Definition

Characteristic that defines sales-relevant features of document items. Offer item, order item, full credit memo, partial credit memo, barter deal, cash payment or separate agency commission are all examples of item categories .

Use

To replicate and control sales of advertising services in the system using your business processes and define sales-relevant features of document items. Ad items are not to be billed until all schedule lines have been published or agency commission is to be granted separately in agency orders.

Structure

Item categories and their characteristics are defined in Customizing.

When defining item categories, you can create the offer item and order item item categories and stipulate that offer items are relevant to price and contract determination, whereas order items are relevant to planning, pricing, production, billing, contract update, commission and contract determination.

Output, document or partner determination procedures can be assigned to item categories in an item type. By doing so, you define which determination procedure is used for pricing, output determination and business partner assignment in a document item.

Note that an output, document or partner determination procedure can also be assigned to each item type or category in an item type.

See also: Item Type

Integration

Sales document type, item type and item category

The sales document type, item type and item category define the way in which sales of advertising services are replicated and controlled in the system.

The sales document type is specified during sales document creation.

See also: Sales Document Type

The item type and category are specified during document item creation. You have defined active item types for sales document processing in Customizing.

Document items of various item types and categories can be created in a sales document.

You have defined admissible item categories for each sales document type or each item type in the sales document type in Customizing:

If you assign the standard item and full and partial credit memo item categories to a sales document type, you can replicate associated business transactions in a single sales document by creating order and credit memo items in this document.

Use the Create document item with item category function to select an item category.

See also: Creation of Document Items with Item Category

You can only select an item category when using this function. When creating document items, the system uses the item category that has been defined in Customizing as the standard item category for the sales document type specified.

See also: Creation of Document Items

You define the standard item category for a sales document type in Customizing when you assign item categories to sales document types (see above).

The item category is normally updated in all billing datasets for a document item. If you create a document item that generates billing datasets for separate agency commission, the system assigns these billing datasets the separate agency commission item category for this item in Customizing.

See also: Generation of Billing Datasets

See also: Settlement of Agency Commission

When defining item categories, you assign a sales document category to each item category.

The sales document category defines the leading sign for billing. The item category therefore controls whether positive or credit memo documents are generated during sales document entry or positive or cancellation documents are generated during billing.

The following sales document categories can be assigned to an item category:

Create document flows

The sales document type, item category and copying variant control document flow.

To define document flow, specify the copying variants to be used to create follow-on documents and/or follow-on items for each sales document type and item category. Copying variants define the sales document type and item category in follow-on documents and/or follow-on items, such as those for credit memos or those used to convert offers to orders.

See also: Creation of Sales Documents with Reference

See also: Creation of Document Items with Reference

See also: Creation of Document Items with Reference to Schedule Lines

See also: Creation of Document Items With Reference to Billing Datasets

Copying variants and document flow control are defined in Customizing.