Quantity Discounts (SAP Business One)

E-invoicing in Germany: How to implement the obligation with SAP Business One

On Bulk discount is a price reduction that a company grants or receives once a certain purchase quantity of an item is exceeded. SAP Business One maps quantity discounts on both the sales side (to customers) and the purchasing side (from suppliers) in the system.

Sales: Pricing Hierarchy

SAP Business One applies a fixed pricing hierarchy during sales. Quantity discounts are at level 3, meaning they take precedence over the customer's standard price list, but after special business partner prices and period discounts:

special prices for business partners
Discounts for periods
Volume discounts
price list of the customer
Last prices

Volume discounts are managed via price lists. Menu path: Stock → Price lists → Price lists. The underlying special prices—including quantity discounts—are stored by SAP Business One in the database table OSPP.

Purchasing: MRP and order consolidation

On the shopping page, the MRP Run The use of quantity discounts through order consolidation. The system bundles requirements for the same item to achieve defined lot sizes or minimum order quantities. This results in a consolidated order with a higher volume instead of many individual orders. SAP Business One shows the result in the report Order recommendation. The benefit: Volume discounts are exploited more fully, whilst at the same time logistics costs are reduced.

Accounting notes

Volume discounts have different effects depending on whether they occur in sales or purchasing:

Sale: Subsequent price reductions reduce sales revenue. At the same time, the taxable base for VAT decreases — a value added taxCorrection is therefore required.
Purchasing: Subsequent price reductions reduce the acquisition costs. Furthermore, a proportionate input tax correction must be made.

Scope: Price bundling

In the case of pure price bundling—that is, a discount for the combined purchase of multiple items—it is not recommended in SAP Business One to map this via Sales parts lists On the invoice. Bills of materials restrict flexibility, falsify sales statistics and generate higher maintenance costs than a solution using price lists.

Related terms: Price list, Special offer, Period discount, MRP (Material Requirements Planning), Order recommendation, Discount, Bonus, OSPP (Special Price Database Table)