Scribd
Upload
383 views6 pages

Creating A Customer Hierarchy

The document discusses setting up a customer hierarchy in SAP to group related customers. A customer hierarchy allows prices or rebates to be determined and applied at a higher level in the hierarchy to all dependent customers. It involves creating customer master records, hierarchy nodes, and then linking customers together in a multi-level structure through the customer hierarchy transaction. Customizing settings control how the hierarchy links customers and transfers pricing to related sales documents. An example case study shows using a hierarchy to group a strategic customer's regional offices and outlets to apply a group discount.

Uploaded by

S Banerjee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
383 views6 pages

Creating A Customer Hierarchy

The document discusses setting up a customer hierarchy in SAP to group related customers. A customer hierarchy allows prices or rebates to be determined and applied at a higher level in the hierarchy to all dependent customers. It involves creating customer master records, hierarchy nodes, and then linking customers together in a multi-level structure through the customer hierarchy transaction. Customizing settings control how the hierarchy links customers and transfers pricing to related sales documents. An example case study shows using a hierarchy to group a strategic customer's regional offices and outlets to apply a group discount.

Uploaded by

S Banerjee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

CUSTOMER HIERARCHY

You may need to map the client’s organizational hierarchy in SAP. In the case of large
customers, there could be various regional offices that order from you independently.
Hence, each one of them could be a separate customer number in the system, yet there
could be requirement to map them into a group. Often prices or rebates are determined
at the level of the parent node of the hierarchy and apply to the entire family. This
requirement is fulfilled by the customer hierarchy func tionality.

The customer hierarchy is a grouping of customers in a flexible organizational structure.


At each level you can specif y the higher-level customer and thus build a multilevel
structure. Any specific data (such as the price record, rebate agreements, and so on) is
maintained at a higher-level node and then flows down to all the dependent nodes in the
tree. A validity period is attached to the hierarchy so that if there is any change to the
structure, it can be made effective from a specific date. Partner determination also plays
a key role in reflecting the complete hierarchy in sales documents. Once a customer is
entered in a sales document, SAP can trace all the higher-level nodes in its hierarchy up
to the apex node.
Creating a Customer hierarchy
Before you set up a hierarchy, always create an organizational chart where you plan the
hierarchy and gather the following information:
 What are the customer numbers that need to be linked?
 What is the hierarchical relationship between these customers?
 Do I need to set up any additional nodes in the hierarchy? (Nodes may be
required to set up intermediate grouping levels to complete the picture.)
 What are the account groups of all these customers?
 Which sales areas are these customers assigned to?
 Which sales document type would require this hierarchy?
 Which price and rebate conditions would depend on the hierarchy?
Prereq uisite Steps
The following are the master data steps you will need to take before you can create a
hierarchy:

Step 1: Create Customer Master Records


You should create customer master records for each of the customers you plan to link
together in the hierarchy.

Step 2: Create Hierarchy Nodes


To complete the logical setup of a customer hierarchy, you sometimes need to
define hierarchy nodes . These are not actual customers but logical grouping levels. A
hierarchy node is set up as a customer with account group 0012. You can use V D01 or
XD01 and specify the account group there. Alternatively, there is a special code, V-12,
to set up hierarchy nodes. The path is SAP` Menu > Logistics > Sales and Distribution >
Master Data > Business Partners > Hierarchy Node.The procedure is the same as
creating a customer master. In the sales billing view, there is a provision to activate
relevance for price determination and rebates.
Creating a hierarchy node

Creating the Customer Hierarchy


Once you have completed all the prerequisites, you can proceed to set up the customer
hierarchy. Use this menu path: SAP MenuLogistics Sales And DistributionMaster
DataBusiness PartnersCustomer Hierarchy Edit (VDH1N).You can also launch this
transaction from within a customer master (VD02 or XD02) via Environment Customer
Hierarchy.

Step 1: Specify Hierarchy Type


On the Process Customer Hierarchy screen, you set up a hierarchy. The hierarchy type
controls the purpose of the hierarchy (for example, pricing or reporting). It also controls
which account groups are permitted and which sales areas can use the hierarchy. Also,
enter a validity period and the customer details on this screen.

Process Customer Hierarchy screen

Step 2: Set Up Hierarchy Links


Now set up the hierarchy, one link at a time. On the Assignment tab on the right, specify
the two customers to be linked, and click Transfer. The updated hierarchy now appears
on the left window. The Application Log tab, at the bottom right, signals whether the
transfer was successful. If there is an error, you will find the details in the log.

Maintain Customer Hierarchy screen

Customizing a Customer hierarchy


To customize the settings in the customer hierarchy, use the following menu path in the
customization menu:IMG Sales and Distribution Master Data Business Partners
Customers Customer Hierarchy.

Step 1: Define Hierarchy Typ es (OVH1)


The Hierarchy type controls the purpose of the hierarchy. All the major settings for
customer hierarchy are carried out at this level. In the setting, the SAP Standard
Hierarchy type A is assigned to partner function 1A. This is the apex of the hierarchy.

Linking a hierarchy type to a partner function

Step 2: Set Partner Determination For Hierarchy Categories


Partner determination is important to copy the hierarchy data to sales documents. By
customizing partner determination, the system will search for all the partners in the
hierarchy of the customer in the order. They will appear as partners 1A, 1B, and so on,
up to 1Z (26 levels). Use as many levels as

required by your business. Partner Determination can be set up for customer master,
sales documents, delivery, shipment and billing documents. You can select one of
these, from the menu. On the next screen, select the document type, and click Partner
Functions In Procedure, 1A to 1D (four levels) have been specified. They are marked as
nonchangeable, and the source is specified as B (denoting a customer hierarchy).

Linking the hierarchy type to a par tner function

Step 3: Assign Account Groups (OVH2)


To control the assignment of customers in a hierarchy, you can set rules for account
groups. For each account group, you specif y which other groups are allowed to be at a
higher level in the hierarchy. for the hierarchy type A, the account group Sold-To Party
(0001) can have another Sold-To Party group (0001), a Payer group (0003), or a Node
group (0012) at a higher level. If you have defined any custom account groups, make
sure this assignment is correct before you create your customer hierarchy.

Assigning account groups to a hierarchy type

Step 4: Assign Sales Areas (OVH3)


Having set controls between account groups, you now check which sales areas are
allowed at a higher level than others . If you need to link customers that belong to
different sales areas, you can set up controls on which sales area is allowed to be at a
higher level than the other. If a user tries to link together customers that belong to sales
areas that are not permitted together in this setting, the system will issue an error
message stating that the sales area assignment is not permitted.

Assigning sales areas to a hierarchy type

Step 5: Assign Hierarchy Type For Pricing By Sales Document Type (OVH4)
For each sales document type, you assign a hierarchy type using a screen. This is the
critical link in transferring a customer hierarchy to a sales document and in determining
pricing based on the hierarchy.

Assigning a hierarchy type to sales documents for pricing

CaseStudy—GalaxyMusicalInstrument S:Customer Hierarchy


One of our main customers is Melody International. Their regional offices and retail
outlets have placed ordersin the past, and each is registered in the database as a
different customer. As part of a new agreement, we are offering a discount to all Melody
group companies. We also have to track our sales across this strategic account. We use
a customer hierarchy to structure the group companies.The top of the hierarchy is a
nodal company. We will control the prices for the groupatthis level. The regionalstores
formthe second layer of the hierarchy. Any kiosks constitutethe thirdlayer.If a sales order
is placed by the kiosk customer, the entire hierarchy will be traced up to the apexofthe
structure. The pricingagreement at the parent level will be determined and applied to the
order.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy