Copy control defines the relationships between documents in a business process and controls what data is copied from source documents to target documents. It includes: - Defining which source documents can be referenced by which target documents - Specifying copying requirements and data transfer routines - Controlling what data is copied, like header data, items, schedules, and pricing Copy control exists for sales documents, deliveries, and billing documents to map the workflows for orders, deliveries, and invoices. This ensures the correct data and document relationships are maintained throughout the order to cash process in SAP.

1. UNIT 3 Copy Control
Lesson 1
Understanding the Concept of Copy Control 81
Lesson 2
Modifying Copy Control for Sales Documents 85
Lesson 3
Proving Copy Control for Delivery Documents 89
Lesson 4
Analyzing Copy Control for Billing Documents 91
UNIT OBJECTIVES
● Understand the Concept of copy control
● Modify Copy Control for Sales Documents
● Prove Copy Control for Delivery Documents
● Analyzing Copy Control for Billing Documents
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2. Unit 3
Lesson 1
Understanding the Concept of Copy Control
LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
● Understand the Concept of copy control
Document Flow
Figure 63: Document Flow
Business transactions are documented and processed in S/4HANA in the form of documents.
Business processes are documented and processed by documents that are created with
reference to each other. The result is then visible in the document flow or process flow. The
Customizing tables for copying control contain the business processes that are to be mapped
in the application. In particular, copying control defines to which preceding document a
document can refer, under which conditions this is possible, and which data is copied from
the preceding document to the successor documents.
You can use copying control to map specific requirements of your business processes and
activate other options such as update document flow.
You can navigate from the document flow or process flow to the relevant documents.
In the document flow or process flow, you can also display additional data about the status of
a document listed.
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3. Overview Customizing Copy Control
Figure 64: Overview Customizing Copy Control
The business processes required for the application are defined in Customizing for copying
control.
There is a copying control for sales document. Business processes "Target Sales Document" -
"Source Sales Document" and "Target Sales Document" - "Source Billing Document" are
defined there. In Logistics Execution, there is copy control for delivery documents. Business
processes "Target Delivery Document" – "Source Sales Document" are controlled there. In
addition, there is a copy control for billing documents. There, business processes "Target
Billing Document" - "Source Sales Document", "Target Billing Document" - "Source Delivery
Document", and "Target Billing Document" - "Source Billing Document" are configured.
Copying control exists at every level of the document. This means that for sales documents,
this always applies at a header, item, and schedule line level. For delivery documents and
billing documents, only at a header and item level.
Unit 3: Copy Control
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4. Copy Control Tasks
Figure 65: Copy Control Overview
The copy control tables in Customizing are important elements of your SAP S/4HANA
system. These tables control many of the functions that are executed when you create a
document that references a preceding document.
There are separate copying control tables for sales documents, deliveries, and billing
documents.
There are copy control tables available for all levels of the document.
If a document is created with reference to predecessor document, the Customizing of the
relevant copy control is checked. Only if relevant target-source relation exists, the business
process is generally possible. Then before the data is copied from source document to target
document, the system checks whether certain requirements are met.
Examples of these requirements are as follows:
● Do the source and target documents have the same sold-to party?
● Is the item being copied already rejected in the source document?
● Have the items being copied already been fully referenced?
● Has the validity period of the source document been exceeded?
With parameter settings and data transfer, you can control which data (such as header data,
partner data, or conditions) is copied when referencing.
The Create with Reference function is available on the initial entry screen of creating a sales
document with reference as well as on the create sales document overview screen during
document entry. Using this function, you can, for example, combine several quotations for a
customer in one sales order.
Lesson: Understanding the Concept of Copy Control
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5. When a delivery document is created, a reference to an order is usually created in the used
transaction (VL01N or VL10A, for example) or in the app (for example, "Create Outbound
Delivery With Order Reference").
Billing documents always refer to one or more order(s), delivery document(s), or other billing
document(s). The reference is made by the selection of the document(s) that are billed in
transaction or app which is used.
Copying Requirements and Data Transfer Routines
Before data is copied from the source document to the target document, certain
requirements must be met. ABAP routines contain these requirements, which are assigned in
the copying control tables using their identification (ID) numbers.
You can also use transaction VOFM to create customer-specific routines. You can find
transaction VOFM in Customizing for Sales and Distribution under System Adaptations →
Routines → Define Copying Requirements.
The specified data transfer routines are not executed until the copying requirements are
fulfilled.
Figure 66: Copying Requirements and Data Transfer Routines in Copy Control for Sales Orders
LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:
● Understand the Concept of copy control
Unit 3: Copy Control
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6. Unit 3
Lesson 2
Modifying Copy Control for Sales Documents
LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
● Modify Copy Control for Sales Documents
Sales Document: Copy Control at Header Level
Figure 67: Copy Control – Header Level
In copy control at the header level, you define which source document types can be copied to
which target document types.
If copy control does not contain the relevant source-target relationship, you cannot create a
sales document with reference to a relevant sales document.
The details screen for a selected pair of target and source documents contains the following
options:
● Copying Requirements
● Data transfer routines
● Whether item numbers should be copied from the source to the target document
● Complete Reference check box
If the Complete Reference checkbox is selected, the system copies the whole source
document to the target document and issues messages if someone tries to change the order
quantity or delete an item.
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7. Sales Document: Copy Control at Item Level
Figure 68: Copy Control – Item Level
In copy control, define the item level controls for each item category for every target
document type and source document type pairing.
The details screen for an item category contains copying requirements and data transfer
routines.
Copy Control – Entries
The commonly used entries on the details screen are as follows:
● Pos./Neg. Quantity:
Controls how the completed quantity in the item in the source document is affected by the
copying action.
● Copy quantity:
This entry determines the quantity that is copied to the target document (for example, a
blank indicates the best possible quantity, which is an open order quantity for sales
document type OR).
● Pricing Type:
This entry specifies how pricing data need to be handled when copying.
● Update Document Flow:
The document flow is updated at the document header level by default. If the Update
Document Flow checkbox is selected in copying control at an item level, the document flow
is updated for individual items too.
Unit 3: Copy Control
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8. Connection to Item Category Determination
Figure 69: Influence of Item Category Determination
The item category determination rules also apply when you create sales documents with
reference. The system can find only one item category.
If the item category in a source document is not the automatically determined default item
category, but a manual item category chosen by the user, it is necessary to ensure a value has
been defined in the Default Item Category field in copy control. So in the target document the
correct item category is applied. For example, if an item in a quotation is free-of-charge, it is
vital that the corresponding item in a sales order referencing the quotation is also free-of-
charge.
Copy Control Order - Schedule Line Category
The schedule lines are very important. For example, schedule line items are relevant for the
availability check, the transfer of requirements and for the delivery.
In copying control for the sales document item, you control whether schedule lines of the
preceding document item are always to be copied to the subsequent document item.
So that a schedule line from the preceding document can then be copied to the target
document, the schedule line category with which the schedule line is controlled in the source
document must be listed in the copying control table.
The copying requirement in copying control at schedule line level determines which schedule
lines are copied under which conditions from the preceding document item to the subsequent
document item . For example, the copying requirement 501 SCHEDULED QTY > 0 defines
that only schedule lines that have a requested quantity that is greater than zero should be
copied into the target document.
These data transfer routines at schedule line level are used to transfer schedule line data from
the reference document to the target. For example, when copying from one document to
another, it is possible that some of the schedule line data is to be copied from the reference
document to the target schedule line and is not redetermined. For example, fields such as the
schedule line quantity and the unit of measure are to be copied, while the dates may need to
be redetermined based on the current availability situation.
Lesson: Modifying Copy Control for Sales Documents
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9. Completion Rule
Figure 70: Updating the Reference Status
You can control when an item in the source document is complete.
The completion rules for an item category are as follows:
● An item is complete as soon as it is referenced (Completion rule A).
In the example shown in the figure, Updating the Reference Status, the inquiry is
completely referenced though only a partial quantity has been copied to the quotation.
● An item is only completed once the full quantity has been copied into a subsequent
document (Completion rule B).
The quotation item is only partially referenced in the example shown in the figure,
Updating the Reference Status, meaning that it is possible to enter several orders from
this item until the quantity is completely used up.
You can select the completion rule for each item category in Customizing.
If an item is rejected, the Not referenced or completed status is shown in the source
document.
LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:
● Modify Copy Control for Sales Documents
Unit 3: Copy Control
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10. Unit 3
Lesson 3
Proving Copy Control for Delivery Documents
LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
● Prove Copy Control for Delivery Documents
Copy Control Order to Delivery
Figure 71: Copy Control Delivery
Shipping activities are triggered by creating delivery documents for shipping points. The
shipping activities (for example, Picking, Packing, and Goods Issue) then are planned,
executed, monitored, and analyzed on the delivery document. To create a delivery document
with reference to an order, this business process must be defined in the copying control
"delivery".
The setting is made at a header and item level. On header level you define the relevant target-
source relation between delivery type and order type. On an item level, you list order item
categories. Only order item controlled with a listed item category type can be delivered.
On both levels you can work with copy requirements and data transfer routines to fine-tune
the business process. You can control the number of orders that can be delivered in one
single delivery following certain criteria. If certain criteria are not met, the information will not
be transferred to the delivery documents.
Delivery copy requirements are used to identify several different preconditions that must be
met prior to allowing a delivery to be created. This is done via detailed copy requirements that
verify that the characteristics of the reference sales document are consistent with the
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11. definitions of the copy requirement prior to allowing copying. If the requirement is not met,
the user will be issued a message in the log indicating the reason that the delivery could not be
created.
The delivery copy requirements are divided into several categories:
● Sales Document: Identifies those copy requirements that validate data contained in
reference sales documents prior to enabling the creation of a delivery.
● Combination: Identifies those copy requirements that validate data from several reference
documents to determine if the documents can be combined in the dame delivery.
● Additional Items: Identifies those copy requirements that validate whether the user can
add additional items to an existing delivery. This relates to both manually adding a line and
using the ‘deliver order’ functionality to bring in additional order related lines.
Delivery data transfer routines are used to fine tune fields transferred during the copying
process from selected reference documents into the delivery document. This is done via
detailed data transfer routines that transfer specific fields and manipulate the values of others
prior to creating the delivery document. These data transfer routines are assigned, in
customizing, to the data transfer routine field in the copy rules for delivery document type/
item category.
When creating a delivery document with reference to existing documents, the system first
checks the copy requirement assigned to the document type/item category. If the
requirement is met, then the transfer of data begins from the reference documents into the
delivery. It is in this second step that the delivery data transfer routines defined here are
called.
LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:
● Prove Copy Control for Delivery Documents
Unit 3: Copy Control
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12. Unit 3
Lesson 4
Analyzing Copy Control for Billing Documents
LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
● Analyzing Copy Control for Billing Documents
Copy Control Order - Delivery to Billing Document
Figure 72: Copy Control Billing Document
Billing documents are always created with reference to one or more reference document(s).
These can be sales documents in order-related billing, delivery documents in delivery-related
billing, or other billing documents. For a billing document to be created with reference to a
reference document, this business process had to be defined in the copying control “billing
document”. The only exception is the cancellation of billing documents. To do this, a
cancellation billing document is created with reference to the incorrect billing document.
However, there is no entry for this in the copy control tables.
There are three Customizing tables for the copying control “billing document”:
● Target billing document - source sales document (order-related billing)
● Target billing document - source delivery document (delivery-related billing)
● Target billing document – source billing document (billing document with reference to
billing document, for example, Credit Memo with Reference to Invoice)
Billing copy control is maintained at header and item levels.
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13. Billing document copy requirements are used to define when copying from preceding sales
documents is permitted. This is done via detailed billing copy requirements that verify that the
characteristics of the reference sales documents are consistent with the definitions of the
copy requirement prior to allowing copying. If the requirement is not met, the user will be
issued a message indicating the reason that the billing document could not be created.
For example, billing document copying requirement 3: HEADER/DELIVERY-RELATED: This
requirement is used to validate the header of the delivery document prior to permitting the
copy into the billing document. Additional checks are also performed based on the following
attributes of the delivery document: delivery header billing block, billing status, goods
movement status (completely processed), and the incompletion status of the billing
document. If there are any blocks present, or the status checks reveal an incompatible entry,
copying is not permitted.
Billing document data transfer routines are used to fine tune fields transferred during the
copying process from selected reference documents into the billing document. This is done
via detailed data transfer routines that transfer specific fields and manipulate the values of
others prior to creating the billing document. These data transfer routines are assigned, in
customizing, to the data transfer routine field in the copy rules for billing document type/item
category.
When creating a billing document with reference to existing documents, the system first
checks the copy requirement assigned to the billing document type/item category. If the
requirement is met, then the transfer of data begins from the reference documents into the
billing document. It is in this second step that the billing document data transfer routines
defined here are called.
For example, billing document data transfer routine 1: INVOICE SPLIT (SAMPLE). This
requirement is delivered as a sample to show how the user can fill field 'ZUKRI' with those
fields that should be used as determination criteria for splitting in billing. Perhaps your
company policy dictates that a new invoice should be created for each separate division and
distribution channel, assign this requirement to the appropriate billing item category copy
rule.
LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:
● Analyzing Copy Control for Billing Documents
Unit 3: Copy Control
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