What is SAP SD Module | Sales & Distribution | SAP SD Overview

• Sales Organization:
  • Unique prices, customer & material sales data
  • Shared materials/customers across company codes
  • Important for reporting and selection
• Hierarchy:
  • Sales Organization → Company Code

Purpose of Distribution Channels:

Split sales by customer or material type

Examples:

• Retail Customers
• Trade Houses
• Direct Sales
• E-Sales

Structure:
Sales Organization → Distribution Channel (Retail, Reseller, Ecommerce)

Divisions Use Cases:

• Segregation by product line or activity

Impacts:

• Pricing
• Partial Deliveries
• Payment Terms

Example Divisions:

• Car
• Motorcycle
• Chemical

Structure:

Sales Organization → Distribution Channel → Division

In SAP SD (Sales and Distribution), the Sales Force Structure refers to how a company organizes its sales teams and representatives within the system to manage and track sales activities.

Key Components of Sales Force Structure:

Sales Organization:
Highest level in the SD module responsible for sales.

Sales Office:
Represents a physical location or regional office where sales activities are coordinated.

Sales Group:
A team or division within a sales office (e.g., B2B or B2C sales teams).

Salesperson:
Individual users responsible for executing sales activities.

A shipping point is a place where you have one or more loading points where goods are actually loaded.

Shipping Points Overview:

• Place where loading is performed
• Part of the transport and logistics process

The risk of data redundancy is clearly reduced by centralized master data maintenance and sharing master data across the different SAP modules.

From a sales point of view, we can distinguish between two kinds of master data, which are of major importance:

Key Types of Master Data

• Customer Master:
  • Sold-to party
  • Ship-to party, Etc.
• Material Master:
  • Finished goods
  • Raw materials
• Pricing Master
• Benefits:
  • Centralized master data maintenance
  • Reduces data redundancy
  • Shared across SAP modules

This central piece of master data covers the requirements for many functional areas: Sales, Production, Purchasing, Administration, etc.

Material Master Covers:

General Data

• Material number
• Description
• Unit of measure
• Weight
• Volume

Functional Data

• Financial data
• Sales data
• Purchase data
• Warehouse data, etc.

SAP SD Document Flow is a feature in SAP that shows the entire life cycle of a sales transaction, from the first customer inquiry to the final payment. It provides a linked chain of documents, allowing users to track and manage every step of the sales process.

Document Types:

• Pre-Sales:
  • Inquiry
  • Quotation
• Sales:
  • Order
  • Contract
  • Order Confirmation
  • Delivery Schedule
• Delivery:
  • Delivery Note
  • Free of Charge Delivery
  • Returns
• Billing:
  • Invoice
  • Debit Note
  • Credit Note

In SAP SD (Sales and Distribution), Pre-Sales Activities refer to the initial interactions and data gathering that occur before a formal sales order is created. These steps help organizations capture customer interest, analyze requirements, and prepare relevant sales documents such as inquiries and quotations.

Pre-Sales Steps:

• Register customer address
• Enter quotation details
• Generate quotation

Example:

• Customer: 1825
• Validity: 01/06/03 to 31/12/03
• Items:
  • Item 10 – Mat01 – Qty: 10
  • Item 20 – Free Text – Qty: 2
  • Description: Manager Desk Oak
  • Price: 2980 Euro/each

In SAP SD (Sales and Distribution), a Sales Order is a legally binding document that captures a customer’s request to purchase goods or services under specific conditions. It is the central transaction in the SD module and is the starting point for the actual sales process (after pre-sales activities).

Order Contents:

• Customer & Material details
• Price per item
• Delivery information
• Billing data

Example Order:

• Customer: 1825
• Items:
  • Mat01 – Qty: 10
  • Mat02 – Qty: 20
  • Mat03 – Qty: 30
• Includes delivery, payment, and pricing details

SAP automatically determines the price, surcharges, deductions and taxes if relevant for this customer/material.

Automatic Condition-Based Pricing:

• SAP calculates:
  • Base Price
  • Surcharges & Deductions
  • Taxes

Conditions Include:

• Sales Org
• Distribution Channel
• Customer
• Material

Example Condition Record:

• Summer Promotion – Scale-based discount:
  • 1000 EUR – 1%
  • 2000 EUR – 2%
  • 3000 EUR – 3%

In SAP SD (Sales and Distribution), Delivery refers to the physical movement of goods from a company to the customer, triggered by a confirmed Sales Order. The delivery process includes preparing, picking, packing, and shipping goods to fulfill the customer’s request.

1. Create Delivery Document
   • Based on a sales order.
   • Contains item quantities, shipping point, delivery date.
2. Availability Check
   • Confirms whether stock is available for delivery.
3. Picking
   • Physical selection of items from warehouse locations.
4. Packing
   • Items are packed into handling units or pallets.
5. Goods Issue Posting
   • Updates inventory levels.
   • Triggers accounting entries.
   • Marks the transfer of ownership to the customer.
6. Transportation Planning (Optional)
   • Assign routes, shipping conditions, freight charges.

Delivery Fulfillment in SAP SD (Sales and Distribution) refers to the process of executing and completing deliveries to customers based on sales orders. It ensures that the right products are delivered in the right quantity, to the right customer, and at the right time—as per the agreed terms in the sales order.

1. Complete Delivery
   • The system delivers all items in the sales order in one shipment.
   • Typically required when:
     • The customer demands one-time shipment
     • Products are interdependent or bundled
2. Partial Delivery
   • Delivers only part of the total order quantity.
   • Used when:
     • Inventory is insufficient
     • Products are available at different times
   • SAP allows:
     • Multiple partial deliveries per order
     • Control via settings in the customer master and sales order
3. Combined Delivery
   • Combines multiple sales orders or order items into a single delivery.
   • Benefits:
     • Saves shipping costs
     • Reduces paperwork
     • Optimizes warehouse operations

Billing Functions:

• Create invoices for deliveries/services
• Generate debit and credit notes
• Update billing due list
• Transfer billing data to Finance

Note:
Billing document release to Accounting can be automated

Billing Document Triggers:

• Financial Accounting Document
• Customer Billing Status Update
• Sales Statistics & Intrastat Updates
• Profit Center Data Update

Final Step in SD Cycle:

• Link payments to billing documents
• Verify discrepancies and resolve if any

Customer Payment Indicates:

• Order to cash cycle completion

Logistics Information System (LIS):

• Online management and analysis tool
• Limited compared to CO-PA and BW

Data Types:

• Characteristics
• Time Intervals
• Ratios

Applications:

• Customer Orders
• Order Book
• Invoices
• Distribution Channels
• Customer Data