8.4 Special Types of Settlement: Invoice Lists, External Billing Document Requests, and Preliminary Billing Documents
Key Takeaways
An invoice list combines billing documents that have already been created and posted to accounting into one list for the payer; LR is the invoice list for invoices and debit memos and LG for credit memos.
When the invoice list is created, its reference number overwrites the reference numbers of the individual billing documents in accounting, so the payment can be posted with the invoice list number.
An external billing document request (EBDR) persists billing data from an external system in SAP S/4HANA; EBDRs appear in the billing due list and can be converged with sales documents into one invoice.
Preliminary billing documents require business function SD_BIL_PRELIMBILLINGDOC; creating one sets the preceding document to billed and removes it from the billing due list until the preliminary document is rejected.
Preliminary billing documents have the statuses In progress, Rejected, Finalized, and Completed, and are converted into final billing documents in the Manage Preliminary Billing Documents app.
Special Types of Settlement: Invoice Lists, External Billing Document Requests, and Preliminary Billing Documents
Standard billing creates one billing document from deliveries or orders and posts it to accounting. The S46150 lesson Understanding Special Types of Settlement covers three variations that change when, from what, and in how many steps customers are billed: invoice lists, external billing document requests (EBDRs), and preliminary billing documents.
Invoice Lists
An invoice list is a list of billing documents sent to the payer at regular intervals, for example once a month, instead of or in addition to the individual invoices. Typical users are buying groups or head offices that pay centrally for many branches.
How Invoice Lists Work
- You must first create the billing documents and post them to Financial Accounting. Only then can they be combined in an invoice list (official S46150 content).
- Two billing types exist for lists:
LR(invoice list for invoices and debit memos) andLG(credit memo list). - The billing type of the individual documents names the invoice list type to which it can be assigned.
- The dates on which lists are created follow the invoice list schedule (a factory calendar) maintained for the payer in the customer master.
- Invoice lists are created and processed with the invoice list functions of the billing menu. The transaction table of the official course lists
VF24(process the worklist for invoice lists) andVF25(create, change, and display invoice lists).
Output and Reference Numbers
- Output settings decide whether invoices are sent to the customer when each invoice is created or only when the invoice list is created.
- The number saved as reference number in copying control is transferred to Financial Accounting with each billing document. When the invoice list is created, the reference number of the invoice list overwrites the reference numbers of the individual billing documents. This lets accounts receivable post the incoming payment with the invoice list number (section 8.7).
Note
Invoice lists commonly carry their own conditions, for example a factoring discount granted to the paying head office for central settlement. These are calculated in the invoice list, not in the individual invoices.
External Billing Document Requests (EBDRs)
Convergent billing means billing different types of SD documents together in a single customer invoice: sales orders, deliveries, and professional services. EBDRs extend this to data from outside the SAP S/4HANA sales documents.
The course's business example: an IT company sells a solution consisting of hardware (outbound delivery), a software license (sales order), consulting services (debit memo request), and cloud-based machine learning services billed by usage (external usage data persisted in an EBDR). At month end, all billing data is converged into one invoice that bills the customer for what they actually used.
The definition of an EBDR, according to the course:
- A request object that persists billing data received from an external system in SAP S/4HANA.
- It appears alongside other SD documents in the billing due list (the Create Billing Documents app).
- A dedicated object page displays all of its attributes.
EBDRs can be billed on their own or converged with billable SD documents, such as deliveries and debit memo requests. SAP calls this omnichannel convergent billing: billable items from different channels (internal and external) and billing categories (one-time, project-based, usage-based) are combined, which reduces administrative effort and the number of invoices sent.
Creating EBDRs
- Use the SAP Fiori app Manage Billing Document Requests.
- Enter the external billing data in the pre-delivered Microsoft Excel template and upload the file (
*.xlsx). - The data is processed and persisted as EBDRs, which then appear in the billing due list of the Create Billing Documents app and in Manage Billing Document Requests.
Preliminary Billing Documents
A preliminary billing document lets you prepare and review a billing document before the final invoice exists, for example to agree the invoice content with the customer or to run an internal approval.
Activation and Its Consequence
A configuration expert must activate the business function Functionality for Preliminary Billing Documents (SD_BIL_PRELIMBILLINGDOC) in Customizing; no further setup is needed. Before activating it, be aware of one consequence that the course highlights: once you create a preliminary billing document for a document in the billing due list (for example, a delivery), the billing status of the preceding document changes to billed. The document is removed from the billing due list, even though no final billing document exists yet. You can no longer bill it directly from the Create Billing Documents app unless you first reject the preliminary billing document, which reopens the preceding document. To create the final billing document from the preliminary one, you use the creation function in the Manage Preliminary Billing Documents app.
Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| In progress | Default status after creation; you can change the document, reject it, finalize it, or convert it into a billing document |
| Rejected | Marked manually as unsuitable for billing; it cannot be converted. The preceding document (for example, a debit memo request) is reopened and can be changed |
| Finalized | Marked manually as needing no further changes for now; it can be converted into a billing document but not changed. If changes become necessary, you can set it back to In progress |
| Completed | Converted into a billing document; it can no longer be changed. If the successor billing document is cancelled, the status returns to In progress |
SAP offers optional approval workflows for preliminary billing documents.
Comparing the Three Settlement Types
| Aspect | Invoice List | EBDR | Preliminary Billing Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Periodic summary for a payer | Bill external data, alone or converged | Review before final billing |
| Input | Posted billing documents | External billing data (Excel upload) | Billing due list items |
| Effect on accounting | Reference number of the list replaces those of the invoices | Billed like other due list items | No posting until converted |
| Key tool | Invoice list functions (VF24, VF25) | Manage Billing Document Requests, Create Billing Documents | Manage Preliminary Billing Documents |
Worked Example: Monthly Settlement for a Buying Group
A buying group pays centrally for 40 member stores. Each store receives goods several times a week.
- Each delivery is billed with
F2and posted to accounting as usual; output is set so that the stores receive no paper invoice. - On the last working day of the month, according to the invoice list calendar of the payer (the buying group's head office), invoice list
LRcombines all posted invoices of the month. - The invoice list reference number replaces the reference numbers of the individual invoices in accounting. The head office pays one amount quoting the invoice list number, and accounts receivable clears all items with that number.
- A separate credit memo list
LGcombines the month's credit memos for the same payer.
What must be true before billing documents can be combined in an invoice list?
The billing documents must still be blocked for posting.
The deliveries must not yet have been billed.
The payer must use SAP Credit Management.
They must already be created and posted to accounting.
What is an external billing document request (EBDR)?
A credit memo request created with reference to an invoice from an external system
Stored billing data from an external system that appears in the billing due list
A pro forma invoice sent to customs authorities
A billing document type used for intercompany billing between company codes
A preliminary billing document has been created for a delivery. The final invoice should now be created directly from the billing due list instead. What must happen first?
It must be rejected, which reopens the delivery for billing.
Nothing; the delivery remains in the billing due list.
The preliminary billing document must first be set to Finalized.
The delivery's goods issue must be reversed.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.