Lesson 2 of 5
Duplicates, quality and ownership
9 min
A BP record is used by every process that touches the partner: orders, deliveries, invoices, payments, credit checks, reporting. Bad BP data does not stay in master data; it shows up as misdirected shipments, unpaid invoices, double payments and wrong reports. Two problems cause most of the damage: duplicates and unclear ownership.
Why duplicates hurt
When Great Lakes Fleet Services exists twice, orders split between two accounts, credit exposure is understated because the limit is checked per account, dunning letters go out on one account while payments arrive on the other, and revenue reports show two smaller customers instead of one large one. On the supplier side, a duplicate Lakeside Components record is a classic route to paying the same invoice twice, once per record.
- RequestA buyer requests a new supplier, with documents (tax ID, bank letter, address)
- SearchMaster data team searches by name, tax number, address and bank account
- Duplicate checkThe system, if configured, proposes similar BPs on save
- DecideExisting BP → extend roles instead · Truly new → create with the right grouping and roles
- Approve and recordSecond person reviews; the request and evidence are kept
Duplicate checks in the system
SAP S/4HANA can be configured to check for possible duplicates when a BP is created or changed, typically by comparing name and address with similarity matching and showing likely matches before the record is saved. Whether this runs, how strict it is and which fields it compares depend on your configuration and release, so ask your master data lead how it is set up rather than assuming it is active. A system check is a safety net, not a process: the people creating BPs still need to search first, using more than the name (tax number and bank account catch many duplicates name searches miss).
Who owns BP data
| Role | Responsibility | Contoso example |
|---|---|---|
| Data owner | Business accountable for the quality and rules of a data domain | Dan for supplier financial data; the sales director for customer sales data |
| Data steward / master data team | Creates and changes records to the rules; runs quality checks | Central master data team in Detroit |
| Requester | Asks for a new record or change, with evidence | Buyers, order desk staff |
| Approver | Confirms sensitive changes (second person) | AP lead for bank details |
| Key user | Knows the process impact; tests BP-related scenarios | Maria for customers; a senior buyer for suppliers |
Larger organizations govern BP creation and change through a request-and-approval process, often with SAP Master Data Governance, which manages change requests, approvals and validation rules before data reaches the operational record. Smaller ones use a simpler workflow and a central team. The tool matters less than the rules: one owner per domain, documented rules for each field that matters, a request that carries evidence, and a second pair of eyes on anything that can move money.
Measure quality, not just control it. A monthly report of BPs created without a tax number, suppliers with no purchasing activity for two years, customers with identical bank accounts or identical addresses, and records with missing mandatory org data gives the data owner a short list to act on. Contoso reviews these lists in the monthly master data meeting chaired by Dan. Each finding gets an owner and a date, and repeated findings lead to a change in the request process or a validation rule rather than another clean-up.
What would you do?
A buyer cannot find "Lakeside Components Inc." and asks the master data team to create it urgently. A search by tax number finds "Lakeside Comp." with the same tax ID, used for plant 1720 purchasing only. What should the team do?
- Duplicates split credit exposure, confuse collections and enable double payments.
- Search by tax number, bank account and address, not just name, before creating a BP.
- System duplicate checks depend on configuration; treat them as a safety net.
- Every BP data domain needs an owner, rules and a request process with evidence.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Why is a duplicate supplier record a financial risk?
2. Which search best detects a duplicate with a different spelling?
3. Who is accountable for the rules and quality of a BP data domain?
4. What does SAP Master Data Governance add?