Partner Processing in SAP CRM

Overview of Partner Processing
Business partners are important within a business transaction in all possible business scenarios. SAP CRM provides a comprehensive solution where it is possible to configure the settings to maintain the business partner and to use them in the business transactions. With SAP CRM partner processing, it is possible to set properties related to different business partners involved in the business transaction.

• Using partner processing it is possible to control how the system works with business partners.
  Using partner processing it is possible to make particular business partner as mandatory.
• Also, business partners involved in a business transaction can be automatically determined by the system.
• Following are the Partner Processing features & functionalities:

Partner determination is the process used so that the system automatically finds and enters the partners involved in a business transaction. Thus, using various source of information, the partner determination procedure finds different partners involved in the business transaction. The business partner master data and the organizational data are the two most important source of information.

In a business transaction processing business partner processing is controlled by the partner determination. Using partner processing you can define partners in CRM system as per your company’s terminology. Also, you can specify how exactly partners are handled in business transactions. Partner processing lets you define how the partner processing data is exchanged between the SAP CRM and SAP ERP.

• Following can be configured as part of the Partner processing configuration in Application:
  • Mandatory partner
  • Automatic partner search. See the example below –

• Manually changeable/alternative
• Partner determination at item level also
• Partner determination is possible at header level as well as item level.
• Partner determination also controls:
  • The partners that must be involved in the business transaction.
  • If partners are determined automatically.
  • Partners are manually changeable.

    Customizing for Partner Processing
    Partner processing is configured within SAP CRM Customizing. SAP Implementation Guide → Customer Relationship Management → Basic Functions → Partner Processing

Partner Determination Procedure of the Partner Processing is then assigned to the Business Transaction Type defined in the customizing. Partner determination procedure is assigned within Profiles section in SAP CRM business transaction type definition.

Following is partner determination procedure assignment to the ‘Standard Order’ (TA) business transaction type in SAP CRM customizing:

Following are the elements of Partner Processing defined with Business Transactions and Business Partners in the customizing:

Partner Function Category

• It is a classification of responsibilities and is used in partner processing as system key to identify the partner function and the business partners who take on those responsibilities.
• Partner function categories are predefined within SAP CRM system, and it cannot be created or changed.

• Sometimes a partner function and the category to which it is assigned have the same name, but this is not always the case and they can have different names.
• Partner function categories often correspond to business partner relationship categories.

  Partner Function

• The persons with whom you do the business are described using partner functions.
• These are configuration within SAP CRM, and you can use to describe partners that you use in your organization.
• Partner functions can be named freely as per your organization.
• A business partner relationship category can be assigned when a partner function is defined.
• Following is an example of few SAP standard (pre-defined) partner functions from SAP CRM customizing:

• A partner determination procedure is to be assigned to a transaction type and an item category.

  Partner determination procedure

• Partner determination procedure defines system behavior, with business partners, during partner processing.
• Following example of partner determination procedure displays few tasks that it can perform:

Partner determination procedure is to combine partner functions and access sequences and contains additional information.

Access Sequence

• It describes the search strategy to determine the data sources that system uses to determine partner. It also contains order in which the sources are to be used.
• Access sequence works as a search strategy.
• It is defined to provide the data sources for business partner search
• Also it defines the order in which the system checks defined sources during the partner processing.
• Each partner function defined in the partner determination procedure can be assigned access sequence. An example of using access sequence in a business partner processing:

If no access sequence is defined for a partner function in the partner determination procedure, you can enter the partner manually.

Summary of the SAP CRM partner processing and the required settings in SAP CRM customizing:

This image shows that a partner determination procedure is assigned to a business transaction definition. Partner determination procedure consists of Partner functions and their properties like access sequence. Access Sequence is a search strategy to determine the business partner involved.