Unit 2: Goods Receipts (GRs)

Lesson 1 · Posting a Goods Receipt Without Reference

Key concepts

A goods receipt that refers to no preceding document is called an other goods receipt. It is unplanned: the system knew nothing in advance about material, quantity, date, plant or origin. Because there is no reference document, the movement type must carry all the control information. That is why SAP delivers a separate movement type for each business situation. The movement type

• controls whether quantity and/or value are updated,
• determines the offsetting account (via the account modifier on transaction key GBB or another key),
• controls the field selection (which fields are required, optional, hidden), and
• influences output (message) determination, e.g. which GR slip is printed.

For movement types 501, 511, 521, 531 and 561 the Stock Type field is open for input, so you can reach quality inspection or blocked stock either with the dedicated movement type (e.g. 563) or with the base movement type plus the stock type.

Initial entry of stock balances

When a company goes live, the book stocks of the legacy system are transferred into SAP. No physical movement takes place – only the book stock is created. The movement type chosen determines the stock type:

The quantity increases total valuated stock. These movement types can be combined with all special stock indicators, so consignment stock at supplier or customer, project stock and sales order stock can also be loaded. Mass loads are done with the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit rather than manually.

Valuation: if no value is given, the quantity is valuated with the material master price (moving average price V or standard price S, together with valuation class and price control). If an amount is entered in External Amount in Local Currency (Quantity tab), that amount is used; for a material with moving average price this also changes the MAP. The offsetting entry goes to a special initial-entry account (transaction key GBB, account modifier BSA).

Receipts without purchase order or production order

If goods arrive from a supplier without a PO in the system, or a production receipt occurs without a production order (e.g. because Purchasing or Production Planning is not used in SAP), the receipt is posted as an other goods receipt:

The value is taken from the material master; manual valuation is normally not possible. An other GR cannot be posted into non-valuated GR blocked stock – that stock only exists in relation to a purchase order.

Free-of-charge delivery

A free sample or free delivery from a supplier without a PO is posted with movement type 511; supplier and text are required fields. The value effect depends on the price control:

Tools for entering other goods receipts

System steps

1. Start MIGO; choose Goods Receipt + Other.
2. Replace the default movement type (e.g. 561 or 501) and confirm with Enter.
3. Enter material, quantity, plant, storage location (and supplier for 511); optionally an external amount for 561.
4. Check and post; review the accounting document from the header (Doc. info tab).

Configuration (IMG)

Lesson 2 · Posting a Goods Receipt with Reference

Key concepts

A GR with reference is a planned movement: the reference document (purchase order or production order) already answers what, when, how much, from where and to where. Preplanning speeds up receiving, lets the warehouse organize its capacity, and lets MRP see ordered quantities as fixed receipts. The standard movement type for a GR to warehouse for a PO or production order is 101. Whatever stock type you choose (unrestricted, quality inspection, blocked), the receipt increases valuated stock in quantity and value (except for non-valuated material types). For a PO with standard price the accounting entry is stock BSX to GR/IR WRX, with any variance on PRD.

Receipt into quality inspection stock

Non-valuated vs. valuated GR blocked stock

If origin acceptance was planned in the PO, invoice verification proposes the accepted quantity for invoicing. If 107 is chosen spontaneously at GR without planning, the quantity is not treated as a quantity to be settled.

Process flow

Tools for GR with reference

System steps

1. MIGO: Goods Receipt + Purchase Order (or Order). Default movement type 101, or 103/107 for GR blocked stock.
2. Enter the PO number (or Find), Execute to copy the open items.
3. General tab: document date, supplier delivery note, optional GR slip version.
4. Per item: set OK, adjust quantity, storage location, stock type. Post.
5. Later release: Release GR Blocked Stock + Material Document, enter the 103/107 document and year, set storage location, stock type, OK, post.

Lesson 3 · Posting a Goods Receipt with Automatic Generation of a Purchase Order

Key concepts

A delivery without a PO can be posted as an other GR (501), but then the invoice cannot be checked against a PO. As an alternative the system can create the purchase order automatically while the GR is posted, so that the normal three-way match works afterwards.

Restrictions: only receipts to warehouse stock (no consumption/account assignment), no GR blocked stock, and a source list entry or plant-level activation are not relevant. Data of the generated PO: purchasing organization = standard purch. org of the plant, purchasing group = from the material master, delivery date = GR posting date, price = from the info record.

System steps

1. MIGO (or Post Goods Movement): Goods Receipt + Other.
2. Movement type 101 (or 161); enter material, quantity, plant, storage location and supplier manually.
3. Post; the PO is created and the GR is linked to it in the PO history (check with ME23N).

Lesson 4 · Posting Cancellations, Return Deliveries, and Returns

Key concepts

Cancellation (reversal)

Quantities, movement type, delivery note number etc. in a posted material document cannot be changed – the document must be reversed and re-entered. A reversal with reference to the original material document is recommended because items are copied, the reversal movement type is determined automatically, and individual items (not necessarily all) can be selected. With reference, the quantity of a selected item cannot be changed. To reverse a partial quantity, enter the reversal without reference using the reversal movement type directly. The rule of thumb: reversal movement type = original + 1.

Valuation of reversals: GIs, transfer postings and GRs without reference are reversed with the value of the original document; GRs for POs and production orders are reversed with the value derived from the PO/order. A reversal of a valuated movement therefore always has an FI effect. Cancelled documents can be analysed with MBSM. In Fiori, a material document can be reversed directly from its display (e.g. found via Material Documents Overview); the former classic cancel transaction MBST is not available in SAP S/4HANA, where MIGO is used.

Return delivery

When delivered goods are wrong or defective they are sent back to the supplier from any stock type, including non-valuated GR blocked stock.

The return can refer to the GR material document (or the delivery note, if it was entered at GR) or to the purchase order. With reference to the material document the return can be processed via Shipping (Via Delivery checkbox in the header, General tab; can be preset with user parameter MB_DELIV): instead of a GI posting, an outbound delivery is created and picking/packing and delivery papers are available. Via Shipping is possible for standard POs, account-assigned POs with material, and POs with special stocks, but not when referencing the PO directly. For PO items with GR-based IV, one line per GR is proposed.

Subsequent delivery

A replacement shipment after a return is entered as a subsequent delivery referring to the original GR document or the return document. The original delivery note number is copied, the items/quantities of the return are proposed, and – crucially for GR-based invoice verification – the link between GR and invoice is preserved. Whether a GR may be reversed or returned although the invoice has already been entered for GR-based IV is set per movement type with OMBZ.

Reason for movement

Per movement type you define whether a reason is mandatory, optional or suppressed (field selection) and which reason codes exist. Reasons support analysis of returns, scrapping and reversals; they can be defined for all movement types, not only reversals. Entered on the Where tab of the item.

Returns purchase order

If you want to plan sending material to a supplier (e.g. returning used filters for recycling, or cable remnants credited at copper value), create a PO item with the Returns indicator. No reference to an original PO or GR is required and it does not matter how the stock was acquired; the Free of Charge indicator is not required. At GR for the PO the system proposes movement type 161 with direction Issue (–). The supplier's credit memo is entered against the returns PO. For shipping-based processing, the Returns Supplier checkbox must be set in the supplier's purchasing organization data and shipping must be configured.

Process flow

System steps

1. Cancellation: MIGO › Cancellation + Material Document, enter number/year, select items (OK), post.
2. Return via material document: Return Delivery + Material Document (or Delivery Note), copy, select items, enter reason (Where tab), optionally Via Delivery, post.
3. Return via PO: Goods Receipt + Purchase Order with movement type 122 (or 124), select items, reason, post.
4. Subsequent delivery: Subsequent Delivery + Material Document of GR or return.

Configuration (IMG)

Lesson 5 · Applying Order Price Unit in Inventory Management

Key concepts

A PO item can have an order unit (OUn – what you count and order, e.g. pieces) different from the order price unit (OPUn – what the price refers to, e.g. kg). The OPUn quantity is the basis for GR valuation and invoice verification. At GR you therefore enter the delivered quantity in both units. Example: 10 geese are ordered at 5 EUR/kg, planned 4 kg each (40 kg, 200 EUR). At GR they weigh 45 kg, so GR value and expected invoice are 45 × 5 = 225 EUR. If no OPUn quantity is entered, the conversion factor from the PO item is used.

Allowed variances of the OPUn quantity are defined per company code with two tolerance keys:

Tolerances for the OPUn cannot be entered in the PO; the PO only carries under/overdelivery tolerances in the order unit.

Configuration (IMG)

Lesson 6 · Applying Tolerances and the Delivery Completed Indicator

Key concepts

The open PO quantity = ordered quantity – delivered quantity (never negative). It is proposed at GR and is updated by every GR, subsequent delivery, return and reversal for the item – but not by GR into, or returns from, non-valuated GR blocked stock.

Default tolerances come from the purchasing value key in the material master purchasing view, are overridden by the purchasing info record for a supplier-material combination, and are finally copied into the PO item (Delivery tab), where they can be changed. MIGO cannot change PO tolerances.

Delivery Completed indicator

The indicator marks a PO item as closed. Effects: open PO quantity becomes zero; item is no longer relevant for MRP; no reminders/expediters; commitment is cancelled; the item can be deleted and archived; further GRs are still possible (as long as overdelivery tolerance is respected) but no longer change the open quantity. In MIGO the remaining open quantity is still proposed; the Fiori app Post Goods Receipt for Purchasing Document no longer copies such items.

A return or cancellation that drops the delivered quantity below the underdelivery tolerance automatically resets an automatically set indicator. Message M7 433 together with BAdI MB_GOODSMOVEMENT_DCI can block further GRs once the indicator is set (message as error) and allows custom logic. Production orders behave analogously (tolerances on the Goods Receipt tab).

Configuration (IMG)

Lesson 7 · Setting Up Date Checks to Goods Receipt for Purchase Order

Key concepts

SLED / minimum remaining shelf life check

Prerequisites: (1) the check is activated for the plant and the movement type in Customizing (OMJ5); (2) a minimum remaining shelf life is maintained in the material master (General Plant Data/Storage view – note: this field is client-level, not plant-specific) and/or in the PO item (Delivery tab). At GR you must enter the SLED/best-before date; the system checks whether the goods will be usable for at least the required number of days. A shortfall is issued as warning or error depending on the message setting.

If a total shelf life is also maintained, you can enter the date of manufacture instead and the system calculates SLED = production date + total shelf life. For non-batch materials the SLED is only checked (and can be printed on the slip); for batch-managed materials it is stored in the batch and used in batch determination and batch analyses.

Early and late delivery

Warnings only appear in MIGO if you use Check before posting. To forbid any GR after the delivery date, enter the same date as delivery date and latest GR date and set M7 163 as error.

Configuration (IMG)

Unit summary & exam focus

T-codes in this unit

Self-check questions

1. Which stock types can you reach with movement type 501?
   Answer

   Unrestricted-use, quality inspection and blocked stock (via the Stock Type field); there is no "rejected stock".
2. What happens to the MAP when a free-of-charge delivery (511) is posted for a V-price material?
   Answer

   Quantity increases but value does not, so the moving average price decreases.
3. Compare 103 and 107 regarding FI documents and PO planning.
   Answer

   103: non-valuated, no accounting document, cannot be planned in the PO. 107: valuated, accounting document like 101, can be planned via Origin Acceptance in the PO item.
4. Name three prerequisites for automatic PO creation at GR.
   Answer

   Activation for the movement type (101/161), standard purchasing organization assigned to plant, default document type for MB01, valuated material, valid info record.
5. How do you reverse only part of a GR quantity?
   Answer

   Enter the reversal without reference to the material document using the reversal movement type (e.g. 102) and the partial quantity.
6. Which tolerance key stops a GR when the order-price-unit quantity variance is too large?
   Answer

   B1 (error); B2 gives only a warning. Both set per company code in OMC0.
7. How do you prevent any GR after the delivery date?
   Answer

   Enter Latest GR date = delivery date in the PO item and define message M7 163 as error in OMCQ.