Dunning

Purpose
Sometimes your business partners may fall behind on payments. You can send them a
payment reminder or a dunning notice to remind them of their outstanding debts.
The SAP System allows you to dun business partners automatically. The system duns
the open items from business partner accounts in which the overdue items create a
debit balance. The dunning program selects the overdue open items, determines the
dunning level of the account in question, and creates a dunning notice. It then
saves the dunning data determined for the items and accounts affected.
You can use the dunning program to dun both customers and vendors. It may be
necessary to dun a vendor if he or she has a debit balance as a result of a credit
memo. If a customer is also a vendor, you can offset the account balances against
one another.
The dunning program is also used in Real Estate Management.
Implementation Considerations
If you wish to use the automatic dunning procedure, you have to make settings in
the following places before using the system and while it is operational:
• In Customizing for Financial Accounting (IMG)
• In the master data for your customers or vendors
• When you post documents
See also Settings for Dunning: Overview
Once you have decided in which countries you wish to use the automatic dunning
procedure, adjust your settings to meet the country-specific business requirements.
In the USA, for example, debtors are not usually dunned. In Customizing, you can
make company code-specific settings so that the fields for dunning are hidden for
the company code USA.
You use the following attributes to control the dunning program, and you can
configure them according to the needs of your company:
• Dunning procedure
The dunning procedure controls how dunning is carried out by the system. You can
define as many dunning procedures as you like.
• Dunning levels
The dunning levels are calculated based on the number of days open items are in
arrears. You can also have the system calculate the dunning levels based on the
dunning amount or a percentage paid (sales-related dunning level determination).
You can determine more than one dunning level per dunning procedure.
• Dunning areas
A dunning area is an organizational unit within a company code used for the dunning
process.
A dunning area can be a division or a sales organization. You assign a dunning area
to an open item when you are posting. You can dun items separately by dunning area.
Features
The SAP System allows you to use either the automatic dunning program, which duns
all overdue items in accordance with your selection criteria, or, if required, you
can dun individual customers or vendors (see Individual Dunning Notices).
You have the following options and functions for dunning:
Payment deadline, interest on arrears, and dunning charges You can enter a specific
payment deadline in the dunning notice, as well as interest on arrears and dunning
charges (both calculated by the dunning program).
Dunning currency If all the open items in an account have been posted in the same
currency (either local currency or a foreign currency), the dunning program uses
this currency. Otherwise, the dunning program uses the local currency of the
company code. The items are displayed in document currency in the dunning notice,
and the totals in local and foreign currency.
Cross-company code dunning You can combine the overdue items for one customer or
vendor from several company codes in one dunning run, and issue the items in one
dunning notice.
Dunning for head office/branch relationships If your customer or vendor has both
a head office and branch offices, dunning notices are sent to the head office.
However, you can also send dunning notices to the branch offices.
Dunning one-time accounts You can dun a one-time account just like any other
business partner account. All the items for a one-time account that have the same
address are grouped in one dunning notice. The dunning date and level are updated
in the item, not in the account master record.
Dunning history The dunning history provides you with information on all of the
dunning runs you have executed and the dunning notices you have sent (overdue
items, dunning totals, and so on). If required, you can also select by account
type, company code, and/or customer or vendor.
For more information about the special functions in the automatic dunning program
see Special Functions in Dunning.

Dunning Procedure for Lease-Outs

Purpose
For dunning outstanding rent receivables on the level of the or main contractual
partner (customer).
The dunning procedure for the lease-out is based on the dunning program of the
Financial Accounting (FI) application component.
You can make Real Estate-specific settings in Customizing for Financial Accounting
as well as in Real Estate to control the dunning activities in rental accounting.
In particular, you can make settings under Dunning grouping by lease-outs and
Special treatment for incoming payment methods in such a way that:
a. Documents or master records with the incoming payment method have to be
dunned
b. Dunning blocks on lease-outs have to be observed
c. The main contractual partners of the lease-out (master tenant with customer
account or subsidizer) and any other business partners (such as guarantors) have to
be dunned
d. The dunning run does not update the highest dunning level of an open item in
the customer of a lease-out, but places this information on the lease-out itself
( Example: Dunning Grouping of Lease-out).
For further information, refer to the documentation of the Financial Accounting
(FI) component on Dunning.
Prerequisites
Default settings in Customizing for Financial Accounting and R/3 Real Estate
The following settings have to be made for the dunning program:
Financial Accounting R/3 Real Estate
• Dunning procedure (dunning interval, grace days, dunning levels)
• Dunning charges
• Dunning letters/forms
• Dunning grouping by lease-outs (Financial Accounting  Accounts Receivable
and Accounts Payable  Business Transactions  Dunning  Dunning Procedure  Define
Dunning Groupings) Settings for special treatment of real estate (to determine
which incoming payment methods are dunnable)

Process Flow
I Editing the master record of the lease-out or tenant with customer account
1. Make the following settings in the master record:
Lease-out Contracting Partner with Customer Account
Settings for:
• Dunning block
• Dunning area
• Dunning procedure Assignment of dunning grouping (Business partner master
data screen: Goto  Company code data  Dunning data, Grouping key field).
1. Activate the lease-out and carry out the debit position.
As a result of the debit position, the following information relevant for the
dunning program is copied to the document:
a. Incoming payment method
b. Dunning area
c. Dunning block
d. Contract number
II Starting dunning program in Financial Accounting
Start or schedule the dunning program in Financial Accounting.
Result
The documents are handled the same way as in Financial Accounting:
Without R/3 Real Estate special treatment With R/3 Real Estate special treatment
Dunning is carried out for all items that have no dunning block and
• No incoming payment method in the item or customer master record
• Have an incoming payment method but also a payment block Dunning is carried
out for all items that have no dunning block and
• No incoming payment method in the item or customer master record
• Have a payment method in the item that is identified as dunnable in
Customizing for Real Estate (=special treatment)
• And are identified as being dunnable in Customizing
Dunning notices are sent only to customers Dunning notices are sent to
customers and partners flagged for dunning

Individual Dunning Notices

You can use individual dunning notices to dun individual customers or vendors.
Prerequisites
Ensure that you have made all of the settings required in Customizing and in the
business partner data (see Settings for Dunning: Overview).
Features
The program only checks the account of the business partner concerned for items to
be dunned and issues a dunning notice where required.
You can also carry out cross-company code dunning for business partners (see Cross-
Company Code Dunning).
Activities
1. From the SAP Easy Access Menu, choose Accounting  Financial accounting 
Accounts receivable/Accounts payable  Periodic processing  Dunning.
The Dunning screen appears.
2. Choose Individual dunning notice.
3. Enter data as required.
Dunning Process
Purpose
The automatic dunning program runs according to the dunning process described
below. It enables you to regularly check your ledgers for overdue receivables, and
then create payment reminders for these business partners.
Prerequisites Ensure that you have made all of the system settings required (see
Settings for Dunning: Overview).
Process Flow
The dunning process consists of several sub processes that must be carried out in a
specific order (see figure below).

Creating Dunning Proposals (1)

Start the dunning program and enter the company codes for the dunning run. You can
restrict the selection to specific accounts. During the dunning run, the dunning
program determines the accounts and items that must be dunned, the dunning level,
and all other details required for dunning. The dunning program creates a dunning
proposal list. The dunning proposal list can be created as often as required since
the dunning data for the item and in the account is not updated until the dunning
notices have been printed.
Only those accounts that contain a dunning procedure in the master record are
included in the dunning run.
Editing Dunning Proposals (2)
You can edit the dunning proposal as follows:
• Set dunning blocks
• Reset dunning blocks
• Change dunning levels
Printing Dunning Notices (3)
The print program prints the dunning notices. At the same time, the relevant
dunning data is stored in the items and the master record of the business partner.
The dunning forms and texts that you use must be defined or adapted before the
dunning run is executed. You determine the items and accounts to be dunned and the
dunning texts when you configure the dunning program. This involves defining rules
governing how the program determines the data it needs.
Settings for Dunning: Overview
The SAP Financial Accounting component is delivered with the dunning procedure and
all further specifications for dunning. Check whether you can use the predefined
settings or whether you have to make changes. Assign the required dunning
procedures and areas (if used) required to your business partners.
Note that some settings are company code-specific. If you do not use the company
code keys delivered with the system, you must change the standard entries or make
your own entries.
You can make the settings for the dunning program when you implement the system;
you can however still change them at a later date. You make the system settings in
three places:
• In Customizing (IMG) or the application
o In the IMG for Financial Accounting, choose Accounts Receivable and Accounts
Payable  Business Transactions  Dunning.
o In the SAP Easy Access Menu, choose Accounting  Financial accounting 
Accounts receivable/Accounts payable  Periodic processing  Dunning.
• In the master record for your customer or vendor
In the SAP Easy Access Menu, choose Accounting  Financial accounting  Accounts
receivable/Accounts payable  Master records  Create or Change then Company code
data  Correspondence.
• In the document (optional settings)
In the SAP Easy Access Menu, choose Accounting  Financial accounting  Accounts
receivable/Accounts payable  Document  Change.
For more information about configuring the dunning program, see the Implementation
Guide for Financial Accounting under Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable 
Business Transactions  Dunning.
The following table gives an overview of the settings required:
Settings Initial access Menu path
Dunning Program Dunning area (optional) IMG Dunning ... Basic Settings for
Dunning  Define Dunning Areas
Application Dunning ... Environment  Change configuration 
Environment  Dunning areas
Dunning keys IMG Dunning ... Basic Settings for Dunning  Define
Dunning Keys
Application Dunning ... Environment  Change configuration 
Environment  Dunning keys
Dunning block reason (optional) IMG Dunning ... Basic Settings for
Dunning  Define Dunning Block Reasons
Application Dunning ... Environment  Change configuration 
Environment  Dunning block reasons
Dunning procedure with
- Dunning interval
- Dunning levels
- Minimum days in arrears
- Interest
- Known/negotiated leave IMG Dunning ... Dunning Procedure  ...
Application Dunning ... Environment  Change configuration 
Environment  ...
Company code data:
- Dunning per dunning area
- Dunning per dunning level
- Reference company code
- Dunning company code IMG Dunning ... Dunning Procedure  Define Dunning
Procedure, then Environment  Company code data.
Application Dunning ... Environment  Change configuration 
Environment  Company code data
Dunning forms and payment media IMG Dunning ...  Printout  ...
Dunning data in the customer master record (or vendor master record) - Dunning
procedure
- Dunning area
- Alternative dunning recipient (optional)
- Accounting clerk for dunning (optional)
- Grouping key (optional) Application Master data ... Correspondence tab, and
screen area Dunning data...
Head office-branch processing (optional) ... Correspondence tab and
screen area Correspondence  Decentralized processing
Document - Dunning block
- Dunning key Application Document ... Screen area Additional details
Creating Dunning Proposals
Purpose
During the dunning run, the dunning program determines all customer (and vendor)
items and accounts for which dunning notices can be issued. This is the basis of
the dunning proposal.
The dunning proposal is output in the form of a list that contains all items and
accounts for which dunning notices can be issued (that is, they are overdue). The
list is sorted according to account and dunning level.
You can process the dunning proposal further.
Prerequisites
Make sure that you have made the settings for the following features:
• Dunning procedure
• Company code data
• Dunning data in the customer master record (or vendor master record)
• Blocking of open items (if required)
• Dunning parameters
For more information about preparing and starting the dunning run, see Setting
Dunning Parameters and Creating Dunning Proposals.
Setting Dunning Parameters
Before you can start the dunning run, you have to enter dunning parameters. You use
these parameters to define when, for which period, which company code, which
business partners, and so on should be considered by the dunning program.
Procedure
1. From the SAP Easy Access Menu, choose Accounting  Financial accounting 
Accounts receivable/Accounts payable  Periodic processing  Dunning.
The Dunning screen appears.
2. Enter the following data:
• Date of execution
Enter the date for which the dunning run should be executed.
• Identification
Enter an alphanumeric key that uniquely identifies the dunning run.
This is particularly useful if you schedule several dunning runs for the same day.
1. Choose the tab Parameters.
Here, you can either enter dunning parameters, or copy the parameters from a
previous dunning run (choose ). Otherwise, enter the following data:
• Dunning date
Enter the date to be printed on the dunning notices.
This date is then the basis for calculating the days in arrears. For example, if
you run the dunning program on Friday, but want to calculate the days in arrears up
until Monday, enter Monday's date in this field.
• Documents posted up to
Enter the date up to which documents should be considered in the dunning run. The
deciding factor is the posting date of the document. Invoices that you post after
this date are not considered.
• Company code
Enter the company codes that you want to dun.
• Account restrictions (optional)
If you want to restrict dunning to specific customers or vendors, enter the
required data. You thereby restrict the number of accounts to be dunned.
To clear items with each other from a business partner that is both a customer and
a vendor, enter both account numbers. The dunning program then determines a joint
balance (see Clearing Customers and Vendors).
1. You can make further restrictions to the dunning run. Choose the tab free
selection.
You can enter up to eight additional selection criteria for accounts and documents.
You can use fields from tables BSID, BSIK, KNA1, KNB1, KNB5, LFA1, LFB1, and LFB5
as selection criteria. You can assign values to these fields, and include or
exclude those values during the search.
The system expects the entries to be made either as a list of individual values,
for example, value 1, value 2, value 3, or as a list of intervals, such as (from
value 1, to value 1), (from value 2, to value 2). However, you can enter individual
specifications and intervals at the same time. A comma must separate them, and no
blanks should be used. Set intervals between brackets - (" "). Specify individual
values using the defined field length; do not omit leading zeros.
Selections for the dunning run
Field name KNA1-PSTLZ
Values (67000,67999)
Values 69190
Exclude values O
Field name BSID-WRBTR
Values (1000,10000)
Values
Exclude values O
Field name BSID-BELNR
Values (140005645,150000000)
Values
Exclude values X
In addition to the parameters on the parameter screen, the above-mentioned settings
also restrict the dunning run in the following way: From the chosen customers, only
those who live in postal code area 67000 and 67999, and those from the city with
postal code 69190 are included in the dunning run. Documents are then only included
if the amount in document currency is between 1000 and 10000 currency units.
Documents within the document number interval 140005645 and 150000000 should not be
included in the dunning run.
2. Save your entries and then choose the Status tab.
Here, the system displays the current status of the dunning runs.
You have the following display and evaluation options:
• Log
Once the system has carried out the dunning selection, you can check the log to see
whether errors occurred. Choose Log.
• Dunning list
You can also look at the list of accounts and open items to be dunned by choosing
Dunning list.
• Dunning statistics
To call up the dunning statistics, or the lists of the blocked accounts or blocked
items, choose Goto and then Dunning statistics, Blocked accounts, or Blocked line
items.
Creating Dunning Proposals
The dunning program creates a dunning proposal.
You can also print dunning notices at the same time.
Prerequisites
Make sure that you have defined all of the required dunning parameters.
Procedure
1. On the Dunning screen, choose Schedule.
2. To start the dunning run immediately, select the Start immediately field.
To schedule the dunning run, enter the start date and time.
If you want to print the dunning notices straight away or schedule them, you can no
longer edit the dunning proposal. For more information, see Editing Dunning
Proposals
If you want to be able to edit the dunning proposal, you should carry out printing
separately. For more information, see Printing Dunning Notices
3. To have the dunning notices printed after the dunning run, select Dunn. print
with scheduling?
4. Choose Schedule.
Result The system outputs a list with all items that are overdue and can be dunned.

Determining the Accounts and Items to be Dunned

This function determines the accounts and business partners to be dunned, and the
items that are overdue.
Features
The system determines the accounts and items to be dunned in two steps. Firstly,
the dunning program checks the accounts and the items.
Processing the Accounts
The dunning program checks whether an account needs to be dunned as follows:
• It checks the fields Dunn. procedure (dunning procedure) and Last dunned
(date of last run) in the customer master record to determine whether the arrears
date or the date of the last dunning run lies far enough back in the past.