Notes on the SAP SD (Sales and Distribution) module from an implementation project. Mostly for my own reference.
What SD does
SD covers the sales process from order to cash. It handles customer master data, pricing, orders, deliveries, shipping, and billing. It’s integrated with other SAP modules — MM for materials, FI for finance, PP for production — so changes in SD ripple through the rest of the system.
Organisational structure
The SD module sits inside a hierarchy of organisational units. From top to bottom:
- Client — the highest level. Owns its own data and tables.
- Company — a legal business entity. Can contain multiple company codes.
- Company Code — the smallest unit for independent accounting. Balance sheets and P&L statements are produced at this level.
- Plant — an operating area or branch. Assigned to a company code.
- Sales Organisation — responsible for selling materials and services. Assigned to exactly one company code, but can sell from multiple plants.
- Distribution Channel — how products reach customers (wholesale, retail, direct). Assigned to a sales organisation.
- Division — a product group. Used for division-specific pricing, agreements, and marketing.
- Sales Area — a combination of sales organisation, distribution channel, and division. All sales documents are assigned to a sales area.
- Shipping Point — handles outbound delivery processing. Assigned to a plant.
Key relationships
One company code can have multiple sales organisations, but each sales organisation belongs to exactly one company code. A sales organisation can sell from several plants, and a plant can serve multiple sales organisations. You can even sell from a plant in a different company code (inter-company sales).
Customer master data
The customer master record contains everything needed to do business with a customer. There are four main roles:
- Sold-to party — the customer who places the order (needs general, company code, and sales data views)
- Ship-to party — where the goods are delivered (general and sales data views)
- Bill-to party — who receives the invoice (general, company code, and sales data views)
- Payer — who pays the invoice (general and company code data views)
Account groups control what fields are visible and whether they’re mandatory. Number ranges determine whether customer numbers are assigned internally by the system or externally by the user.
Sales document types
These represent the different business transactions — standard orders, returns, credit memos, etc. Each document type controls the flow of the entire sales process. You can copy standard types and customise them.
Item categories
Define what kind of items can appear in a sales document. Standard SAP comes with a set of predefined categories, but you can create your own or modify existing ones.