Lesson 4 of 5
Integration: procurement, inventory, controlling and assets
9 min
Listen to this lesson
A maintenance order looks like a maintenance document, but most of what happens to it happens in other parts of SAP. Parts come from inventory, purchased parts and services come from purchasing, hours come from work centers, and costs flow through controlling to the receivers in finance. That is why a maintenance test is never only a maintenance test.
- Order plannedOperations and components on order for the winding machine
- Stock partReservation for the bearing; goods issue to the order when released
- Non-stock part or servicePurchase requisition, then purchase order, goods receipt or service entry, invoice
- TimeConfirmed hours debit the order and credit the work center's cost center
- SettlementOrder costs move to the receiver, usually the machine's cost center
Inventory and purchasing
When Rosa adds a stock spare part to an operation, SAP creates a reservation. At release, at the latest, the reservation becomes relevant for withdrawal, and the storeroom issues the part to the order. When she adds a non-stock part, or an operation performed by an outside contractor, SAP creates a purchase requisition that purchasing turns into a purchase order. At Contoso, the canonical approval thresholds apply here too: requisitions over $10,000 need release, and purchase orders over $25,000 need approval in the flexible workflow. A $40,000 motor rewind by an outside shop will wait for those approvals, and the maintenance team needs to know that.
Controlling and settlement
The order collects actual costs: issued parts at their inventory value, confirmed hours at the work center's activity rate, and invoices for external work. Posting a time confirmation debits the order and credits the cost center of the performing work center. The order is a temporary home for these costs. At period end, settlement moves them to the receiver named in the settlement rule, usually the cost center of the technical object. SAP's own material notes that settlement usually, but not always, goes to the technical object's cost center; other receivers include a fixed asset, a WBS element or another order.
| Area | What it gives or takes | Evidence to check |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory | Reservations and goods issues of stock parts | Material document with the order as account assignment; stock reduced |
| Purchasing | Requisitions and POs for non-stock parts and services | Requisition linked to the order; approval at Contoso's thresholds |
| Controlling | Activity costs from confirmations; settlement to receivers | Order actual costs; order balance zero after settlement |
| Asset accounting | Equipment often linked to a fixed asset; capital work settles to it | Asset value change only when the work is capitalized |
What would you do?
Dan, the finance process owner, sees maintenance costs missing from the rotor line cost center report in the first test cycle, while the maintenance orders show actual costs. What is the most likely cause, and what should Priya's team test?
Each integration point also has an owner outside maintenance. The storeroom owns goods issues, purchasing owns requisitions and purchase orders, the controller owns activity rates and settlement, and the asset accountant owns capitalization. When Priya schedules maintenance tests, she invites those owners to the end-to-end runs, because a defect in an activity rate or a settlement profile will surface on a maintenance order but must be fixed by someone else. Agreeing who fixes what before testing starts saves days in the defect triage meetings.
Watch the timing too. A goods issue posts cost to the order immediately; a confirmation posts as soon as it is saved; an external invoice may arrive weeks after the work. That is why SAP still allows outstanding goods movements and invoice receipts on technically completed orders, and why settlement is a period-end activity rather than a one-time event.
- Stock parts create reservations and goods issues; non-stock parts and external services create purchase requisitions.
- Time confirmations debit the order and credit the performing work center's cost center.
- Settlement moves order costs to receivers, usually the technical object's cost center.
- A maintenance test must check evidence in inventory, purchasing and controlling, not just on the order.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What does adding a non-stock spare part to a maintenance order typically create?
2. Where do maintenance order costs end up after settlement?
3. A time confirmation of 6 hours is posted. What happens in controlling?
4. Who owns the activity rates that value maintenance hours on an order?