SAP Business Partner Overview
Who can be a Business Partner?
Anyone involved in our organization can be a business partner of our organization. Ex
Business Partner in SAP S4Hana System:-
Business Partner object is not a new feature it was available in the ECC system for different modules like SAP FSCM, Treasury, and also other standalone systems CRM, IS-Retail and Utilities, etc.
For the S4 Hana system, BP is a mandatory and obsolete Customer master data Transaction code, if you try to use XD01, XD02, XD03 then the system will redirect to the BP screen. But that does not mean SAP has obsoleted KNA1, KNB1, and KNVV tables. While you maintain the BP master data in the system, it maintains the record in the above-mentioned table along with BP-related tables. Because SAP Standard programs like sales order check KNA1, KNB1, and KNVV tables.
In the ECC system, Customer and Business Partner are created two-way which means if you create a customer it will create BP automatically, or if you create BP it will create a customer automatically.
In S4/Hana system initially, the user has to create BP and the same BP number will be stored in the KNA1 table as a customer.
Category of SAP Business Partner
On basis of the Legal point of view, customers can be categories in three ways.
These are standard which cannot be created new. It is hardcoded in the SAP program.
Business Partner Grouping:-
While we create a customer that time numbering, screens, fields and partner function, etc controlled through the single element that is called Customer Account Group. But in BP, the user has the freedom that he can apply any type of number range to BP master data.
- Grouping is determining the number range which cannot change the assignment afterward Business Partner creation.
- Groupings for the internal and the external number assignment.
Find BP Groupings in SAP BP Master Data
Business Partner Roles:-
BP Role control Screen and views.
Customer master data has three views, these are General Data, Company code Data, and Sales Area Data. But in the case of BP master data, these views are controlled by different BP roles.
| Customer Master Data View | BP Role for Business Partner |
| General Data | Business Partner (General)-000000 |
| Company Code Data | FI Customer:- FLCU00 |
| Sales Area Data | Customer:- FLCU01 |
The user has the freedom that he can extend any Business Partner for multiple applications. That means for the same business partner can be extended any BP Role which will show different screens and fields respective to that application for example one business partner can be a customer as well as a Vendor, and an employee can be a customer of an organization, etc. for such type of requirement it is not required to create different customer and vendor as like earlier we have been doing in ECC system.
Main Tables for business Partner data.
BUT000:- General Data table
BUT100:- BP: Roles
BUT020:- BP: Addresses
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