Unit 7: Invoice Verification – Additional Topics
Three special scenarios round off LIV: purchase orders with down payments (planned in MM, executed in FI, cleared in the invoice), security retentions that hold back part of the payment, and invoices posted directly against contracts or limit items for unplanned services.
Lesson 1 · Using Further Functions in Invoice Verification
After this lesson you can
- Post invoices for POs with down payments and clear the down payments
- Post invoices for POs with security retention
- Handle invoices with contract reference
A. Down payments
In the PO (header or item) you can plan a down payment as a percentage or absolute amount, together with a due date. The down payment monitor ME2DP (Purchasing › Purchase Order › Reporting › Down Payment Monitoring for PO) lists POs whose down payments are due or already made; with authorization, down payment requests and down payments can be posted from it. The Fiori app Monitor Purchase Order Down Payments can create down payment requests only. Requests and down payments are shown as separate lines in the PO history but are pure FI documents – no MM documents are created.
| Step | Document | Typical FI transaction |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Down payment request | Noted item, special G/L indicator F | F-47 |
| 2. Down payment made | Special G/L posting, indicator A (payment program or manual) | F-48 / F110 |
| 3. Invoice with down payment clearing | In MIRO: select the PO's down payments from the proposed list and clear them while posting the invoice | MIRO (FI alternative F-54) |
Tax on down payments (country-dependent): with net display the down payment is posted to the open item and down payment account without tax, tax separately to input tax. With gross display the down payment is shown including tax and the tax is additionally posted to a tax clearing account – the advantage is that the full payable is visible. The Tax category in the down payment reconciliation account master record decides:
| Tax category | Meaning |
|---|---|
+B | Output tax – down payments received, gross |
+ | Only output tax – down payments received, net |
-B | Input tax – down payments made, gross |
- | Only input tax – down payments made, net |
B. Security retention
For items such as complex machinery you may want to hold back part of the price until acceptance or warranty expiry. A retention (percentage at header or item level in the PO) is deducted from the invoice at posting and paid later. When an invoice for such a PO is posted, the system informs the clerk; to avoid the retention you must change the PO first. Posting produces two FI documents: the normal invoice and a separate retention document (special G/L indicator H by default).
| Customizing | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Define Default Due Date for Retention | Per material group, a period added to the net due date of the invoice (e.g. 3 months: due 31 March → retention due 30 June). No due-date default in the PO. |
| Define Tax Handling for Retention | Per country and tax code: net or gross (standard: gross) |
| Define Control Parameters for Retention | Per company code: due date mandatory, alternative special G/L indicator (default H) |
SPRO › Materials Management › Logistics Invoice Verification › Incoming Invoice › Retention › Define Default Due Date for Retention
SPRO › Materials Management › Logistics Invoice Verification › Incoming Invoice › Retention › Define Tax Handling for Retention
SPRO › Materials Management › Logistics Invoice Verification › Incoming Invoice › Retention › Define Control Parameters for Retention
C. Invoices with contract reference
For unplanned services, posting the invoice directly against a contract removes the need for release orders and service entry/acceptance, and makes contract consumption transparent (helping to negotiate better prices). Variants:
| Reference | How it works |
|---|---|
| Directly to an SAP S/4HANA contract or SRM central contract | New Contract Reference tab in MIRO, MIR7, MIR4. A service line is copied from the contract; quantities, amounts and account assignments are entered per service via the Multiple Account Assignment button. |
| Limit PO item that references a contract | Enter the PO on the PO Reference tab, choose Service Selection to pick service lines from the contract, enter quantities/amounts/account assignment. |
| Limit PO item without contract reference | Enter the contract number and item in the limit item line during IR, then Service Selection. |
Amounts are checked against the contract conditions; price variances above tolerance key PC (per company code, in Set Tolerance Limits) block the invoice with reason Price. Posting updates the contract history (and the PO history for limit-item references).
SPRO › Materials Management › Logistics Invoice Verification › Incoming Invoice › Activate Direct Posting to Contracts
SPRO › Materials Management › Logistics Invoice Verification › Invoice Block › Set Tolerance Limits (OMR6) – key PC
In recent SAP S/4HANA releases, lean services and the Fiori procurement apps (e.g. Manage Purchase Orders, Manage Purchase Contracts) are SAP's preferred UI for services and contracts; the classic MM-SRV service-line handling shown here is the on-premise SAP GUI path. Down payment requests from POs are also supported through the Fiori monitor app.
- Down payments can be cleared during invoice entry in MIRO (statement "only via the monitor" is false). ME2DP monitors them.
- Down payment requests/payments are FI-only; tax category of the down payment account decides net/gross display.
- Retention: two FI documents, special G/L
H, due date default per material group. - Contract reference: activate direct posting to contracts; tolerance key
PC.
Unit summary & exam focus
T-codes in this unit
| T-code | Purpose |
|---|---|
| ME2DP | Down payment monitoring for POs |
| F-47 | Down payment request (FI) |
| F-48 | Post vendor down payment (FI) |
| F110 | Automatic payment program |
| F-54 | Clear vendor down payment (FI) |
| MIRO | Invoice with down payment clearing, retention, contract reference |
| MIR7 | Park invoice (contract reference tab) |
| MIR4 | Display/change invoice document |
| OMR6 | Tolerance limits (key PC) |
Self-check questions
- Does a down payment create an MM document?
Answer
No. Down payment requests and down payments are FI documents only, although they appear in the PO history. - Where can planned down payments be cleared?
Answer
Directly during invoice entry in MIRO (selection list of the PO's down payments), or in FI. - What determines gross or net display of down payments?
Answer
The tax category of the down payment (special G/L) account master record, e.g.-Bfor gross input-tax down payments. - How is the due date of a security retention proposed?
Answer
Net due date of the invoice plus a period defined per material group in Customizing. - Which tolerance key checks prices for invoices with contract reference?
Answer
PC.