101MMME31KME21Nintermediate

Purchasing Contract and Release Orders (ME31K, Quantity vs Value Contract)

An outline agreement fixes price and terms for a year; each actual purchase is a release order created with reference to it. The contract tracks how much has been called off, so purchasing sees consumption and buyers cannot drift to unagreed prices.

Educational content. SAP behaviour varies by configuration and release. Spotted something off? Report it.

Docs

Demo data

01Agree a quantity contract

Contract 4600000100: 1000 EA at ₹1,000 for a year. No goods are ordered yet.

Business scenario

Purchasing agrees with Demo Supplier Ltd. to buy 1,000 EA of RM-1000 over the year at ₹1,000. The first release order calls off 300 EA.

All companies, numbers and documents are fictional demo data.

Step-by-step flow

01
Agree a quantity contract open in twin
Contract 4600000100: 1000 EA at ₹1,000 for a year. No goods are ordered yet.
It locks in price and conditions; actual demand comes later as release orders.
02
Demand for 300 EA open in twin
Planning needs 300 EA. How should the buyer order them?
That reference is how the contract knows it is being used.
03
Maverick buying open in twin
A standalone PO does not consume the contract. Purchasing loses sight of the commitment, and the price may differ from the agreed one.
Source lists can make the contract mandatory to prevent exactly this.
04
Create the release order open in twin
Release order 4500003100: 300 EA at the contract price. Contract open quantity 1000 → 700.
Price and terms are copied; the contract's release documentation (ME33K) records the call-off.
05
Goods receipt open in twin
300 EA received against the release order: stock 100 → 400.
The contract is never received against directly.
06
Contract partly consumed open in twin
Released 300 of 1000 EA. A value contract would track ₹ instead of EA.
Both give purchasing visibility of commitment and spend against the agreement.

SAP documents

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Stock impact

Step	Plant / SLoc	Stock type	MvT	Change
Goods receipt	1000 / 0001	Unrestricted use	101	+300 EA

Accounting impact

Goods receipt for the release order

Typical

Goods receipt

Dr Inventory — raw materials (BSX)₹3,00,000
Cr GR/IR clearing (WRX)₹3,00,000

Exactly as for any PO.

Typical conceptual flow. Actual G/L accounts and posting behaviour depend on material valuation, automatic account determination and system configuration.

Movement type

101GR for release orderReversal: 102

Fixes long-term prices and terms with a supplier and channels actual purchases through release orders that are tracked against the agreement.

Transactions & Fiori apps

ME31K — Create Contract
ME33K — Display Contract (release documentation)
ME21N — Create Release Order
MIGO — Goods Receipt

Manage Purchase ContractsAvailability depends on release and scope

Differences by SAP version

ME31K/ME32K/ME33K.

Configuration

Agreement types MK (quantity) and WK (value)
Typical
Delivered standard types; release documentation tracks call-offs.
Source list with fixed contract
Configuration dependent
Makes the contract the mandatory source for a period.

Prerequisites

Supplier and material/material group
Agreement types MK/WK

Master data

Source list: Can point MRP and buyers to the contract.

Organizational structure

Purchasing organization 1000 (demo)
Plant 1000

Tables

Table	Description
EKKO / EKPO	Contracts and release orders (different document categories)
EKAB	Release documentation for contracts

Integration

FIPostings come from the release orders.

Common errors

“Contract shows no consumption”
Likely causes: POs created without reference
Where to look: ME33K release documentation · PO item outline agreement field

Troubleshooting

Something went wrong? Work through these checks in order. They are diagnostic questions, not configuration instructions — confirm changes with your system owner.

CHECK 1
Release
- Is the contract valid on the PO date?
- Is the target quantity exceeded (warning or error)?

Interview questions

Quantity contract vs value contract?
A quantity contract (MK) fixes a target quantity for a material; a value contract (WK) fixes a total value, often across several materials or a material group. Both are outline agreements called off by release orders (POs with reference), whose consumption is recorded in the contract's release documentation.

Quiz

Q1 · Multiple choice

What is a release order?

A PO created with reference to a contractAn RFQA goods receipt

References

SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Contracts (Outline Agreements) (source)
SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Release Orders (source)

Explanations are original. They summarize standard behaviour; always validate against your system's release and configuration.

Version history

Version	Change
1.0.0	Initial version.