If payments are not to be made by the customer that owes the receivable in question, specify an alternative payer in the customer master record. Automatic debits and refunds by bank transfer, for example, are then made using the banks of this account, rather than of the original customer.

If you wish to enter an alternative payer, you must first create a customer master record for the alternative payer. You also require the authorization of this alternative payer to collect from his or her account by direct debit.

You can specify an alternative payer in both the general and the company code area of the master data. If you specify an alternative payer in the general data, that alternative payer is valid for the customer in all company codes. If you specify an alternative payer in both areas, the specification in the company code area takes precedence.

In exceptional cases, it may be necessary to enter the payer only in the document. You can choose this option by selecting the Payer in document indicator in the general data area. When you enter a document, there is a field on the screen in which you can enter an alternative payer. If this field is selected, the system displays a screen for the payer’s master data.

The system always uses the entry that is most specific. This means that if you enter a payer in the document, this always has priority over the entry in the master record.

Enter the account number of the alternative payer in the Alternative payer field in the payment transactions section of the original customer master record.