LFA1: Vendor Master (General Section)

LFA1 is the general section of the vendor (supplier) master. It stores data shared across all company codes and purchasing organizations: vendor name, address, country and account group. Company-code data is kept in LFB1 and purchasing-organization data in LFM1.

Primary key

LIFNR

plus the client field

Module

Fields in this reference

How the LFA1 key works

The primary key is MANDT plus LIFNR. Vendor numbers use the ALPHA conversion exit and are stored with leading zeros when they are numeric.

LFA1 fields

Field	Type / data element	Length	Description
🔑MANDT	CLNT	3	Client
🔑LIFNR	LIFNR	10	Vendor Number
NAME1	NAME1	35	Name 1
LAND1	LAND1	3	Country Key
ORT01	ORT01	35	City
STRAS	STRAS	35	Street Address
KTOKK	KTOKK	4	Vendor Account Group

This is a curated subset of the most commonly used fields, not the complete table definition. A real system contains more fields and can differ by release and customizing, so confirm the definition in transaction SE11 before relying on it.

Example ABAP SELECT for LFA1

" Open SQL applies the client (MANDT) automatically, so it is not part of the WHERE clause.
DATA lv_lifnr TYPE lfa1-lifnr.

SELECT name1, land1, ort01
  FROM lfa1
  WHERE lifnr = @lv_lifnr
  INTO TABLE @DATA(lt_lfa1).

Modern Open SQL with host variables (ABAP 7.40 and later). Need a different field list or conditions? Build it in the ABAP SELECT Builder.

LFA1 in SAP S/4HANA

In SAP S/4HANA vendors are maintained through the business partner (transaction BP). Customer/Vendor Integration keeps LFA1 in sync, so read LFA1 for vendor-specific data but create and change master data through the business partner.

Tables related to LFA1

EKKO (joined on LIFNR): Purchasing documents issued to the vendor.
LFB1 (joined on LIFNR): Company-code data, including payment terms and the reconciliation account.
LFM1 (joined on LIFNR): Purchasing-organization data of the vendor.

Practical tips for LFA1

KTOKK (vendor account group) controls the number range and which fields are mandatory. It is often used to separate one-time vendors from regular ones, but check how your system is configured.
Payment terms are company-code specific and live in LFB1, not in LFA1.
As with customers, central address data is stored in ADRC and referenced from LFA1.

LFA1 FAQ

What is the primary key of LFA1?

MANDT and LIFNR.

Where are the payment terms of a vendor stored?

Not in LFA1. Payment terms are company-code specific and stored in LFB1 (field ZTERM). Terms agreed with a purchasing organization are in LFM1.

Keep exploring

SAP Table Field Lookup: search all 28 tables and their fields.
SAP BAPI Explorer: find the BAPI that creates or changes this data.
CDS View Generator: expose these tables through a CDS view.