Vendor Master Data (SAP Library - Purchasing (MM-PUR))

Vendor Master Data

Use

The vendor master database contains information about the vendors that supply an enterprise. This information is stored in individual vendor master records. A vendor master record contains the vendor’s name and address, as well as data such as:

The currency used for ordering from the vendor

Terms of payment

Names of important contact persons (sales staff)

Since, to the accounts department, vendors are generally creditors (accounts payable), the vendor master record also contains accounting information, such as the relevant control account (reconciliation account) in the general ledger.

Therefore, the vendor master record is maintained by both Accounting and Purchasing.

Note

The purchasing data pertaining to a vendor must have previously been maintained before you can order from the vendor.

The accounting data pertaining to a vendor must have previously been maintained before you can enter the vendor's invoices in the system for payment.

Features

How is the Vendor Master Record Structured?

Vendor master records contain important data on your vendors. You can also store data in the vendor master record that applies to certain specific organizational levels (e.g. company code, purchasing organization, plant) within your enterprise.

The vendor master record consists of three areas:

General data

Data that applies equally to each company code within your enterprise (address, telephone number, language in which you communicate with your vendor, etc.).

Company code data

Data kept at company code level (payment transaction data or number of control account, for example).

Purchasing data

Data that is of importance with regard to your enterprise’s purchasing activities and which is kept at purchasing organization level (such as contact person or terms of delivery).

The following Data Retention Levels of particular relevance to the wholesale/retail trade exist below the "purchasing organization" level:

Vendor Sub-Range (VSR)

Plant

Vendor sub-range/plant

In addition to the data applicable to a specific purchasing organization, you can maintain purchasing data or partner roles for a certain plant or vendor sub-range (terms of payment or Incoterms, for example) that differ from that at the purchasing organization level. Data specific to sub-levels that varies from that stored for the higher-level purchasing organization in this way is referred to simply as different data.

For more information, refer to the sections Maintaining Different Data, Partner Roles in Purchasing, and Vendor Sub-Range in Purchasing.

What is the Function of the Account Group?

You must assign each vendor whose data you wish to store in the SAP System to an account group.

The account group determines, for example, that only those screens and fields of the vendor master record that are needed for the relevant role of your business partner are displayed and ready to accept user input.

The account group determines:

The type of number assignment and the number range from which the account number used by the system to identify the vendor is assigned

Whether or not a one-time vendor is involved

Which data retention levels below the purchasing organization are allowed (for example, vendor sub-range)

Which partner determination schemas are valid

Note

You maintain the account groups in Customizing for Logistics General under Business Partners ® Vendor ® Control ® Define Account Groups and Field Selection (Vendor).

The standard system contains the account groups vendor (0001), invoicing party (0006), and one-time vendors (with internal number assignment) (CPD). The account group for One-Time-Accounts causes the address, communication, and bank data fields to be suppressed during creation and maintenance of a vendor master record. You must then enter this information later on, at the time you create a purchasing document.

Note

You can change the account group of an existing vendor master record. To do so, choose Master data ® Vendor ® Central ® Account Group Change from the Purchasing menu. (This may be necessary, for example, if a further application comes into use.)

In this case, please note that fields that were previously suppressed in Create mode may be ready to accept input when the master record is changed.

For more information, refer to the documentation FI General Ledger Accounting under Account Group.

How are the Vendor Master Records Numbered?

Each vendor master record is assigned a unique number (the vendor's account number used by Financial Accounting). You need this number to call up the master record or to enter purchase orders. A vendor has the same account number in all company codes.

The type of number assignment and the number range are determined through the account group that you enter when you create a master record.

The number can be assigned internally by the system or by the user (i.e. externally) when a master record is created. For external number assignment, alphanumeric numbers are also allowed.

The system ensures that the numbers are always unique. With internal number assignment, the system assigns numbers consecutively from a given range. With external number assignment, it prevents an already used number from being reused.

For more information on this topic, refer to the documentation LO Business Partner Master Data.

See also:

Maintaining Vendor Master Records