SAP Movement Types Explained: 101, 102, 122, 261 and More

What Are Movement Types in SAP?

In SAP Materials Management (MM), a movement type is a three-digit code that tells the system what kind of inventory movement is happening. Every time material enters or leaves a warehouse, gets transferred between plants, is consumed for production, or is scrapped, a movement type is assigned to that transaction.

Movement types are fundamental to SAP MM because they control three critical things:

• What happens to inventory: Does stock increase or decrease? Is it unrestricted, blocked, or quality inspection stock?
• What accounting entries are posted: Every movement type triggers specific G/L account postings. For example, goods receipt against a PO debits the inventory account and credits the GR/IR clearing account
• What fields appear on the screen: Different movement types show different fields in the MIGO transaction. Some require a purchase order reference, others require a cost center

Understanding movement types is essential for every MM consultant. In interviews, on projects, and in daily support work, you will encounter movement types constantly. This guide covers the most important ones with real examples and accounting entries.

How Movement Types Work

All goods movements in SAP S/4HANA are processed through transaction MIGO (Movement of Goods). In MIGO, you select the action (Goods Receipt, Goods Issue, Transfer Posting, etc.) and the reference document (Purchase Order, Production Order, Reservation, etc.). The system then determines the appropriate movement type, or you can select it manually.

Each movement type has a corresponding reversal movement type. If you make an error, you can reverse the original posting using the reversal movement type. For example, movement type 101 (Goods Receipt) is reversed by movement type 102.

The Most Important SAP Movement Types

Movement Type 101: Goods Receipt Against Purchase Order

This is the most commonly used movement type in SAP MM. When goods arrive at your warehouse against a purchase order, you post a goods receipt using movement type 101. This is a key step in the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) process.

When it is used:

• Vendor delivers material against a standard purchase order
• Goods arrive at the receiving plant and are inspected and accepted
• The warehouse team posts the receipt in SAP via MIGO

What happens in SAP:

• Stock quantity increases in the receiving storage location
• Material document is created (viewable in transaction MB51 or MIGO)
• Accounting document is created with the following entries:

Real example: Your company orders 500 units of raw material (Material: RM-STEEL-001) from Vendor: Tata Steel via PO 4500001234. When the truck arrives at Plant 1000, Storage Location 0001, the warehouse team posts GR using MIGO with movement type 101. The stock of RM-STEEL-001 increases by 500 units, and a GR/IR clearing entry is created for the PO value.

Movement Type 102: Reversal of Goods Receipt (Against PO)

Movement type 102 reverses a goods receipt that was posted with movement type 101. This is used when a GR was posted incorrectly and needs to be cancelled.

When it is used:

• Wrong quantity was posted during goods receipt
• Wrong material was received (vendor sent the wrong item)
• Goods were received against the wrong PO
• Quality inspection reveals the material is defective and the entire receipt needs to be cancelled

What happens in SAP:

• Stock quantity decreases by the reversed quantity
• The original material document is referenced in the reversal document
• Accounting entries are reversed (Inventory Account is credited, GR/IR is debited)
• The PO line item becomes open again for the reversed quantity

Movement Type 122: Return Delivery to Vendor

Movement type 122 is used when you return goods to a vendor. Unlike 102 (which simply reverses the GR), 122 creates a return delivery document and is used when the goods physically leave your warehouse and go back to the vendor.

When it is used:

• Material fails quality inspection and needs to be sent back to the vendor
• Vendor shipped excess quantity and you are returning the extra
• Material is damaged during transit or storage
• Wrong specification material was delivered

Key difference from 102: Use 102 when you are simply cancelling an incorrect GR posting (the goods may not have physically been received, or you are correcting a data entry error). Use 122 when the goods were received, inspected, found to be defective or wrong, and are being physically shipped back to the vendor.

Movement Type 161: Return Delivery to Vendor (For Returns PO)

Movement type 161 is specifically used with return purchase orders (a purchase order that contains a returns item). When you create a returns PO in SAP and then ship the goods back to the vendor, you use movement type 161 to post the goods issue.

Movement Type 201: Goods Issue to Cost Center (Consumption)

Movement type 201 is used when material is consumed directly by a department (cost center) without going through a production order. This is common for consumables, office supplies, MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) items, and indirect materials.

Accounting entries:

Movement Type 261: Goods Issue to Production Order

Movement type 261 is one of the most important movement types in manufacturing environments. It is used when raw materials or components are issued from the warehouse to a production order for manufacturing. This is the movement type that connects MM with PP (Production Planning). In subcontracting, components are provided with movement type 541 (consumption is posted with 543).

When it is used:

• The production floor needs raw materials to start manufacturing
• The Bill of Material (BOM) components are issued to the production order
• Can be done manually (via MIGO) or automatically (backflushing during production confirmation)

Real example: A furniture manufacturer has a production order to make 100 tables. The BOM requires 400 table legs (component material LEG-001) and 100 table tops (component material TOP-001). When production starts, movement type 261 is used to issue 400 legs and 100 tops from the warehouse (storage location 0001) to the production order. The raw material inventory decreases, and the cost is charged to the production order.

Movement Type 262: Reversal of Goods Issue to Production Order

This reverses a 261 posting. Used when components were issued to the wrong production order, wrong quantity was issued, or the production order is cancelled and materials need to be returned to inventory.

Movement Type 301: Transfer Posting (Plant to Plant)

Movement type 301 is used to transfer stock from one plant to another within the same company code. This is a one-step transfer where the stock leaves the sending plant and immediately appears in the receiving plant.

Movement Type 311: Transfer Posting (Storage Location to Storage Location)

Movement type 311 transfers stock between storage locations within the same plant in one step (313 and 315 do it in two steps). Movement type 303, by contrast, is the stock removal step of a two-step plant-to-plant transfer.

Movement Type 309: Transfer Posting (Material to Material)

Movement type 309 is used to reclassify stock from one material number to another. This is used in the following scenarios:

• A material was received under the wrong material number and needs to be corrected
• A generic material needs to be converted to a specific grade after quality inspection
• During material master data cleanup, old material numbers are being replaced with new ones

Movement Type 551: Scrapping

Movement type 551 is used to remove damaged, expired, or unusable stock from inventory. The scrapped material is written off, and the value is posted as a loss.

Complete Movement Type Reference Table

Tips for Working with Movement Types

• Always check MB51 for movement history: Transaction MB51 (Material Document List) lets you see all goods movements for a material, filtered by movement type, plant, date range, and more. This is your go-to tool for investigating stock discrepancies
• Understand automatic account determination: Movement types drive G/L account postings through automatic account determination (transaction OBYC). The transaction key (BSX for inventory, WRX for GR/IR, GBB for offsetting entries) determines which accounts are hit
• Know the difference between 102 and 122: This is a common interview question. 102 is a simple reversal of a GR (no physical movement). 122 is a return delivery where goods physically leave your warehouse
• Custom movement types: SAP allows you to create custom movement types (in the 9xx range or by copying existing ones). This is done in configuration (OMJJ). Common custom movement types include special handling for free goods, samples, or consignment

Next Step: Join our SAP MM training where we practice all movement types hands-on in a live S/4HANA system.