Proposal | order for your stock or production | MM (MRP) | ||
Outline Agreement (1) | Documents terms agreed with customer for use over a specified time period | SD, MM | Release Order (theirs) | |
Outline Agreement (2) | Documents terms agreed with vendor for use over a specified time period | MM | Release Order (yours) | |
Picking List | List of materials to be removed from stock | MM | ||
Pricing and Condition | Prices, discounts , surcharges, and so on | SD | Sales Orders | |
Production Order | Schedule of, production of, goods | PP, QM | Sales Order, Planned Order Production Proposal | Delivery |
Planned Order | Production slot reserved to fill a customer's order | MM (MRP) | Sales Order | Purchase Requisition |
Purchase Order | Order for goods or services from a vendor | MM, FI, QM | Purchase Requisition | Goods Receipt |
Purchase Requisition | Request to MM from business unit for goods or services | MM | Plan Order | Purchase Order |
Q- Info Record | Vendor's status (blocked, allowed) for a material | QM | Quality Assurance Agreement | |
Quality Assurance Agreement | Agreement with vendor that allows procurement of a given material | QM | Q-Info Record | |
Quotation (1) | Vendor's offer to supply goods and materials at specified terms | SD | RFQ | Purchase Order |
Quotation (2) | Your offer to supply goods and materials at specified terms | SD | Inquiry | Sales Order |
Release Order | Used with outline Agreement to request product | MM | Outline agreement | |
Return | Records customer number, date, reason, and so on | SD | Delivery | |
RFQ | Records product amount, vendor, and so on | MM | Purchase Order | |
Sales Order | Records customer number, date, line items | SD, MM, FI | Quotation | Delivery, Invoice |
Time Tickets | Shop floor paper for worker to fill in the time an operation took | PP, FI, HR, PM |
Each kind of document has variations in how it can be created or processed . For example, a purchase order can be created from scratch, from a requisition, from the MRP process, and so on.
In this lesson, you learned about the most common documents, that documents are often shared between SAP R/3 modules, and that most documents either trigger subsequent documents or are triggered by earlier documents. In the next lesson, you learn what the industry solutions are and how they may affect you.
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