Function documentationBusiness Rule Framework (BRF)

 

Software for tax assessments needs to be highly flexible because validation and calculation of data vary from customer to customer. For this reason, SAP has transferred all processes for the validation of submitted data or the tax calculation to the Business Rule Framework (BRF). The BRF is a rule tool which you can use to define and implement both technical and business rule sets. The BRF was initially designed by SAP to handle insurance claims but was rapidly adopted in other areas such as the Public Sector or CRM and is now part of the SAP NetWeaver.

Prerequisites

In order to use the functions of this component, you must activate the Business Function TRM: Return Processing (PSCD_TRM_RETURN_PROCESSING).

Caution Caution

With business function Tax and Revenue Management incl. Withholding Tax (PSCD_TRM_AND_WITHHOLDING) we offer the next generation of the BRF. You can still use BRF though. However, please note that new developments, first of all new actions and expressions, are only developed under BRFplus. Content for object- based taxes, property tax and Collections Management is still only available in BRF. For more information, see BRFplus.

End of the caution.

Features

The BRF contains the following central objects:

  • Events

  • Rules

  • Expressions

  • Actions

Events map access to the BRF. SAP provides predefined events. You can assign as many rules as you want to each event, whereby a rule usually consists of a boolean expression and an action.

The BRF calculates the expression when the event is triggered. When the expression issues the result TRUE, the BRF does not perform any action.

SAP provides three templates for application classes that map different tax types. To adjust the rule set provided by SAP to suit the requirements of your organization, copy the most suitable template and then create the required BRF objects. For more information, read Application Classes.

The BRF is called in the single and mass transactions for calculating object and form-based taxes and also for the validation of forms from the application for processing tax returns. For more information, see Billing in Tax and Revenue Management (TRM) and Processing Tax Returns.

Note Note

When calling the BRF for the tax calculation, the system writes the data that it needs for the calculation and validation in a buffer by default which you can access. You can also load more data from any table to the context puffer. You can then access this data the same way. Container of the context is an event. To define events in Tax and Revenue Management (TRM) always use the implementing class 0FICAEVENT.

End of the note.

More Information

The BRF was adjusted and enhanced for use in the tax assessment. The general documention on the BRF is therefore the basis of this documentation. If you want to configure your own rules for use in the BRF, you should first read the general documentation on the BRF.

For more information on the BRF, see Customizing for Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable, under Start of the navigation path Business Transactions Next navigation step Public Sector Tax Assessment Next navigation step Business Rule Framework (BRF) End of the navigation path.