Solution Order Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2502

[Greg_Hutcheon]

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition kicks off 2025 with a new era of business-empowering, productivity-enhancing and process optimizing innovation – to hear about some of the highlights across the solution, check this video out. As a key part of the Public Cloud ERP, Solution Order Management again delivers new capabilities that help drive increased revenues and growth with optimized solution-based business processes. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the new features being delivered with the 2502 release.

For a brief summary of my top two highlights, take a look at the below video:

Flexible Pricing for Solution Bundles (6BU)

Obtaining higher revenues and growth with solution-based business models results from the ability to combine a range of different types of products in a solution which can be customized and adapted to suit customer needs. A larger scope of more varied offerings could require a high degree of manual input and effort in creating solution orders, so in 2024, we rolled out Advanced Solution Bundling functionality. In a nutshell, solution bundles are pre-configured products consisting of multiple components  packaged together and sold as part of a solution order. To make selling complex & customizable solutions even more efficient, solution bundles are pre-defined and configured in the product master data and can subsequently be added to a solution order, saving solution order specialists time and effort in bundling items. Find out more in this blog post. Revisiting solution bundles in 2502, we have updated them to enable the inclusion of one-time service products which previously weren’t supported with the initial scope.

Notably, with 2502 we have enhanced pricing capabilities to provide greater flexibility to sell items with bundle-specific pricing. Firstly, we have introduced two new price conditions for assigning discounts to solution orders at header level. These define an overall percentage discount based on either the gross amount (price condition type DRG1) or Net amount (price condition type DRN1) of the solution order. The system automatically applies this discount item level, and the discount is applied to all items included in a solution order bundle.

Additionally, we have introduced dedicated pricing for sub-item components within a bundle, increasing flexibility when selling products as part of a bundle or as part of a sales bill of material (BOM) within a bundle. Reflecting whether an item is included in a bundle, this new capability enables you to sell an item at a specific price instead of the standard product price. To support this, new price condition types are now available for solution orders, which can be configured and adjusted in the Manage Prices app in SAP S/4HANA Cloud:

• PSBP (Bundle Price) – For bundle sub-items that are charged as a one-time fee, such as sales and service items.
• PSMB (Monthly Bundle Price) – For bundle sub-items that are billed periodically, such as service contract items.
• PSSK (Sales BOM Price) – For sub-items that are part of a sales BOM within a solution bundle.

When an item is added to a solution order as part of a bundle or sales kit, the system automatically determines its price, and the corresponding price condition type is displayed under the price details tab in the item view. Once the solution order is released, the pricing details are carried forward to all follow-up transactions, ensuring a seamless process and reducing manual effort and input errors when handling complex solution bundles with varied pricing structures.

This feature provides greater flexibility in defining pricing strategies for solution selling and enables businesses to offer a broader and more differentiated portfolio of solution orders, ultimately helping to improve business margins. To ensure the new price condition types are available, make sure to update your reference content to the latest version.

Take an in-depth look at the new pricing parameters for solution bundles in the below demo.

Subscription Billing Enhancements (4GT)

Next, we’ll explore the integration between Solution Order Management and SAP Subscription Billing, where we’ve introduced several key enhancements with the 2502 release. These updates are designed to improve the efficiency of creating, modifying, and managing subscription products within solution orders.

With this release, additional fields have been introduced in Solution Order Management to provide greater flexibility and control over subscription-based offerings. When opening the details view of a subscription billing item in a solution order, you will now see a new checkbox named "Create Subscription as Pending." This feature allows the solution order specialist to control the exact timing of subscription activation. If the checkbox is left unchecked, the original activation setting from SAP Subscription Billing will remain in effect, ensuring seamless integration with the existing configuration. However, if the checkbox is selected, the specialist can override the default setting, providing more control over subscription lifecycle management.

Additionally, a new header section for "Subscription Terms" has been introduced. This section enables users to adapt and modify the default subscription terms defined in SAP Subscription Billing directly within Solution Order Management. By doing so, businesses can manage subscription conditions more effectively and govern the entire lifecycle of follow-up subscriptions without requiring separate modifications in the billing system.

 New fields have also been introduced within the billing section, to further enhance flexibility in subscription sales. These include:

• Billing Cycle and Billing Cycle Reference Date, which help determine how and when the system schedules billing, allowing for better alignment with business requirements.
• Additional fields that provide the option to define whether recurring charges should be billed together or waived, giving businesses more options when structuring subscription pricing models.

 Several further fields that were previously only available in SAP Subscription Billing are now reflected in Solution Order Management. These include:

• Withdraw Period End Date
• Minimum Term End Date
• Expected Term End Date
• Expected Term Extension
• Subscription Pricing Date
• Waiver Period Number
• Waiver Period Number Unit

These fields will be available across multiple touchpoints, including the UI, API, and, where applicable, in output management and the migration object of the Solution Order.

Additionally, the UI of the Subscription Item has been redesigned to provide a more intuitive user experience. Enhancements include:

• Two new assignment groups for terms and billing information, allowing for a more structured and logical organization of subscription data.
• A more meaningful assignment of both existing and new subscription fields to their respective assignment groups.
• Improved presentation of negative charges, making it easier to identify and interpret these amounts.
• Better visualization of recurring prices, ensuring greater clarity in pricing details.

Finally, to round out these improvements, we have added a new column in the Price Calculation View table called "Recurrence." This column indicates the frequency at which recurring charges are billed, making it easier for users to track and manage subscription-based pricing directly from the solution order interface.

With these enhancements, Solution Order Management now offers greater flexibility and control over subscription-based sales, improving efficiency and reducing manual effort when managing complex billing structures. The improved UI and expanded field availability ensure a more streamlined and user-friendly approach to subscription pricing and lifecycle management.

Click the video below to watch an overview of the new Subscription Billing features delivered with 2502:

 New API v4 for Solution Orders(4GT)

SAP S/4HANA Cloud has taken a major step forward in solution order management with the introduction of a new OData V4-based API. This enhancement brings improved performance, efficiency, and integration capabilities, making it easier than ever to manage solution orders effectively.

One of the biggest advantages of this new API is its optimized communication efficiency. By leveraging OData V4, it reduces data transfer payloads and enhances request handling, resulting in faster processing times and lower resource consumption. This translates to quicker response times and a more streamlined user experience.

Additionally, the API supports full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality, allowing users to efficiently manage solution order items. While individual items within an order can be modified or removed, solution orders themselves remain protected from deletion, ensuring data integrity and maintaining order history.

Contract Accounts in Solution Orders (4GT)

A key new feature introduced in the 2502 release is the support for FI-CA contract accounts in Solution Orders. FI-CA (Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable) in SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a specialized subledger designed for high-volume billing, invoicing, and receivables management.

With the integration of contract accounts into solution orders, the system retrieves contract account details from the defined payer role and posts the billing information to the FI-CA ledger for further processing. When a payer has a contract account assigned, the system automatically selects it; however, if multiple contract accounts exist for the payer, a popup screen allows users to choose the relevant account from a list.

Contract accounts are maintained both at the header and item levels of the solution order, supporting sales and subscription items. In CFD1 release 1 of 2502, this scope will expand to include service contract items. Notably, different contract accounts can be defined at the header and item levels, allowing for different contract accounts for each solution in cases where multiple solutions are sold in a single order.

When the solution order is released, the specified contract account information is transferred to follow-up documents, which are then processed for billing. Once invoicing is completed, the document is posted to the FI-CA subledger for accounts receivable and payable. From there, users can leverage central contract accounting functions for payment handling, collection management, or clearing open items. The integration of contract accounts into solution orders in SAP S/4HANA Cloud enhances financial management by enabling precise billing, streamlined payments, and improved oversight through the FI-CA component.

This enhancement centralizes all financial transactions related to solution orders under a single contract account, simplifying tracking and reporting. It also automates billing, improving accuracy, reducing manual effort, and helping prevent invoicing discrepancies. Additionally, supporting contract accounts provides a comprehensive view of customer transactions, speeding up the resolution of any billing or payment queries.

Feedback of Reference Equipment for Service Order Items (4GT)

A central use case of solution order is selling related products under a single order efficiently and with minimal manual input. Supporting this, in 2024 we introduced equipment linkage for service contract items to be associated with a physical good in a solution order. With 2502, we expand this functionality to support non-recurring service items to be linked.

At its core, equipment linkage ensures that when the post goods issue is processed for a sales item, the equipment ID and its corresponding serial number are automatically transferred to the associated service. This is particularly beneficial for serialized physical goods, where every unit has a dedicated equipment ID linked to it during the post goods issue. This association is achieved through Reference Objects, which act as a bridge connecting sales items to their respective services. This automation not only reduces errors but also enhances operational efficiency, ensuring that service activities are well-aligned with the relevant product equipment data.

The link between items is created when you establish an item relationship of "One-Time Service for" or "One-Time Service by" between the sales item and the service item in the solution order. This relationship facilitates the effortless transfer of the equipment number, along with its serial number, from the sales item to the service item. It ensures that all related services are comprehensively equipped to proceed.

The below screenshot shows the item relationship being maintained for a one time service in Solution Order Management. The entire process mirrors the process for equipment linkage for service contracts, which you can see here.

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Sign up for following features through the limited Promotion for AI-assisted Features in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (for all countries, customers, and partners): 

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More Information 

To catch up with the full scope of Solution Order Management features from previous releases, plus further deep-dive content on Solution Business related topics, check out my collection blog.

Watch the Replays of Our SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2502 Early Release Series!    

Between January 21 and January 24, we conducted a series of 21 engaging live sessions to showcase the thrilling innovations included in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2502 release. If you missed the live sessions, don't worry! You can still access the whole series or select the sessions that interest you the most. Seize this opportunity to watch them on demand at your convenience – anywhere, anytime.   

   

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