The sales order confirms a customer order. It is the starting point of the SD process, and what is decided here carries through to delivery and billing.
What is determined automatically
Entering a customer, a material and a quantity in VA01 causes SAP to derive a great deal. Understanding these determinations is what separates being able to use SD from merely typing into it.
| What is derived | From | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Pricing procedure and condition records | The value of the sale |
| Ship-to party and payer | Partner functions on the customer master | Destination, credit exposure |
| Plant | Customer-material info โ customer master โ material master | Where goods ship from |
| Shipping point | Shipping conditions, loading group and plant | Where shipping work is done |
| Route and dates | Ship-to country and region, transportation group | The confirmed delivery date |
| Item category | Document type, item category group and others | Overall item behaviour |
| Tax | Departure and destination country, customer and material tax classification | Tax amount |
Item categories
The item category decides what a line means, and is among the most important control settings in SD.
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pricing | A free-of-charge item is not priced |
| Delivery | A service item creates no delivery |
| Billing | A free sample is not billed |
| Availability check | A non-stock item is not checked |
| Cost posting | Whether cost of sales is recognised |
A standard item is TAN, a free item TANN, a text-only line TATX. The same material behaves differently under a different item category.
The availability check
The ATP (available-to-promise) check decides whether the requested date can actually be met. It does not just read current stock; it projects future receipts and issues.
What is included is set in the scope of check.
- Stock on hand (whether quality inspection and blocked stock count is configurable)
- Inward movements โ purchase order deliveries, production order receipts
- Outward movements โ reservations from other orders and deliveries
- Safety stock, which is often excluded so that it stays untouched
Where the requested date cannot be met, SAP proposes alternatives: a split with part on the requested date and the remainder later, or the full quantity on a later date. The answer is written into the schedule lines.
Order status
Order status reflects how far follow-on processing has got, and is held per item as well as per header.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not processed | Neither delivered nor billed |
| Partially processed | Partly delivered or billed |
| Completely processed | Fully delivered and billed |
| Completed | Manually closed, where the remainder will not ship |
An order with quantity that will never ship stays in the backlog indefinitely. Where a customer cancels, set a reason for rejection on the item to take it out.