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 your individual settings for these functions. This flexibility is in addition to non-modification enhancement which includes BAdIs, and events.
Invoicing processes are used as selection parameters for mass activities for "Invoicing in Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable".
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.
The individual process steps of "Invoicing in Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable" are explained below.
Invoice processes involve the following steps −
Data Selection − In data selection, the invoicing orders are selected for the invoicing process. You define the selection criteria for the data selection for the invoicing process.
Creation of Invoicing Units − The invoicing orders selected are grouped into invoicing units for each contract account. You can create several invoicing units for each contract account. For each invoicing unit, "Invoicing in Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable" creates one invoicing document. You define the criteria for creating the invoicing units for the invoicing process.
Processing of Billing Documents − The billing documents selected for an invoicing unit are included in the invoicing document. The billing document items are linked with the items of the invoicing document, and the derivations required for the posting in "Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable" (FI-CA) are performed.
Performance of Additional Functions − In addition to processing billing documents, in "Invoicing in Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable" , you can integrate further functions of FI-CA. For example, interest calculation, creation of dunning proposals, or the calculation of charges and discounts. You define which additional functions are performed for each invoicing process.
Account Maintenance − Using the account maintenance integrated in "Invoicing in Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable", you can perform clearing between the posting documents entered in Invoicing and the open items of the contract account posted before invoicing. You define the criteria for clearing in the clearing control.
Update − The invoicing document created for the invoicing unit and the posting documents are written to the database. The invoicing orders processed are deleted. As well as the invoicing unit, a correspondence container for invoice printing and an extraction order for the update to BW are created.