As you know, the sales rebate is a kind of special discount paid to the customer retroactively depending on certain sales conditions.
It’s a very good strategic tool to boost sales, achieve the required sales target or better brand value, and motivate channel partners.
Rebates can be primarily grouped into two categories in terms of taxation: as a value-added service provided by the seller and as revenue reduction from the seller’s side. Other business cases can include a single rebate agreement created for a single customer, a single rebate for multiple customers, or a customer list at the hierarchy node level.
Because the condition contract lifecycle is an integrated functionality of sales, finance, and controlling, it might have variations in its release to financial accounting as well. Standard SAP S/4HANA functionality provides users with the option to release a settlement document directly to financial accounting or to park the settlement document initially and then release it to accounting through a collective settlement document at a later point in time.
In a typical sales rebate business scenario, the rebate is negotiated with the customer, and an agreement is made in the system in the form of a condition contract. The figure below shows a typical condition contract lifecycle on a horizontal time axis. The condition contract has a valid from and valid to date within which it’s active.
Between these dates, the lifecycle will include delta accruals, partial settlements, and the final settlements. A sales accrual at a defined rate of business volume can be posted as a credit for the possible rebate for the customer. Accruals can either be posted through individual sales invoices or by a scheduled delta accrual program that is based on business needs and legal requirements of the country.
In the event of a retroactive change in the rebate accrual condition rate, you also need to run a delta accrual settlement to correct it. Accrued rebate value can be settled to the contract partner periodically through partial settlement and finally at the end of the validity of condition contract by final settlement.
If any accrual within the condition contract validity period is posted after the final settlement, then that can be settled through delta settlement with reference to the final settlement.
Editor’s note: This post has been adapted from a section of the book Settlement Management with SAP S/4HANA: Customer Rebates, External Commissions, and Royalties by Ujjwal Chattopadhyay, Suman Chanda, and Tushar Bhunya.
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