MM / P2Pintermediate

MM Purchase Order Part 4: Follow-On Processing — Confirmations, Goods Receipt and Invoice Receipt

Key takeaway

What happens after the PO is sent: order acknowledgments and shipping notifications (confirmation control), goods receipt with tolerances, invoice receipt with GR-based IV, PO history, delivery completed and final invoice indicators, and how open quantities are managed.

Explanation

📌 KEY POINTS
✅ Confirmation control key (e.g. 0001 order acknowledgment, 0004 inbound delivery) defines expected supplier confirmations.
✅ GR (MIGO 101) updates stock/consumption and GR/IR; tolerances govern under/overdelivery.
✅ IV (MIRO) matches invoice to PO/GR; GR-based IV matches per GR.
✅ PO history shows GRs and invoices; "delivery completed" and "final invoice" close items.
⚠️ Open quantities remaining after supplier short-shipped distort MRP unless delivery completed is set.

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▶ WHERE WE ARE
Part 3 covered item categories. Now follow-on documents.

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▶ 1. CONFIRMATIONS

Order acknowledgment, shipping notification (inbound delivery).
Confirmation dates used by MRP.

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▶ 2. GOODS RECEIPT

101 against PO; tolerances; delivery completed indicator.

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▶ 3. INVOICE RECEIPT

Three-way match; GR-based IV; price/quantity variances.

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▶ 4. PO HISTORY

GRs, invoices, GR/IR balance.

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▶ 5. CLOSING

Delivery completed, final invoice; clearing GR/IR.

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▶ STEP BY STEP

Enter an order acknowledgment.
Post partial GR and set delivery completed.
Post invoice and check PO history.

✅ CHECKPOINT: the item shows no open quantity and GR = IR.

Code example

ABAP Code

===== STEP 1: confirmations =====Item confirmation control key 0001 (AB) / 0004 (inbound delivery) | VL31N inbound delivery (per process) ===== STEP 2: GR/IV =====MIGO 101 against PO (tolerance: underdelivery 5% → auto delivery completed) | MIRO invoice, GR-based IV ===== STEP 3: history =====ME23N PO history: WE (GR), RE-L (invoice) | GR/IR balance

Real project scenario

A PO showed an open quantity although the warehouse considered it complete; the supplier had short-shipped and wouldn't send more. MRP kept expecting the remainder. Setting delivery completed (automatically within tolerance or manually) removed phantom supply.

Common mistakes

Not setting delivery completed.
No confirmations for critical items.
Posting GR without inspection needs.
Ignoring GR/IR balances.
Invoicing before GR in GR-based IV.

Best practices

Use confirmation control for critical suppliers.
Define tolerances.
Close items properly.
Review PO history.
Clean GR/IR regularly.

Interview angle

Questions: "What happens after PO creation?", "What is GR-based IV?", "What does delivery completed do?"
Strong answer: confirmations, GR with tolerances, IV and GR-based IV, PO history, closing indicators.

Practice this lesson

Quick check

1. What does confirmation control key 0004 typically expect?

2. What does GR-based invoice verification ensure?

3. A PO still shows open quantity after the supplier short-shipped and won't deliver more. What should be done?

Interview questions

1. MRP keeps expecting supply from POs that suppliers will never complete, and GR/IR has old balances. How do you manage PO follow-on processing?

Answer it in your own words first, then compare.

2. You are designing the open PO migration approach for an S/4HANA Public Cloud rollout where EWM-managed warehouses are involved. What migration objects and sequencing considerations are critical for open POs that have partial goods receipts already posted in the legacy system?

Answer it in your own words first, then compare.

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Reference-verified: the steps are checked against official SAP documentation and tutorials, and object and field names in the sample code are checked for consistency. The code has not been compiled or run on an SAP system by ERPClimb. Syntax marked release-dependent varies by SAP release, so check it in your own system.