Background jobs are definitions of programs, printing specification, and interactively can be run automatically by the SAP background processing system. Any program that you can start interactively can be run automatically by the SAP system in the Background jobs. In background processing the system automatically runs the specified program or report at a specified and schedule time without the intervention of the user; even if you can monitor the background job and display results.  

Whenever you log on to the SAP System to perform any task, the R/3 System starts responding. SAP System can be operated in both interactive mode as well as non-interactive mode. In the non-interactive mode you can schedule execution of programs and reports that you need to run without further intervention by you. This mode of working is named Background Processing.

Sophisticate support for the background processing is provided by the SAP System. One can execute both internal and external programs of the SAP system.  You can perform variety of jobs like choosing a variety of methods for scheduling and managing the jobs offer by the SAP System. For ease of access of scheduling and management, within a single background processing job one can execute similar related programs as "job steps;" this allows the single background job to become more complex and have multiple steps.

The system has a number of sophisticated tools for managing jobs and diagnosing problems that occur during the runtime, including a graphic monitor and a powerful and easy-to-use job programming interface for developing your own background-processing applications. The system also provides job scheduling wizard automates basic background job definition.