Streamlining mass triggering of correspondence via email in Statutory Reporting

Welcome to our blog post on Business Partner Correspondence in Statutory Reporting. For global businesses operating in many countries, sending withholding certificates to business partners for certain reports is a legal requirement. In this blog, we will explore how you can efficiently manage and send correspondence items to your business partners using the Run Statutory Reports app.

In the world of taxation and financial reporting, withholding taxes play a crucial role for certain countries. Business partners receive withholding tax certificates as proof of transactions. While businesses submit statutory reports to tax authorities, withholding tax certificates are directly shared with the respective partners. These certificates serve as evidence of transactions and facilitate transparent tax compliance.

With Business Partner Correspondence in Statutory Reporting, you can conveniently email or print correspondence items for your business partners. Once you set up the feature, you can send out all the correspondence items, including withholding certificates, to all your business partners collectively for a specific reporting period, effectively saving time and effort.

Maintaining the values using the Manage Business Partner Fiori app for Business Partner Correspondence:

Before we delve into the details of correspondence, it’s crucial to ensure your business partner information is up to date. To get started, follow these steps:

Note: To access the Manage Business Partner app, you must have the business role Master Data Specialist – Business Partner Specialist SAP_BR_BUPA_MASTER_SPECIALIST assigned to you.

1. To get started, Maintain the business partner master data information. For more information on how to do this, refer to the Manage Business Partner Master Data documentation for comprehensive guidance.
2. Log in to your Fiori Launchpad, open the Manage Business Partner app.
3. Select the required business partner and choose Edit.
4. Under the Address tab, in the Standard Address section, provide the necessary address details.
5. In the Standard Communication section, select Preferred Communication as E-Mail and provide the required email address. Save your changes by clicking Save.

Alternatively, you can maintain these details by navigating to Address Details. Here, click Create, navigate to the newly created row, and then enter the following information:

• Address: Enter the required details.
• Contact Information: Under Preferences, maintain Preferred Communication as E-Mail.
• Email: Click Create and enter the required email address.
  Address Usages: Enter the Valid From and Valid To dates and select the Address Type as GCO_TAX.
• After entering or modifying the necessary data, click Apply to save your changes.

Enabling E-Mail Recipients and E-Mail Channel for Business Partner Correspondence:

You can either email correspondence items directly to your business partners or choose the alternative method of printing the documents. However, enabling email correspondence streamlines the process, ultimately saving your time and effort.

To enable email correspondence, follow these steps:

1. Open the Fiori launchpad and access the Maintain Business Partner app.
2. Select the required business partner.
3. Navigate to the Document and Reporting Compliance Address section under the Address Overview tab.
4. Add the necessary address for the business partner.
5. In the Communication section, maintain the recipient’s email address and select the Preferred Communication Method as email.Note: If the email address is not maintained under Document and Reporting Compliance Address, the address will be read from the Standard Address. However, ensure to maintain the preferred communication method as email under Standard Address as well. If it is not maintained as email, then the output will be set to Print by default.

Sending Correspondence to All Business Partners:

The Run Statutory Reports app simplifies the process of sending correspondence items, including withholding tax certificates, to your business partners. Let’s walk through the steps:

1. Open the Run Statutory Reports app from your Fiori launchpad.
2. Select the desired fields for the report and click Go to proceed.
3. Initiate the report generation by clicking on a report generation activity and selecting New Run.
4. Once the report is generated, locate the required report in the Business Partner Reporting section.
5. Select the generated row that contains the correspondence items.
6. Choose the option Send Correspondence to All to send the correspondence items to all business partners.

You can choose to send the correspondence items immediately or schedule the output based on your requirements. Set the date, time, and time zone accordingly to suit your needs.

After triggering the correspondence, monitor the Output Status for updates. The status will change to Output In Process while the correspondence items are being sent. Once all items have been successfully sent, the status will change to Output Completed.

In case of processing errors, the status will change to Output Error. If some correspondence items encounter errors while others are successfully sent, the status will be Output Partially Completed. In both cases, you can resend the correspondence items to business partners using the Send Correspondence to All option.

If you schedule the correspondence output, the status will change to Output Scheduled At. If you need to cancel a scheduled correspondence, you can do so using the Cancel option.

By following the steps outlined in this blog, you can efficiently manage and send business partner correspondence, saving time and effort while ensuring compliance with legal requirements.