Lesson 1 of 5
Maintaining business partner roles
9 min
In SAP S/4HANA, every customer and every supplier is a business partner (BP). One BP record holds the name, addresses and bank details once, and BP roles add the data each business function needs. Behind the scenes, customer/vendor integration (CVI) keeps a customer record and a supplier record in step with the BP, one to one. Contoso's supplier Lakeside Components and its customer Great Lakes Fleet Services are both BPs; if Lakeside also bought scrap from Contoso, the same BP could carry customer and supplier roles.
Roles and the data they unlock
| BP role | Commonly used ID | Data level | What it enables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business partner (general) | 000000 | Client | Name, addresses, communication, bank details, tax numbers. Assigned to every BP. |
| FI customer | FLCU00 | Company code | Reconciliation account, payment terms, dunning, payment methods: needed to post customer invoices in company code 1710 |
| Customer (sales) | FLCU01 | Sales area | Sales, shipping and billing data for sales area 1710 / 10 / 00: needed to create sales orders |
| FI supplier | FLVN00 | Company code | Reconciliation account, payment terms, payment methods: needed to post supplier invoices and pay |
| Supplier (purchasing) | FLVN01 | Purchasing organization | Order currency, purchasing terms, partner functions for purchasing org 1710: needed to create purchase orders |
| Credit management | UKM000 | Credit segment | Credit limits and risk class in SAP Credit Management |
Data lives at different levels. General data belongs to the BP for the whole client. Company code data (FLCU00, FLVN00) is maintained per company code: a supplier who supplies plants in two company codes needs both. Sales area data (FLCU01) is per sales area, purchasing data (FLVN01) per purchasing organization. A BP that exists but lacks the role or level a process needs will stop that process with an error.
Where to maintain
In SAP GUI, transaction BP maintains all roles: you choose the role in "Change in BP role", and the screens follow. In the Fiori launchpad, apps such as Manage Business Partner Master Data, Manage Customer Master Data and Manage Supplier Master Data cover the same data with role-focused layouts. Many companies create BPs centrally and let only the master data team add or change roles; your business role decides what you can do.
Role maintenance is also where authorizations matter. SAP can restrict which BP roles a user may maintain, so an order desk user can extend customer sales data without being able to touch supplier company code data or bank details. At Contoso, the order desk may change shipping and billing data for its own sales area, the central master data team owns general data and company code data, and only accounts payable may request supplier bank changes. When you test BP maintenance, test with these real roles: a test run with a master data superuser proves nothing about who can change what in production.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | What breaks | How to catch it |
|---|---|---|
| Customer created without FLCU00 for company code 1710 | Billing cannot post: no reconciliation account for the customer in that company code | Check company code data before the first order; test one billing |
| Supplier without FLVN01 for purchasing org 1710 | Purchase order cannot be created for that supplier | Create a test PO after onboarding |
| Wrong reconciliation account | Receivables or payables post to the wrong balance sheet account | Review against the account policy; check first journal entry |
| Wrong BP grouping | Wrong number range; grouping cannot be changed after creation | Validate grouping at creation; a wrong one means a new BP |
| Bank details on the wrong BP or missing | Payments fail or go to the wrong party | Dual control and payment proposal review |
What would you do?
A new fleet customer was created by the order desk with general data and sales area data only. The first sales order and delivery work, but billing fails. What is the most likely cause?
- One BP holds general data once; roles add company code, sales area and purchasing data.
- Common roles: 000000 general, FLCU00 and FLCU01 for customers, FLVN00 and FLVN01 for suppliers, UKM000 for credit.
- Missing roles or org levels stop processes downstream, often at billing or invoice posting.
- Grouping (and so the number range) cannot be changed after creation.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which role is needed to create purchase orders for a supplier in purchasing org 1710?
2. At which level is the reconciliation account maintained?
3. What keeps customer and supplier records in step with the BP?
4. Which general data is held once for the whole client?