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Partner Functions

Partner functions are terms that describe the people and organizations with whom you do business, and
who are therefore involved in transactions. For example, when you create an activity, based on
Customizing settings, it automatically includes the partner functions Activity Partner, C ontact Person,
and Person Responsible . Partner functions are always assigned to partner function categories, which
are hard-coded in the system.
The system includes commonly used partner functions, but you can also define your own.

You use partner functions in transactions, in all areas of partner processing, and in some areas of
business partner master data. For example:
You have a real estate business and define the function Tenant to refer to your customers.
Tenant is displayed in the header and Parties Involved assignment block in transactions, and in
the Buying Center assignment block, when relevant.
It appears in the Customizing settings for access sequences, partner determination procedures,
and partner teams.
It appears in business partner master data when you assign partners to partner functions when
creating relationships between business partners, and when you enter excluded partner functions.
You define partner functions in Customizing for Customer Relationship Management , by choosing
Basic Functions Partner Processing Define Partner Functions .
Structure
When you define a partner function, you assign it to a partner function category. Therefore, the partner
function consists of two basic elements: the new term itself and the category. The new term is your
name for the function, and the category is the hard-coded key that allows the system to identify what the
function means, and how to work with it. In some cases the functions have the same name as the
categories to which they are assigned, but they need not.
In most cases, you also specify the business partner relationship category to which the partner function
should correspond. Frequently, once you enter a partner function category, the system automatically
enters the relationship category. It is able to do so because many partner function categories are hard-
coded to correspond to certain relationship categories. If you use the partner function category
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Undefined Partner or relationship categories you have created yourself, you must enter the relationship
category manually.
The following table shows several of the partner functions in the system, with the partner functions
categories to which they are assigned, and the corresponding relationship categories:
Partner Function Partner Function Category Relationship Category
Sold-To Party Sold-To Party
Ship-To Party Ship-To Party/Service Recipient Is the Ship-To Party/Recipient Of
Sales Prospect Activity Partner Is Activity Partner For
Activity Partner Activity Partner Is Activity Partner For
Sales Manager Employee Is the Employee Responsible For
For a list of all partner functions and partner function categories in the system, see the
Customizing activity Define Partner Functions .
To create new relationship categories in Customizing, choose CrossApplication Components
SAP Business Partner Business Partner Relationships Extensibility
There are two ways in which you can block partner functions:
In master data to prevent a partner from ever performing that function
For more information, see Excluding Partner Functions in Master Data.
In partner processing to prevent the main partner in a transaction (for example, the sold-to
party in a sales order) from performing another function in that transaction
For more information, see Blocking Partner Functions in Partner Processing.
Integration
Partner functions are used mainly in transaction processing, and relationship categories mainly in master
data. The correspondence between them (and the assignment of access sequences) allows the system
to use business partner master data as a source for partner determination. Partner functions that do not
correspond to relationship categories can be determined from other sources, such as the organizational
model, or entered manually.
Partner functions in SAP CRM often differ from those in SAP ECC, but you can specify how functions in
SAP CRM and SAP ECC correspond to each other.
In Customizing for Customer Relationship Management , choose Basic Functions Partner
Processing Data Transfer
Example
Your company sells televisions to a store called Hifidelity, and your sales people often talk to the store
manager, whom you refer to as a retail manager. You ship the televisions to Hifidelity Storage, an
affiliate responsible for Hifidelity's storage needs. You refer to Hifidelity Storage as a delivery location .
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1. In master data, you enter Hifidelity as a business partner. In the Contacts assignment block, you
enter the store manager's name as the contact person, and in the Relationships assignment
block, Hifidelity Storage as Is the Ship-To Party/Recipient Of .
2. In Customizing for partner processing, you define the partner function Delivery Location, and
assign it to the partner function category Ship-To Party . The system automatically enters Is the
Ship-To Party/Recipient Of as the corresponding relationship category.
3. You define the partner function Retail Manager, and assign it to the category Contact Person .
The system automatically enters Is Contact Person For as the corresponding relationship
category.
4. You define a partner determination procedure that includes these two partner functions, and assign
access sequences to them. In the access sequences, you have specified business partner master
data as the source for partner determination.
5. You create a transaction, and Delivery Location and Retail Manager are displayed in the header
and Parties Involved assignment block. You enter Hifidelity as the sold-to party. The system
automatically enters the manager's name as the Retail Manager , and enters Hifidelity Storage as
the Delivery Location .
The following figure shows the steps described above.
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