Overview of Special Prices for Business Partners 
Item prices are usually defined in various price lists. The price list that is relevant for determining the prices for a particular business partner is specified in the master record of that business partner. A general discount can also be specified for the business partner in the master record. This discount is applied to the total of the item prices in the document.
It is, however, often necessary to define special prices for individual cases. For example, you may require special prices for an item or an item from an item group for a particular customer or vendor. You may also want to specify special prices or scaled discounts for a particular customer that will be selected automatically by the system on the basis of the quantity ordered.
The logic behind the special prices and the procedure adopted by the system for calculating a price for an item are described in this section.
Special Price Use
Special prices can be used for the following scenarios:
You want to specify a special price for a customer when a particular item or an item from a particular item group is purchased. In this case, you specify a price that depends on the business partner.
You want to define special prices for an item that are to apply for particular periods of time. In this case, you specify a date-dependent price.
Depending on the quantity ordered, you want to assign a special price. If the quantity ordered is very large, you sell or buy an item at a lower price than with a small quantity. In this case, you specify a quantity-based price.
From time to time, you will also want to update all or particular special prices. You can do this, for example, by changing the discount for selected special prices. You can also select specific special prices and change only these prices. You can refer price list updates to the derived special prices. You may also want to delete particular special prices after a defined period of time.
Once you have defined special prices for individual cases (that is, for a particular business partner), you can copy them to other business partners or groups of business partners according to various sets of rules.
If you want to refer discounts to particular item groups, items with particular properties, or manufacturers regardless of the business partner, you can define discount groups.
If you do not want special prices to depend on a business partner, you can also define special prices for a price list. These always apply if no special prices have been defined for a business partner. These special prices can also be defined on the basis of a particular date and/or quantity.
Automatic Price Calculation
When you enter a business transaction, such as an outgoing invoice or a purchase order, the system calculates the price for an item automatically. The system proceeds as follows here:
The system first checks whether a special price has been defined for the item for this particular business partner. This special price could also be based on a particular date or quantity.
If no special price has been defined, the system checks whether a discount group has been defined for the business partner that can be applied to the item.
If no special price has been defined, the system checks whether a special price has been defined for the item (for the price list entered in the master record of the business partner), which once again can be based on a particular date or quantity.
If no special price has been defined, the system copies the price for the item from the price list entered in the master record of the business partner.
If a discount has been granted because of a special price, the discount is indicated in the detailed information of a line in the purchasing or sales document in the Discount % field.