Billing Process

Definition
The superordinate term for the execution of billing according to defined rules. These rules are
defined by parameters that you can use to control the billing process.
The billing process specifies which subprocesses it supports. For each subprocess, the billing
process specifies:
 Which contract accounts are billed
 Which billable items are selected for billing
 How the billable items are grouped into billing units and, as a consequence, how they are
grouped into billing documents
In addition, the billing process classifies billing documents from a business and accounting
perspective by means of the billing types assigned to it.
In billing, the billing process can help you control the aggregation of billable items by means of a
grouping variant.
Use
You can create new billing processes in Customizing for Contract Accounts Receivable and
Payable under Convergent Invoicing -> Billing -> Billing Processes -> Define Billing
Processes.
Subprocess of Billing
Definition
Together with the item type, describes the business meaning of a billable item. Each subprocess
is assigned to one or more billable item classes.
A subprocess is a self-sufficient processing branch within a billing process for the selection and
grouping of billable items and forming a billing document. Billable items are immediately
assigned to a subprocess when they are created. It is not possible for the system to process them
together with billable items of another subprocess in a common billing document.
Use
A subprocess in billing controls the following: the selection of the billing worklist, the
grouping of billable items into billing units, and the specification of the billing type.
You can create new subprocesses in Customizing for Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable
under Convergent Invoicing -> Basic Functions -> Billable Items -> Billable Item Management
-> Define Subprocesses of Billing.
Example
You have two different groups of billable items from a business perspective (for example, in two
different divisions of your company). These two different groups require different billing
frequencies, should be selected based on different criteria, be grouped into billing units and be
processed into billing documents.
You achieve this by assigning each group to its own separate subprocess.
Then you can process both subprocesses together in one billing process or in separate billing
processes.

Define Billing Processes

Use
In this activity, you configure billing processes for Billing in Contract Accounts Receivable and
Payable.
Requirements
First configure subprocesses in the Define Subprocesses in Billing Customizing activity.
For the contents of subprocesses within the billing process, you also have to configure the
following:
 Selection variants (in the Maintain Selection Variants activity)
 Grouping variants (in the Maintain Grouping Variants activity)
 Billing types (in the Define Billing Types activity)
Standard settings
To be able to execute billing, you must have defined at least one billing process and assigned at
least one subprocess to it.
Activities
1. Define a billing process.
2. Assign a subprocess to it.
3. Below the subprocess, enter a selection variant for determining the billable items (this is
mandatory). Assign a grouping variant for creating billing units; and assign a billing type.
4. Entering a grouping variant and a billing type is optional. You can choose to make these
entries dependent on the invoicing category of the contract account.

Define Selection Variants

Use
In this activity, you define selection variants for selecting billable items in a billing process.
You assign selection variants to the billing process at the level of the subprocess.

Define Grouping Variants

Use
In this activity, you define grouping variants. In billing, a distinction is made between two
groups of grouping variants:
 Grouping variants for creating billing units
 Grouping variants for aggregating billable items
When a contract account is billed, it is possible to select and process more than one source
transaction, or more than one billable item. In billing, the system tries to group together all
source transactions of a contract account into one billing document.
However, it does not always make sense to group all source transactions. In some cases you may
want to create more than one billing document.
Using grouping variants, you can configure detailed rules for the cases in which you do not want
source transactions to be grouped.
Using a grouping variant for aggregating billable items is optional.
You assign grouping variants to the billing process at the level of the subprocess.

Define Billing Types

Use
In this activity, you define billing types.
Standard settings
Billing types are mandatory. You have to assign a billing type to each billing process at the level
of the subprocess.

Billing Type

Definition
Characterizes the composition of billing units and assists in classifying billing documents.

Use
You have the option of using the billing type for determining the document type and source document type
of the billing document.

You can create new billing types in Customizing for Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable under SAP
Convergent Invoicing -> Billing -> Billing Processes -> Define Billing Types.

Billing Unit
When more than one billable item is processed during billing of a contract account, it can be advantageous not
to process these billable items in one common billing document. Instead, the wish is often expressed to group
items together based on certain criteria (such as, a common currency or a common billing period). The system
should then create a separate billing document for each of these groups.

Billing in Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable is able to provide this function the form of billing units. A
billing unit groups together all billable items that are to be processed together during billing and for which the
system creates a common billing document.

The system can create billing units automatically using the rules for grouping control that are entered for the
billing process. In addition, you can manually influence the creation of billing units in the processing dialog for
billing.

Creating Billing Units Automatically

The system creates billing units automatically in the following steps:

In the first step, the system groups all selected billable items together that have the same values for the
following properties:

o Contract account

o Business partner

o Subprocess

In the second step, the system determines the grouping variant. You can specify which grouping variant is
used based on the billing process, subprocess, and (optionally) the invoicing category. In Customizing for
Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable, choose Convergent Invoicing -> Billing -> Billing Processes ->
Define Billing Processes. If the system is not able to determine a grouping variant for the billing process, then
it processes all billable items that were selected for the billing process and contract account in one common
billing document.

If the system can determine a grouping variant with rules, these rules are applied. They can further divide up
the billing units created in the first step. For more information on how to use these rules, see the explanation
and examples for maintaining the grouping variant.

In the third step, the system processes event 8110. There, using a customer-defined implementation, you can
divide the billing units further or group them together.

If you execute billing in dialog mode using expert mode, in the fourth step, the billing units created so far
appear in a dialog box for selection. There you can manually change the assignment of billable items to billing
units.

Note

You can test the Customizing of the grouping variants and the implementation of event 8110 in expert mode for
billing.

Define Billing Item Types

Use
In this activity you define the billing item types that you want to use when creating the items of
a billing document.

Type of Billing Item

Definition
Describes the business significance of a line item of the billing document.

Use
During the invoicing of the billing document, the value of the item type is inherited by the invoicing item type
of the item of the invoicing document that is created.

Assign Billing Item Types

Use
In this activity, you assign the billing item type of the item of the billing document to the
attributes subprocess and item type of the billable item.
By making this assignment, you are able to represent the business meaning of the billable item
by the item type of the billing document item, so that it is available in invoicing and for printing
the invoice.
Define Aggregation for Billable Items
Use
In this activity, you define how grouping variants are determined for controlling the
aggregation of billable items in billing.
Requirements
In the Maintain Grouping Variants activity, you have entered a grouping variant for
aggregating billable items.
Standard settings
In the standard system, you make a determination for each billing process. However, you can
also differentiate further based on the subprocess, as well as on the billable item class and
billable item type.

Make Technical Settings

Use
In this activity, you make technical settings for billing. The maximum amounts entered here
serve to optimize the usage of main memory.
Standard settings
This activity is optional.
Activities
Make the following global settings:
1. Maximum number of billable items for each billing document
If you do not enter a value here, the system internally sets a value of 100,000 for the upper
limit. If you choose, you can set your own upper limit to any value in the interval between
10,000 and 500,000. If you set an upper limit outside of this interval, the system
automatically corrects the value. If you set a limit below 10,000, the system corrects the
value to 10,000. If you set a limit above 500,000, the system corrects the limit to 500,000.
2. Maximum number of billable items for each billing document item
3. Package size for database selection of billable items in billing
If you do not enter a value here, the system internally sets a package size of 200,000. You
can choose a different package size that is aligned with the technical capabilities (main
memory) of your system. Package sizes of less than 50,000 are automatically set by the
program to 50,000.

Define Parallelization Criteria

Use
In this activity, you define the criteria for parallel processing of billable items of a business
partner in multiple processes running in parallel.
The use of parallel processing criteria serves to optimize the runtime for billing of business
partners with a high volume of billable items.
The control takes place for each subprocess of billing.
The system considers the settings you make here as of the time at which you make the settings.
That means that the settings are effective for all billable items that are transferred after you
configure this activity.
Note
Changing an existing configuration can result in the system processing billable items of a
contract account, which were created before and after the change in the configuration, in separate
billing documents.
Standard settings
This activity is optional. If you do not use any parallel processing criteria, the system processes
all billable items of a business partner in one parallel process.
Activities
Make the following global settings for each subprocess:
 Up to three parallel processing criteria for billing.
 The maximum number of billing packages per contract account
BILLING DOCUMENTS

Maintain Number Ranges for Billing Documents

Use
In this activity, you define the number ranges for billing documents.
Activities
Define the number range by specifying the upper and lower limit.
You are not allowed to use external number assignment.
The billing document numbers are numerical. Alphanumeric intervals are therefore not
allowed.
For number assignment, the system distinguishes between individual processing and mass
processing.
The name of the number range for individual processing must begin with a number between 1
and 9. The name of the number range for mass processing must begin with a letter (A - Z).
You can create billing documents with different document types. To provide a better overview,
we recommend that you use different number ranges for different document types.
You can create billing documents in mass processing in several processes in parallel. For each
document type, define a number range for each parallel process.

Maintain Document Types and Assign Number Ranges

Use
In this activity, you enter document types for billing documents and assign number ranges to
them.
Requirements
You have entered number ranges for billing documents in the Customizing activity Maintain
Number Ranges for Billing Documents.
Standard settings
You can use the same document type for all billing documents. However, we recommend that
you at least use different document types for real billing documents and for simulated billing
documents.
If you reverse billing documents, you can assign a separate document type for reversal
documents. However, you can also use the same document type for the reversal document as for
the reversed billing document.
Example
You define different document types and number ranges for real billing documents and for
simulated billing documents. This enables you to immediately recognize the type of billing
document from the number range interval in the SAP system.
Define Source Document Types for Billing Documents
Use
In this activity, you define your own customer-specific source document types for classifying
billing documents from the viewpoint of Invoicing in Contract Accounts Receivable and
Payable.
Activities
1. Define your source document types.
2. In the follow-on activity, enter the derivation rules for source document types for billing
documents.

Assign Document Types

Use
In this activity you define the determination of document types for billing documents.
Requirements
You have entered number ranges for billing documents in the Customizing activity Maintain
Number Ranges for Billing Documents.
You entered document types for billing documents in the Maintain Document Types and
Assign Number Ranges activity.
You assigned number ranges to your document types.
Standard settings
In the standard system, you make a determination for each billing process. However, you can
differentiate further on the basis of the billing type.
Activities
We recommend that you assign different document types to actual billing documents, reversal
documents, and simulation documents.
INVOICING

Invoicing Process
Definition
An invoicing process is the superordinate term for the execution of invoicing functions according
to defined rules. These rules, defined by means of control parameters, are the invoicing process
with which you have the following control options:
 Selection of the source documents to be invoiced
For each invoicing process, you specify which source document categories (such as, billing
document, SD billing document) the invoicing process can select and process. You also have
the option to make similar specifications for source document types.
 Summary of source documents to invoicing units
An individual grouping variant can be assigned to each invoicing process to automatically
summarize source documents for which a joint invoice is to be created.
 Selection of invoicing functions:
This selection defines the type and scope of the functions to be supported in an invoicing
process.
Some invoicing functions are always active, since otherwise data and program consistency
could not be guaranteed.
Other invoicing functions are optional and are only executed in invoicing processes in which
they have been activated.
 Fine control of invoicing functions
Most invoicing functions have their own control options (for example, item selection for
account maintenance, interest calculation). The configuration of this control can be
dependent on the invoicing process in which the invoicing function is executed.
Use
In addition to invoicing processes delivered by SAP, you can define your own invoicing
processes. For each process, you can adjust the behavior of the SAP invoicing program to your
own requirements such that only the required invoicing functions are run and under the
consideration of the your individual settings for these functions. This flexibility is in addition to
non-modification enhancement with includes, BAdIs, and events.
Dependencies
You cannot change the order in which the invoicing functions are performed. This order is fixed
by the main invoicing program. You should also note that customer enhancements in an
invoicing function are only performed if this invoicing function is active. Reference is made to
invoicing processes at the following points (among others):
 Invoicing processes are used as selection parameters for mass activities for invoicing.
 Number ranges for invoicing documents are defined dependent on the invoicing
processes.
  Invoicing processes are a differentiation characteristic for the activation of optional
invoicing functions.
-> Fine control of Invoicing with invoicing process, invoicing type, and invoicing category.

Define Invoicing Processes

Use
In this activity you maintain the invoicing processes.
If you want to perform invoicing, you have to specify an invoicing process. In particular, the
invoicing process defines which category of source document is selected for
invoicing.
Standard settings
You must define at least one invoicing process.
Example
For more information, see below.
-> Fine control of Invoicing with invoicing process, invoicing type, and invoicing category.
The Invoicing process flow depends on the following parameters:
 Invoicing process
 Invoicing type
 Invoicing category
This multi-level control enables you to run Invoicing according to your requirements. The
criteria specified above are determined as follows during the processing of each contract
account:
 The user specifies the invoicing process explicitly when starting Invoicing. The main
task of the process is to define which categories of source documents are to be processed.
It also defines the process flow for the invoicing functions. There is a differentiation
between mandatory and optional invoicing functions.
 Each invoicing process proposes an invoicing type. You can override the invoicing type
in event 2603. The invoicing type enables you to react individually to the composition
and the properties of the invoicing unit. It also defines, for each invoicing unit, which
optional invoicing functions are performed.
 At master data level, you can influence the invoicing process flow using the invoicing
category; this is transferred from the contract account.
Examples for the use of these criteria are listed below.
Task 1
You want to perform invoicing runs that only process (normal) billing documents, and invoicing
runs that only process collective bill documents.
Solution
You define one invoicing process that selects only source documents of the category #Billing
Document#, and one invoicing process that selects only collective bill documents.
Task 2
You differentiate between billing documents that belong to a normal, periodic billing from
billing documents that have arisen due to the end of a contract (final billing documents). Interest
can only be calculated on cash security deposits and cleared against the invoice receivable for the
invoicing of final billing documents.
Solution
1. You define an invoicing type Standard and assign it to the invoicing processes. You define
a further invoicing type, Final Billing.
2. In event 2603, you check whether final billing documents are processed. If yes, set the
invoicing type Final Billing.
3. In event 2622, you define that interest is only calculated on cash security deposits for
invoicing type Final Billing.
4. In posting area 2630 (account maintenance), you permit the clearing of cash security
deposits for invoicing type Final Billing only.
Task 3
You want to calculate a discount for a specific customer group in Invoicing.
Solution
5. You create several invoicing categories.
6. In the contract accounts, you maintain the invoicing category dependent on the customer
group of the business partner.
7. In posting area 2617, you define discounts for the specific invoicing categories.

Define Invoicing Categories

Use
In this activity you maintain the invoicing categories.
You enter the invoicing categories in the master record of the contract account and use them for
a finer control of invoicing.
Standard settings
Invoicing categories are optional.
SAP recommends that you maintain invoicing categories if you want to control the invoicing
process flow dependent on the properties of the contract account.
Example
For more information, see below.
-> Fine control of Invoicing with invoicing process, invoicing type, and invoicing category.
Define Invoicing Types
Use
In this activity you maintain the invoicing types.
You use invoicing types for a finer control of invoicing.
Standard settings
Invoicing types are mandatory. You have to assign an invoicing type to each invoicing process.
If you want to control the process flow of invoicing dependent on the composition of the
invoicing unit, you should define several invoicing types.
Example
For more information, see below.
-> Fine control of Invoicing with invoicing process, invoicing type, and invoicing category.

Define Source Document Types

Use
In this activity, you define your own source document types. You can use them as a means of
classifying source documents when invoicing orders are created.

Invoicing Type
Definition
The invoicing type is a characteristic that characterizes the composition of invoicing units. It also
classifies invoicing documents. It controls the invoicing functions within an invoicing process.
Dependencies
One or more invoicing types must be defined for each invoicing process. You can either define a
standard value in the configuration of the invoicing process, or the invoicing type can be
determined dynamically in the invoicing run dependent on the composition of the invoicing unit.