3.6 Value Contracts: Releases, Partner Authorization, Contract Data, and Billing

Value Contracts: Releases, Partner Authorization, Contract Data, and Billing

A value contract is an outline agreement in which the customer commits to buying goods or services for a total value within a period, rather than a fixed quantity of specific materials. The S46051 course spends 100 minutes on value contracts, more than on scheduling agreements and quantity contracts together, because value contracts combine several mechanisms: releases, value tracking, partner authorization, contract data, and billing. In the standard system, the general value contract WK1 can be restricted to the materials of an assortment module, while the material-related value contract WK2 refers to specific materials. Value contract items are completed after the full target value has been referenced (completion rule E).

Releases Against a Value Contract

A release order releases a partial amount of the agreed total value. It is a normal sales order type (the standard order OR can be used) created with reference to the contract. The official course lists the key rules:

• Finding the contract: you can search for suitable contracts using the partner number, or, for customer lists, search for suitable partners using the contract number.
• Selecting items: the item selection function shows all valid materials. You choose materials directly or by exploding an assortment module.
• Delivery data: quantities and dates are stored in the schedule lines of the release order, not in the contract.
• Currency: releases can be created in any currency, but the total value is updated in the currency of the contract.
• Checks: when you create a release order, the system checks the contract's requirements, such as the release rule and the validity period, and compares the value of the release with the value still open in the contract. You define how the system responds when the open value is exceeded (for example, a warning or an error).

Assigning an Order to a Contract Later

An order that was entered without reference can be assigned to the contract retrospectively, at header level or at item level. In both cases, the system reruns pricing automatically, so contract prices apply. However, the values in the contract are updated only when the assignment is made at item level. A header-level assignment changes the order's pricing but does not reduce the open contract value.

Partners Authorized to Release

Often several partners may release from one contract: the central office of a company decides which branches may order, and there can be several ship-to parties. You control this with the Check partner authorization field in the sales document type of the contract:

Further rules from the course:

• The partner determination procedure assigns the partners authorized to release.
• If several partners are authorized, you choose the releasing partner from a list when creating the release order; the same applies to several authorized ship-to parties.
• If the customer master of the sold-to party already contains several sold-to parties (functions SP and AA), a selection screen appears when the contract is created, so you can copy several partners in one step.
• Partners authorized to release are checked at header level only.
• Because the releasing sold-to party can differ from the contract's sold-to party, copying control uses requirement 002 (Header - Diff. Customer) instead of the standard header requirement.
• In sales documents, normally only one partner can be assigned to each partner function; outline agreements with AA and AW are the exception.

Contract Data: Dates, Duration, and Contract Profiles

Contracts carry contract data that a normal order does not need: start and end dates, a duration, cancellation rules, and follow-up actions. The course explains how much of it can be proposed automatically:

• Date determination rules, defined in Customizing, start from a date you choose (for example, today's date or an installation date), can add an interval, and can move the result to the beginning or end of a month.
• A duration category generates the duration of the contract automatically and can be part of a date rule, for example to determine the contract end.
• A contract profile assigned to the sales document type proposes contract-specific defaults: the rules for the start and end of the contract, the duration category, subsequent activities, and the cancellation procedure.

Contract data can be maintained at header level and, where needed, differently for individual items.

Billing a Value Contract

The course describes two billing approaches:

A billing plan in the contract lets you bill for several dates and partial amounts at once (section 8.5). If you later change the target value of a contract item, the system automatically adjusts the open billing dates. The system does not allow you to bill value contracts automatically that have not been completely released.

Worked Example

A customer signs a value contract WK1 for 50,000 EUR of spare parts in calendar year 2027, restricted to an assortment module, with check partner authorization rule A.

1. The contract lists the head office as sold-to party and three branches with partner function AA, plus two alternative ship-to parties with AW.
2. Branch 2 places a release order in USD for parts worth 8,000 EUR. The system checks that branch 2 is authorized (header level), that the parts belong to the assortment module, and that the release is within the validity period. The release value is converted and updated in EUR, leaving 42,000 EUR open.
3. A later order for 3,000 EUR was entered without reference. You assign it to the contract at item level: pricing is rerun with the contract prices, and the open value drops to 39,000 EUR. Had you assigned it only at header level, the prices would change but the open value would stay at 42,000 EUR.
4. Each release order is delivered and billed separately with delivery-related billing.