SM

This is the final piece of the post crediting process.  Last time we covered the IV or inbound from the vendor.  This last piece is the OC or outbound to the claimant/customer.  We left off at the B025 status.

Press the action button.  Now you will create the claim version 4, to be sent to the claimant.

Select Action A013: Copy Versions from Reimburser to Versions To Claimant.

*** Note: you could reverse the posting by selection A052: Reversal Version from Reimburser in FI

Status is set to B028: Claimant Outbound (Reply) Created

Version Detail: Be sure to set the partner to be the claimant (customer number).

Be sure to verify the pricing on Item Detail.

After verifying the data, Press the Action Button:

Select Action: A860: Release Outbound Claimant Version for Sending

Status: B030 Claimant Outbound (reply) Sent

Press the Action Button again:

Selection A041: Post Versions to Claimant in FI

this will post the money to the customer account.

Status: B031:Claimant Version Posted

Finally Press the Checkered Flag to mark the claim as complete.

Status: B060: Claim Closed

*** Note, if the claim is rejected you would press the checkered flag as well.

So that’s the entire post crediting process in warranty claims.  I hope this helps shed some light on the full process and some of the things you can do with warranty claims.

Thanks for reading,

Last time we talked about the OV or outbound to the vendor.  Now we cover what happens when we get a response from the vendor, or the IV.  We left off at status B010.

When the Vendor approves or rejects the claim, you can hit the action button to create the 3rd version of the claim.

Select A019 to create the 3rd version of the Claim.

The status is now set to B020: Reimburser Inbound (Reply) Received

Be sure to update the Item Detail tab with the amount that the vendor will reimburse.

Be sure to update the Version Detail tab with the Decision (Approve or Reject).

Press the Actions Button:

Select Action A036: VSR Call Version from Reimburser (Callup Point 13/14/15)

Status is now set to B022: Claimant/Reimburser Version checked

When the money is received, press the Action Button:

Select A043: Post Versions from Reimburser in FI

This will set the status: B025: Reimburser Version Posted

Press Save.

To see the accounting docs that were generated, press the document flow button.

Click on the accounting document.

Green arrow back to the claim, and press the action button.

Now, at this point, you’ve received the money from the vendor.  Next time around, we’ll talk about the OC or outbound to the claimant/customer, the end of the warranty claims cycle.

Thanks for reading,

This post is the second part of my example in warranty claims.  In my first post, I talked about the IC or the inbound from the claimant/customer.  This next piece is what happen next in the post crediting process, that is sending the information to the vendor.  When we last left off, we set the status to B003, which means the claim has been checked.

Press the Action Button Again:

Select A015:  This will create Version 2 of the claim

If you look on the left side of the screen, you’ll see that a new version was created.  The reason is becomes very important is that each version can have completely different pricing and partners.  Think of it this way, your customer may ask for $100.  You may ask the vendor for $125.  The vendor may give you $75, and ultimately you give the customer $90.  Who knows?  it all depends on your agreements with your customer and your vendor.  Regardless, warranty claims gives you the freedom to do what you need.

Note:  the version 2 of the claim will need a Vendor as it’s partner (this is the partner that will pay the claim).

Verify the pricing on the Item Detail Screen.  Then Press the Action Button again:

Select A870 to release the claim to be sent to the vendor.

The Status is now set to B010: Claim Sent to Reimburser

This next section is optional, but it gives you the opportunity to print or send output.  Depending on your process, this could be IDOC, printed or emailed.

Press the Messages button to print out

This will work just like any other output determination.  One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that there are no printed forms out of the box for warranty claim.  There some IDOCS (I believe), but nothing that you could print or email.  That means, if you need it you will have to design it from scratch.

Next time I’ll talk about the IV or inbound from the vendor.

Thanks for reading,

Now that I’ve given you a taste of configuring warranty claims, I thought it might help to start with an example.  I’m going to walk through a Post Crediting example.  So today I’m going to talk about the first step in the post crediting processing, the Warranty Claims IC or inbound from the the claimant.

Now, everything starts with transaction WTY, so we head over there to create our sample claim.

Set the Claim Type: Z001

Press Create

Now, everything is configurable, so these screen shots show exactly one possible setup.  So the information I suggest entering is one possible set of data that can be collected.  In this claim, it is based on an equipment record.  This example is a claim from a customer, and will be serviced by a vendor.

Header Information:
Enter in the Partner (claimant customer)
Object Type: EQUI (this is the header equipment)
Ext Obj. No: Equipment Number

Version Detail Tab
Partner: (Claimant Customer Number)

Header Detail Tab:

Person Resp: optional
Plant: will come in automatically
Claim Group (should be whomever will be the reimburser)
Partner Table Control: Add an entry for the Vendor (VN and vendor number)

Item Detail Tab – this is the area where you enter in the material to repair or return:

Item Type: MAT
Material: The material that is being repaired/returned
Quantity:  1.000
Amount: this is the proposed amount of the claim.

This next section gives you the opportunity to create a service notification connected to the claim. This is especially valuable if you use the return and repair process.
Notification Type:  ZW

Create Notification Button (this will replace IW51 or you can enter in an existing notification number)  If the header level equipment has a measuring point, you can enter in the measuring document.

Enter in the remaining information, and green arrow back.  (don’t create the repair sales order.  this is will be a separate step).

Next up, we get to revisit the VERSION DETAIL.
VERSION DETAIL Tab.

For each item that is under warranty: enter in the vendor number.

Save after entering in all of this information.

Now the notification can be processed as it normally it would.  After the part has been received and analyzed, you can continue processing the claim.

Update the amount to be claimed for the item (item detail tab).

Currently the Claim will be at Status B002: claim being processed

Now, when you are ready to move to the next step of the claim, you need to move to the next status.
Uncheck the manual Processing check box.

Press the Actions button:

Select ZS03 and hit the green check.

If the top level equipment has a master warranty associated with it, then this screen will appear showing if the part is still under warranty/contract or not.

The notification will now be at B003: Claim Checked.

This bumps the status and allows you to create the next version of the claim, but we will save that for another post.
Thanks for reading,

Uncheck the manual Processing check box.

Press the Actions button:

Well, when you start playing with warranty claims, you quickly find that it is very particular when it comes to partner setup.  Your customer and vendor both need to be have some particular settings in place in order for the partner to even be used in the warranty claim.  So I’m going to show you what you need to have in place.

First, let’s begin with the customer master.  For any customer that you want to be a claimant, you must assign the appropriate partner type.  By default, it’s AS, but like most things in SAP, you can set it to what you want.

Next up, the Reimbursing Vendor:

You need a customer (with at least Company code Data maintained) for each vendor that will be used for warranty claims processing.

Enter the corresponding customer here.  the customer must be a sold-to party:

Be sure that the vendor partner is set up for the vendor master in the appropriate org.

Vendor Customer:

Be sure that Tax jurisdiction is blank if the vendor will be used across multiple company codes.
Be sure the VN partner is attached to the customer.

If you follow these simple rules, you’ll be in good shape, and will be able to attach your customer/vendor to the warranty claim.  If not, expect some issues when you attempt to do your first claim.

Thanks for reading,

This step in warranty claims it the first real piece of the puzzle when it comes to defining the different warranty claim scenarios.  I will always encourage you to come to the define warranty claim types screen and create a custom claim type, and copy from the closest standard claim type.  SAP does a great job of providing multiple base claim types that will likely be close to your final needs.  For this coming example, I’m going to follow the postcrediting warranty claim types, and create a custom version.  If you aren’t sure which option to choose, check out my post on the basics of warrany claims to gain some insight.

Now, we start at the OWTY transaction to see all the configuration pieces.  We select Define Warranty Claim Types.

By default, SAP provides multiple options to start with.  In fact, you might be able to use the out of the box options, but being the SAP purest, I always encourage you to create a ZXXX claim type.

So, highlight the option you want to copy, and press copy.  This will bring you to the Define Warranty Claim Types detail screen.

Again, this is a busy screen.  there are a lot of fields, and most of them are vital to the workings of the claim.

Start with renaming the warranty Claim type, I selected Z005 for this example, and changed the description.  At this point, you can save and come back to these settings later, or update everything at once.  Now, onto everything else.

Recall Claim:  This sets this claim type as a recall.  A recall is a special subset for warranty claims.  In general, you can think of this as a defect in a product, and you want to create a bunch of claims all related to the same thing.  This is a recall.
Authorization:  Allows you to set this as applicable to authorization, WTYAUT transaction.  In future posts, I’ll talk about the actual execution of the claim and go into transactions like these.
Partner Det.Prc:  this like so many documents, allows you to set your own partner determination procedures.  This is very handy to determine what partners can and should be related.  Certain partners will be required no matter what, but we’ll get to those shortly.

Pricing
Pricing Schema: serves to determine specific prices for each warranty claim item and each warranty claim version and then to to post them to FI.  In short, this is your pricing procedure.
Message Schema: this is your output determination procedure.  Especially useful, since it’s likely you will have special documents, either printed or IDOC relevant to warranty claims.

Default Values
Reimburser Partner Role: This is a very important piece to notice here.  I’ll do a post soon that talks about this more detail, but you need a specific partner type for your reimburser, and it must have some additional settings within it to allow it to be part of a warranty claim.
Partner Reimburs.: this allows you to set a default vendor or reimburser for the claim type.  This is valuable if you always know who will be doing the work.
Claimant Partner Role: exactly like the Reimburser Partner Role.  This is typically a customer, but this must be a specific partner type that gets assigned to the customer.  I’ll go into this in a future post as well.
Sales Organization/Distribution Channel/Division/Purch organization/Plant:  These are all defaults.  So if your claim will only be used in a specific area, be sure to set it here.  You will get the option to enter this information within each claim if you need.
Version Currency:  self explanatory

Layout
The layout section is likely to be revamped as you better understand the flow of the warranty claim.  You have complete control of how the screen is laid out, and you can do it with or without a navigation tree.  We will discuss the Layout section in the future.
Layout of Claim w/o Nav. Tree:
Layout of Claim with Nav. Tree:
Number Header Screen Customer:  When using customer exit WTY00001, a customer-specific screen area is activated in the bottom of the header data area in the warranty claim by using this screen number. The customer-specific screen area can have a maximum of two lines without a frame or one line with a frame.

Control
This section, like layout, is something you should configure your own values for.  The control of the warranty claim is truly where the power resides in this technology.  We’ll discuss the control section of configuration in future posts.
Action Control: set the action control profile
Start Process. Status:  Based on your action control profile, you can define what status a claim should start at.
Process.Status v.fr Reimburser:  Based on your action control profile, you can define what status a claim should start at.
Start Category:  should the claim start with IC, OC, IV or OV
Field Name Split Criterion:  If the claim can split, what field will determine how to split it.
Item Type Group:  assigned to the warranty claim using the claim type. This means that only specific item types are allowed in a claim type and/or specific item types are excluded from a claim type.
Change Documents:  this field I’m always a huge advocate of.  In all instances, I encourage this field checked.  Unless you’re really concerned with a change table, it can only benefit you to be able to see exactly how and when each change occurred.

Accounting
Document Type Customer Posting:  The document type that you enter here is the document type for the warranty credit memo that is sent to the claimant. The claimant is the debtor in warranty processing. You define document types in Customizing for Warranty Processing under Accounting –> Define Document Types .
Document Type Vendor Posting:  The documet type that you enter here is the document type for the warranty debit memo that is sent to the reimburser. The reimburser is the creditor in warranty processing.
Result Schema:  This is for PA transfer.  This is outside of my expertise, so always, talk to your FICO expert when filling in this field.
AcctDetProced:  this is your account determination procedure.  If you’re not sure, talk to your SD/FICO expert for guidance.

Now, that’s the define warranty claim types step in configuration.  You will likely revisit this step in configuration if you following the configuration order listed in OWTY.  I’ll talk about what you should configure first in the future.

Thanks fore reading 🙂