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Sales Contracts: Quantity Contract and Release Orders (VA41)

The sales-side outline agreement: a quantity contract fixes a customer's yearly volume and price; each call-off is a sales order created with reference to it, which updates the contract's open quantity. Value contracts work the same way with an amount.

Educational content. SAP behaviour varies by configuration and release. Spotted something off? Report it.

Digital twin

Docs
SAP DOCUMENTSVisualization of Sales Contracts: Quantity Contract and Release Orders (VA41). All information shown in the scene is also available in the caption and the panels next to it.
Demo data

01Agree a quantity contract

Contract 40000010: 1000 EA over a year at ₹1,900. No delivery, no billing.

Business scenario

Demo Retail commits to 1,000 EA of FG-2000 over the year at a contract price of ₹1,900. In October it calls off 200 EA.

All companies, numbers and documents are fictional demo data.

Step-by-step flow

  1. 01

    Agree a quantity contract open in twin

    Contract 40000010: 1000 EA over a year at ₹1,900. No delivery, no billing.

    It secures volume and price; demand comes later as release orders.

  2. 02

    The customer calls off 200 EA open in twin

    The customer orders 200 EA. How is the order created?

    That is how SD tracks consumption and copies the agreed price.

  3. 03

    Contract not consumed open in twin

    Without reference the order prices at list price, and the contract still shows 1,000 EA open.

    Contract reporting and the customer's agreed price are both wrong.

  4. 04

    Create the release order open in twin

    Release order 10000330: 200 EA at ₹1,900. Contract open: 1000 → 800.

    VA43 / the document flow shows released and open quantities.

  5. 05

    Deliver as usual open in twin

    200 EA ship with a standard delivery and goods issue.

    The contract never ships anything itself.

  6. 06

    Contract partly called off open in twin

    200 of 1000 EA called off. A value contract would track ₹ instead of EA.

    Value contracts can cover a range of materials up to a total value.

SAP documents

Drag to pan · Ctrl + scroll to zoom

Stock impact

StepPlant / SLocStock typeMvTChange
Deliver as usual1000 / 0001Unrestricted use601−200 EA

Accounting impact

Goods issue

Typical

Deliver as usual

  • Dr Cost of goods sold (GBB/VAX)₹2,40,000
  • Cr Inventory — finished goods (BSX)₹2,40,000

Standard COGS posting.

Typical conceptual flow. Actual G/L accounts and posting behaviour depend on material valuation, automatic account determination and system configuration.

Movement type

  • 601GI for deliveryReversal: 602

Agrees long-term volumes or values with customers and channels each call-off through release orders tracked against the agreement.

Transactions & Fiori apps

  • VA41 — Create Contract
  • VA43 — Display Contract
  • VA01 — Release Order with Reference
  • VL01N — Delivery
  • Manage Sales ContractsAvailability depends on release and scope

Differences by SAP version

VA41 contracts with release orders.

Configuration

  • Contract types

    Typical

    CQ quantity contract, WK1 general value contract, WK2 material-related value contract — typical delivered types.

  • Copy control contract → order

    Configuration dependent

    Updates the contract and copies price.

Prerequisites

  • Contract types CQ / WK1 / WK2
  • Copy control from contract to order type

Master data

Customer
Sold-to of the contract.

Organizational structure

  • Sales area 1000/10/00

Tables

TableDescription
VBAK / VBAPContracts (document category G) and release orders
VBFARelease orders in the document flow

Integration

  • FIPostings from the release orders' deliveries and billing.

Common errors

  • “Contract open quantity not reduced”

    Likely causes: Order created without reference; Copy control does not update the contract

    Where to look: Document flow · VTAA copy control

Troubleshooting

Something went wrong? Work through these checks in order. They are diagnostic questions, not configuration instructions — confirm changes with your system owner.

  1. CHECK 1

    Release

    • Contract valid?
    • Reference used?

Interview questions

  • Quantity contract vs value contract in SD?

    A quantity contract (CQ) agrees a total quantity of a material; a value contract (WK1/WK2) agrees a total value, possibly across many materials. Both are outline agreements: customers call off with release orders created with reference, which update the contract.

Quiz

Q1 · Multiple choice

What does a sales contract alone trigger?

References

  • SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Outline Agreements in Sales (source)
  • SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Contracts (source)

Explanations are original. They summarize standard behaviour; always validate against your system's release and configuration.

Version history

VersionChange
1.0.0Initial version.