Sales order procedure

The sales order procedure covers the complete administrative procedure for selling standard, customized, and generic items.

The procedure includes these steps:

Step 1. Creating sales orders

Sales orders can be created as follows in the Sales Order - Lines (tdsls4100m900) session:

  • Automatically, from a variety of sources, such as Contracts, Quotations, and EDI
  • Based on a template or a catalog
  • Copied from an existing order in the Copy Sales Order (tdsls4201s000) session
  • Manually
Step 2. Approving sales orders

After sales orders are created, sales order approval is a mandatory step in the sales order procedure. The execution of the order procedure activities can start when a user approves the order, either in the Approve Sales Orders (tdsls4211m000) session, or by clicking Approve on the appropriate menu of the Sales Orders (tdsls4100m000) or Sales Order (tdsls4100m900) sessions.

If the Use Confirmation check box is selected in the Order Terms and Conditions (tctrm1130m000) session or the Sold-to Business Partner (tccom4110s000) session, the goods must be confirmed by the customer before the sales order can be approved.

Step 3. Printing sales order acknowledgements

After the order is registered and approved, you can print the sales order and send it to the sold-to business partner as an order acknowledgment. The Print Sales Order Acknowledgements/RMAs (tdsls4401m000) session is an optional session in the sales order procedure. After the sales order is printed, you can still modify the sales order.

Step 4. Releasing sales orders to Warehousing

After the sold-to business partner is informed about the sales order and the order is approved, you can release the sales order to Warehousing in the Release Sales Orders to Warehousing (tdsls4246m000) session. As a result, the warehousing department is informed about the goods that must be shipped.

When sales orders are released to the warehouse, several activities are triggered in Warehouse Orders, starting with warehouse order creation in the Warehousing Orders (whinh2100m000) session. The activities in Warehouse Orders depend on the warehouse order type that is linked to the sales order type.

To link a warehousing order type to a sales order type:

  1. Link activities to a warehousing procedure in the Activities by Procedure (whinh0106m000) session.
  2. Link a warehousing procedure to a warehousing order type in the Warehousing Order Types (whinh0110m000) session.
  3. Link the warehousing order type in the Sales Order Types (tdsls0594m000) session.

It is not mandatory to release sales orders for cost and service items to Warehousing. This depends on the setting of the Release to Warehouse check box in the Items - Sales (tdisa0501m000) session. Direct deliveries are never released to warehousing.

Step 5. Delivering the sold goods

You can record the deliveries of sold items in Warehousing or Sales.

  • Warehousing
    If the sales order is released to Warehousing, the delivery procedure is covered by the outbound procedure and the shipment procedure in Inventory Handling (INH).

    When shipments are confirmed in Warehousing, the delivery/shipment data is reported back to Sales. You can view this data in these sessions:

    • Sales Order Lines - Monitor (tdsls4510m000)
    • Sales Order Actual Delivery Lines (tdsls4106m000)
  • Sales
    For noninventory items that are not released to Warehousing, you can record the deliveries in the Sales Deliveries (tdsls4101m200) session.

You can indicate whether the goods must be customer approved after the goods are delivered.

When the goods are delivered, the prices and discounts of the goods may be changed. Use the Change Prices and Discounts after Delivery (tdsls4122m000) session to maintain prices and discounts.

Step 6. Invoicing the sold goods

Use the following sessions to invoice the sold items:

  1. You can view, enter and maintain sales order invoice lines and release them to Invoicing in the Sales Order Invoice Lines (tdsls4106m100) session.
  2. If you want to check the invoice data before it is sent to the invoice-to business partner or released to Invoicing, you can print a draft invoice in the Print Sales Draft Invoices (tdsls4447m000) session. If required, you can change the invoice data.
  3. You can release the order data for invoicing in the Release Sales Orders/Schedules to Invoicing (tdsls4247m000) session.

    After release to Invoicing:

    • The status of the invoicing data is Confirmed in Invoicing.
    • The status of the invoice line is Released in Sales.
  4. Create an invoicing batch in the Invoicing Batches (cisli2100m000) session. Only the lines of the selected invoicing data that have the Confirmed status will be processed.
  5. Process invoicing batches in a recurring invoicing batch in the Compose/Print/Post Invoices (cisli2200m000) session.

    After invoices are posted:

    • The status of the invoicing data is Posted in Invoicing.
    • The status of the invoice line is Invoiced in Sales.

You can use the Change Prices and Discounts after Delivery (tdsls4122m000) session to change the prices and discounts for sales order lines that are released to Invoicing and for which the sales invoice status is Confirmed, or On Hold.

Step 7. Processing sales orders

At the end of the sales order procedure, all sales orders must be processed in the Process Delivered Sales Orders (tdsls4223m000) session. The processed sales orders are transferred from the regular database to the history database.

Sales order workbenches

You can use these sessions to view the sales order lines that require an internal sales representative's attention and to execute the appropriate actions on the lines:

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