Partner Functions
Use
Use partner functions to define the rights and responsibilities of each business partner in a business transaction. You assign partner functions when you create a master record for a business partner.
Features
The following are examples of partner functions that are defined in the standard system:
● Partner functions for partner type customer
Contains data on sales, such as the assignment to a sales office or a valid price list
Contains data for shipping, such as unloading point and goods receiving hours
Contains the address and data on document printing and electronic communication
○ Payer
Contains data on billing schedules and bank details
● Partner functions for partner type vendor
○ Ordering address
○ Invoice presented by
○ Goods supplier
○ Alternative payee
● Partner functions for other partner types, for example, personnel (HR master records)
Employee responsible
You can use this partner function, for example, to assign a buyer within your company to a vendor.
Activities
Customer partner functions
The company or person who places an order can be the same company or person who receives the goods and the invoice and pays. Because this customer assumes all partner functions, you create one master record for the customer. You create a customer master record for the sold-to party in which you enter data required for the other partner functions.
A subsidiary office can place an order and its head office can pay the invoice. In this case, you divide partner functions among the different offices. You need a corresponding number of customer master records. In one master record you enter, for example, the address of the sold-to party for correspondence, in the other, the address of the ship-to party for delivery. You establish a link between the partner functions in the customer master record of the sold-to party by entering the customer number of the respective partner functions.
Prerequisites
When creating master records, you define the partner functions for business partners by assigning an account group. For partner types customer and vendor, you define which account group can be used for which partner function. You do this in Customizing in the following activities:
● Customer
In Customizing for Basic Functions (SD) in the activity Assign partner functions on the debit side to account groups.
● Vendor
In Customizing for Purchasing (MM) in the activity Define permissible partner roles per account group.
The partner determination procedure specifies the partner functions that are allowed or mandatory for processing a particular business transaction, such as a sales or purchase order.
More Information
Partner Determination in Sales and
Distribution
Vendors: Partner
Determination