🔍 How to Delete a Business Partner (BP) in SAP

When you use SAP, you sometimes need to delete a BP (Business Partner) that was created for testing or by mistake. Simply deleting a BP is trickier than it sounds, and in SAP it is removed from the system through an archiving process rather than a plain "delete."

In this post I walk through the whole process of deleting, via archiving, a BP that has no Customer/Vendor role, one step at a time.

✅ Step 1: Set the deletion flag (BUPA_PRE_DA)

To delete a BP, you first need to set an archiving flag on it. Use one of the following two methods.

• Run transaction BUPA_PRE_DA or program BUPA_PREPARE_DA
• Or open the BP transaction, go to the "Status" tab and set the archiving flag manually (※ only possible if the system is not a CRM system)

✅ Step 2: Start archiving with SARA

Now start the actual archiving through transaction SARA.

1. Run transaction SARA
2. Enter archiving object: CA_BUPA
3. Click [Write] → create a variant (e.g. ZTEST)
4. Enter the BP number and choose general data or company code data
5. Run in Test Mode first → if there are no problems, run in Production Mode
6. Set [Spool Parameters] and [Start Date], then save and execute
7. Check the status in Job Overview
8. In the spool, double-click the ABAP list: if you see the "archived successfully" message, it was processed correctly

✅ Step 3: Delete from the archive file (Deletion)

Once archiving has completed successfully, run the deletion.

1. Go back to the SARA screen and click [Delete]
2. Select the archive file created in the previous step (shown in the job result)
3. Set the Start Date and Spool Parameters again
4. Go to [Customizing] → Archiving Object-Specific Customizing → Technical Settings

One of the most common errors at this point is the message below.

Message No. BA058 – "No variants have been maintained for the delete program."

In that case, you need to do the following:

• In transaction AOBJ, select CA_BUPA → open Delete Program Settings (Test/Production Mode)
• Create a test variant SAP&TEST and a production variant SAP&PROD
• Maintain the required values in each variant and save

After that:

1. Run the delete job with the variant you created
2. Check the status in Job Overview → if it succeeds, the BP is completely removed from the system

🧩 Other tips

• Related programs: BUPSELG0, BUPSELG5
• The BP to be deleted must not be linked to a Customer/Vendor. If it is, delete that role first and then proceed.
• If a job fails, check the settings under SARA > Customizing.

🔗 References

• SAP Note 2599676 – BUPA_DEL is obsolete
• SAP Note 3384030 – Content Repository error
• SAP Help – CA_BUPA Archiving Guide

Deleting a BP is not something you finish with a few button clicks. You have to follow the job runs, variant maintenance, spool settings and Customizing carefully to get through without errors. I hope this post helps when you need it at work.