Consolidate business partners (SAP B1)

The consolidation of business partners in SAP Business One makes it possible to deviate from the standard rule in which all documents in a sales process - from quotation to payment - are based on the same Business partner are posted. Consolidation is used to process either invoices or payments centrally via a higher-level business partner.

Types of consolidation

Supply consolidation:
In this case, the outgoing invoice is not issued to the customer who receives the goods, but to an alternatively defined customer. Consolidation business partner. This is displayed in the master data record on the Accounting - General selected. The delivery is made to the original business partner, while the invoice is issued to the consolidation BP.
- Activation takes place via the "Delivery consolidation" option button.
- When invoicing, you can choose between original BP and consolidation BP.
- Payment is made by the business partner named on the invoice.
Payment consolidation:
Here, a higher-level business partner (e.g. group head office) pays the invoices of several affiliated business partners. Payment consolidation only takes effect from document level incoming payment from.
- Activation via the "Payment consolidation" option button in the master data record.
- The invoices remain with the original BP - payment is made via the consolidation BP.

Settings in the business partner master data record

The consolidation data is stored in the Accounting - General maintained.
In the field Consolidation GP the higher-level business partner is entered.
Either delivery consolidation or payment consolidation can be capitalised. not both at the same time.
In the sub-register Tax the tab accounting can also use the function Consolidating BP be activated.

Document flow and restrictions

Consolidation only works with Closed document flow - i.e. for invoiced delivery notes.
A different BP can only be selected if the delivery note exists in the document chain.
The outgoing invoice must include the same business partner from whom the payment is to be made later.

Additional functions in the payment process

in the Payment wizards the "Balance due (HW)" column can be displayed in the business partner selection via the form settings, for example.
It is possible to filter business partners by properties.

Management of business partner master data

Consolidation is defined as part of the business partner creation.
The master data can be accessed via the menu Business partner → Business partner master data callable.
After the new creation, the responsible user is given the task of maintaining the accounting-relevant fields (including consolidation fields).

Summary:
The consolidation of business partners in SAP Business One offers a flexible option for processing invoices or payments centrally via a higher-level partner. Depending on the company structure, the document flow can be simplified and centralised - with a direct link to the respective functions in the business partner master and the sales document chain.

SAP B1 blog