SAP Business Partner (BP) has been introduced into our lives with S/4HANA. SAP Business Partner is used in SAP HANA systems as a replacement for Customer and Vendor master data that existed in SAP R3 Systems.
BP configuration begins by defining Customer, Vendor, and Business Partner account groups along with their respective number ranges. Each business partner will either be a customer, a vendor, or both.
When tracking a business partner as both customer and vendor, the same customer-vendor number must be used. Therefore, it is necessary to create common account groups for customers and vendors, set up identical account groups for business partners, and assign identical number ranges.
1. Defining Account Groups and Number Ranges for Customers, Vendors, and Business Partners
Customers:
SPRO → Financial Accounting → Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable → Customer Accounts → Master Data → Preparations for Creating Customer Master Data → Define Account Groups with Screen Layout (Customers)
SPRO → Financial Accounting → Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable → Customer Accounts → Master Data → Preparations for Creating Customer Master Data → Create Number Ranges for Customer Accounts (XDN1)
Vendors:
SPRO → Financial Accounting → Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable → Supplier Accounts → Master Data → Preparations for Creating Supplier Master Data → Define Account Groups with Screen Layout (Vendors)
SPRO → Financial Accounting → Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable → Supplier Accounts → Master Data → Preparations for Creating Vendor Master Data → Create Number Ranges for Vendor Accounts (XKN1)
Customer and vendor account groups do not necessarily have to be completely identical.
There can be groups specific only to customers or vendors, but common groups must have the same group code and description.
Every customer group must also exist as a business partner group. The same applies to vendors.
Business Partners:
SPRO → Cross-Application Components → SAP Business Partner → Business Partner → Basic Settings → Number Ranges and Groupings → Define Groupings and Assign Number Ranges
Number ranges must be defined before defining business partner groups. Number ranges should follow the same logic as the account groups.
To have the same numbers for customer/vendor and business partner accounts, all customer and vendor account group number ranges must be set as external.
The same customer/vendor account group number ranges must match the business partner account group number ranges. Different ones must also align accordingly.
Menu path for defining number ranges for business partner groups:
SPRO → Cross-Application Components → SAP Business Partner → Business Partner → Basic Settings → Number Ranges and Groupings → Define Number Ranges
2. Integration of Business Partner with Customer/Vendor
2.1 Customer Integration
Assigning Customer Account Groups to BP Roles:
Customer account groups should be assigned to the FI role (FLCU00) used for customers in the BP screen.
SPRO → Cross-Application Components → Master Data Synchronization → Customer / Vendor Integration → Business Partner Settings → Settings for Customer Integration → Define BP Role for Direction Customer to BP
Assignment of Customer Account Groups to Relevant Business Partner Roles:
Customer account groups must be linked to the respective business partner account groups. The menu path to be used for this customizing step is:
SPRO → Cross-Application Components → Master Data Synchronization → Customer / Vendor Integration → Business Partner Settings → Settings for Customer Integration → Field Assignment for Customer Integration → Assign Keys → Define Number Assignment for Direction Customer to BP
For groups that will be tracked using external numbering, the "Same Number" checkbox must be selected.
Linking customer account numbers with business partner account numbers:
SPRO → Cross-Application Components → Master Data Synchronization → Customer / Vendor Integration → Business Partner Settings → Settings for Customer Integration → Field Assignment for Customer Integration → Assign Keys → Define Number Assignment for Direction BP to Customer
2.2 Vendor Integration
Assigning Vendor Account Groups to BP Roles:
Vendor account groups should be assigned to the FI role (FLVN00) used for customers in the BP screen.
SPRO → Cross-Application Components → Master Data Synchronization → Customer / Vendor Integration → Business Partner Settings → Settings for Vendor Integration → Define BP Role for Direction Vendor to BP
Assignment of Vendor Account Groups to Relevant Business Partner Roles:
SPRO → Cross-Application Components → Master Data Synchronization → Customer / Vendor Integration → Business Partner Settings → Settings for Vendor Integration → Field Assignment for Vendor Integration → Assign Keys → Define Number Assignment for Direction Vendor to BP
Linking Vendor Numbers with BP Numbers:
SPRO → Cross-Application Components → Master Data Synchronization → Customer / Vendor Integration → Business Partner Settings → Settings for Vendor Integration → Field Assignment for Vendor Integration → Assign Keys → Define Number Assignment for Direction BP to Vendor
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