Sales orders
The sales order is the central document of SAP SD, it captures a customer’s request to buy, driving availability, pricing, delivery and billing. Created with VA01, it is the starting point of order-to-cash.
The sales order kicks off order-to-cash: it leads to a delivery (goods issue reducing MM stock and posting COGS to FI) and a billing document (posting revenue and AR in FI).
- A sales order records what the customer wants: items, quantities, prices, delivery dates and terms.
- Order type (standard, rush, returns, etc.) controls behaviour.
- Item categories control how each line behaves.
- Watch out: Wrong order/item category, wrong process behaviour.
What a sales order does
A sales order records what the customer wants: items, quantities, prices, delivery dates and terms. On creation it triggers availability checking (can we deliver?), pricing (what does it cost?), and credit checking, then becomes the reference for the subsequent delivery and billing documents.
Key elements
- Order type (standard, rush, returns, etc.) controls behaviour.
- Item categories control how each line behaves.
- Schedule lines: quantities and delivery dates.
- Pricing, availability (ATP) and credit checks.
Integration
The sales order kicks off order-to-cash: it leads to a delivery (goods issue reducing MM stock and posting COGS to FI) and a billing document (posting revenue and AR in FI). For make-to-order it can trigger production (PP). It is the connective tissue between the customer and fulfilment.
Common pitfalls
- Wrong order/item category, wrong process behaviour.
- Ignoring availability/credit checks.
- Pricing errors flowing to billing.