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 You must set the Enterprise Structure of your company (commonly referred to as the "organizational data" in SAP) before you can process SD transactions. For example, without a sales area it is not possible to create a salea order in SAP.

 This organizational data reflects the structure of your business. Every transaction occurs within this structure. The organizational data is like the steel girders in a building, so setting it up correctly is essential. Once it is set, changing the Enterprise Structure of the business will be time consuming.

 The more thought you give to the organizational structure, the easier mySAP ERP SD will be to configure and use. You must understand how the business functions and have exhaustive knowledge of the impact of using specific elements to map the companies organizational structure into mySAP ERP.

 Organizational data is comprised of:

• A Sales Organization An organizational unit that sells and distributes products, negotiates terms of sale, and is responsible for these transactions.
• A Distribution Channel The channel through which materials or services reach customers. Typical distribution channels include Internet sales, wholesale, retail, and direct sales. You can assign a distribution channel to one or more sales organizations. A customer can be delivered from multiple distribution channels. A material master record can be maintained with different sales organization and distribution channel views, allowing different data to be accessed-for example, the delivering plant.
• A Division Product groups can be defined for a wide-ranging spectrum of products. For every division you can make customer-specific agreements on, for example, partial deliveries, priving, and terms of payment. Within a division you can carry out statistical analyses or set up separate marketing.

 Figure 1-14 shows a basic organizational structure. In sales organization 1000, SD business transactions can be carried out for distribution channel 10 and 20 and division 01 and 02. In sales organization 2000 transactions can only be processed through distribution channel 10 and division 01 and 02. Likewise, transactions in sales organization 3000 can only be done through distribution channel 10 division 01.

 Sales organizations should be kept to a minimum; try to have only one per company code. You should have a very good business reason to have more than one sales organization per company code. For example, only have another sales organization if the company sells completely differently in an area-for example, if sales processed in Los Angeles are handled differently to sales processed in San Francisco.

 A rule of thumb is that if the material can be sold in both sales organizations and there is one company code, them there should only be one sales organization.

(FIGURE 1-14 Organizational data in SAP)

 Master data records are multiplied by each additional organizational elemen you have. Thus, 10 customer master records with 2 sales organizations, 2 distribution channels, and 2 divisions would have a total of 80 customer master record views. Add another sales organization and you have 120 customer master record views.

 Adding divisions does not multiply the material master views; however, it does multiply the customer master views. For example, add a division to our 80 customer master views and we suddenly have 120 customer master views. However, add the division to the material master views, and we still end up with 80.

TIP To reduce the master data you require, you can combine sales areas for customer master data purposes-see the Implementation Guide (IMG | Sales and Distribution | Master Data | Define Common Distribution Channels (and Division)).

 We know a sales area is compiled of a sales organization, a distribution channel, and a division. A sales area is used for reporting purposes; all data relevant for sales can be defined per sales area. For example, you can define pricing per sales area, or do your sales information analyses per sales area. You can also control configuration based on the sales area-for example, you can allow some sales processes for one sales area (for example, product samples), but not for another.

 Master data forms the basis of all transactional processing. This is especially true for Sales and Distribution processing. Master data creation, ownership, and maintenance are tjr responsibility of all modules. The structure and data within a company's master data govern how the system is to respond to future transactions of analysis.

Customer Master Data

 Customer master data in SD is divided into three main areas.

• Basic Data This data remains the same for the customer regardless of which organization he buys from your company. Examples of this type of data are the customer address and contact details.
• Organizational Data This is customer data related to your organizational structure-for example, ths customer may prefer stock to be delivered from plant YX01 when an order is placed in a specific sales area. (Sales area is explained later.) The customer may then wish stock to be delivered from a plant closer to his location YX02 when a sales order is placed in another sales area. A customer master record may exist for many sales areas. You can then have different data from the different sales areas, even though you are taking the order from the same customer and using the same customer number.
• Company Code Data A customer master record must also heve company-related data. This data is used for financial accounting purposes. An example of company code data is the reconciliation account. A customer master record may exist for more than one company code-for example, when you have more than one company in your orgainzation and the customer can buy from any one of them.

 A sales area is a specific combination of a sales organization, a distribution channel, and a division. The sales organuzation is the legal entity responsible for the sale. You usually have a sales organization for each company code.  The distribution channel is the way you send your product to the market-for example, you may have a retail distribution channel and a wholesale distribution channl. A division is a product division-for example, original equipment or spare parts. The combination of these represents the sales area. So when a customer places an order with sales organization ABC in retail distribution channel for spare parts, you have identified the sales area. The precesses may differ when a customer purchases from the same sales organization and the same division, but is purchasing wholesale, so the sales area would then be different as well. (Due to the distribution channel being different, that is wholesale.)

 The customer master sales area data allows you to specify different master data (for example different payment terms) based on the sales areas.

 There are additional forms of master of customer master data-for example, the customer credit master record, which is related to the customer master record, shown in Figure 1-13.

 However, these additional forms of master data are not mandatory and are covered in thier own chapters in this content.

 We desctibe how to maintain the customizing, insert, and remove fields, as well as partner functions, of the customer master record later in this chapter.

 This section is a guide to navigation and usability of an SAP system from transaction codes to user settings and the matrix copy.

Basic Transaction Codes

 Transaction codes are the short path to a specific screen in SAP. For example, the transaction code [VA22] brings you to the Change Quotation screen, as shown in Figure 1-4. To view the transaction code from within the screen you are accessing, select System | Status.

 In this content the standard menu path is always described from the SAP Easy Access Screen(unless specifically stated from the SAP Customizing Implementation Guide). This "Easy Access Menu" is generally the first screen that users will face in the system. Because it is the first screen users will face, it may be highly configured using area menus to restrict the transactions the user will be using. Th revert back to the original user menu from the screen, simply select the menu path Menu | SAP menu [transaction code S000].

 An example of using the menu path to get to the SAP Customizing Implementation Guide from the SAP Easy Access Screen is

SAP menu | Tools | Customizing | IMG | SPRO-Execute Project

 as seen in Figure 1-5.

 The [SPRO] transaction code is the shortcut form the SAP Customizing Implementation Guide.

 Please refer to Chapter 5 to read about creating your own transaction codes.

 Here are a number of simple transaction codes you will get accustomed to using:

 A fantastic navigation tip is to use the central "Easy Access" menus, which provide a menu tailored to the function you are processing. For example, all transactions related to sales master data may be found by using [VS00]. Refer to the following list for transaction codes to further menus.

 To get a list of transactions including a particular text string, use the table TSTCT. You can alse use asterisks as wildcards. For example, entering *change mas* in the text field will give you the following list of transactions.

 Note that as transaction codes call up screens, there must be a link from the screen you are trying to access to the relevant screen you wish to call. You will net be able to use the transaction code [VA00] while in the SAP Customizing Implementation Guide because the screen related to [VA00] is not available from within this transaction.

 A tip in cases like this is to enter /n before the transaction code. For example, [/nVA00] will take you out of whatever transaction you are in to the VA00 screen. The /n terminates the transaction you are working with, so be aware that you will lose any unsaved data in the screen you are currently on. As an alternative, you can use /o in front of the transaction code (for example, [/oVA00]. This opens the transaction in a new SAP sessing, keeping your existing screen in place.

Shortcuts in Transaction Codes

 To save time in transferring between screens when you call up a transaction, you can utilize the shortcut commands in Table 1-1.

 The following function keys allow for additional shortcuts:

 These function codes are to be used from a specific-for example, from the customer group field.

 Pressing F1 gives you the Help screen, as shown in Figure 1-7.

 The Help dialog box may be displayed differently based upon the user settings, To change the display options of the Help screen, select the menu from the SAP easy access screen [S000] Help | Settings as seen in Figure 1-8.

 From the Help screen, pressing F9 or clicking the Technical Info button, depending on your display option, will give you the technical information screen shown in Figure 1-9.

Matchcode

 A matchcode is a comparison key. It allows you to locate the key of a particular database record by entering a field value contained in the record. The system then displays a list of records matching the specifications for you to select from. An example of this would be searching for the customer number in the sales order. When you press F4 from within the customer number field, you will have an option to select a suitable matchcode to obtain the customer number you are after, as shown in Figure 1-10.

 You may also click the drop-down icon from within this selection screen to display a number of different matchcodes to choose from, as shown in Figure 1-11.

Advisable User Settings

 It is expected that you already have a sound knowledge of navigation around SAP, so this book will not detail basic user information. However, there are a few advisable SAP user settings for you to utilize:

• Local Data - History Click the Customizing Local Layout icon (shown here), then select Options, and select Local Data tab.

 By setting the History to On, you will always have a drop-down list of the values you last used in a selection field, according to the Expiration, Maximum Permitted File Size, and Maximum Number of Entries that you set, as shown in Figure 1-12.

• Expert Data - Controls Click the Customizing Local Layout icon (shown earlier), then select Options, and select the Expert tab.

 Options selected in matchcodes are generally created by a key index. This key is not normally available for the user to see. Consequently, people sometimes configure the description of the values that may be selected to describe the key of the object. There is no need to include the key in the description if the users have the Show Keys in All Drop Down List" checkbox marked as active. Sort Items by Key ensures the user is presented with a logical list to select from.

The Matrix Copy

 The copy and paste function in SAP is called the Matrix Copy. Use the Matrix Copy to copy more than one line of text by clicking on the dialog box or screen one wishes to copy from and pressing the commands as desribed:

1. Press CTRL-Y, then select the text by dragging the mouse from the top left to the bottom right of the selection.
2. Once the text is highlighted, press CTRL-C.
3. Insert the text by moving to the new location and pressing CTRL-V.