CVI preparation: cockpit, decisions and customizing

SAP provides the CVI cockpit (transaction CVI_COCKPIT) in SAP ERP to guide preparation and synchronization. Depending on the release, it becomes available after applying SAP Notes; SAP Note 2951811 delivers CVI corrections as a transport-based correction instruction (TCI), and SAP Note 2187425 explains TCI. The CVI cookbook attached to SAP Note 2713963 explains the settings in detail. Contoso's master data team works through the cockpit with Sam for the technical steps.

Tasks are worked in sequence and their statuses are set manually; the overall status turns green only when every activity on every tab is green and no unsynchronized customers or vendors remain. Editing a confirmed task on an earlier tab resets later stages.

Business decisions first

SAP's training shows how to gather the facts: number ranges with transactions XDN1 (customers) and XKN1 (vendors), used account groups and numbers from tables KNA1 and LFA1, contact persons from KNVK, and existing BPs from BUT000. Document account groups, number ranges, internal or external numbering and record counts in a spreadsheet; the cookbook offers a template. Then create BP number ranges and groupings to match.

Merging a customer and vendor that are the same real-world entity into one BP is possible through a BAdI implementation SAP provides as a sample (CVI_MAP_LEGAL_ENTITY). The merged BP shares general data, such as address, bank data and contact persons, between both roles, so the two records must already agree. SAP stresses that the sample is a proof of concept to adapt, not a finished solution.

Customizing for the direction customer/vendor to BP

• Activate synchronization from customer and vendor to BP, and the post-processing office (PPO) for those processes so errors can be monitored.
• Map each customer and vendor account group to the BP roles it needs, and to a BP grouping (which determines the number).
• Activate contact person synchronization and map contact person functions and other values to BP equivalents.
• Maintain value mappings, for example for industries, legal forms, payment cards and marital status; missing mappings cause load errors.
• Check the result with the CVI customizing check (transaction BP_CVI_IMG_CHK, also reachable from the cockpit).
• Activate business function CA_BP_SOA, as note 2265093 describes.

Walkthrough: setting up the customer-to-BP direction

1. Collect the facts: number ranges in XDN1 and XKN1, used account groups and number intervals from KNA1 and LFA1, contacts from KNVK, and any existing BPs in BUT000.
2. Create BP number ranges in transaction BUCF. To keep numbers identical, define external ranges that cover the existing customer and vendor intervals.
3. Define BP groupings and assign the ranges (IMG: Cross-Application Components > SAP Business Partner > Business Partner > Basic Settings > Number Ranges and Groupings).
4. Activate the synchronization options for customer to BP and vendor to BP, and the PPO requests, under Master Data Synchronization > Synchronization Control.
5. Under Customer/Vendor Integration > Business Partner Settings, assign each account group its BP roles and its grouping for the direction customer (or vendor) to BP.
6. Activate contact person assignment and maintain the value mappings (legal form, industry, marital status, payment cards and others the cookbook lists).
7. Run BP_CVI_IMG_CHK, fix what it reports, and only then load a small batch in the sandbox.