For documents that you need to copy, you can define whether a document must be fully referenced during a business transaction and how the system should then respond.

You can specify, for example, that a quotation can only be copied in its entirety into a sales order. If the requirements and quantities in the quotation of the customer do not change, the quotation from your company is legally binding. The conditions of the quotation then apply to the resulting sales order.

In the standard system, if full reference is specified for copying a reference document, you cannot change or delete an item when you copy from the selection list. If you subsequently try to change the document quantity or try to delete an item in the new document, you receive a system message.

Your system administrator can define completion for referenced items by item category in Customizing for Sales and Distribution. An item may be considered fully referenced if one of the following criteria have been met:

• An item is complete as soon as it is used as a reference. In this case, the item is fully referenced, even if only a part of the quantity is copied.
• An item is only complete once the full quantity has been copied into a subsequent document. If the item is partially referenced, it is possible to enter several sales documents for the item until the quantity is fully accounted for.
• An item is only complete once the target quantity (in a contract, for example) has been copied into a subsequent document. If the item is partially referenced, it is possible to enter several sales documents for the item until the quantity is fully accounted for.

The standard version of the system defines an inquiry item as complete even if only one part of the inquiry quantity has been copied into a quotation. On the other hand, when you copy a quotation into a sales order, the quotation is not complete until the quotation quantity has been fully referenced. This is illustrated in the following graphic:

Contracts, like quotations, are only considered complete once the full target quantity of the contract has been released.