Contract

Definition

Contract with a limited validity period for the sale of advertising services using defined conditions.

Use

Media customers who regularly sell advertising services are to be granted discount conditions (discount, bonus, fixed quantity price) that are guaranteed in the general terms and conditions of business. Number contracts are used to reward major customer loyalty and quantity contracts are used for smaller customers. Discount conditions are to be granted automatically.

Media customers who do not sell advertising services on a regular basis can be granted discount conditions in the form of issue discounts or manual discounts. Contract customers can also receive discount conditions as issue discounts and manual discounts in addition to discount conditions from contracts.

Structure

A contract has a contract header and at least one contract item. You can assign an inclusive or exclusive requirement to a contract item. The contract item with item number one is the leading item and contains one booking unit that defines the level of discount granted.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

During discount determination, the system transfers the first requirement element in the inclusive requirement for the leading item to pricing.

If you create more than one contract item in a contract, or create a contract item with several requirement elements, you should note that discount conditions are always dependent on the first contract item, even if a contract assignment is created for the second contract item.

An inclusive requirement describes which requirement must be fulfilled if a billing dataset is to be assigned to a contract item. An exclusive requirement describes which requirement must not be fulfilled if a billing dataset is to be assigned to a contract item.

You can only assign contract requirements to a contract item. Each contract requirement can be assigned to a contract item as an inclusive requirement with the Qualifies for discount , Qualifies for bonus , Counts towards discount fulfillment , Counts towards bonus fulfillment rate indicators. If you select one or more rate indicators and the Indicators from contract indicator, the system replaces rate indicators from the contract and rate requirements in the contract assignment with rate indicators from the contract item.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

We recommend that you only select rate indicators in a contract item if you cannot create rate or exclusion requirements that are generally valid.

Validity period

Contract validity can be entered manually or can be determined by the system using the rule for contract start and end.

Choose Manually entered from the dropdown list to enter this manually.

The system determines the validity period automatically for standard contracts and system contracts using the rule for contract start and end. The service performance date of the first contract assignment defines the start of the contract validity. The end of the validity period is calculated from the start of validity, standard duration and rule for contract end.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

Create a contract for media customer A and enter Start of the month of the first placement as the start of the validity period. Media customer A places the first ad on 04.23. The contract validity period begins on 04.01.

You can define a default standard validity period and default rules for contract start and end and maximum backdating for the start of the validity period from Customizing or individually from the media customer master data.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

The rules defined in the standard system for contract start and end do not allow the validity period to be adjusted subsequently. You can define additional rules with a validity period that can be modified subsequently or one that is only modifiable for system contracts in Customizing under: SAP Media ® Advertising Management ® Sales ® Contract ® Contract Determination and Update ® Define Rules for Contract Start and End

If you have defined the rule for contract start as being subsequently modifiable in one of your additional rules, the system will attempt to change the validity period of other orders so that the new services are still found within the validity period. The system therefore responds as if all services had been assigned before the order was saved for the first time.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

Media customer wants to place an ad on 07.05. You create a contract to which this order is to be assigned. The system determines the start of the validity period as 07.01 according to the rule for contract start (monthly). Media customer contacts you the next day to place an ad on 06.28. The system adjusts the contract validity subsequently to incorporate this change.

The system will only make the start of the contract validity period earlier if existing assignments also fall within the new validity period.

Validity

You can extend the validity of a contract to any number of sales areas. If you do so, you can specify the rate indicators that are used to create contract assignments from these sales areas for each sales area.

A contract that is valid for all sales areas can only be maintained in the leading sales area.

Prerequisite	Contract assignments
You have created a contract that is valid for all sales areas.	Advertising services can be assigned to the contract as follows: Advertising services from the specified sales area with the Grants discount, Grants bonus, Counts towards discount fulfillment and Counts towards bonus fulfillment rate indicators. Advertising services from all other sales areas with the Counts towards discount fulfillment and Counts towards bonus fulfillment rate indicators . If a media customer sells advertising services in a different sales area from the one in which they have a contract, they do not receive discount conditions on the advertising services sold but these services count towards contract fulfillment. If you create a contract that is valid for all sales areas and select the Explicit sales area indicator, you can only assign advertising services from the specified sales area to the contract.
You have created a contract that is valid for all sales areas	You can assign advertising services from the specified sales areas to the contract with the rate indicators that have been selected in the contract. The system selects the Explicit sales areas indicator automatically. If a media customer sells advertising services in a different sales area from the one in which they have a contract, they can receive discount conditions on the advertising services sold and these services can count towards contract fulfillment.

Prerequisite

Contract assignments

You have created a contract that is valid for all sales areas.

Advertising services can be assigned to the contract as follows:

Advertising services from the specified sales area with the Grants discount, Grants bonus, Counts towards discount fulfillment and Counts towards bonus fulfillment rate indicators.

Advertising services from all other sales areas with the Counts towards discount fulfillment and Counts towards bonus fulfillment rate indicators .

If a media customer sells advertising services in a different sales area from the one in which they have a contract, they do not receive discount conditions on the advertising services sold but these services count towards contract fulfillment.

If you create a contract that is valid for all sales areas and select the Explicit sales area indicator, you can only assign advertising services from the specified sales area to the contract.

You have created a contract that is valid for all sales areas

You can assign advertising services from the specified sales areas to the contract with the rate indicators that have been selected in the contract. The system selects the Explicit sales areas indicator automatically. If a media customer sells advertising services in a different sales area from the one in which they have a contract, they can receive discount conditions on the advertising services sold and these services can count towards contract fulfillment.

Involved business partners

You can assign business partners to a contract in the roles that have been defined in the partner determination procedure for contracts.

Partner determination procedure AB01 for contracts is supplied in the reference clients. The following business partner roles are defined in partner determination procedure AB01 :

Contract holder

Agency

Beneficiary

Agency responsible

Media sales agent

You define partner determination procedures as follows in Customizing:

Define	Menu path
Partner determination procedure	SAP Media → Basic Functions → Partner Determination M/AM → Define and Assign Partner Determination Procedures
Assign partner determination procedure to each sales area	SAP Media → Advertising Management → Sales → Contract → Settings for Specific Sales Areas → Assignment of Schemas

You can only assign a business partner to a contract if they have been created in the specified role. This is the case if the indicators that have been defined in Customizing as special indicators for this role have been selected in the business partner master record. You define the indicators that you require to use a business partner in a particular role in Customizing as follows:

Define	Menu path
Business partner usage	SAP Media ® Advertising Management ® Sales ® Contract ® Technical Settings ® Define Dependency of BP Usage on BP Attributes

A contract is negotiated between a media customer and a sales area.

You can only create a contract for a media customer if: A customer profile that qualifies this customer for contract discount has been recorded in the media customer master record. The Qualifies for contract discount indicator has been selected on the Sales data 3 tab on the contract detail screen. If you are using the SAP business partner, the Qualifies for contract indicator has been selected on the Contract Sales and Distribution tab page. You can define the customer profiles that qualify for contract discount as follows in Customizing:

Define	Menu path
Customer profiles that qualify for contract discount	SAP Media → Master Data → Business Partner → Business Partner in Advertising Management → Media Customer → Define Customer Profiles

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

You cannot create a contract for the media customer if: If a customer profile that qualifies the customer for contract discount has been recorded in the master record, and the Does not qualify for contract indicator has been selected on the Sales data 3 tab on the contract detail screen or the Contract Sales and Distribution tab page if you are using the SAP business partner. The media customer does not qualify for a contract.

If you have created a contract for a media customer, the system selects the Contract customer indicator in the master record for this customer. You can also select the Contract customer indicator manually without triggering contract creation. During contract creation, the system uses this indicator to check whether a contract has already been created for the media customer in the specified sales area.

The system transfers all assigned business partners to output determination in the roles specified.

You define the business partners for which a contract assignment can be created in a partner access sequence. The system uses the partner access sequence to determine all contracts to which a particular order partner, such as the advertiser is assigned in a particular role, such as the contract holder or beneficiary.

Discount conditions

You specify a contract type and a contract category when you create the contract.

The contract type defines the discount conditions that you can grant a media customer. The following discount conditions are available to you during contract creation (with the exception of scale base contracts):

Discount

Bonus

Fixed quantity price

Condition types, which you define in the Customizing settings for order pricing, are available to you for scale base contracts.

You usually grant a contract customer discount on each advertising service sold and a bonus at the end of the contract validity period. You may want to grant this customer a fixed quantity price for each advertising service sold.

If you do not want to grant a media customer discount until the end of the contract validity period, you should select the Gross contract indicator. Discount is paid once as is the case for a bonus.

If you want to grant a media customer bonus for each advertising service sold, you should select the Advance bonus indicator. Bonus is granted on each advertising service sold during the contract validity period. Bonus is paid in the same way as a discount.

Most contract attributes can either be defined from Customizing or individually from the business partner master data. To define default contract attributes from Customizing, you should proceed as follows:

Define	Menu path
Define default contract attributes	SAP Media → Advertising Management → Sales → Contract → Settings for Specific Sales Areas → Define Default Values for Contract Attributes

The contract category defines which targets to be sold can be negotiated with a media customer. The following targets for sales are available to you during contract creation:

Target number

Target quantity

Target sales volume

You can grant a media customer discount conditions in contracts as follows:

Contract type	Use
Discount/bonus contract	The contract customer can be granted discounts and bonuses on a standard price. Price is usually dependent on a price scale where discount conditions increase proportionally to the target number to be sold. Discounts and bonuses can be granted as a frequency discount (number), quantity discount, sales volume discount, combination discount or a discount with best conditions.
Customer bonus contract	The contract customer can be granted discounts and bonuses. A customer bonus contract is a special form of the discount/bonus contract: Discounts and bonuses are granted in addition to the discount conditions that have already been granted from other contract. Discounts and bonuses can be granted as a frequency discount (number), quantity discount, sales volume discount, combination discount or a discount with best conditions. During contract determination, customer bonus contracts are treated in the same way as other contracts. However, customer bonus contracts generate an additional contract assignment for a billing dataset that qualifies for discount or bonus.
Fixed quantity price contract	You can grant a contract customer a fixed quantity price, which is a lower price than the standard price that is negotiated for each unit of measure. These prices are usually dependent on a price scale where prices increase proportionally to the target number to be sold.
Scale base contract	The contract customer can be granted condition types, which are defined in the Customizing settings for order pricing. The condition technique in order pricing is used to find different discount scales, whose scale bases contribute to achieving the contract target collectively, for different booking units that are defined in a contract agreement.

No technical distinction is made in the system between a combination contract and a quantity or number contract with best conditions. The media customer is always granted to most favorable discount conditions. You can use the distinction between a combination contract and a quantity or number contract with best conditions as follows from a business point of view:

If you create a combination contract, you do not know if the quantity or number scale is more favorable for the media customer when you create the contract.

If you create a number or quantity contract with best conditions, you assume that the quantity or number scale is more favorable for the media customer when you create the contract.

You use condition records to record the discount conditions that all media customers receive for an agreed minimum number of sales. You can enter scales for a condition record. If you specify the target number to be sold when you create a contract, the system determines the discount conditions that are to apply.

If you have selected the No discount/price adjustment or No over-fulfillment indicators, you can manually adjust the discount conditions that have been determined by the system. If you adjust discount conditions manually, the system selects the Agreed indicator. You cannot adjust agreed discount conditions.

If you have selected the Automatic discount/price adjustment in the order or the Discount/price adjustment for interim settlement indicator, you cannot make manual adjustments to the discount conditions that have been determined. You can adjust discount conditions according to the scales that have been recorded in the system.

The system displays discount conditions that have been adjusted as follows on the Values tab page:

Prerequisite	Discount conditions
The contract is notover-fulfilled.	The system displays the discount conditions that it has determined during contract creation on the Values tab page.
The contract is over-fulfilled.	The system displays discount conditions as follows on the Values tab page: If you have selected the No discount/price adjustment indicator in the contract, the system displays the discount conditions that were determined during contract creation up until final settlement. If you have selected the Automatic discount/price adjustment in the order indicator in the contract, the system adjusts the discount conditions if the media customer has reached a more favorable scale level. If you have selected the Discount/price adjustment during interim settlement indicator in the contract, the system does not adjust discount conditions until an interim settlement has been created for the media customer and they have reached a more favorable scale level. If you have selected the No over-fulfillment indicator, you cannot assign the excess advertising services to the contract. The system displays the discount conditions that were determined during contract creation up until final settlement for the contract.

Prerequisite

Discount conditions

The contract is notover-fulfilled.

The system displays the discount conditions that it has determined during contract creation on the Values tab page.

The contract is over-fulfilled.

The system displays discount conditions as follows on the Values tab page:

If you have selected the No discount/price adjustment indicator in the contract, the system displays the discount conditions that were determined during contract creation up until final settlement.

If you have selected the Automatic discount/price adjustment in the order indicator in the contract, the system adjusts the discount conditions if the media customer has reached a more favorable scale level.

If you have selected the Discount/price adjustment during interim settlement indicator in the contract, the system does not adjust discount conditions until an interim settlement has been created for the media customer and they have reached a more favorable scale level.

If you have selected the No over-fulfillment indicator, you cannot assign the excess advertising services to the contract. The system displays the discount conditions that were determined during contract creation up until final settlement for the contract.

Status

Confirmed contracts

If a contract has been signed, you can select the Confirmed indicator. If you select this indicator, the system defines the date on which the contract was confirmed using the system date. You can overwrite the system date. If you only want assignments to be created for contracts that have been confirmed, you should not select the Assignments to unconfirmed contracts indicator. You can select this indicator as follows in Customizing:

Define	Menu path
Contract assignments to unconfirmed contracts	SAP Media → Advertising Management → Sales → Contract → Settings for Specific Sales Areas → Make General Settings

Renewed contracts

If you select the Renew automatically indicator, the system does not renew the contract automatically at the end of its validity period.

If you want to renew a contract, you must use the Contract renewal function in contract monitoring to determine the contracts that you want to renew. The Renew automatically indicator ensures that you can only renew those contracts for which this is admissible. The Renew automatically indicator ensures that you can only renew those contracts for which this is admissible. You can also renew contracts during contract maintenance.

Contracts for which the No over-fulfillment indicator has been selected are renewed in the same way as other contracts. If billing datasets can no longer be assigned to a contract that is already fulfilled, they must be assigned to a subsequent contract instead. This subsequent contract is not created automatically by the system.

You can use Customizing settings to control whether agency contracts or contracts for which no advertising services have been sold are excluded from automatic renewal.