Creating a Customer Master Record (SAP Library - FI Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable)

Creating a Customer Master Record

Use

You wish to create a customer master record.

Integration

Customer master records are used by both the Financial Accounting (FI) component and the Sales and Distribution (SD) component. If your company also uses the SD application component, you can create and maintain customer master records either together or separately as follows:

Separately for the company code

Separately for the sales area (order processing, shipping, and billing information about the customer)

Centrally for both the company code and sales area in one step

You need the Sales and Distribution (SD) application component in order to enter data in the sales area. There are three different ways of processing master records since they are often created and maintained by different departments. In some companies, accounting and sales personnel maintain the general area together and their own areas separately. In other companies, customer master records are maintained centrally.

Prerequisites

Before creating a customer master record, you have to make certain system settings, or check existing settings, such as the authorizations. For more information about system configuration, see the activities under Preparations for Creating Customer Master Records in the Implementation Guide (IMG) for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable.

Before you create a new master record, you need to check whether a master record already exists in the system for that customer. You can either use the system’s search facilities to do so, or you can switch on the automatic duplication check via Customizing (IMG).

For more information about the duplication check, see the Change Message Control for Customer Master Data activity in the IMG for Financial Accounting.

Features

The following section explains how to create a customer master record centrally for both the sales and accounting departments, or just for accounting. Creating a customer master record centrally involves entering data for both accounting and sales in one step. This method is possible only if you have also installed and configured the Sales and Distribution (SD) application component. For more information, see the Sales and Distribution documentation.

If you wish to enter master data for the accounting department only, use the appropriate functions in Financial Accounting (FI).

There are a number of maintenance functions that you can use to maintain the master data. For more information, see Maintenance Functions for Customer Master Data: Overview

Activities

The following functions are available for creating customer master records:

To carry out the following maintenance function...	Choose...
Create a master record using a reference	From the Accounts receivable main menu, choose Master records -> Create and enter an existing customer in the Reference field.
Create a master record centrally (for accounting and sales)	Master records -> Maintain centrally -> Create.
Create a master record for accounting only	From the Accounts receivable main menu, choose Master records -> Create.
Create a one-time account	From the Accounts receivable main menu, choose Master records -> Create, and enter "one-time account" in the Account group field.