Setting up a Release Strategy for PO : Part 1 (Concepts & Best Practices in SAP ERP)

This article explains the concepts, in setting up a release strategy for PO in SAP ERP. The Part 2 of this article would explain the steps in setting up a release strategy for PO.

Basic Concepts in SAP PO Release Strategy

1. Release Class or Class

A group of characteristics. This set of characteristics is common for all Release Groups

2. Characteristics 

Fields that are used to determine/ trigger the release strategy for PO.

If PO Type for example, is defined as a characteristic, the release strategy is triggered based on the value given (Eg: NB) for this particular characteristic, within the release strategy.

3. Release Group

Logical grouping of release strategies. Could even use a single release group if required. But it’s better to have different groups for ease of identification & management.

For example, Release Group ‘PH’ could be used for POs in Pharmaceutical Business Segment. And Release Group ‘CM’ for POs in Consumer Business Segment

4. Release Code

A unique code assigned to a PO approver. It is advisable to have unique codes for each approver. This improves tractability & would be easy when providing authorizations.

5. Release Indicator

Defines whether a PO could be changed or not after it is approved. Further, it defines the scenarios under which the release is re-triggered.

6. Release Strategy

The Release Strategy of a PO defines the list of approvers for a given purchase & the order in which the approval takes place.

Do keep the below points in mind when setting up a Release Strategy for PO in SAP. These points are based on SAP standards & the best practices of SAP.

Important Points

• Release Strategy for PO could only be configured at header level


• A maximum of 8 approval levels could be configured in a release strategy


• Only a single PO Release Class could be created in the same client – Since we could only have a single release class, all PO release strategies would have a common set of characteristics. It is not possible to have different sets of characteristics for different companies or plants

Example : We cannot set up PO release strategies for the below requirement, since the 2 companies are having different characteristics

Company A	Purchasing Organization, Company Code & Purchase Group
Company B	Purchasing Organization, Company Code,  Purchase Group & Plant

However, we can set up a release for the below requirement since both companies are having the same set of characteristics

Company A	Purchasing Organization, Company Code & Purchase Group
Company B	Purchasing Organization, Company Code & Purchase Group

These are the core concepts that you need to be familiar with, before setting up a Release Strategy for PO. My next article (Part 2), would explain in detail, how a Release Strategy could be configured in SAP.