Scenario 5 — Consumable Direct Purchase (Office Supplies NLAG)
📊 Business Case — When & Why You Use This
A consumable direct purchase is for low-value items that are used up immediately and never worth tracking as inventory — office paper, gloves, cleaning supplies, small hand tools. You buy them with a non-stock material (NLAG) and account assignment K, so the very act of receiving them (goods receipt) posts the cost straight to expense on a cost center. There is no inventory, no separate goods issue, and no later consumption step.
🕐 When to use it
Routine office and shop-floor consumables a department buys for itself — stationery, PPE, light bulbs, tea/pantry stock — where stock-keeping would cost more effort than the items are worth.
❓ Why it matters
It keeps the material master and inventory ledger clean. You still get a proper PO and three-way match for control, but you skip valuation, stock counts, and consumption postings for trivial items.
👤 Who triggers it
The using department (here, Finance) raises the PO against its own cost center; the storekeeper or requester confirms receipt; AP invoices. No inventory team involvement.
🔁 The key distinction
NLAG vs ROH. A stocked material (ROH) hits inventory at GR and becomes expense only on a later goods issue. NLAG + account assignment K becomes expense at GR — there is nothing to issue afterward.
💰 Financial Impact — The Easy-Money Example
Finance orders 100 reams of A4 paper @ ₨800 = ₨80,000. Compare this with the stocked-material flow you saw in Scenario 1: there, buying was just an asset swap. Here the expense lands the instant the paper arrives:
The big idea: for a stocked material the expense waits for a goods issue; for an NLAG consumable the goods receipt itself is the expense event. One movement (101) does what two would for stock — it both "receives" and "consumes" in a single posting. MIRO afterward just clears GR/IR against the vendor payable.
🇵🇰 The Business Story
🎯 What you'll learn — NLAG vs ROH, the key difference
- NLAG (Non-stock material) = no inventory tracking. No MBEW, no MARD. Each PO posts directly to expense at GR.
- ROH = stocked, valued. Inventory account hit at GR; consumption posted later via separate GI.
- Use NLAG for low-value items consumed immediately: office supplies, cleaning materials, small parts.
- Account Assignment
K(cost center) is mandatory on every NLAG PO.
| Stock item (ROH) | Trivial consumable (NLAG) | |
|---|---|---|
| Material master | Full — incl. Accounting view (valuation class, price) | Lean — Basic + Purchasing, no Accounting view |
| Valuated? (MBEW) | Yes — value tracked, changes per receipt | No — never valued as an asset |
| Stock count (MARD) | Yes — per storage location | No — not stocked |
| PO account assignment | None (goes to stock) | K (cost center) — mandatory |
| At GR (mvt 101) | Inventory Dr / GR-IR Cr — asset, no cost yet | Expense 410000 Dr (cost center) / GR-IR Cr — cost now |
| Later goods issue? | Yes — a 201/261 makes it expense | None — already expensed at GR |
| Becomes an expense | Later, at goods issue | At GR (receipt = consumption) |
| Invoice (MIRO) | Same for both → GR-IR Dr / Vendor Cr | |
| PO + 3-way match control? | Yes for both — NLAG just skips the inventory overhead | |
That's the "clean ledger" idea: you keep the PO + three-way match (control), but skip valuation, stock counts and the separate consumption posting — because for trivial items the goods receipt is the consumption. Spectrum: ROH (valued+counted) → UNBW (counted, not valued) → NLAG (neither, expense at GR) → service (no material, expense at SES acceptance).
OFFC-PAPER-01 (NLAG, non-stock) — create steps. New to MM01? the why behind every field.
🔧 Step-by-Step
5.1 — Create NLAG Material · MM01
Action:
- MM01 · Material
OFFC-PAPER-01· Industry M · Material TypeNLAG - Views needed: Basic Data 1, Purchasing — no Accounting view (NLAG isn't valued)
- Description: A4 Office Paper 80gsm 500 sheets · Base Unit:
EA - Purch Group:
OFC(or RMT) - Save
5.2 — Direct PO with Account Assignment K · ME21N
- ME21N · Vendor: any local stationer (e.g., create new BP)
- Line 1:
- Account Assignment Category:
K(Cost Center) - Item Category: blank
- Material:
OFFC-PAPER-01 - Quantity:
100EA · Net Price:800PKR - Plant:
PK01
- Account Assignment Category:
- Item Detail → Account Assignment tab:
- Cost Center:
PKADM-FIN - G/L Account:
410000(Office Supplies Expense) — auto-determined from material group or AAC
- Cost Center:
- Save
5.3 — GR with mvt 101 — posts directly to expense (NO inventory)
Key difference: Because material is NLAG + Acct K, GR doesn't hit inventory — it hits the expense G/L directly.
Accounting:
| Office Supplies Expense (410000) | Dr 80,000 | Cost Center: PKADM-FIN |
| GR/IR (191100) | Cr 80,000 | — |
No MMBE entry (no inventory). MB51 still shows the movement record.
5.4 — MIRO — same as standard
Reference PO → balance 0 → Post. GR/IR Dr, Vendor Cr.
🚨 Common Errors
| "Material OFFC-PAPER-01 is non-stock — Account Assignment required" | Add Acct K + cost center on PO line |
| "GBB VBR for VKL not found" | OBYC → GBB → VBR row missing for cost center consumption — add G/L 410000 |
✅ Verification — Confirm Scenario 5 Worked
- MB51 → filter by OFFC-PAPER-01 → the 101 movement record appears (no stock balance)
- MMBE → no stock line for OFFC-PAPER-01 (NLAG isn't valued/stocked)
- S_ALR_87013611 → Cost Center PKADM-FIN shows the 80,000 expense debit
- FBL3N → G/L 410000 (Office Supplies) debit; GR/IR cleared after MIRO
🎓 Interview-Ready Answers
Q: What is the difference between NLAG and ROH material types?
ROH is a stocked, valued raw material — it has Accounting views (MBEW), hits an inventory G/L at goods receipt, and becomes expense only on a later goods issue. NLAG is a non-stock material with no valuation and no MARD/MBEW — every purchase posts directly to expense at GR via mandatory account assignment. Use NLAG for low-value items consumed on arrival.
Q: Why does the goods receipt for an NLAG item post no inventory?
Because the PO line carries account assignment K (cost center) and the material is non-stock, SAP treats receipt as immediate consumption. Movement 101 debits the expense/consumption G/L (410000) on the cost center and credits GR/IR — there is no inventory account and no MMBE stock to update.
Q: How is the expense G/L determined on a consumable PO?
Through OBYC transaction key GBB with general modification VBR (consumption to a cost center), combined with the material group / valuation, which resolves to the consumption G/L (here 410000). If that VBR row is missing you get a "GBB VBR not found" error at GR.