Enterprise: ERP, CRM and SAP · Enterprise scenario · Proposed architecture
Sales discount and margin approval (Pricing Exception Management)
A special price request is calculated together with the contract, cost, logistics and payment terms, margin is derived with an approved rule, and the request goes to approval according to the authority matrix. The approved price has a validity period, and only an approval that is still valid is applied to the ERP order.
Who it is for: B2B distributors and companies with large sales teams
Systems: CRM / CPQ, SAP S/4HANA (pricing, cost and sales processes), Approval system
Problem
Discount requests are agreed by email and messages, and margin is calculated in a different spreadsheet every time. When cost or currency changes after approval, the old approval is still used, and nobody can see who approved the order price and under what terms.
How it works today
The sales rep writes the special price to the sales manager, who asks finance for the cost. The agreement stays in email and the price is typed into the ERP order by hand. There is no record of how long the approval is valid.
What this scenario changes
An exception request in the CRM starts the process. Contract, price, cost, logistics and payment terms are collected in parallel, margin is calculated with an approved rule, and the authority matrix determines the approver. AI summarizes the reason for the exception, and the sales manager and finance decide. The approval is tied to a specific version and validity period, terms are checked again when the customer accepts, and the price is applied to the ERP order with an idempotent write.
The integration method is chosen based on the SAP version and the available interfaces.
Process stages
- Special price request: Record the exception request with a justification. Result: Exception request in the CRM
- Contract, cost and terms: Collect all data for the calculation at the same time. Result: Contract price, cost, logistics and payment terms
- Margin and authority matrix: Calculate margin with the approved rule. Result: Margin and the required approval level
- Exception approval: Decision by authorized roles on a specific version. Result: Approved or rejected price. Approval: Sales manager and finance
- Validity period and quote: Set a validity period on the approval and send the quote. Result: Quote with its version and validity period recorded
- Customer acceptance and recheck: Check terms and validity at the moment of acceptance. Result: Unchanged terms and a valid approval
- Applied to the ERP order: Write only a valid approval to the order, exactly once. Result: Sales Order with the approved price
- Result in the CRM: Let the sales team see the price and order status. Result: Exception request linked to the order
Participants
- Sales rep
- CRM / CPQ
- Integration layer
- ERP / SAP
- Sales manager and finance
- Customer
The role of AI
Prepares a short summary for the approver: the reason for the exception, a comparison with earlier quotes, and the risks. It does not set the price or margin and does not make the approval decision.
Rule-based automation
Margin is calculated with an approved rule, and the authority matrix determines the approver. The approval is tied to the data version and validity period; on customer acceptance, cost, currency and validity are checked again. The ERP write is idempotent with an operation ID, and on a timeout the target is checked first.
Human approval and exceptions
The sales manager and finance review the same quote version; in the demo both roles decide in one approval step, and the price is approved only when both agree. If cost or currency terms change after approval, or the validity period ends, the earlier approval is not used. When the retry limit is reached, the integration operator recovers.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have a ready-made SAP integration?
This page shows a proposed architecture and a synthetic demo. How price and cost data are retrieved and written to the order is decided in the project based on the SAP version, active modules and available interfaces.
What happens if the quote changes after approval?
The approval is tied to a specific quote version and validity period. If cost or currency terms change, or the period ends, the old approval is not applied to the order: margin is recalculated and a new approval is required.
Does AI make the discount decision?
No. Margin is calculated with an approved rule, and the sales manager and finance decide. AI only summarizes the reason for the exception and the comparison for the approver.