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 Business Partner Roles

 

Rights and obligations taken on by a business partner in different business transactions.

 

A business partner role is used to classify a business partner in business terms. The roles you assign to a business partner reflect the functions it has and the business transactions in which it is likely to be involved.

A business partner role is used for classification purposes during data exchange with SAP ERP.

Features

  • The business partner role determines which assignment blocks are available. The roles Internet User and Competitor, for example, comprise specific assignment blocks that are not available in other roles. You can therefore use roles to make available a specific selection of assignment blocks.

  • The business partner role assigned to a business partner is used to derive the sales classification to be assigned. The assignment is not visible on the UI, but is implicit. This classification is decisive for data exchange between SAP CRM and SAP ERP, and determines in what form the data transferred from SAP CRM is created in SAP ERP.

    For more information, see Sales Classification.

The figure below shows the different elements of the role concept and how they interrelate:

You define business partner roles in Customizing. If you require additional roles to those delivered as standard, you create them in Customizing for Cross-Application Components, under Start of the navigation path SAP Business Partner Next navigation step Business Partner Next navigation step Basic Settings Next navigation step Business Partner Roles End of the navigation path.

Example

You are an employee in the sales department of your company Smith Ltd. You have made initial contact with Jenny Bright at Miller Ltd. You would like to send her information about your existing products. You create the following business partner master data:

  • On the Account page, a master record for a company with the name Miller Ltd. with the role Prospect. You create general data and the address.

  • On the Contact page, a master record for an individual with the name Jenny Bright. You create general data, the address, and the relationship Is Contact Person Of with you at Smith Ltd.

Three months later, the first product is sold and delivered to Miller Ltd. The invoice is sent for settlement to the parent company Miller and Sons. You create the following new business partner master data:

  • On the Account page, a master record for a company with the name Miller and Sons, with the roles Bill-To Party and Payer. You create general data, address, bank details, and billing data.

  • The new Sold-To Party role for Miller Ltd. You create the sales and shipping data. You assign Miller and Sons to Miller Ltd. with the relationship Bill-To Party and assign the corresponding sales area and partner function.

More Information

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