The New Extensibility Model from the S/4HANA Sales Perspective

[Stanislaw_Stefanowski]

Extensibility in SAP S/4Hana follows a new model, often referred to as "Clean Core Extensibility." The new approach is outlined in the guide Extend SAP S/4HANA in the cloud and on premise with ABAP based extensions . The model is built on three main pillars - Key user extensibility, Developer extensibility, and Side-by-Side extensibility.

Source: sap.com

In this blog, I would like to focus on the new extensibility model from the S/4HANA Sales perspective (formerly known as the Sales & Distribution module) and compare new functionalities with the "classic" enhancement options well known from previous SAP releases.

The comparison goes beyond what is currently classified as extensibility by SAP, as some functions are now delivered out of the box in S/4HANA (for example, flexible workflows, flexible document numbering, etc.). However, in previous SAP versions, these were typically delivered as enhancements or WRICEF objects. Therefore, they are included here to provide a broader picture of the functionalities in S/4HANA that can reduce the need for enhancements and system modifications.

In this article, I aimed to include the most important and commonly used functionalities from the SD perspective. Naturally, it does not cover all features, whether from the classic or new extensibility perspectives.

Table 1 provides a mapping between classic and new extensibility solutions, along with additional comments on the advantages and/or limitations of the new tools. To improve readability, the content has been divided into different application areas.

Table 1: Classic vs New Extensibility in S/4Hana Sales (based on S/4Hana 2023 release).

Application area	Classic extensibility	New extensibility	Comments (new extensibility)
Data model and UI extensibility	Several enhancements necessary: Manual table appends (VBAK / VBAP / VBRK / VBRP / LIKP / LIPS, etc.), Manual screen modifications, User exits for PBO and PAI modules.	Custom Fields functionality. Business context available: Sales: Sales document Sales: Sales document item Sales: Billing document Sales: Billing document item Shipping: Delivery Shipping: Delivery item Sales: Customer Material	Easy to use, smoothly integrated with other functionalities such as reporting, output management, API / BAPI extensions etc. No ABAP coding required.
Sales documents approval	Custom workflows or user exits to block sales documents, request and process approvals.	Flexible Workflows for sales documents: Workflow for sales order Workflow for sales contract Workflow for sales quotation Workflow for credit memo requests	Delivered out of the box. Easy to customize in Fiori apps, without technical knowledge about the workflow technology.
Custom logic during sales documents processing	User-exists (includes MV45AFZ*, MV50AFZ*, RV60AFZ*, etc.), classic BADIs, enhancement points, and implicit enhancements.	Custom Logic functionality (so called Cloud BADIs), mainly: SD_SLS_MODIFY_HEAD_BUSINESS SD_SLS_MODIFY_ITEM_BUSINESS SD_SLS_MODIFY_ITEM LE_SHP_MODIFY_HEAD LE_SHP_MODIFY_ITEM	Only restricted ABAP language (ABAP for Key users) available in the app "Custom Logic". Technically, BADIs from the "Custom logic" app can be  implemented in a classic way using SE19 transaction.  Classic user exits are still available in S/4Hana On-premise and Private Cloud, but they are not considered as "clean core" solutions.
Data validation in sales documents	User-exists in include MV45AFZZ / MV60AFZB / RV60AFZZ, mainly: USEREXIT_CHECK_VBAK USEREXIT_CHECK_VBAP USEREXIT_CHECK_VBEP USEREXIT_CHECK_VBKD	Custom Logic functionality (BADIs): SD_SLS_CHECK_HEAD SD_SLS_CHECK_BEFORE_SAVE SD_SLS_CHECK_ITEM SD_SLS_CHECK_DELETE_ITEM	The same as in the point above.
Data transfer between documents (for custom fields)	Data transfer routines (VOFM) assigned in the copy control settings.	Business Scenarios in the Custom Fields application, for example: Sales Document to Billing Document on Header Level, Delivery to Billing Document on Header Level, Many more scenarios available.	No ABAP coding required.  Custom fields are automatically created in related objects when the business scenario is activated.
Field Catalog for Pricing - extensions with custom fields	Manual appends to structures KOMKAZ and KOMPAZ + user exits implementation (USEREXIT_PRICING_PREPARE_TKOMK and USEREXIT_PRICING_PREPARE_TKOMP)	Custom Fields application.  Business context: Sales: Pricing Communication Head Sales: Pricing Communication Item	Seamlessly integrated with custom fields on header / item level of sales documents by activating relevant business scenarios.
Field Catalog for Revenue Account Determination - extensions with custom fields	Manual appends to structures KOMKCV and KOMPCV + user exits implementation (USEREXIT_ACCOUNT_PREP_KOMKCV and USEREXIT_ACCOUNT_PREP_KOMPCV)	Custom fields application. Business context: Sales: Account Determination Header Sales: Account Determination Item	Seamlessly integrated with custom fields on header / item level of sales documents by activating relevant business scenarios.
Number range determination for sales and billing documents	Custom tables to store number ranges assignment based on predefined conditions + user exits implementation (USEREXIT_NUMBER_RANGE / USEREXIT_NUMBER_RANGE_INV_DATE)	Standard, configurable functionality, delivered out of the box: Flexible billing document numbering Flexible sales document numbering	Configurable number ranges without ABAP coding (coding possible with dedicated BADIs if more complex logic is required).
Enhancements for the SD-FI integration in billing process	Enhancements SDVFX001 - SDVFX011.	Partially covered by the Flexible Billing Document Posting functionality, within the scope: Baseline date determination,  Reference number determination,  Accounting document type determination,  Negative posting indicator, Posting block set.	Only a small part of the SD-FI integration enhancements is currently covered.

Conclusion:

SAP S/4HANA offers a wide range of functionalities that simplify the implementation of customer enhancements and reduce the need for system modifications. Some of these features - especially Custom Fields, Flexible Workflows, and Flexible Document Numbering - significantly streamline the implementation.

In the on-premise and private cloud editions, classic extensibility options are still available, though they are not recommended from a clean-core perspective. However, this does not mean they can no longer be used. They still play an important role, particularly in custom logic scenarios where cloud BADIs remain limited in terms of functional coverage.