SAP Document Control


What Is Document Control?

Document control involves enforcing document management standards and organizing documents, information, and data in a consistent, standardized, and controlled manner. It ensures that documents are available for the necessary users, kept up to date, and contain approved and accurate information. Document control is a function of document management.

Document control includes keeping documents that are generated during a product’s lifecycle secure and consistent throughout the entire lifecycle. Businesses can use a content repository like SAP Document Management System (DMS) to ensure documents are stored in a central location and trackable or “controlled” as they move through the various stages of their lifecycle.

Data control is a significant part of document control and one of the benefits of SAP DMS.

Document management capabilities, including document control, are offered as part of SAP’s enterprise content management application, SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management by OpenText.

Several vendors provide DMS solutions that integrate with Docusign to provide document management capabilities.

Icertis offers Icertis Contract Intelligence, a contract management solution that includes a document management component.

What Does a Document Controller Do?

What Is Document Control?

Document control involves enforcing document management standards and organizing documents, information, and data in a consistent, standardized, and controlled manner. It ensures that documents are available for the necessary users, kept up to date, and contain approved and accurate information. Document control is a function of document management.

Document control includes keeping documents that are generated during a product’s lifecycle secure and consistent throughout the entire lifecycle. Businesses can use a content repository like SAP Document Management System (DMS) to ensure documents are stored in a central location and trackable or “controlled” as they move through the various stages of their lifecycle.

Data control is a significant part of document control and one of the benefits of SAP DMS.

Document management capabilities, including document control, are offered as part of SAP’s enterprise content management application, SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management by OpenText.

Several vendors provide DMS solutions that integrate with Docusign to provide document management capabilities.

Icertis offers Icertis Contract Intelligence, a contract management solution that includes a document management component.

What Does a Document Controller Do?

According to Randstad, an SAP customer and global human resources services leader, sitting at the forefront of remote workforce trends, a document controller is a controller responsible for the timely, accurate, and efficient preparation and management of documents. They control the numbering, sorting, filing, storing, and retrieval of both electronic and hard copy documents produced by technical teams, projects, or departments.

Who Needs Document Control?

Document control can provide benefits to any business. It is most commonly implemented in the following:

  • Engineering and construction industries
  • Businesses where documentation requires frequent modifications or updates
  • Companies that hold an ISO 9001 certification
  • Businesses where accessing reliable and updated documents is critical for continuity, compliance, or auditing
  • Businesses where large amounts of documents are produced or exchanged between entities.

 

1209 results

  1. Configure Text Types and Procedures for Your Business Communication

    Published: 01/December/2006

    Reading time: 29 mins

    Understand how to set up text types to communicate with business partners and learn how to configure a text determination procedure. Key Concept Texts, which are associated with business objects, customers, materials, or documents, allow you to attach information to a process for others to see. You can use texts for logistics purposes, such as...…

  2. How to Bolster Your Purchasing Operations with SAP S/4HANA Cloud

    Published: 19/July/2017

    Reading time: 13 mins

    Discover the impact of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud streamlined procure-to-pay business solution on purchasing operations. Learn about the procure-to-invoice process with insight on certain new features. Key Concept SAP S/4HANA Cloud leverages software-as-a-service (SaaS) ERP and uses a role-based applications launchpad powered by SAP Fiori. One of the business solutions within the SAP S/4HANA Cloud...…

  3. Leverage the Benefits of Finance Shared Services with Central Payments Functionality

    Published: 17/August/2018

    Reading time: 10 mins

    In my blog titled “Accelerate Your Finance Shared Services Transformation and Centralized Reporting,” I provided a quick overview of the innovations included in SAP S/4HANA 1709. In this blog, I provide a detailed view of the Central Payments functionality introduced with SAP S/4HANA 1709. This functionality is a key enabler for a central execution of…

  4. How to Use Collective Processing with Business Criteria to Create a Shipment Document

    Published: 30/August/2016

    Reading time: 9 mins

    The creation of a transport (shipment) document represents a very important step in the distribution chain. Generation of this document is based on numerous factors. Learn how using collective processing can help you save time when creating a shipment document. Key Concept Collective processing allows the generation of documents (shipment documents). This functionality enables you...…

  5. Keep Track of Components with the Reuse Library

    Published: 15/July/2006

    Reading time: 10 mins

    The reuse library is enhanced starting with Enterprise Release 4.7, making it a handy mini-knowledge warehouse that can complement other knowledge management tools. Key Concept The reuse library (transaction SE83) has gone through various makeovers in standard SAP R/3. In Release 4.5B it served as central storage for the then new ABAP List Viewer (ALV)....…

  6. SAP Capture Solutions: The First Step in Digital Transformation

    Published: 01/December/2017

    Reading time: 11 mins

    Today, economic conditions are motivating corporations to embrace digital transformation to increase the speed, accuracy, and immediate visibility of their business processes. The digital journey strategy is based on advanced technology and process optimization. The first step in the digital journey is essential for transforming manual data capture to digital capture and ingestion in an…

  7. Optimize Standard Cost Usage and Control from the PPV Variance Drilldown

    Published: 11/November/2011

    Reading time: 19 mins

    Learn how to optimize the tracking of purchase price variance (PPV) in your procure-to-pay business process for better control over its monitoring. Discover the limitations of the SAP ERP Financials system and the different dimensions (e.g., cost component, vendor type, and source of supply) by which you can analyze a PPV. Key Concept The purchase...…

  8. Long exposure of colored light trails in a dark environment representing data flow across enterprise systems.

    IBM is RISE with SAP’s New Hyperscaler Option

    Published: 10/July/2025

    Reading time: 4 mins

    SAP has launched RISE with SAP on IBM Power Virtual Server, enabling existing SAP S/4HANA customers to migrate to SAP Cloud ERP more efficiently while maintaining architectural consistency and reducing complexity, with additional resources and tools from IBM to support the transition.

  9. Accelerate Your Closing Process with mySAP ERP New G/L and New Functions

    Published: 15/June/2006

    Reading time: 14 mins

    Fast period closing enables quick identification, investigation, and elimination of accounting problems. Here’s how to take advantage of mySAP ERP’s new G/L and new functions in accounting for your fastest closings yet. Key Concept In period-end closing, a company compiles information at the end of a fiscal period. Many departments of a company contribute to...…

  10. Two SAP-Enabled R2P Process Controls for Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance

    Published: 01/November/2003

    Reading time: 9 mins

    Requisition-to-pay (R2P) is a key operational process that auditors for Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance will expect to see controls. Fortunately, R/3 Materials Management (MM) has a number of configuration controls that you can use for this purpose. The author explains two, recording purchase requisitions and releasing purchase requisitions, and shows how you might use them in...…