How To Fix 5A488 - & not deleted/delimited because subordinate objects still exist

5A488 - Overview

• Message type: E = Error

• Message class: 5A - Basis Personnel Management

• Message number: 488

• Message text: & not deleted/delimited because subordinate objects still exist

An object (organizational unit, position...) is to be deleted
completely or is to be deleted on a certain date ("delimited"). There
are still dependent objects that are related to the object.
Example:
positions are still assigned to an organizational unit or
an organizational unit or cost center is assigned to an organizational
unit or
a person or user is assigned to a position.
In these cases, deleting or delimiting is not supported.

The system issues an error message and will not allow you to continue with this transaction until the error is resolved.

System Response

Deletion is not carried out.

How to fix this error?

Delete, move or delimit all subordinate objects (organizational units,
positions, master cost centers and so on).

Procedure for System Administrators

Error message extract from SAP system. Copyright SAP SE.

Smart SAP Assistant

• What is the cause and solution for SAP error message 5A488 - & not deleted/delimited because subordinate objects still exist ?

  The SAP error message 5A488 typically indicates that an attempt to delete or delimit an object (such as a master data record) has failed because there are subordinate objects or dependent records that still exist. This is a common issue in SAP systems where data integrity is enforced, meaning that certain records cannot be deleted if they are still referenced by other records.
  
  Cause:
  The error occurs when:
  
  You are trying to delete or delimit a master data record (like a customer, vendor, or material) that has dependent records (like transactions, orders, or other related data).
  The subordinate objects could be:
  Open purchase orders or sales orders linked to the master data.
  Transactions that reference the master data.
  Other dependent records that are still active or not archived.
  
  
  
  
  Solution:
  To resolve this error, you can follow these steps:
  
  
  Identify Subordinate Objects:
  
  Use transaction codes like SE11 (Data Dictionary) or SE16 (Data Browser) to check the database tables related to the object