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Function documentationConsumers  Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

Use

A consumer is a natural, private business partner with whom you have a relationship involving the transfer of goods and services. You create customer master records for business partners who are consumers.

Features

Reference Customer

To create consumer master data and to process sales, you require reference data known as the reference customer. You can create a maximum of one reference customer per client. When you create the reference customer, you must enter company code data and sales area data. Company code data and sales area data is used with master records for consumers as follows:

When you create a master record for a consumer, the company code data for the consumer is copied from the reference customer. Once the master record is created, you can maintain the data for this company code and additional company codes.

You create a master record for a consumer and you do not enter sales area data. During operative business transactions, for example, when you create an order for a consumer, the sales area data is copied from the reference customer.

You create a master record for a consumer and you enter sales area data. During operative business transactions, this sales area data is used by the system.

Note

A consumer cannot be a reference customer.

Maintenance of Consumer Master Data

You have the following options for maintaining consumer master data:

When you maintain consumer master data, you can switch between these options without leaving the transaction. As for customer master data maintenance, standard tabs appear as defaults or you can create your own tab layouts for both consumer master data maintenance options.

Prerequisites

In customizing for Business Partners, you can create your own tab layouts for consumer master data maintenance. You do this in the activity Create Tab Layouts for Consumers.

Activities

Processing Operative Business Transactions

You have not maintained sales area data for a consumer. During document entry, the sales area data is copied from the master data of the reference customer.

When you create an order, for example, partner functions are determined as follows:

The following partner functions are automatically assigned to the consumer who is ordering:

The reference customer is used to determine other partner functions, for example:

All partner functions are determined from the master record for the consumer.

You have to set output determination for consumer master data processing using the condition technique (that is, the print proposal does not originate in the customer master data).

Additional Information

Creating and Changing Business Partner Master Data

Partner Determination in Sales and Distribution (SD-BF-PD)