PO showing up for Release in ME28 even after deletion

[prabhu_sundararaman2]

Hello,

We have POs (doc.type NB) for which different release strategies have been set up.

Due to some business reason, buyer is cancelling the POs after the release is initiated.

(The flags set are delivery completed indicator, final invoice & deletion flag for PO item)

But, these deleted POs are still showing in the ME28 list for release.

This is causing quite a lot of confusion because the persons in the approving hierarchy are not aware of this deletion and are thinking they have to be released.

And the buyer has to inform them to ignore such POs. (Quite often, the approving persons happen to be senior management people)

The worst part is that system allows the concerned approvers to release the deleted POs with their release code.

Is this standard SAP behaviour?

Can something be done to prevent the deleted POs from showing in ME28 list?

On the other hand, is deleting a PO item after release has started, an acceptable business practice?

Should the buyer be advised not to do so? What is the correct business practice?

Regards

Prabhu

[former_member186100 · Accepted solution]

hi ,

Release strategy is at header level in PO and you are marking deletion at item level , don't you think it is still logical to have PO in release if one or 2 line items are marked for deletion. It is not possible for sap to consider PO deleted at header even if all line items are deleted. so yes this is standard functionality.

To avoid above scenario , we generally keep Gross PO amount as characteristic in release strategy and we consider release for amount greater then zero. So in case all items are delete , gross value of PO becomes zero and hence system does not determine a release strategy for it.

Alternatively ,I have seen deletion flag in header table EKKO and it can be updated in MASS processing. I don't think you can set deletion at PO header via ME21N , you could explore it and check if that serves your purpose

[former_member1185750]

Hi , if this problem still exists and if someone looking for solution. please do as below.

ME29N

Open PO which needs to be removed from release strategy.

In release Strategy pane , click REJECT ( Black ink rounded ) and save it will move out of the releases ME28 list

[prabhu_sundararaman2]

Workaround found & problem resolved.

[former_member186100]

Hi Prabhu,

Mind sharing your workaround for the benefit of community

regards

Avinash

[prabhu_sundararaman2]

Hi,

The workaround is little funny but it works..

First undelete the PO item, reduce the PO item amount to a very low value, say Rs.100 for eg., and save. By doing so, the old release is cancelled and a new one is assigned to the PO. Then, reinstate the PO item's original amount and save. Then, mark the items for deletion. This will put the correct Release strategy for the PO, that is inline with the total PO amount.

Cheers.

Prabhu

[Former Member]

Hello Guys,

We had the same problem this week.   We found the users had also set the "Delivery complete Indicator" and/or "final Invoice" flag as well as deleting the PO line.    So we undeleted the PO line, removed the flags and redeleted the PO line.   The EKPO-STAPO flag was then set and the PO no longer appeared in ME28.

Ben

[prabhu_sundararaman2]

Hi Ben,

You are right.

What you explained was the 2nd alternative that I stumbled upon - resetting the delivery completed and final invoice indicators for the PO item - and this option works too.

I feel this option is a better one than playing with the PO amount.

But, will unmarking these indicators have any adverse impact on archiving of POs later on?

Regards

Prabhu

[prabhu_sundararaman2]

And this is the problem:

PO item is deleted after 1st release(L5) is done:

When ME28 is run with L7 release code,

The PO is shown in the release list with status - "release possible".

Why is this happening?

Regards

Prabhu