Understanding in-depth SAP SD Sales and Distribution

SAP Sales and Distribution (SD) module is one of the central modules of the SAP ERP system that is used to manage all the business transactions that include inquiry, proposal, quotation, pricing and others.  Full for of SAP SD is SAP sales & distribution. SAP SD module is interrelated with other SAP modules such as MM and PP to ensure that there is sharing of data and a smooth flow of activities. SAP SD is used by companies to manage the sales processes, enhance customer satisfaction, and boost sales.

 

What is SAP SD

 

SAP SD module comprises of several features that assist the firms in managing their sales functions efficiently. The sub-processes of the Sales and Operations Planning include Sales Order Processing, Pricing, Shipping, Billing, Credit Management, and Sales Reporting. All of these functionalities are important in the big picture of sales and provide the necessary means for customer handling and sales cycle improvement.

 

Sales Order Processing is the management of creating and processing sales orders to meet the needs of the customers. Pricing functionality allows the organization to develop various prices, discounts, and surcharges to provide the best and correct prices to the customers. Shipping & Billing functions ensure that the products reach the customers on time and the Billing function ensures that the customers are billed correctly, while on the other hand, Credit Management minimizes credit risks by controlling customer credit limits and payment terms.

 

SAP SD is a module of SAP that is used to manage the sales process of an organization and its related activities, and the following are the main functionalities of SAP SD: 

 

SAP SD Sales Order Processing

 

•    Sales Document Types: SAP SD is involved with several types of sales documents which include inquiries, quotations, sales orders, contracts, and scheduling agreements. These two types of documents are applied in the sales process and assist in the management of orders with little to no errors.

•    Order to Cash (O2C) Process: O2C is a business process that starts with order creation up to the receipt of cash. Some of its sub-processes include; generation of sales orders, preparation of delivery documents, goods dispatch, issuing of invoices, and receipt of payments. This process affords complete openness and supervision of the sales transactions from the initial stage to the final stage.

•    Availability Check: The availability check functionality is useful in checking if the products are available for delivery when required. It considers the current stock position, expected receipts and customers’ orders to provide realistic promises of delivery.

 

SAP SD Pricing and Taxation

•    Pricing Procedure: SAP SD also uses a pricing procedure to determine the price at which the products are to be sold. This procedure involves such aspects of price as base price, discount, surcharge, taxes and freight. The pricing procedure is fully flexible and this implies that businesses can design complicated pricing strategies.

•    Condition Techniques: Condition techniques enable defining and regulating the pricing conditions by the customer, material, type of order and date. This flexibility is useful in attaining the right and cheap price for different circumstances.

•    Tax Determination: SAP SD is integrated with tax determination engines to arrive at the taxes that are applicable to the jurisdiction, type of product and the customer. It assists in the compliance of the local tax laws as well as the computation of the right amount of taxes.

 

SAP SD Shipping and Logistics

 

•    Delivery Processing: Delivery processing involves the creation of delivery forms and overall accountability of picking, packing, and delivering of products to the consumers. This functionality is connected to the other modules such as the warehouse management and the transportation management for the right flow of logistics.

•    Transportation Planning: Transportation planning functionality enables businesses to plan and optimize the transportation routes, modes and carriers. It incorporates factors such as time of delivery, cost of delivery, and the ability of the transportation means to deliver goods efficiently and at the lowest cost possible.

•    Goods Issue: Goods issue is the process of releasing goods out of the warehouse in a document that acknowledges the movement of the goods. This step assists in updating the stock and billing process to ensure proper records of stock and revenue are made.

 

SAP SD Billing and Invoicing

 

•    Billing Document Types: SAP SD is involved with various kinds of billing documents including invoice, credit memo, debit memo and proforma invoice. All the document types play a role in the billing process and the accuracy of the invoices and their timely issuance.

•    Billing Plans: With the help of billing plans, organizations can solve different problems connected with billing, for example, billing by milestones, periodical billing, and instalment billing. This functionality enhances flexibility in the invoicing processes and correct identification of revenues.

•    Revenue Recognition: Revenue recognition functionality is a method through which the company is able to adhere to the set accounting standards by recognizing the revenue in accordance to the guidelines such as delivery, acceptance or billing.

 

SAP SD Credit Management

 

•    Credit Control Area: The credit control area gives the description of the sub-division of the organization which is responsible for credit. They are credit limits, risk classes and credit exposure for customers hence assisting in credit control.

•    Credit Limit Check: SAP SD also has the facility of credit check at the time of creation of sales order and at the time of delivery check to avoid credit limit of the customer. This functionality assists in managing of financial risks and ensuring that payment has been received on time.

•    Credit Exposure: Credit exposure functionality offers the tools for managing credit exposure of customers based upon the sales orders, deliveries, and invoices. This visibility enables the businesses to control the credit risks and make appropriate credit decisions.

 

SAP SD Sales Reporting and Analytics

 

•    Standard Reports: SAP SD has the following standard reports for sales analysis; Sales order report, Delivery report, Billing report and Credit report. These reports are useful in determining the level of sales and the areas of concern in this case as explained above.

•    Custom Reports: SAP’s reporting tools include SAP Query, ABAP report, and SAP BW; these are tools through which the business can build its reports. Custom reports allow creation of specific analytics that can help to get an understanding of the sale process.

•    Analytics and Dashboards: SAP SD can also be combined with other SAP BI applications for better analysis and graphical representations. These tools help to plot the sales data in graphical mode and help in analyzing the data for business.

 

SAP SD Integration with Other SAP Modules: 

 

The SAP SD module is very well integrated with other SAP modules to improve the data flow and to correspond to business processes.

 

•    Material Management (MM): In the case of inventory and procurement activities, SAP MM integration is found to be helpful. It allows the update of the stock level and confirmation of the availability of the materials during the working on the sales order.

•    Production Planning (PP): It also enables connection with PP to ensure that production planning and scheduling is affected in line with the sales orders. It plays a significant role in the production and supply of goods to the market to meet the needs of the customers in time.

•    Financial Accounting (FI): This integration with FI is useful in the right reporting of revenues and the preparation of the right financial reports. It is also capable of directly posting the billing documents to the general ledger and it gives the real time update of the company’s financial status.

•    Controlling (CO): CO integration is useful in the proper allocation of costs and in the determination of profitability. It helps in measuring, controlling and recording of sales revenues and costs to help in the management of the financial part of the business.

 

SAP SD Jobs

 

SAP is used by over 440,000 customers in more than 180 countries, illustrating its global reach and significant demand for skilled SAP professionals.

The demand for SAP professionals has seen significant growth, with over 30,000 SAP job openings in the United States alone, highlighting the increasing need for SAP expertise across various industries such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail.

 

SAP SD Consultant Salary

SAP SD module is one of the prominent modules of SAP system that deals with the business of sales and distribution. The strong features, integration possibilities, and reporting characteristics make it possible for businesses to improve the sales processes, increase the customer satisfaction, and make more money. According to Glassdoor SAP SD Consultant Salary In  India around 5 Lakh - 11 lakh per year. AmbitionBox provides salary ranges for SAP SD consultants at different companies based on experience.  It is essential for organizations to harness the benefits present in SAP SD so as to sustain the organization’s competitiveness in the existing business environment.

 

Conclusion - SAP SD Module

 

Vinsys offers the SAP SD Online training and consulting services to the organizations who want to have or enhance the SAP SD module. The SAP training courses are extensive, and the concepts discussed are core and pertain to all the aspects of the SAP SD module in order to ensure that the professionals can have the adequate knowledge and capacity to support the implementation process. 

 

Selecting Vinsys for SAP SD Corporate training ensures that your team has all the skills to obtain the maximum value from that and fulfil your business goals and flourish the organisation.