Lesson 1 of 5
Why credit management changed
10 min
Selling on credit means trusting the customer to pay later. Credit management decides how much trust each customer gets and stops orders that would exceed it. In SAP ECC, most companies used the credit management built into accounts receivable and sales, often called classic credit management (component FI-AR-CR), maintained with transactions such as FD32 and released with VKM1.
In SAP S/4HANA, classic credit management is not available. Its functional successor is SAP Credit Management (component FIN-FSCM-CR), which originally came from SAP's Financial Supply Chain Management portfolio. The day-to-day idea is the same: limits, checks, blocks and releases. The data model, the transactions and some of the rules are different, and that is what an ECC customer like Contoso Motor Co. must learn and test.
| SAP ECC classic (FI-AR-CR) | SAP S/4HANA (SAP Credit Management) | |
|---|---|---|
| Credit master data | Customer credit data per credit control area (FD32) | Business partner role "SAP Credit Management" with credit profile and credit segments (UKM_BP or Manage Credit Accounts) |
| Credit limits | Per credit control area | Per credit segment, plus a main segment for the total |
| Credit check in sales | Simple (A, B, C) and automatic checks | Check type D (SAP Credit Management) or no check; types A, B and C no longer work |
| Check logic | Credit groups and risk categories in SD configuration | Check rules with check steps in SAP Credit Management |
| Releasing blocked orders | VKM1 and related transactions | Documented credit decisions (UKM_MY_DCDS or the Manage Documented Credit Decisions app) |
| Scoring and risk | Risk category assigned manually | Score and risk class, optionally calculated by rule |
What the conversion means for Contoso
Moving from ECC to SAP S/4HANA, Contoso cannot simply carry its credit data across. The conversion includes a migration from FI-AR-CR to FIN-FSCM-CR covering four areas, each with its own steps in the SAP implementation guide:
- DesignMap the structuresCredit control areas → credit segments; risk categories → risk classes; credit groups and check settings → check rules
- ConfigurationMigrate CustomizingSet up SAP Credit Management configuration and the link to sales (check type D, credit groups)
- ConversionMigrate master dataCredit limits and related data move to business partner credit segments
- ConversionRebuild exposureOpen orders, deliveries, billing and receivables are recalculated as credit exposure in the new solution
- ConversionCredit decisionsDocuments blocked in ECC are migrated as documented credit decisions
- Test cyclesReconcileLimits and exposure per customer compared between ECC and SAP S/4HANA
The reconciliation step is where testers earn their keep. For a sample of customers, including Great Lakes Fleet Services, compare the ECC credit limit and exposure with the SAP S/4HANA credit segment limit and exposure after migration. Differences must be explained: some are expected (for example, how open orders are valued), others are migration defects.
Basic and advanced functions
SAP Credit Management covers core needs out of the box: credit limits, automatic checks, blocked documents and their release. Some advanced functions, such as automated scoring with external credit agency data, credit limit request workflows and broader case management, may need additional configuration or licensing depending on your contract and edition. Ask your SAP account team or consultant what is in Contoso's scope before you design tests for them.
- Classic FI-AR-CR credit management is not available in SAP S/4HANA; SAP Credit Management (FIN-FSCM-CR) replaces it.
- Credit data lives on the business partner credit role, with limits per credit segment.
- Sales documents use check type D or no check; types A, B and C no longer work.
- Conversion migrates configuration, credit limits, exposure and blocked documents, and must be reconciled.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which component provides credit management in SAP S/4HANA?
2. Which ECC credit check types no longer work in SAP S/4HANA?
3. What replaces FD32 for maintaining credit master data?
4. What must testers reconcile after credit data migration?