Customer-Vendor Integration (CVI) is a mandatory step when upgrading to SAP S/4HANA, as SAP replaces traditional customer (KNA1) and vendor (LFA1) master records with the Business Partner (BP) model. This integration ensures that all customer and vendor data is aligned with SAP’s new Business Partner framework, which consolidates master data across Finance (FI) and Logistics (LO) modules.
Why is CVI Required in HANA Upgrade?
- Business Partner (BP) as a Single Master Record
- In SAP S/4HANA, customers and vendors must be maintained as Business Partners (BP).
- Each BP can have multiple roles (e.g., FI Customer, FI Vendor, Supplier, etc.) to represent different business functions.
- Simplification of Data Model
- KNA1 (Customer) and LFA1 (Vendor) tables are no longer directly maintained.
- BP enables a unified data structure across different modules.
- Mandatory for Finance and Procurement
- The BP model is tightly integrated with FI (Financial Accounting) and MM (Materials Management).
- Transactions such as invoicing, procurement, and payment processing now reference BP records.
