Maximizing SAP ERP Financials Accounts Payable

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Vendor Master Data
for example,, two of your company codes are located in the United States with
currency USD, and another company code is in Canada with currency CAD.
Within AP, a vendor must be created for each instance of a company code related
to that vendor to be able to process financial transitions, such as invoices or
payments.
From a purchasing point of view, your organization is structured by purchasing
organization. The purchasing organization is responsible for negotiating the terms
and conditions of purchases with vendors. The purchasing organization assumes
legal responsibility for all external transactions. One purchasing organization can
be assigned to one or multiple company codes. However, a company code can’t
be assigned to multiple purchasing organizations.
As an example, Figure 1.1 shows three company codes, where company code 1001
and 2001 are assigned to the same purchasing organization, and company 1002 is
assigned to a separate purchasing organization.
Company Code
1001
Company Code
2001
Purchasing
Organization
1000
Company Code
1002
Purchasing
Organization
2000
Figure 1.1 Company Codes and Purchasing Organization
So, what does the organizational structure now mean for your vendor master data?
Every vendor for which you’re planning to process financial transitions, such as
invoices or payments, needs to be created in a company code. For purchasingrelated
transactions, such as requisitions or purchase orders, the vendor also must
be created within your purchasing organization.
Further complicating matters, you can create a vendor in the purchasing organization
only. That allows you to create a purchase order, but you can’t create an
invoice for the vendor.
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