Trouble Mapping the service contract for Telecom Company

[Former Member]

Hello people,

recently i am facing a headache to design a TO BE process for a telecom Company and i was hoping for some help (after i searched this website and didn't find what exactly i am looking for )

let me break it to you ;

the AS IS process for selling a WIMAX (internet) service starts with signed contract from the sales >> then a full payment in advance for the service  >> then the contract has to be approved by the Finance to match the price and the validity period and payment >> then the Back office must activate the router for the customer to complete the sales process.

i was thinking is to apply   service & maintenance Contract -  doc type (WV) with "sold" material defined as a service material W/del DIEN type

and map the activation of a router as the delivery phase . the payment term will be 100% payment in advanced  and the sales order will have to be blocked for delivery until the customer pays the full amount of the contract.

can anyone tell me if its right to make outbound delivery for selling such service by the back office to activate the modem ?

now i dont know if what i am doing is right , i need some help from someone with experience as i am new with to this industry operations !

waiting for your helpful feedback !

[former_member184555 · Accepted solution]

Since it is a prepaid sale on contract...you can use milestone billing plan for the contract with a single milestone for 100% payment and defaulting billing block for the contract during creation. If the activation is made through a different system...maintain those details in SAP system. Directly bill (Billing type FV - Contract billing) the contract without any delivery for the service. Though an approver removes the billing block on the contract, you can also customise for checking the status of activation before creating the invoice.

This is just a pointer for designing the solution.

Regards,

Ravi Sankar

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

thanks ravi for your helpful answer ,

what you suggested is missing the Activation phase for the modem which technically  will be done outside the system , but hast be mapped to complete the sales cycle and create the invoice . because different departments handle each phase !

the customer who asked for the service will be handed a modem upon signing the contract , this is why asked for a contract for delivery ! i dont know if that is the right process

[Former Member]

Sridhar ,

i did  all the configuration needed as you mentioned , but when creating an outbound delivery i face an error T<<ransaction 0000013922 cannot be delivered >>

it seems that the contract can not be delivered ??

[former_member184065]

Dear,

If you dont mind ,Can you click on that Error and post here .

Note :May I know ,what is the Number 0000013922 ?

Thanks,

Naren

[Former Member]

it is the order number (doc type is contract 13922 ) , the system is informing me that you cant deliver the contract

what i did is defined the sales order as  an SD document Catg  (G) , then moved to delivery direct .

[former_member184065]

Dear ,

Need for more information on this as how you did ,put T.Codes wise .

Thanks,

Naren

[Former Member]

per the configuration steps above- which i followed
after creating the sales document, i tried to create the outbound delivery for the sales order , but didn't work because tried to define the sales doc category with type G (contracts) .

now i need help on how to do the business  for a release sales order based on the contract !

va41 >>> va01 >>> outbound delivery >>> billing

can any one give more details on the service confirmation function ?

[former_member184065]

Dear ,

We dont have that Option like in MM for releasing PO in ME29N.

Please below link as alternative solution .

http://scn.sap.com/thread/1620032

Thanks,

Naren

[Former Member]

that is not what i am looking for , i dont need a release strategy , you can read the the whole thread to understand the problem !

[former_member184065]

Hello,

Now i need help on how to do the business  for a release sales order based on the contract !

Read once more what you have written over there .

Note : 1.Go to"VOV8 " ,Open  your relevant Doc Type and see Field " Check Partner Authorization " under Contract Tab .

Thanks,

Naren

[former_member184555]

Alexy Aly wrote:
it is the order number (doc type is contract 13922 ) , the system is informing me that you cant deliver the contract 
what i did is defined the sales order as  an SD document Catg  (G) , then moved to delivery direct .

Do you have a schedule line for the contract? Guess 'Yes.'..because you have just changed the document category an order type. Did you maintain the copy controls in VTLA?

Not sure why you wanted to have schedule lines for contract instead of using a scheduling agreement.

Regards,

Ravi Sankar

[Former Member]

Hi Alexy ,

I hope that the payment is made only once for the contract and that too at the start.

So, create the sales order with Service Material as BoM header and Router and component.Customize the item category so that Service Material should be relevant for Billing only and Router is relevant for Delivery only. When the sales order is saved, through user-exit try to validate whether the payment is done 100%. If not, set the delivery block for the sales order.

Regards

Vinu

[Former Member]

Thanks Vinu for your help ,

yes the full payment will be made upon signing the contract ,

the regular sales order wont help me because of the validity period of the sales of the service , so there has to be  start & end date to what they are selling which will lead to stop the service sold.

this is why i thought of using a contract and i think what you suggested for the bill of material handling can work but i am not familiar with that .

can we sell the service material  not relevant for delivery and add the router to be a normal material relevant for delivery  all that will be done in service contract ?

[Former Member]

Hi Alexy ,

Yes, you can configure it as needed in the item category determination. It is not necessary you have to use BoM. Alternately maintain both the material in the contract manually.

May be create the contract only with Service Material. Then based on the Contract, create the sales order where BoM explodes and you get both the material (Service and Router). Then you handle as normal process.

Contract -----------------> Sales Order-----------------------> Delivery -------------------> Billing

(Service Material)          (Service Mat & Router)              (Router)                            (Service Material)

[Former Member]

thank you again ,

your suggestion sounds good but can you help me with Bill of material  Part , my experience is based only on trading (buy & sell ) i was never involved  in BOM configuration for a material let alone service!   i thought we need the PP   module ?

can this be done ? if yes can you tell me how please

thanks in advance

[Former Member]

Hi,

We can handle this through Sales BoM. No need of PP Module. Please refer the standard SAP Sales BoM details. It will help you to understand better. Surely you can find the details about it in the forum also.

[Former Member]

hi ,

i think the best way to handle such scenario is by creating the Service  Contract with a delivery block defaulted plus  the billing plan with 100 % milestone payment , example

Service contract    >>>> Delivery (outbound)   >>>> Billing the customer

(service Mat                 (router  activation)   

+ Normal material )

any idea if that is possible without the need of the sales order ,

how can this be done please ?

[former_member184065]

Dear,

How can you use Billing Plan without Sales Order ? I think,you can not control without sales order as in the case of Payment Issue .

I think ,the best solution for your requirement is Billing Plans .This is exactly suitable your requirement .The process is below like ,

1. VA41 -  Service Contract

2. VA01 - Create SO with respect of the SC Contract ,Here maintain billing plan ,when the payment will be cleared by the customer then automatically ,the billing plan will be removed.

3.VL02N- Do delivery nothing but data card or router will be activated

4. VF01 - Finally ,create the Billing .

I think ,this way is good for your requirement .

Note :This is my opinion only ,you can get more helps from  SCN Users If you can wait .

If you have any doubts please let me know.

Thanks,

Naren

[Former Member]

hello & thanks  ,

Can`t we use billing with reference to the contract ? i dont get why the sales order is essential to the  process ! is it because of delivery , or the billing plan cant be a milestone 100 % in advance  ?

can you please explain why .

[former_member184065]

Dear,

Yes ,you can create Billing with reference of the Contract with WV Document Type and Item Category is WVC .

Sales Doc - WV

Item Category Group - 0002

Item Category - WVC

Scheduling Category - CN

MRP - ND

Billing Type - FV

If you have doubts please let me know,

Thanks,

Naren

[Former Member]

thanks Naren ,

i need your guidance here ,

i still dont get WHY the sales order should be included after creating the contract  , is it because of the item category limitation in the contract or some missing information from my side ?  

i was thinking of using item category DIEN for the sold service , and NORM for the router in document type SC / WV (service contract) then create an outbound delivery with reference to the contract

[former_member184065]

Dear,

With reference of the sales order ,we can control Payment as by Billing Plan why because when ever customer will be paid amount then we will manually remove Billing Block in the sale order and the run the  processing .

Note : I think ,this is main reason why because , we are also processing like same before.Dont know about contract ,how to use it with Billing Plans .

If you have any doubts please let me know.

Thanks,

Naren

[sridhar_v]

Hi Alexy,

The delivery should be the confirmation of service. Once had an opportunity of doing this and the same config I am trying to paste it, if it is useful just go through it might me useful.

Service material:

1. Create sales document type by copying OR – ZSOR

Delete the entries such as

• No range external assignment
• Credit limit
• Credit group
• Read info record
• Quotation messages and agreement messages.
• Payment gurantee procedures, card plan, checking group
• Lead time in days
• And put any entry at billing block as 02 means complete confirmation missing.

1. Create Item category by copying TAN – ZSTN

• Billing relavence –B (order related billing)
• Credit active - blank

1. Item category determination in VOV4 such as

ZSOR+NORM+ZSTN

ZSOR+DIEN+TAD

TAD item category is for services which will be determined in sales order for the services (DIEN) is the General item category, so remember in material also we need to maintain as (DIEN  in sales org 2 , general item category )in service material when we create

And ZSTN is the item category for the material which the technicial will carry and has to be determined in zsor

1. Schedule line determination in VOV5 such as

ZSTN+CN

ZSTN+VM+CN

VM = automatic reorder point planning (MRP type)

CN=No material planning

1. IMG->Sales and Distribution-> Basic Functions-> Delivery Scheduling and

Transportation scheduling-> Define Scheduling by Sales Document Type

Here make blank in all –NO TICKS as there will be no scheduling as it is order related billing which we have defined in item category billing relavence as B means order related billing.

Now in OVLP (item category of delivery) we need to remove tick for –Relavent for picking because it is services are order related billing , so there is no scope of picking . even the technician who carries some spares and parts for required servicing will be billed but they are not relavent for picking so we have removed the relavence for picking in delivery item category.

We should also check wheather the copy control between order to billing delivery to billing (VTFL) is right or not.

By selecting the delivery type LF and billing type F2, go to the item detail and check for your item category zstn, if it is not available copy the TAD and rename it with zstn at item category ,and save it.

Create Account group:

Create Partner function in sales document type and assign it to the ZSOR.

Create a customer with account group for the technician which will be determined in sales order zsor (Because we have assigned partner function to the sales document type) and like this create no: of customers with various names such as technician, plumber, electrician etc.

And when they are determined in the sales order, by going to header data you can see the partner function name, against which you can put who ever is going for the servicing such as plumber or electrician etc.

While creating customer master be aware you should not include company name. And because of which you will not have company code data tab.

Create a Material master for the material SERVICES without plant and in sales org 2 the general item category should be DIEN.

Unit of measurement should be hour In VK11 maintain the condition record for PR00 for each hour whatever  you want to charge. Now create a order and deliver and bill.

Although it is order related billing but delivery is just the confirmation of services.

As the billing block is in place , while we were creating zsor we have put the billing block ,so billing is only possible when you remove the block from va02.

Lastly create contract with VA41 - create release order with reference to the contract with va01- delivery and billing.

You can use milestone billing as suggested by our colleagues or as per your convenience which you prefer. Even downpayment could be used at one situation.

Regards,

Sridhar

[Former Member]

thanks a lot Sridhar for the great help ,

i mapped what you did on the system but cant really test it  there is some unclear parts on the process itself

to explain what you did  - correct me if i am wrong

-two item categories, one for service (DIEN +TAD) and one For the Router (NORM+ZSTN)

the router will be subject to delivery and the service will be subject to (service confirmation) 

so creating an outbound delivery will generate the service confirmation ?

[former_member184065]

Dear,

I dont recommend ( not at all) to put this type stuff here instead If you put any Link ,I will be very happy .

If you have any doubts please let me know.

Thanks,

Naren

[sridhar_v]

Hi Narendra,

Absolutely clear, but It is my own scratch notes while I was on to it, and kept it for future use. I have not published any where, so could not give any links. I hope you would appreciate this. However thanks for your kind suggestion, which I will mark.

Kind Regards,

Sridhar.

[sridhar_v]

Hi Alexy,

Yes, by creating the delivery, which will be like you are confirming the services has been accepted by the customer, and there upon you can go for the installation or subsequent process as per your business requirements.

Regarding 2 item category determination, is for the Dien i.e. services and the next one ZSTN is for the Technician who will be carrying out the materials like in your case Routers.

You can add partner Technician if your business demands.

Thanks for giving an opportunity to refresh my experience with service orders.

Regards,

Sridhar.