Lesson 3 of 5
Dependencies: org units, master data and configuration
9 min
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A process step in SAP only runs if a lot of things already exist. Before Maria can create a sales order for Great Lakes Fleet Services, the system needs a sales area, a customer with the right roles, a product extended to that sales area and plant, prices, tax data and a document type configured to allow it. When a test fails because one of those is missing, the test did not find a defect in the step; it found a gap in preparation. Good testers capture dependencies as preconditions so that never happens by surprise.
Three kinds of dependency
Organizational units
Org units define where a transaction happens. A sales order belongs to a sales area (sales organization, distribution channel and division), is delivered from a plant and shipping point, and posts to a company code. A purchase order belongs to a purchasing organization and group and is received into a plant and storage location. Org units are configuration, so they arrive by transport, but they must also be assigned to each other correctly: plant 1720 must be assigned to company code 1710 and to the sales organization, or orders from Chicago will fail.
Master data
In SAP S/4HANA, customers and suppliers are business partners with roles; Great Lakes Fleet Services needs customer roles with sales area data for 1710 / 10 / 00, and company code data for 1710 so receivables can post. A product such as CMC-ALT-100 needs sales data for the sales area, plant data for 1710 and 1720, and accounting data with a standard cost ($150 in Detroit, $156 in Chicago). Prices come from condition records. Missing or inconsistent master data is the single most common cause of blocked tests.
Configuration
Configuration decides how the step behaves: which sales document type is used, how prices are calculated, whether credit is checked, which output is printed or sent, which G/L accounts receive the posting. Some configuration is time-dependent: the posting period must be open in company code 1710 for the date you post. Number ranges must exist and not be exhausted, which happens in test systems more often than you might think.
Configuration dependencies are the hardest for a tester to see, because they are not visible on the screen where the step runs. The practical approach is to ask the configuration owner for each step's key settings in plain words ("standard order type, fleet pricing procedure, credit check active for fleet customers, output by email") and to write them into the test case. When the step behaves unexpectedly, you already know which setting to question.
- Did the step fail with a message about missing data or assignment?Yes → check the preconditions first · No → go on
- Are all preconditions in the test case met in this client?No → preparation gap: fix the data or setup and re-run · Yes → go on
- Does the step still fail with every precondition in place?Yes → log a defect against the step · No → record the missing precondition in the test case
| Step: create sales order (BD9) | Precondition | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| Org units | Sales area 1710 / 10 / 00 assigned to plant 1710 and company code 1710 | Ask the configuration owner; display the assignment |
| Customer | Great Lakes Fleet Services with customer role and sales area data | Display the business partner |
| Product | CMC-ALT-100 with sales, plant and accounting data; stock in plant 1710 | Display the product; check stock in the stock overview |
| Prices | Valid condition records for fleet pricing on the order date | Display condition records for the customer and product |
| Configuration | Standard order type allowed in the sales area; credit check settings known | From the design document or configuration owner |
| User | Maria's test user with the sales representative business role | Log on as the user; open the app |
Example preconditions for the first BD9 step at Contoso.
- Sales orderSales area, customer roles, product sales data, prices, document type
- Goods issueAdds: stock in plant 1710 and an open posting period
- BillingAdds: tax data and revenue account determination
- Incoming paymentAdds: customer bank data and a house bank
What would you do?
Maria's first order-to-cash test fails at sales order creation for plant 1720 Chicago with a message that the product is not defined for the plant. The same order for plant 1710 works. How should Priya classify this?
- Every step depends on org units, master data, configuration and user roles.
- Capture dependencies as preconditions in the test case.
- Business partners need the right roles and org-level data; products need sales, plant and accounting data.
- Open posting periods and number ranges are easy-to-miss configuration dependencies.
- A failure caused by missing preconditions is a preparation gap first, not necessarily a defect in the step.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which three elements make up a sales area?
2. In SAP S/4HANA, how are customers and suppliers maintained?
3. Goods issue fails because the posting period is closed. What kind of dependency is this?
4. Why list preconditions in a test case?