Once an order is confirmed, goods have to be delivered and money invoiced. These are two separate stages carried by two separate documents.
The delivery document
A delivery is the instruction to the warehouse. Create it from an order with VL01N, or in bulk for everything due with the VL10 family.
Creating it moves the reservation from the order to the delivery. The warehouse then picks and packs against it.
| Stage | What happens | Effect on stock |
|---|---|---|
| Create delivery | Fix what is to be shipped | Reservation moves from order to delivery |
| Picking | Take goods from the warehouse; enter picked quantity | Stock is not yet reduced |
| Packing (optional) | Group into handling units | No change |
| Post goods issue | Issue from stock | Stock falls; an accounting document is created |
The entry posted at goods issue
Dr Cost of sales xxx
Cr Inventory xxxThe amount is the inventory valuation from the material master โ standard price or moving average. No revenue is recognised yet; that happens when the billing document posts.
The billing document
Create billing with VF01, normally referencing the delivery, though services with no delivery can be billed directly from the order.
| Reference | When used |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Physical goods; bill what was issued |
| Sales order | Services and maintenance contracts with no delivery |
| Down payment request | Billing a prepayment |
Dr Accounts receivable xxx
Cr Revenue xxx
Cr Output tax xxxProfitability data flows to CO-PA at the same time: revenue and discounts into value fields, product and customer as characteristics, enabling margin analysis by product and account.
Combining and splitting invoices
- Collective billing combines documents that agree on bill-to party, payment terms, currency and billing date into one invoice, which suits monthly consolidated billing.
- Billing split happens automatically when any of those differ. When an unexpected split occurs, the analysis log identifies the field responsible.
Billing dates and the worklist
Billing timing can be governed by a billing calendar on the customer master, which is how conventions such as a cut-off on the twentieth of each month are expressed.
VF04 lists everything due to be billed and creates the documents in bulk. It is the centre of the monthly billing routine.