The fundamental difference between the "Sell from Stock" and "Free of Charge Delivery" processes in SAP S/4HANA Sales is the Sales Document Type. This document type is the primary control element for the entire transaction. It dictates the subsequent process flow, including the determination of item categories, pricing procedures, delivery relevance, and billing relevance. A "Sell from Stock" process uses a standard sales document type (e.g., OR) configured for revenue-generating transactions, leading to a standard invoice. Conversely, a "Free of Charge Delivery" uses a specific sales document type (e.g., FD) configured for non-revenue transactions, which results in no billing or a pro-forma invoice.

A. Delivery document type: The delivery document type is proposed based on the sales document type. While it can be different, it is a consequence, not the primary cause of the process difference.

B. Billing type: The billing relevance and the specific billing document type are determined by the sales document type and the item category. This is an outcome of the initial process choice.

C. Picking document type: Picking is a warehouse management activity within the delivery process and does not have a controlling document type that defines the overall sales scenario in this context.

1. SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Public Edition 2402 Documentation

SAP Best Practices Explorer:

Scope Item BD9 (Sell from Stock): The process flow is initiated by creating a sales order with the standard sales document type 'OR'.

Scope Item BDG (Free-of-Charge Delivery): This process is initiated by creating a sales order with the specific sales document type 'FD'. This demonstrates that the sales document type is the initial and defining element that separates the two processes.

2. SAP Help Portal

SAP S/4HANA

Sales Document Types: "The sales document type categorizes the sales documents and is the most important control element for a sales transaction... For example

the sales document type determines... which billing types are proposed for billing." This confirms the sales document type's role as the primary controller for the entire transaction

including subsequent documents like billing.

3. SAP Learning Hub

Course S4600 (Business Processes in SAP S/4HANA Sales)

Unit 3: Sales Document: This course material explains that the sales document type is a key organizational element in sales processing that controls which fields are required

which partner functions are used

and how the system processes the transaction

including proposing subsequent delivery and billing documents. The choice between a standard sale and a free-of-charge delivery is made at this initial step.