Andrea Hölzlwimmer
Optimizing Value Flows with SAP
®
ERP
Bonn
Boston
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Contents at a Glance
1 Introduction ................................................................ 17
2 The Concept of Integrated Value Flows ...................... 25
3 Basic Principles of Integration in SAP ERP ................. 41
4 Procurement Process ................................................... 85
5 Sales and Distribution Process ................................... 159
6 Production Process ..................................................... 221
7 Closing and Reporting in SAP ERP .............................. 299
8 Reporting with SAP NetWeaver BW .......................... 353
9 Optimizing Value Flows by Implementing the
SAP General Ledger — A Real-Life Example ............... 379
A Sample Closing Procedure Document ......................... 401
B Transactions and Menu Paths ..................................... 407
C The Authors ................................................................. 425
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7
Contents
Acknowledgments ....................................................................... 13
Foreword ..................................................................................... 15
1 Introduction ................................................................. 17
1.1 Content and Structure ................................................... 18
1.2 Lederwaren-Manufaktur Mannheim .............................. 20
2 The Concept of Integrated Value Flows ...................... 25
2.1 Explanation of the Term “Integrated Value Flow .......... 25
2.1.1 Value Flow ....................................................... 26
2.1.2 Integration ....................................................... 28
2.2 Models for Representing Enterprise Processes ............... 30
2.2.1 Porter’s Value Chain Model .............................. 30
2.2.2 SCOR Model .................................................... 31
2.3 Extending the SCOR Model .......................................... 36
2.4 Interaction Between Process Design and
Controlling Approach .................................................... 37
2.5 Summary ...................................................................... 39
3 Basic Principles of Integration in SAP ERP ................. 41
3.1 Structure of SAP Systems .............................................. 42
3.2 Entity Model ................................................................. 43
3.2.1 Organizational Elements in the SAP System ...... 44
3.2.2 Organizational Elements and Enhancements
of the Standard SAP System ............................. 51
3.2.3 Excursus: The SAP General Ledger and
Changes to the Organizational Structure ........... 52
3.3 International Requirements ........................................... 53
3.3.1 Parallel Accounting using the Classic
General Ledger ................................................. 54
3.3.2 Options of the SAP General Ledger for the
Parallel Rendering of Accounts ......................... 56
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Contents
3.4 Value Flow-Oriented Master Data Concept ................... 58
3.4.1 General Ledger Account and Cost Element ....... 59
3.4.2 Chart of Accounts ............................................. 63
3.4.3 Material Master ................................................ 65
3.4.4 Requirements Class .......................................... 71
3.5 CO-PA as a Central Reporting Tool ................................ 73
3.5.1 Forms of CO-PA ............................................... 74
3.5.2 Structure of Costing-Based CO-PA .................... 75
3.6 Summary ...................................................................... 83
4 Procurement Process ................................................... 85
4.1 Procurement Process in the SCOR Model ...................... 86
4.2 Vendor Master as an Integrative Element ...................... 89
4.3 Purchase Order as the Basis of the
Procurement Process .................................................... 92
4.3.1 Purchase Requisition ........................................ 92
4.3.2 Purchase Order ................................................ 92
4.4 Updating Commitments ................................................ 98
4.5 Integration of MM and Financial
Accounting/Controlling ................................................. 104
4.5.1 Basic Settings ................................................... 105
4.5.2 Valuation Class Settings .................................... 109
4.5.3 Determining Transactions ................................. 114
4.5.4 Rebuild Process for Account Determination ...... 123
4.6 Goods Receipt .............................................................. 128
4.7 Invoice Verication ....................................................... 130
4.7.1 Invoice Verication Process .............................. 131
4.7.2 Considering Tolerances ..................................... 138
4.7.3 Automatically Releasing Blocked Invoices ......... 141
4.8 GR/IR Account .............................................................. 142
4.8.1 Posting to the GR/IR Account ........................... 142
4.8.2 Clearing the GR/IR Account .............................. 143
4.9 Integration of Accounts Payable Accounting ................. 147
4.9.1 Invoice Receipt Without MM Integration ......... 148
4.9.2 Outgoing Payments .......................................... 149
4.10 Mapping the Tax on Sales/Purchases ............................. 154
4.11 Summary ...................................................................... 157
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9
Contents
5 Sales and Distribution Process .................................... 159
5.1 Sales and Distribution Process in the SCOR Model ........ 160
5.2 Sales Order as the Basis of Further Account
Assignment ................................................................... 162
5.2.1 Prot Center Derivation ................................... 163
5.2.2 Deriving a Segment .......................................... 164
5.3 Price Determination as the Basis of Value
Determination .............................................................. 166
5.3.1 Conditions and Costing Sheet ........................... 166
5.3.2 Price-Determining Elements ............................. 170
5.3.3 Costing-Based Elements ................................... 173
5.3.4 Special Business Transactions ............................ 175
5.4 Goods Issue .................................................................. 178
5.5 Presentation of Receivables .......................................... 182
5.5.1 Customer Account ............................................ 183
5.5.2 Determining the Reconciliation Account .......... 186
5.5.3 Integration of SD and Accounts Receivable ...... 193
5.5.4 Mapping of Secondary Businesses .................... 194
5.5.5 Dunning ........................................................... 195
5.5.6 Incoming Payment ........................................... 196
5.6 Mapping Sales Revenues ............................................... 204
5.6.1 Time of the Revenue Recognition ..................... 204
5.6.2 Presentation of Sales Revenues ......................... 205
5.6.3 Transfer to Overhead Cost Controlling .............. 216
5.6.4 Troubleshooting for Revenue Account
Determination .................................................. 218
5.7 Summary ...................................................................... 219
6 Production Process ...................................................... 221
6.1 Production Process in the SCOR Model ........................ 223
6.2 Basic Product Cost Controlling Data .............................. 225
6.2.1 Logistical Master Data ...................................... 225
6.2.2 Prerequisites in Controlling ............................... 229
6.2.3 Basic Product Cost Controlling Settings ............ 231
6.3 Product Cost Planning ................................................... 241
6.3.1 Types of Product Cost Planning ........................ 241
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Contents
6.3.2 Material Cost Estimate with
Quantity Structure ............................................ 244
6.3.3 Simulation and Base Planning Object ............... 251
6.4 Cost Object Controlling ................................................ 257
6.4.1 Cost Object Controlling Functions in SAP ERP ... 257
6.4.2 Period-End Closing ........................................... 262
6.4.3 Period-Related Product Controlling .................. 281
6.4.4 Order-Related Product Controlling ................... 287
6.4.5 Product Cost by Sales Order ............................. 292
6.5 Summary ...................................................................... 297
7 Closing and Reporting in SAP ERP .............................. 299
7.1 Innovations in SAP General Ledger ............................... 300
7.1.1 Activating Different Scenarios ........................... 300
7.1.2 Effect of Real-Time Integration of Controlling
with Financial Accounting ................................ 302
7.2 HR Data Transfer ........................................................... 312
7.3 Inventory ...................................................................... 315
7.4 Activities in Asset Accounting ....................................... 317
7.4.1 Settlement of Assets Under Construction .......... 317
7.4.2 Depreciation Posting Run ................................. 320
7.4.3 Periodic APC Values Posting ............................. 323
7.4.4 Asset Accounting Inventory .............................. 324
7.4.5 Technical Processing ......................................... 324
7.4.6 Creating the Asset History Sheet ....................... 325
7.5 Period Control .............................................................. 326
7.5.1 Period Closing for the Material Master ............. 327
7.5.2 Opening and Closing Posting Periods ............... 327
7.6 Foreign Currency Valuation ........................................... 329
7.7 Reclassication of Receivables and Payables .................. 333
7.8 Value Adjustment to Receivables .................................. 334
7.9 Balance Carryforward .................................................... 335
7.10 Manual Postings ........................................................... 336
7.11 Assessments and Distributions ...................................... 338
7.12 Reconciliation ............................................................... 341
7.12.1 Accounting Reconciliation ................................ 341
7.12.2 Intercompany Reconciliation ............................ 342
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Contents
7.12.3 Reconciliation Between Financial Accounting
and Inventory Management ............................. 343
7.12.4 Reconciliation Between Financial Accounting
and Controlling ................................................ 344
7.13 Reporting ..................................................................... 345
7.13.1 Reporting in General Ledger Accounting .......... 345
7.13.2 Reporting in Open Item Accounting ................. 349
7.13.3 Reporting in Controlling ................................... 349
7.14 Summary ...................................................................... 351
8 Reporting with SAP NetWeaver BW ........................... 353
8.1 Basic Principles of Business Intelligence ........................ 353
8.1.1 Business Explorer Suite—Reporting with
SAP NetWeaver BW ......................................... 361
8.1.2 Business Content .............................................. 364
8.2 Data Acquisition Examples ............................................ 369
8.2.1 Financial Reporting .......................................... 369
8.2.2 Protability Analysis ......................................... 373
8.3 Summary and Outlook .................................................. 378
9 Optimizing Value Flows by Implementing the
SAP General Ledger — A Real-Life Example ............... 379
9.1 Project Charter .............................................................. 379
9.1.1 Preliminary Considerations ............................... 380
9.1.2 Actual Project Scope ........................................ 384
9.2 Project Plan .................................................................. 385
9.2.1 Project Plan ...................................................... 387
9.2.2 Test Phases ....................................................... 388
9.3 Redesigning Value Flows ............................................... 391
9.3.1 Concept for Segment Derivation ....................... 391
9.3.2 Value Flows in the Procurement Process ........... 393
9.3.3 Value Flows in the Sales Process ....................... 394
9.3.4 Value Flows in Financial Accounting and
Controlling ....................................................... 396
9.4 Project Review .............................................................. 397
9.5 Summary ...................................................................... 397
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12
Contents
Appendices ........................................................................ 399
A Sample Closing Procedure Document ..................................... 401
B Transactions and Menu Paths ................................................. 407
B.1 Controlling .................................................................... 407
B.1.1 Application ...................................................... 407
B.1.2 Customizing ..................................................... 410
B.2 Financial Accounting ..................................................... 413
B.2.1 Application ...................................................... 413
B.2.2 Customizing ..................................................... 416
B.3 Materials Management ................................................. 419
B.3.1 Application ...................................................... 419
B.3.2 Customizing ..................................................... 419
B.4 Production .................................................................... 421
B.4.1 Application ...................................................... 421
B.4.2 Customizing ..................................................... 422
B.5 Sales and Distribution ................................................... 422
B.5.1 Application ...................................................... 422
B.5.2 Customizing ..................................................... 423
B.6 SAP NetWeaver BW – Customizing in SAP ERP ............. 424
B.7 Miscellaneous ............................................................... 424
C The Authors ........................................................................... 425
Index ............................................................................................. 429
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85
Three critical processes run in an enterprise. This chapter analyz-
es the rst important process, the purchasing process. You should
not underestimate its signicance, because the products you gen-
erate can only be as good as the materials you purchase.
Procurement Process4
The focus of business value added is usually on production, which requires
various input factors such as material and labor. From the logistics perspec-
tive, the procurement process should provide the correct input factors in
the correct quality and quantity at the correct location at the correct time.
Although the tasks of procurement can be summarized in a plain and sim-
ple sentence, it comprises numerous aspects. This chapter discusses the
different aspects of the procurement process as well as the related effects
on the enterprise’s value ows.
First, it describes how the procurement process is integrated with the
operational performance. In this context, the extended SCOR model plays
a signicant role. Afterward, you learn how to statistically update and
trace commitments in cost accounting during the procurement process to
allow for early budget controlling. Additionally, this chapter focuses on
account determination from Materials Management (MM account deter-
mination) because this considerably affects the interface between logistics
and accounting. The descriptions on the goods receipt and invoice receipt
then lay the foundation for discussing “genuine” value ows.
The explanations on mapping and further processing the resulting pay-
ables in accounting conclude the integration with logistics. Usually, the
payables are what are called payables for goods and services (PGS). An out-
look on the closing process rounds off this chapter.
We will now take a look at the steps and different design options in the
procurement process. For this purpose, the adapted SCOR model from
Chapter 2, Section 2.2.2 is used again as an example.
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86
4
Procurement Process
Procurement Process in the SCOR Model4.1
Within the SCOR model the “purchasing” part (source) that comprises the
ordering process and warehouse management is also the part that includes
the procurement process. Depending on the production approach, the
SCOR model differentiates between three basic procurement process types
(see Figure 4.1).
Procurement
Scheduling
Goods Receipt
Goods
Receipt
Quality
Check
Stocked
Goods
Sales-Order-
Related
Production
Engineer-to-
Order
Production
* Not Part of the Original SCOR Model.
Release
of the
Payment
Scheduling
Goods Receipt
Goods
Receipt
Quality
Check
Release
of the
Payment
Vendor
Selection and
Scheduling
Goods
Receipt
Quality
Check
Placement
in Storage
Payment*
Release
of the
Payment
Placement
in Storage
Placement
in Storage
Payment*
Payment*
Procurement Process in the Adapted SCOR ModelFigure4.1
As you can see, we added the payment process to the standard model (see
Figure 2.5 in Chapter 2, Section 2.2.2, SCOR Model). Regarding logistics,
it would be sufcient to consider the process complete after the payment
for the invoice has been released. However, because this book focuses on
the value ow, it is supposed to guide you through the complete ow, that
is, up to paying the vendor invoice.
In addition to this aspect, Figure 4.1 shows that the SCOR model differ-
entiates between three procurement process types, which depend on the
organization of the production:
Procurement for make-to-stock production
Procurement for sales-order-related production
Procurement for projected sales-order-related production
It is apparent that the three process types only differ in the rst module.
For make-to-stock production and sales-order-related production, the pur-
chasing department is responsible for scheduling the goods receipt in the
SCOR model
Process types in
the SCOR model
Vendor selection
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87
Procurement Process in the SCOR Model 4.1
continuous process. For project production, this also includes the task of
selecting the vendor, which also needs to be done for the rst two pro-
cess types. The difference is that selecting the vendor is only necessary
for make-to-stock and sales-order-related production if new or modied
products are used. For continuous replenishment orders, the purchasing
department usually collaborates with known vendors with whom outline
agreements may have been worked out.
For us, it is not relevant if and to which extent the purchasing department
has to select the corresponding vendors for individual ordering processes
because this does not generate value ows. It is also not important what
kind of event has triggered the purchase requisition: reaching a minimum
amount of raw materials in stock, a sales order, or the completion of proj-
ect planning. From the perspective of accounting and cost accounting, this
is not a transaction you can express in values.
However, the process type affects the procedure in cost accounting. This
involves the question of which objects are used to assign the accounts for
purchase orders, goods receipt, and invoice receipt. For more information,
refer to Section 4.3.2, Purchase Order.
You already know that vendor selection is not relevant for the value ow.
You can take adequate measures in cost accounting only if a purchase req-
uisition or a purchase order is being created. You can now account the
open purchase requisitions to possible existing budgets to be able to iden-
tify overruns at an early stage.
In most cases, the goods receipt is the rst event you have to include in the
nancial statement. Here, you must post a receipt in stock or, for goods
that are not subject to inventory management, an expense. From the logis-
tics view, the goods receipt consists of several substeps. After you have
received the goods, you have to check the quality of the procured goods
or repack them until they can be stored. From the accounting and cost
accounting view, only the process of entering the stock in the system is rel-
evant because it results in Financial Accounting and Controlling postings.
In an SAP system, you usually do not post the goods receipt to payables
but to the goods receipt/invoice receipt account (GR/IR account). Received
invoices are also posted to this account. This means that it serves as a buf-
fer between the two processes (goods receipt and invoice receipt) and
consequently enables you to separate the ow of goods from the value
ow. This also provides additional benets, which are discussed in detail
in Section 4.8, GR/IR Account. It is not until the vendor invoice is received
Reducing budgets
for purchase orders
Goods receipt
Invoice receipt
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88
4
Procurement Process
and posted that the open item is created in accounts payable accounting.
Depending on the specic case, you must additionally post currency dif-
ferences or other deviations.
The open item is usually cleared within a payment run. From the account-
ing perspective, this is the last operation of the value ow in the procure-
ment process.
The different stages of the procurement process may lead to values in
Financial Accounting and Controlling. Figure 4.2 provides an overview of
the possible documents.
MM
FI
Goods Receipt Doc.
Stock Posting
Invoice
Payable
Tax
Expense/Stock
CO
CO-OM Document
– Update
Commitment
CO-OM Document *
Material Costs
Ordering Process Goods Receipt Invoice Receipt Outgoing Payment
CO-OM Document *
Material Costs
Outgoing Payment
Cash Disbursement
Clearing of the
Payables
CO-OM Document *
Cash Discount
Expense
Reduction
Goods Receipt Doc.
Stock Posting
Stock Change
* Optional
Invoice Receipt
in MM
Value Flow of the Procurement ProcessFigure4.2
The updates of commitments within the ordering process takes on a spe-
cial role in Figure 4.2. Here, in contrast to all other processes, only statistic
values and no actual values are updated.
Before discussing the details of the procurement process, we will take a
look at the involved master data. First, there is the material master. Because
it is not only critical in procurement but also in production and sales and
distribution, it was already described in Chapter 3, Section 3.4.3, Material
Master. The use of the vendor master, which is detailed in the following
section, is usually restricted to the procurement process. It is indispensable
for both logistics and accounting.
Outgoing
payments
Creation of values
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89
Vendor Master as an Integrative Element 4.2
Vendor Master as an Integrative Element4.2
To meet the different requirements of the purchasing department and
accounts payable accounting, the SAP system splits up the vendor master
into three parts:
General part
Accounting view
Purchasing data
For every vendor for which the system should map business relationships,
at least the general part must be created. This part stores all information
that is relevant and clear for both the purchasing department and account-
ing. Here, you can nd the vendor number, the name and address of the
vendor, the corresponding tax information as well as all bank details. The
benet is that you have to maintain the bank details only once, even if the
vendor exists in several company codes.
In the accounting view, you maintain all data based on the company code.
The example of the reconciliation account clearly illustrates the benet of
this procedure.
The reconciliation account is the link between accounts payable account-
ing and general ledger accounting. In general ledger accounting, it maps
the payables. As soon as a posting is made for a vendor, the posting is also
implemented on the reconciliation account in general ledger accounting
(see Figure 4.3).
In the example, an invoice of EUR 1,190.00 shipment costs (gross) from
vendor 90100 is received. To generate a posting to the vendor account, a
reconciliation account must to be dened in the vendor master to ensure
integration with the general ledger. In this case, account 160000 is speci-
ed in the vendor master. If you now specify the vendor number when
entering the incoming invoice, the system generates a posting item of
EUR 1,190.00 on the vendor account and on reconciliation account 160000.
For an offsetting account assignment to the input tax account and freight
account, the document in the general ledger balances to zero. In accounts
payable accounting, only the open item for vendor 90100 in the amount
of EUR 1,190.00 is shown.
General part
Accounting view
“Reconciliation
account” example
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90
4
Procurement Process
Accounts Payable Accounting
General Ledger Accounting
Customer: 90100
Reconciliation
Account: 160000
Invoice Receipt: EUR 1,190.00 for Delivery Costs
160000 PGS 154000 Input Tax
Vendor 90100
231100 Freights
EUR 1,190.00
EUR 1,190.00
EUR 1,000.00EUR 190.00
Posting Techniques for Reconciliation AccountsFigure4.3
A typical structuring for the mapping of payables in general ledger account-
ing is the following:
Payables for goods and services, third-parties, domestic
Payables for goods and services, third-parties, foreign
Payables for goods and services, afliated enterprises, domestic
Payables for goods and services, afliated enterprises, foreign
Because you maintain the reconciliation account separately for each
company code, this differentiation can be made without any problem.
Additional accounting view data includes the terms of payment and the
payment method. The accounting terms of payment are only relevant if
the vendor invoice is directly entered in accounting and not via the MM
component.
Mapping of
payables
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91
Vendor Master as an Integrative Element 4.2
In the SAP world, payment methods are the different methods you can use
to pay—for example, check or bank transfer—and you can assign more
than one payment method to a vendor. This is useful, for example, if you
want to pay large invoices via check and all invoices up to EUR 10,000.00
via bank transfer.
Check Function for Duplicated Invoices or Credit Memos
The accounting view of the vendor master also contains an indicator you
can use to have the system check for invoices or credit memos that have
been entered twice. If the indicator is set, the SAP system checks whether
the document already exists when you enter an invoice or credit memo. It
assumes that the document has been entered twice if elds such as the ex-
ternal document number, vendor, and amount correspond to the elds of an
already existing document.
If this is the case, the system outputs a message to inform the user of the risk
of a duplicate entry. You can customize this message using Transaction OBA5,
for example. However, it should be an informational message and not an er-
ror message and should only inform the user of the risk of a duplicate entry
and not prohibit entering the invoice.
If you want to use this system support, you have to dene the Check For
Duplicate Invoice indicator as a mandatory eld in the Customizing of the
vendor master.
The purchasing data of the vendor stores all information that you require
for a smooth purchasing process but that does not affect the accounting
processes. Here, you maintain the purchase order currency and the term
of payment, for example, that are should be used for purchase orders for
this vendor by default.
For vendors that are only required in accounting but for which no purchase
order is entered in the system, you only have to create the general and the
accounting view. Examples include employees to which travel expenses
were paid via bank transfer. You also do not have to provide an account-
ing view for vendors that are required for the purchasing process but not
for accounting. This includes, for example, potential vendors from which
you request a quotation but for which no purchase order is generated. Of
course, the purchasing department does not obtain a quotation for its own
sake. Usually, a requirement is determined within the enterprise, for exam-
ple, in production, in materials planning, or in stock. When the purchasing
department receives the requirement, the ordering process starts.
Payment methods
Purchasing data
Required views
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4
Procurement Process
Purchase Order as the Basis of the 4.3
Procurement Process
In the context of the ordering process, this section focuses on two docu-
ments: purchase requisition and purchase order.
Purchase Requisition4.3.1
You can transfer the requirements either manually without system sup-
port or, particularly if the SAP system works with MRP procedures, auto-
matically. In the SAP world, the document that triggers the purchase order
later on is called purchase requisition. Depending on the method of how
the purchasing department is informed about a requirement, a purchase
requisition can be entered directly; that is, manually, or indirectly; that is,
via another SAP component.
A purchase requisition already contains all of the necessary information for
the purchasing department. First, it denes a requisitioner. For every item,
it also species the purchase order quantity and, preferably, the material
number. Alternatively, a material group can be maintained.
A purchase requisition is an internal document. It is a request to the purchas-
ing department to procure a material or service. After its release, you can ful-
ll a purchase requisition with a purchase order or an outline agreement.
You may have to determine a source of supply before creating a purchase
order. Here, the SAP system also supports the purchaser: You can create
requests and enter the quotation afterward as well as access existing pur-
chase orders and conditions in the system. By comparing the different
quotations in the SAP system, you can determine the best vendor and then
create the purchase order.
Purchase Order4.3.2
Like many other documents in the SAP system, a purchase order consists
of a header that is supplemented with individual items. Except for the
stock transfer order, all purchase orders are sent to a vendor. The respec-
Determining the
source of supply
Header data of the
purchase order
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93
Purchase Order as the Basis of the Procurement Process 4.3
tive vendor number is entered in the purchase order header. As a result,
the system proposes various values from the vendor master, as follows:
Ordering address, invoice address, and delivery address
Terms of payment
Incoterms (terms of freight)
More interesting than the header information are the purchase order items.
Their behavior—as well as the required information for each item—is con-
trolled by what is called an item category . The type and attributes of the
item category determine critical de nitions (see Figure 4.4).
Item Category De nitionsFigure4.4
First of all, you have to de ne whether the corresponding purchase order
item allows for, enforces, or prohibits specifying a material number or
additional account assignments (see
Material Required eld group in
Figure 4.4). For materials, you can additionally select whether inven-
tory management is possible (
Inventory Management eld group). This
de nes whether the material is stock material for which you may want to
know at a later stage whether and how much material is in stock.
Here, you can also specify critical de nitions for the goods receipt. You
can de ne whether goods receipt is expected and whether this setting can
be changed in the purchase order maintenance. You can also determine
whether the goods receipt is non-valuated and also whether this setting
can be changed (
Control: goods receipt eld group). For example, for
Purchase order
item—item
category
Account
assignment
Goods receipt
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94
4
Procurement Process
vendor consignments, if the goods receipt is non-valuated, the invoiced
value of goods is directly indicated as an expense (and not as stock) in the
nancial statement.
The item category also states whether an invoice is expected and whether
this invoice is binding. You can also determine whether this setting can be
changed in the purchase order (
Control:invoice receipt eld group).
You cannot congure item categories; that is, you cannot create new or
modify existing categories. The only option you have is to assign an exter-
nal item category (a category that is visible to the user) to the internal item
category of the SAP system. Table 4.1 contains a list of the most important
item categories.
Item
Category
Description
Usage
Int.
Ext.
0
Standard
purchase order
Externally procured goods
GR and IR possible
1
B
Limit purchase
order
Denition of a max. value
Neither quantity nor delivery data is
dened
IR is mandatory
2
K
Consignment
order
Material required
Procurement based on consignment
GR is mandatory
3
L
Subcontracting
Ordering nished products at ven-
dors
Non-valuated GR is mandatory
4
S
Third-party
Purchase order triggered by enter-
prise, delivery to customer
No GR, but IR mandatory
7
U
Stock transfer
Initiating a stock transfer from plant
to plant
Item Categories with DescriptionsTable4.1
A purchaser must also specify the agreed price of the purchase order item.
This process can be automated using purchasing info records. These records
Invoice receipt
Purchase order
item—purchasing
info record
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95
Purchase Order as the Basis of the Procurement Process 4.3
link vendors and materials, and its critical elements are the purchase order
and price conditions. A purchasing info record always refers to only one
vendor and one material. This enables you to maintain different purchase
prices for a material for each vendor. The purchasing info record is addi-
tionally characterized by its high level of integration within the SAP sys-
tem. You can also use it for product cost controlling, for example.
Because material numbers are not always available, the material group is
very useful and serves various purposes in materials management. In the
basic view, a material group is assigned to a material master; the material
group serves to combine materials with similar properties. In reporting,
you can then carry out evaluations according to these material groups.
For the integrated value ow, however, the fact that you do not have to
enter a material master in the purchase order if you specify a material
group in the purchase order item is much more interesting. This option is
useful for low-value consumption goods (such as coffee for the employee
break room) for which no material master exists.
When the purchaser creates a purchase order without material, he must
generally decide to which expense account the purchase order item should
be assigned. Using material groups is the solution because they can be
linked to MM account determination, which allows for automated assign-
ment of G/L accounts. This means that the purchaser does not have to
determine the account manually, a process that often leads to posting
errors.
Purchase orders with a material master record in the purchase order items
that are not delivered to stock but directly provided for consumption are
referred to as purchase orders with account assignment. Here, an account
assignment category that requires the specication of a respective account
assignment for the item is assigned to a purchase order item.
The following are the most important account assignment categories in a
purchase order:
Internal order
Cost center
Material group
Purchase order
with account
assignment
Account
assignment
categories
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4
Procurement Process
Project
Asset
Production order
Sales order
Customer individual stock
The account assignment categories for internal orders, cost centers, proj-
ects, production orders, sales orders, and sales order stock are not unique;
they require the specication of the respective account assignment object.
This object must exist and be valid when the purchase order is entered.
Here, the common rules for the use of Controlling account assignments
apply. This means that you can dene only one genuine account assign-
ment object.
To assign an account to an asset, you need a main asset number and an
asset subnumber. This is the problem with this category: The asset number
must be available even before the asset is available. There are two solutions
to this problem:
Access via a dummy asset
The purchaser/creator of the purchase requisition creates the asset
When using the access via a dummy asset, you usually work with an
asset under construction (AuC) with line item settlement to which all asset
acquisitions are assigned. Using an AuC has the advantage that line items
posted to this asset can be settled individually to a capitalized asset or to
an expense account.
Alternatively, you can also directly use a capitalized asset for account assign-
ment. For new acquisitions, this also means that the purchasing depart-
ment is allowed to create capitalized assets. However, when creating a
capitalized asset, you must make decisions regarding the mapping in the
nancial statement, for example, on the asset class and consequently on
the account assignment and on depreciation parameters. If you decide to
use this account assignment variant for assets, you should ensure that your
employees are able to create the assets properly, for example, by providing
training and the corresponding documentation.
You can also have the purchasing department request a new asset number
from the asset accounting department in these cases. The asset account-
ing department would then have the corresponding competence to make
a decision about the correct assignment of the asset, create a number, and
Asset account
assignment
category
Access via
“asset under
construction“
Access via
capitalized assets
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97
Purchase Order as the Basis of the Procurement Process 4.3
forward the number to the purchasing department. However, this vari-
ant may require time-consuming internal communication, which can be
a problem.
When using purchase requisitions, you should create the asset when creat-
ing the purchase requisition and not when issuing the purchase order. This
way, you reach the highest level of integration. This also means that the
creator of the purchase requisition must already possess the know-how to
create the asset properly.
Because these two solutions for the account assignment of assets can lead
to speci c problems, you can consider prohibiting this account assignment
category as a third solution.
Technically, you can easily implement this constraint by simply not pro-
viding this category. This is possible because Customizing de nes for each
order type which account assignment categories are allowed and which are
not allowed. You can  nd this setting in the Implementation Guide under
Materials Management
Purchasing
Purchase Order
De ne Doc-
ument Types
. If you want to use this variant, post the invoice receipt to a
clearing account. Then, the asset accounting department must make man-
ual transfer postings for the values from the clearing account to an asset.
In addition to the decision of which account assignments can or must
be transferred, you can make further decisions under
De ne Document
Types
. Figure 4.5 shows an example.
Account Assignment Category De nitionsFigure4.5
Prohibiting the
item category
Further de nitions
in the account
assignment
category
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4
Procurement Process
Here, you can see the Customizing for the Asset account assignment cat-
egory to which you can also navigate via Transaction OME9 (
Change
Account Assignment Category
).
As for the item category, here, you also dene whether and what type of
goods and invoice receipt is required for the account assignment category.
Sections 4.6, Goods Receipt, and Section 4.7, Invoice Verication, describe
the corresponding effects of these denitions in more detail. Goods receipt
and invoice receipt are the rst events in the procurement process that
affect Financial Accounting.
From the cost accounting perspective, however, it would be negligent to
start monitoring the budget only when the invoice has been received. If
you determine at this stage that a budget has been exceeded, it is too late
to take action. Ideally, you therefore start monitoring the budget when
you create the purchase requisition or, at the latest, when you create the
purchase order. As you could already see in Figure 4.2, the Controlling
document for the commitment update is the only document that is already
generated when the purchase requisition and purchase order are created.
Updating Commitments4.4
The SAP system provides a Commitments Management function. A com-
mitment is understood as a scheduled (purchase requisition) or contrac-
tual (purchase order) commitment that will result in costs. Costs can be
incurred in the form of goods or invoice receipt. This means commitments
are prebooked sales that you can check against approved budgets.
Although you can also integrate commitment updates with the general led-
ger, asset accounting, and funds management, Commitments Management
in Controlling is frequently used. You activate this function at the control-
ling area level (see Figure 4.6).
You can navigate to the Controlling area maintenance using Transaction
OKKP. The activation of the
Commitments Management component
enables you to manage commitments for cost centers and internal orders.
You can also initiate that commitments are updated to sales orders in Trans-
action OKKP by selecting the
W. Commit. Mgt (With Commitment Man-
agement) checkbox in the
Sales Orders section. These options indicate
that commitments can only be updated for purchase orders with account
assignment.
Budget monitoring
Commitment
Activating
Commitments
Management
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Updating Commitments 4.4
Commitments Management ActivationFigure4.6
In addition, you have to con gure commitment updates for order types
and cost center categories.
For internal orders, you can enable these updates by selecting the
W. Com-
mit. Mgt
checkbox in the individual order types. To do so, you can use
Transaction KOT2_OPA . When the checkbox is selected, this de nition
immediately applies to all orders of this order type that exist in the system.
This is also indicated in the master record of the order in the
Control
data
eld group. Figure 4.7 displays an example.
Order Master for Enabled Commitments ManagementFigure4.7
The logic for cost centers is different. Here, the Commitment block indica-
tor is set for all cost center categories for which no commitment update is
desired. Commitments are updated for all cost center categories for which
this indicator is not set. Figure 4.8 displays the speci cations for the two
Commitment
update for order
types
Commitment
update for cost
centers
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4
Procurement Process
cost center categories 4 (Administration) and 5 (Management). For cost
center category 4, commitments should be updated; for category 5, they
should not be updated.
Blocking Commitment UpdatesFigure4.8 for Cost Center Categories
You can implement the commitment update settings for the cost center
categories in the Implementation Guide under
Controlling
Cost Cen-
ter Accounting
Master Data
Cost Centers
De ne Cost Center
Categories
.
However, because these settings for the cost center categories are only
default values for the creation of master data, you can also individually
modify Commitments Management in the respective cost center master
when creating a new cost center (see Figure 4.9).
No Effect on Existing Cost Centers
Keep in mind that changes to the Customizing of the cost center category do
not affect existing cost centers. Therefore, the SAP system behavior for cost
centers differs from the behavior for internal orders.
Changing the Commitment Update Figure4.9 Settings in the Cost Center Master
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101
Updating Commitments 4.4
You can reduce commitments in two alternative ways:
Reduction based on values of the goods receipt
Reduction based on values of the invoice receipt
Here, the system behavior depends on whether a valuated goods receipt
exists. If the goods receipt is valuated, the corresponding goods receipt
data is used. and prices are taken from the purchase order.
If there is no goods receipt or if it is non-valuated, the commitment is
reduced upon invoice receipt.
De ning a G/L Account as the Cost Element
To generate commitments, the G/L account to which the purchase order is
assigned must be de ned as the cost type when the goods or invoices are
received.
Let’s take a look at a budgeted order of Lederwaren-Manufaktur Man-
nheim and the ordering and budget reduction process. A budget of
EUR 1,200,000.00 was assigned to marketing order 400237. A purchase
requisition and—based on this—a purchase order with an amount of
EUR 5,850.00 were created. Figure 4.10 illustrates the  ow and the previ-
ous use of the budget.
Budget Evaluation for Marketing Order 400237Figure4.10
You can see that an expense of EUR 1,200,000.00 is planned from which
EUR 1,194,150.00 are available. At the time the query was issued, the
Actual column reads EUR 1,170.00. Where does this value come from?
To answer this question, you have to take a look at the development of
the purchase order.
Reducing
commitments
“Commitment
calculation”
example
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4
Procurement Process
Development of Purchase Order 4500018746Figure4.11
In Figure 4.11, you can see that two pieces were posted as goods receipt.
According to the purchase order with EUR 585.00/piece, a total of
EUR 1,170.00
1
was valuated.
However, three pieces at EUR 585.00 were invoiced; that is, the invoice
was EUR 1,755.00 in total
2
. Therefore, in this case, the goods receipt
values were used for the budget usage. Because the purchase order is
EUR 5,850.00
3
in total, but goods of only EUR 1,170.00 were received,
a commitment of EUR 4,680.00
4
still exists.
Total Value of Purchase Order 4500018746Figure4.12
The budget evaluation (see Figure 4.10) includes the total value in the
Assigned column. You can also determine it using the Actual and Com-
mitment
columns.
This example illustrates that Commitments Management is a simple but
powerful tool that enables you to implement cost accounting even before
the costs actually incur. Generating the commitment with the purchase
requisition allows for an early interaction from the cost accounting side—
for example, by blocking the purchase order or increasing the budget.
The topic of reducing a commitment goes beyond the scope of mere bud-
geting. Only an accounting-relevant document—that is, the valuated goods
receipt or invoice receipt—allows for a reduction of the commitment.
Section 4.5, Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling,
describes how the system generates accounting documents.
However, mapping the budget and commitment ow is only one side of
the story. At least as important is the system behavior in the event of a
“Commitments
Management” tool
Availability control
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103
Updating Commitments 4.4
budget overrun or what is called availability control . The bad news is that
the standard SAP system can prohibit postings because of budget overruns
for internal orders or projects only. It does not allow for triggering an error
message for account assignments to a cost center.
Availability Control for Account Assignments to Cost Centers
SAP Note 68366 (Active Availability Control for Cost Centers) provides a so-
lution using a substitution.
You can in uence the behavior for budget overruns for internal orders and
projects using Customizing. You can  nd the settings for internal orders in
the Implementation Guide under
Controlling
Internal Orders
Bud-
geting and Availability Control
. Here, you  rst create a budget pro le
and then assign it to the order types. Additionally, you determine whether
availability control is implemented in the case of an account assignment to
a budgeted internal order. You can also de ne tolerances here.
Availability Control TolerancesFigure4.13
Figure 4.13 shows an example of a three-level check. This is controlled
via the speci cation of the budget usage in percentages (
Usage in % ) and
absolute amounts for the variance (
Absolute variance ) if necessary. The
Action column enables you to control the system behavior. In our exam-
ple, the following control is implemented:
Action
1
When you reach 80 percent of the budget, the system generates a warn-
ing message for the goods/invoice receipt.
Action
2
At 90 percent, the system generates another warning and additionally
sends an email to the person responsible.
Action
3
In the event of a budget overrun, the system generates an error mes-
sage. You can no longer post a document with account assignment to
the budget (for example, via an internal order).
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4
Procurement Process
Integration of MM and Financial 4.5
Accounting/Controlling
Figure 4.2 illustrated which documents are generated during the procure-
ment process. In this context, you learned that value ow-relevant proce-
dures always result in multiple documents:
Material document
Financial Accounting document
Controlling document (optional)
For the goods receipt, it is easy to understand why a document needs to be
generated in MM. The MM document posts the receipt and the accounting
documents map the corresponding values. The purpose of the MM docu-
ment for the logistics invoice verication is not clear at rst glance. Keep
in mind that the logistics invoice verication in SAP has more tasks than
simply posting the payables and implementing the respective offsetting
account assignment.
The invoice verication is characterized by a high integration with MM.
The system can compare the invoice of the purchase order with the goods
receipt and can consequently automatically answer the question of whether
the existing invoice seems to be justied and correct. For this purpose, how-
ever, it requires detailed information from the purchase order and the goods
receipt if necessary. Technically, this information is solely available in MM.
All stock-relevant processes are therefore rst mapped by a material docu-
ment in the inventory management (MM component). Here, the informa-
tion ow is generated along the material ow, as you already know from
Chapter 2, Section 2.1.1, Value Flow. The material document contains all
of the pieces of information you need for proper inventory management
and detailed evaluations of goods movement:
Material number
Storage data such as storage location or stock type
Movement type
This information serves as the basis for the structure of the documents in
Financial Accounting and Controlling that represent the value ow. The
interface from MM to Financial Accounting/Controlling is characterized
by a high degree of automation, which can be achieved thanks to what is
called MM account determination. The MM account determination can be
Document ow
Content of the
MM document
MM account
determination
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105
Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
considered complex rules for the derivation of account assignments. It is
restricted, however, to the determination of G/L accounts and does not
affect Controlling account assignments such as cost centers or orders.
The prospect of newly implementing MM account determination makes
most consultants moan. First, you have to congure account determina-
tion yourself; then, you have to explain the logic of account determination
to the user departments, which are general ledger accounting and cost
accounting in this case. The latter is usually quite time-consuming and
might require strong nerves. If you look at the steps of MM account deter-
mination separately, however, you can see that it is not rocket science. It
is complex, but has a logical structure. We will therefore begin with an
overview and then go into details.
As the name implies, the goal of MM account determination is to deter-
mine a G/L account in Financial Accounting. As you can see in Figure 4.14,
you can categorize the numerous relationships into three groups.
Basic Settings:
Valuation Grouping Code
Valuation Level
Valuation Area
Valuation Class:
– Material Type
Account Category Reference
Valuation Class
Transaction:
Movement Type
Valuation Rule
Account Grouping
Transaction
G/L Account
Overview of the Settings for MM Account DeterminationFigure4.14
The basic settings dene the valuation class and the transaction, which in
turn dene the G/L account. The following sections discuss the individual
groups in detail.
Basic Settings4.5.1
Let us start with the basic settings, which enable you to inuence the MM
account determination behavior as a whole. Here, the central question is at
General structure
Valuation level
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106
4
Procurement Process
which level you want to in uence the account determination and thus the
mapping of goods movements in the nancial statement. You can choose
between plant and company code. The rather simple setting and selection,
which are illustrated in Figure 4.15, have far reaching effects.
The valuation level de nes whether the account determination is identical
for all plants of a company code or whether you can set the account deter-
mination for each plant individually. After the going-live of the client using
standard means, you can no longer change the decision you made. Because
this setting applies centrally, you can also nd it in the Implementation
Guide under
Enterprise Structure
De nition
Logistics General
De ne Valuation Level.
De ning the Valuation LevelFigure4.15
Not Reversible and Client-Wide
The valuation level setting is irreversible and applies across all clients.
You should always select the plant level, even if no deviating account deter-
mination is planned for individual plants at the time of the speci cation.
You have to set the plant as the valuation level if you want to use the PP
(Production Planning) component or Product Cost Planning in Controlling.
This selection consequently allows for a multitude of options.
In addition to controlling the account determination, the valuation level
has further effects. It de nes if the accounting view in the material mas-
ter is maintained per plant or per company code. This is also the level at
which the valuated price of a material is updated. The term accounting view
is therefore misleading.
Accordingly, you usually de ne the plant as the valuation level. Although
multiple plants are de ned in your company code, you may still want to
specify an account determination at the company code level. One of the
reasons for this could be that you want to maintain the account determina-
tion speci cally for each country, which is a rather common procedure in
Plant level
recommendation
Updating the price
Valuation area
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107
Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
international enterprises. To map this, the SAP system provides the valua-
tion area classication criterion.
The valuation area corresponds to the individual attributes of the selected
valuation level. At the “plant” valuation level, each plant corresponds to
a valuation area. If you want to work with the “company code” valuation
level, the system proposes the company code that exists in the client as
the valuation area.
To avoid that you have to assign different account determination to each
valuation area, you need to group the valuation areas. For this, you must
enable the use of the valuation grouping code (VGC). You can do this in the
Implementation Guide under
Materials Management
Valuation and
Account Assignment
Account Determination
Account Determi-
nation Without Wizard
Dene Valuation Control.
This missing connection to the transport system is a security measure of
the SAP system to avoid that this setting will be overwritten.
You can implement groupings via the
Materials Management
Valua-
tion and Account Assignment
Account Determination
Account
Determination Without Wizard
Group Together Valuation Areas
Customizing path. Figure 4.16 shows a corresponding example.
The rst column,
Valuation Area (see Figure 4.16) indicates the valuation
areas. In this example, these are the plants that exist in the client because
here, plants serve as the valuation area (see Figure 4.15). The next two
columns,
Company Code and Company Name, display the ID and the
name of the company code to which the respective plant is assigned. SAP
Valuation grouping
code
Grouping of the
valuation areas
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108
4
Procurement Process
uses the company code to determine the operating chart of accounts that
is valid for the account determination for goods movements. Accordingly,
the account determination is speci c to the charts of accounts.
Grouping of the Valuation AreasFigure4.16
In the last column, Valuation Grouping Code (see Figure 4.16), you can
view the valuation grouping code . Here, the entries can be freely selected.
You should use clear logic, for example, the country code at the  rst two
places and then ascending numbers.
As our example illustrates, Lederwaren-Manufaktur Mannheim has created
speci c plants for logistics processing in Belgium, France, and Italy. Each
plant of Lederwaren-Manufaktur Mannheim you can see in Figure 4.16 is
located in another country. Because you work with country-speci c VGCs,
each plant has its own VGC: plant M100 in Belgium uses BE01, M200 in
France uses FR01, M300 in Italy uses IT01. The two plants that are located
in Poland, PL01 and PL02, of the 0006 and 0005 company codes both use
the PL01 VGC and are thus treated identically in the MM account deter-
mination. The gure is therefore an example of how you should de ne the
VGC: The numbering consists of a country code and a counter.
You will then implement all account determination settings at the VGC
level only. The settings will apply to all assigned valuation areas.
VGC Assignment
You should only assign company codes with the same chart of accounts
to a common VGC to avoid unnecessary complexity for the account
determination.
At rst, it does not seem to be useful to work with VGCs for, for example,
SAP implementations with a single plant/company code. However, for
future-oriented project approaches and if the enterprise might continue
to grow, you should work with VGCs right from the start. This does not
involve much additional effort but considerably facilitates expansion.
Assigning the VGC
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109
Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
You are now familiar with the basic settings for MM account determina-
tion, which are summarized in Figure 4.17. This schematic illustration
shows that the basic settings are complex only at rst glance.
Valuation Grouping
Code
Valuation Level Valuation Area
Grouped
Determined
Schematic Illustration of Basic MM Account Determination SettingsFigure4.17
For the sake of completeness, the option of split valuation should also be
mentioned. This enables you to further divide the valuation areas for a
material. A common criterion for the division of prices and account deter-
mination for a material and its stock is the batch. Batches of a material can
have different prices and can be mapped in different ways in the nancial
statement. This is the case, for example, if the product quality at the end
of a production process cannot be absolutely dened and the batches can-
not be compared or exchanged. Because this is a topic that is critical in
individual industries but not relevant to the majority of enterprises that
use SAP, it is not further discussed here.
Instead, we will take a step forward in the MM account determination and
turn to the categorization of materials. Because not all materials should be
managed in one material stock account in the nancial statement, a distin-
guishing criterion is required for the account determination. SAP provides
the valuation class for this purpose.
Valuation Class Settings4.5.2
From the MM account determination view, you can consider the valuation
class a grouping of materials. It is dened in the accounting view of every
material that is managed on a value basis. Materials with the same valua-
tion class are subject to the same account determination. When designing
the account determination, you can dene a separate valuation class for
Split valuation
Valuation class
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 109 12/4/09 3:48:03 PM
110
4
   Procurement Process
each material stock account you want to map in the nancial statement.
Usually, the following materials are mapped separately:
Raw materials
Semi-nished products
Finished products
Trading goods
Operating supplies
In addition, you may want to evaluate certain materials or goods—especially
valuable raw materials or goods with high price uctuations—separately.
Customizing enables you to dene which valuation classes are provided
for selection in the maintenance of a material. This way, you can reduce
the risk of incorrect entries in the material master.
For this purpose, you can group the valuation classes into what are called
account category references. For example, if you use multiple valuation
classes to map raw materials, you can combine them in the “raw materials”
account category reference. When you then create a new material master
for a raw material, you can select from all of the valuation classes for raw
materials. Every valuation class is assigned to exactly one account category
reference; that is, it is an n:1 relationship.
The account category references, in turn, are assigned to the material types.
Every material type is assigned exactly one account category reference; that
is, it is a 1:n relationship. If you use account category references, not all of
the materials of one material type have to use the same account determina-
tion. Moreover, materials of different material types can be subject to the
same account determination.
Figure 4.18 again illustrates the relationships between material type,
account category reference, and evaluation class.
SAP combined the entire Customizing of the valuation class in one Cus-
tomizing item. You can nd it in the Implementation Guide under
Mate-
rials Management
Valuation and Account Assignment
Account
Determination
Account Determination Without Wizard
Dene
Valuation Classes. From there, you can navigate to the three necessary
operations: the editing of
Account Category Reference, Valuation
Class
, and Material Type. Figure 4.19 shows the initial screen.
Account category
reference
Assignment to the
material type
Valuation class
Customizing
ch04_5571.indd 110 12/7/09 12:22:41 PM
111
Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
Account Category
Reference
Material Type
Valuation Class
Grouped
Assigned
Schematic Illustration of the Valuation Class DeterminationFigure4.18
Customizing of the Valuation ClassesFigure4.19
Using the Account Category Reference/Valuation Class view, rst
de ne the
Account Category References, that is, the link between valu-
ation classes and material type (see Figure 4.20).
De nition of the Account Category ReferencesFigure4.20
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Then, you can create the Valuation Classes and immediately assign them
to an account category reference. This is illustrated in Figure 4.21.
Creating and Assigning Valuation ClassesFigure4.21
In the third and last step, you assign the account category references to the
Material Types (see Figure 4.22).
Assigning the Account Category ReferenceFigure4.22 to the Material Type
For the inventory management of the materials in the SAP system, the
material type assumes a major role. Chapter 3, Section 3.4.3, Material
Master, already discussed some material master settings that are essential
for the value  ow. The material type was not mentioned there, because it
does not directly affect the value  ow. But as you know now, the material
type is a critical MM account determination element.
You can nd the material type Customizing in the Implementation Guide
under
Logistics General
Material Master
Basic Settings
Mate-
rial Types
De ne Attributes of Material Types.
The material type also de nes whether quantities and/or values are updated
for the materials that are assigned to the material type. You can generally
activate or deactivate quantity and value updates or even make this deci-
sion at the valuation area level. There are certainly reasons for controlling
Material type
Customizing of the
material type
Quantity update
and value update
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Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
the quantity and value updates of the material types in the individual valu-
ation areas in different ways. In real life, however, this is an exception.
Figure 4.23 displays the corresponding settings for the MFER material type
(LWM nished products), which you can nd in the Implementation
Guide under
Logistics – General
Material Master
Basic Settings
Material Types
De ne Attributes of Material Types.
Quantity/Value Updates of the Material TypeFigure4.23
As you can see in Figure 4.23, our material type does not clearly de ne
whether quantities or values are updated. It depends on the settings in the
individual valuation areas, which are shown in Figure 4.24.
This gure also indicates that a decision about the quantity and value
update at the valuation area level actually means that the materials in the
individual plants/company codes behave differently. Based on our exam-
ple, this means that quantities and values are updated for MFER in all valu-
ation areas, except for valuation area QMTR.
Quantity/Value Updates for Every Valuation AreaFigure4.24
MM account determination is only relevant for materials that are subject
to value updates. However, you should trust in the SAP standard and only
create new material types by copying a standard material type and chang-
ing it according to your requirements.
Usually, the MM component administrators/consultants design and imple-
ment the material types. Afterward, the material types should be assigned
New material
types
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to the account category references by the persons who are responsible for
the MM account determination.
Regarding the account category references, this section introduced the
standard-related solution. In this context, the system only provides a part
of the valuation classes (namely, the account category reference) when you
create a material.
Alternatively, you can also assign all valuation classes to one account cat-
egory reference. As a result, the material maintenance then provides all
classes of the client for the valuation class selection. One of the benets
of this method is that you can decide for each material how it should be
mapped in the nancial statement. The disadvantage is that a wrong valua-
tion class may be selected due to the large number of options. If the wrong
valuation class is selected, all movements of this material will be mapped
incorrectly in accounting and cost accounting.
You now know that the denition of valuation classes is no problem at
all. All that remains is the last subject area: determining transactions and
modifying accounts. Unfortunately, this subject area is also the area with
the highest complexity within MM account determination.
Determining Transactions4.5.3
Because the MM account determination reects the goods movements in
inventory management, the properties of each movement play an essential
role in account determination: Is it merely an internal transaction or perhaps
a delivery to a customer? Is the enterprise the owner or is it vendor stock?
The most apparent element that can provide important information is
the movement type. Because the standard version already contains numer-
ous movement types, it would be very time-consuming to directly link
the movement types to G/L accounts. You also have to consider additional
inuencing factors such as the stock type (e.g., special stock) and quantity
or value updates of the material. Consequently, SAP developed comprehen-
sive rules according to which you can specify and classify goods movements
for the account determination. In the end, the account determination is
congured based on what are called transactions and account groupings.
Figure 4.25 illustrates how the SAP system determines these two objects.
The following sections describe in detail how this determination is
implemented.
Alternative
assignment
Transactions and
account groupings
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Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
Movement IndicatorTransaction Code
Movement Type
Special Stock Indicator
Material
Material Type
Value Update
Quantity Update
Consumption Posting Ind.
GR w/o
Acct. Assgmt.
[BLANK]
GR with
Acct. Assgmt.
Acct. Assgmt.
Cat. from PO
GI Acct. Assgmt.
Cat. or Delivery
Receipt Indicator
[BLANK]
X Stock Transport
Order
L Borrowed
Empties
Transaction Key
Account Grouping
Value String
Normal Receipt
Determining the Transaction Key and Account GroupingFigure4.25
To record goods movement in materials management, the SAP system pro-
vides a wide range of special transactions. Within the SAP system, these
transactions are linked to what are called movement indicators. The fol-
lowing attributes are available for movement indicators:
B goods movement for purchase order
F goods movement for order
L goods movement for delivery note
O subsequent adjustment of stock of material provided/material
provided
The link between transaction and movement indicator is established in
table T158 (Inventory Management Transaction Control). Table 4.2 shows
six transactions for posting goods movements.
The names of the transaction codes already imply whether the system
can determine which transaction is posted. For Transactions MIGO and
MIGO_GR, the SAP system assumes that a goods movement is recorded for
a purchase order. MIGO_GO is a goods movement for an order. Transac-
tions MIGO_GI and MIGO_TR do not indicate what kind of movement is
posted. Consequently, no movement indicator is dened for these transac-
tions. Although this indicator affects MM account determination, you will
rarely come across it.
Movement
indicator
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Transaction
Description
Value
Assignment
Indicator
MIGO
Goods Movement
B
MIGO_GI
Other Goods Movement
MIGO_GO
Goods Movement for Order
F
MIGO_GR
Goods Movement for Purchase Order
B
MIGO_GS
Subsequent Adjustment of Material
Provided
O
MIGO_TR
Other Transfer Posting
Link Between Transaction and Movement IndicatorTable4.2
This is different for the movement type, which is another important
account determination element. Its primary task is the presentation of the
material ows in the enterprise.
Reduced to its key aspects, every goods movement leads to a goods
receipt, a goods issue, or—for stock transfers—both. However, to control
the numerous goods movements, this information is not detailed enough.
Therefore, the movement type supports you because it is responsible for a
more detailed specication of the movement.
To perform this task, you have to implement various denitions for each
movement type. You dene individually which transactions provide the
movement type and which elds can or have to be populated. The move-
ment type also species whether the incident leads to quantity and/or
value updates. The system proposes movement types in many MM trans-
actions. If the SAP system does not propose a movement type, you can
also enter one manually.
When entering a goods movement, you also dene whether the transac-
tion affects special stock. If so, a special stock indicator is required. This
indicator enables you to manage certain stock separately from normal
stock for a material. Common examples include customer stock (goods are
reserved for the customer) or consignment stock (goods are received by
you, but are still the property of the vendor). The consignment stock topic
in particular affects value updates to a large extent: As long as the goods
are still the property of the vendor, you are not allowed to map the goods
as values in the nancial statement.
Movement type
Special stock
indicator
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Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
Another indicator you usually cannot in uence is the consumption post-
ing indicator. The system sometimes sets this indicator automatically and
sometimes has to determine it. For example, movements with purchase
order reference are provided with a value of this indicator from the account
assignment category of the purchase order item. The SAP system offers the
following values for the consumption posting indicator:
A asset
V consumption
E settlement through sales order
U unknown
P settlement for project
Finally, there is the receipt indicator , which is used for MM account deter-
mination. It speci es the type of the goods receipt or of the stock transfer
but can only adopt one of the following three values:
[BLANK] normal receipt
X stock transport order
L borrowed empties
From the combination of all of these indicators—movement indicator,
movement type, special stock indicator, quantity and value update, con-
sumption posting, and receipt indicator—the SAP system determines what
is called a value string . You can consider this string a posting rule that de nes
how you have to transfer a material document to Financial Accounting/
Controlling. This context can be best understood at the table level.
Excerpt of Table T156Figure4.26 SY
(Quantity/Value Update Movement Type: System Table; as of Rel. 4.6A)
Figure 4.26 shows an example of movement type 101 (“Goods receipt for
purchase order in stock”). In all three rows, both the value and quantity
are updated. They are not special stock movements, as you can see from
the missing entries in the
S column (special stock indicator). The B move-
ment indicator in the
Movement column indicates that this transaction is
Consumption
posting
Receipt indicator
Value string
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a goods movement for a purchase order. The fact that the receipt indica-
tor (
Receipt column) is missing means that it is a usual receipt. Up to this
point, the three rows are identical.
The only difference occurs in the
Consumption column (consumption
posting). You can see that it is not relevant whether it is a consumption
or a consumption for an asset because both cases refer to the WE06 value
string. Only the fact that the rst entry does not include a consumption
posting leads to a deviating value string (WE01).
You can then use the value string to determine a transaction. Because some
transactions require a more detailed subdivision of the account determina-
tion, the SAP system provides account grouping.
Account grouping enables you, for example, to further break down the
“Offsetting entry for inventory posting” transaction (GBB transaction
key). Various account groupings enable you, for example, to control goods
issues for cost centers (movement type 201) and goods issues for sales
orders (movement type 231) for different consumption accounts. In addi-
tion to the “Offsetting entry for inventory posting” transaction, you can
also use account groupings for price differences (PRD) and consignment
liabilities (KON). Transaction OMWN enables you to customize the account
grouping.
You can also dene your own account groupings. This is useful if your
reporting requirements are specic. A common example can be that you
are unsatised with the VBR (consumption) account grouping because you
want to display withdrawals for orders separately from withdrawals for
cost centers. In this context, MM uses two different movement types any-
way: 201 for withdrawals for cost centers, and 261 for withdrawals for
orders. This means that you have to create only two additional account
groupings. Afterward, you must adapt the mapping of the 201 and 261
movement types to the new entries.
The standard SAP system already provides numerous transactions. The
documentation prepared by SAP has considerably improved over the last
years but is still rather confusing. Therefore, the following sections detail
the most critical default transactions:
Expenditure/income from consignment material consumption (AKO)
Transaction AKO is used when material is withdrawn from consign-
ment stock. The withdrawal can be due to consumption or due to a
transfer to your own stock.
Transaction and
account grouping
Creating custom
account groupings
Transactions in the
SAP standard
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Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
Expenditure/income from transfer posting (AUM)
Transaction AUM is used for transfer postings of material to material. If
the price of the issuing material is different from the price of the receiv-
ing material, this results in price differences. These price differences are
posted with AUM.
Stock change (BSV)
Transaction BSV is only possible for materials that are produced exter-
nally using subcontracting. You use BSV for goods receipt or subse-
quent allocations to subcontract orders.
This is one of the situations where the SAP system cannot derive useful
Controlling account assignment. If you still want to dene the assigned
account as a cost element, you have to dene standard account assign-
ments, for example, using Transaction OKB9.
Stock posting (BSX)
Transaction BSX addresses the material stock accounts in the nancial
statement. It is always relevant when the material stock changes. Exam-
ples of this are goods receipts or issues in your own stock or an update
of the moving average price when price differences occur in invoice
verication.
The specications for reconciliation accounts also apply to material stock
accounts: You should not post them manually. This is the only way to
ensure that the MM inventory management corresponds to accounting
regarding values.
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Mapping of delivery costs
In orders, you can specify different kinds of delivery costs. To post these
costs for the goods or invoice receipt, different transactions are available:
Freight clearing (FR1)
Provisions for freight charges (FR2)
Customs clearing (FR3)
Provisions for customs clearing (FR4)
Offsetting entry to the stock posting (GBB)
Transaction GBB is the most important and comprehensive transaction
in the standard SAP system. Both from an accounting and controlling
view, it is not sufcient to say that a posting item is the offsetting entry
to the stock posting. Consequently, Transaction GBB in particular is fur-
ther structured through the intensive use of account groupings.
The standard version provides the account groupings shown in Table 4.3.
Account
Grouping
Usage
AUA
Settlement of orders
AUF
Goods receipts for orders if no genuine Controlling account
assignment is provided and for order settlement if the AUA
account grouping is not maintained
BSA
Initial entries of stock balances
INV
Expenditure or income from inventory differences
VAX
Goods issues for sales orders without account assignment
object (the account is not a cost element)
VAY
Goods issues for sales orders with account assignment
object (the account = cost element)
VBO
Consumption from stock provided to vendor
VBR
Internal material withdrawals, for example, for internal
order/cost center
VKA
Sales order account assignment
VKP
Project account assignment
VNG
Scrapping or destruction
VQP
Sample without account assignment
Account Groupings for Transaction GBB Table4.3
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Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
Account
Grouping
Usage
VQY
Sample with account assignment
ZOB
Goods receipts without purchase order (movement type 501)
ZOF
Goods receipts without production order (movement types
521, 531)
Table4.3 Account Groupings for Transaction GBB (Cont.)
Purchase order with account assignment (KBS)
Transaction KBS is an entry that is required for technical reasons only. In
purchase orders with account assignment, the MM account assignment
does not have to identify a G/L account because the account assignment
is already dened in the purchase order. Transaction KBS therefore only
serves to specify the posting keys for the goods receipt posting.
Exchange rate rounding differences for Materials Management (KDR)
An exchange rate rounding difference can occur when an invoice in
foreign currency is received. If a balance is created when the invoice is
converted to the local currency, the system automatically generates a
posting line for exchange rate rounding differences.
Small differences in Materials Management (DIF)
Transaction DIF is used in invoice verication when you dene a toler-
ance limit for small differences and the balance of the invoice does not
exceed the tolerance.
Price differences (PRD)
Price differences occur for materials with a standard price for all move-
ments and invoices that are valuated at a price other than the standard
price. You will face price differences in the following examples:
Goods receipts for purchase orders if the purchase order price differs
from the standard price
Goods issues if an external amount is entered
Invoices when the invoice price differs from both the purchase order
price and the standard price
Price differences can also occur for invoices for materials with a moving
average price when there is insufcient stock coverage for the quan-
tity invoiced. For goods movements that would result in negative stock
balances, the moving average price does not change; instead, possible
price variances are posted to a price difference account.
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Depending on the settings for the posting rules for Transaction PRD,
you can work with or without account grouping. If you work with
account grouping, the standard SAP system uses the groupings shown
in Table 4.4.
Account
Grouping
Usage
[BLANK]
Goods/invoice receipts for purchase orders
PRF
Goods receipts for production orders and order settlement
PRA
Goods issues and other movements
PRU
Price differences in the context of transfer postings
Account Groupings for Transaction PRD Table4.4
Delivery cost provisions (RUE)
Provisions for delivery costs are created when a condition type for pro-
visions is entered in the purchase order.
Unfortunately, the SAP system does not support provision clearing
against actual costs; therefore, this has to be done manually.
Income/expenditure from revaluation (UMB
)
Transaction UMB is used both in inventory management and in invoice
verication when the standard price of a material has changed and a
goods movement or an invoice is posted to the previous period (at the
previous price). You can only post in previous periods if period closing
for material masters is set accordingly. For more information on this
topic, refer to Chapter Section 7.5.1, Period Closing for the Material
Master.
Unplanned delivery costs
(UPF)
In the ideal case, the purchasing department has already entered the
conditions for the delivery costs in the purchase order. Unplanned
delivery costs are costs that are included in the vendor invoice (such
as freight or duty costs) but not specied in the purchase order. You
can either distribute these costs across the invoice items or post them
to a separate account. For the second variant, Transaction UPF must be
maintained in account determination.
GR/IR clearing (WRX)
Postings to the GR/IR clearing account occur when goods and invoices
are received for purchase orders. For more information on the GR/IR
account, refer to Section 4.8, GR/IR Account.
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Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
Additional transactions are available, for example, regarding the material
ledger. However, the transactions listed here are the transactions you will
use most often.
To understand how MM account determination works is only one side of
the coin. It is just as important to understand what to do to rebuild account
determination.
Rebuild Process for Account Determination4.5.4
If you want to rebuild account determination in a result-oriented way, you
should perform the following steps:
Dene the a company code or plant as the valuation level.1.
Create a valuation grouping code and link it to the valuation areas.2.
Dene and assign valuation classes.3.
Dene G/L accounts and check whether cost elements are created for 4.
the relevant transactions.
Correct reported errors for the goods movements.5.
The rst step, dening the valuation level, involves an easy decision: If
you use PP or want to calculate products in Controlling, you must use the
plant as the valuation level.
The valuation classes are also usually not a problem. The critical question
is: Which material stock accounts does the accounting department want
to map in the nancial statement? One valuation class is required for each
material stock account. The resulting list of valuation classes should then
also be discussed with the cost accounting department because it may want
to be able to evaluate specic materials separately, for example, because
high stock values are expected for these materials or because extreme price
uctuations are likely, which are supposed to be analyzed separately. Track-
ing becomes easier if you use separate accounts for the mapping of stock,
expenditure, and income.
Afterward, you should dene a G/L account for the most important trans-
actions. Which transactions are critical depends on the business activities
of your enterprise. In a rst step, you could maintain the following trans-
actions and account groupings, for example:
Transaction BSX
Transaction GBB
With the AUA/AUF, VAX/VAY, and VBR account groupings
Dening the
valuation level
Dening the
valuation class
Dening G/L
accounts for
critical transactions
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Transaction DIF
Transaction PRD
Transaction WRX
Experience has shown that tables are best suited for the mapping of the MM
account determination. Among other things, the horizontal axis shows the
valuation classes. The vertical axis can list the movement types and transac-
tion keys with possible account groupings. In the matrix data area, you can
then dene the corresponding G/L accounts, separated by debit and credit
if required. If you need to map several parallel account determinations, you
should create a table for every VGC. Table 4.5 shows an example.
Tabular mapping of
the MM account
determination
Transaction
Movement
Types
Transaction/
Account
Grp.
VGC
Valuation Classes
Raw
Semi
Finish
Pack.
Goods receipt
101, 102, …
BSX
0001
39000
39100
39200
39300
Inventory
difference
701, 702
GBB INV
0001
35000
35000
35020
35010
Inventory
difference
701, 702, …
GBB INV
0002
35040
35020
35020
35010
Structure of a Microsoft Excel Table for the MM Account Determination Table4.5
(Excerpt)
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Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
Finally, you have to clarify who is responsible for maintaining the MM
account determination. As with all interface topics, you can only achieve
the goal to set up reasonable account determination if the logistics,
accounting, and cost accounting departments work in close coordination.
Nevertheless, the accounting and/or cost accounting departments should
be responsible for maintaining the account determination because they
receive the data and have to meet the requirement that the material stock
and income statement accounts are correctly debited and credited for
goods movements.
You may not always be sure which posting is generated for an MM move-
ment type. For these situations, SAP provides an MM account determina-
tion simulation for experts. You can navigate to this simulation using the
Simulation button in Transaction OMWB.
In the
Simulate Inventory Management: Entry of Simulation Data
input screen, you must enter the plant, the material, and a movement type
(see Figure 4.27).
Simulation of the MM Account Determination—SelectionFigure4.27
In Figure 4.27, 101 is speci ed for the Movement Type in the selection
eld. The system displays or updates the list below this  eld, which shows
the different goods receipts, when you con rm the entry of the movement
type with
(Enter). Select a variant from the list by double-clicking on it. It
is then highlighted in blue. The
Account Assignments button takes you
to the evaluation of the simulation (see Figure 4.28).
MM account
determination
simulation
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Simulation of the MM Account Determination—EvaluationFigure4.28
The top eld groups in Figure 4.28 show that the following information
has been derived from the plant:
Company code and thus chart of accounts.
Valuation area and thus valuation grouping code.
The valuation class is determined from the material.
The system uses the material type to check whether value updating is
enabled in this case.
The lower part of the screen displays all transactions that could be relevant
for the selected movement type. The list ranges from inventory manage-
ment to GR/IR account and purchase account determination. It indicates
which account is determined or if—as in this example—the account deter-
mination is not maintained for the purchase account and purchase offset-
ting account.
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Integration of MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling 4.5
The Check Screen Layout button (see Figure 4.28) enables you to navigate
to additional useful functions, namely, the comparison of the  eld groups
of movement type and G/L account. Both elements—movement type and
G/L account—individually de ne which  elds are ready for input or even
which elds are mandatory entry elds. However, it is possible that the
movement type in MM does not allow for transferring a cost center in the
material posting and at the same time, the cost center is a mandatory entry
for a G/L account that has been determined for the movement type in the
account determination. In this situation, the system outputs an error mes-
sage because the G/L account does not receive all necessary information.
The reconciliation function enables you to compare the eld controls of
movement types and of the G/L accounts that have been determined in the
MM account determination.
Figure 4.29 shows this kind of comparison. A yellow minus indicates that
the  eld is hidden. A circle stands for an optional entry. Mandatory  elds
are illustrated by a plus.
Comparing the Field Controls of Movement Type and G/L AccountFigure4.29
You only need these two functions—simulation and eld comparison—
when the system outputs an error message. In that situation, however,
they are very useful.
You have now met all requirements for a smooth integration of logistics
and accounting. All MM transactions that are relevant for the value ow
Comparing the
eld control
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4
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should now be transferred without any problems. Let us recall Figure 4.1
with the illustration of the adapted SCOR model. According to this model,
the goods receipt is the next process step after the purchase order.
Goods Receipt4.6
The decision whether goods receipts are necessary is already made in the
purchase order. The system generates a proposal on this using the account
assignment category, which you already know from Section 4.3, Purchase
Order as the Basis of the Procurement Process. The item category controls
whether you can overwrite this proposal.
The rst decision—whether the goods receipt should be posted in the
system—is rather easy. For stock material that is delivered at the gate with
a delivery note, you expect a goods receipt and can also post it accordingly.
For a drop shipment, the vendor delivers the goods directly to your cus-
tomers. This means that you do not post a goods receipt.
More complicated is the decision about whether the goods receipt should
be valuated or non-valuated. If you dene in the purchase order that the
goods receipt should be non-valuated, the valuation does not take place
until the invoice is received.
The best example of consequences of a decision about a valuated or non-
valuated goods receipt is the acquisition of an asset. This is an example
that is also frequently discussed in day-to-day work. For an asset acquisi-
tion, the time of the valuation denes when the asset is posted for the
rst time.
For a non-valuated goods receipt, the goods value is initially posted to a
clearing account only. When the invoice is received, the clearing account is
credited against the capitalized asset. This means that the relevant event for
the asset capitalization is not the goods receipt but the invoice receipt.
For a valuated goods receipt, the goods value is directly posted to the
asset when the goods are received. If it is a capitalized asset, the deprecia-
tion calculation begins when the goods are received. This is the common
method.
We will now take a look at an example with a purchase order for an asset.
For this purpose, a valuated goods receipt and an invoice receipt were
posted, as you can see in the purchase order status in Figure 4.30.
Are goods receipts
necessary?
Valuated/
non-valuated
goods receipt
Asset acquisition”
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129
Goods Receipt 4.6
Purchase Order StatusFigure4.30 —Valuated GR for an Asset
The fact that both a quantity and an amount are speci ed in the Deliv-
ered
line (see Figure 4.30) also indicates that this is a valuated goods
receipt. This means that the purchase order has been delivered completely
and invoiced in the meantime. To view the date on which the goods and
invoice receipt were posted, you have to look at the history of the purchase
order item (see Figure 4.31).
Purchase Order HistoryFigure4.31 for the Asset Item
Here, you can see that the goods receipt was posted on 04/01/2009 while
the invoice was entered much later, on 04/26/2009. For a valuated goods
receipt, the asset has to use the date of the goods receipt. This is indicated
by the
Capitalized on eld in the asset master in Figure 4.32.
From the value ow perspective, the goods receipt does not include fur-
ther special aspects. For materials that are managed on a quantity and
value basis, the stock is built-up at this point and thus the stock value in
the  nancial statement increases.
The stock value may not be increased if you are not the owner of the goods.
An example of this is the vendor consignment stock. In this case, only an
MM document but no Financial Accounting document is generated when
the goods are received. Moreover, the goods are still the property of the
vendor. Regarding quantity, you have to enter the stock for your plant so
that you can include it in your production process.
Stock material
receipt
Vendor
consignment stock
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4
Procurement Process
Capitalization Date in the Asset MasterFigure4.32
Invoice Verification4.7
The term invoice veri cation can refer to different processes: to the techni-
cal veri cation and to the formal veri cation of an incoming invoice. This
ensures that a vendor invoice meets the legal requirements and can be
posted. An incoming invoice must include the following speci cations, for
example, to pass the invoice veri cation:
Name and address of the providing enterprise and of the debiting party
Tax number of the providing enterprise
Unique sequential invoice number
Issue date of the invoice (invoice date)
Quantity and standard description of the delivery or type and scope of
the service provided
Net amount for the delivery or service
Tax rate and amount (if the delivery or service is tax-exempt, this needs
to be speci ed explicitly)
Formal invoice
veri cation
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131
Invoice Verication 4.7
Any reduction of the amount to be paid that was agreed in advance,
such as discounts
Time of the delivery and service
The goal here is not to check whether the invoice is factually justied but
whether it meets all legal requirements.
In addition to the formal verication, incoming invoices also need to be
factually veried. In this context, you should primarily clarify whether the
invoice amount is correct and whether the vendor has correctly provided
or delivered the agreed service or goods.
SAP systems cannot support formal invoice verication. Instead, software
solutions with handwriting recognition and the respective check routines
can be used instead. The problem is that vendor invoices have different
structures so that the support of a third-party system often does not have the
desired result. Enterprises with a high volume of incoming invoices tend to
outsource this schematic verication to countries with low wage levels.
For factual invoice verications, however, the SAP system provides a very
good tool: Logistics Invoice Verication. It is characterized by a high inte-
gration with MM and Financial Accounting/Controlling. Posting invoices
with Logistics Invoice Verication should be a standard process and is
therefore discussed in detail in this section.
Invoice Verification Process4.7.1
Whether the system expects an invoice is dened by the account assign-
ment category in the purchase order—as is the case for the goods receipt. If
you dene here that you do not expect an invoice for an external purchase
order—that is, a purchase order that is provided to an external vendor—
the system assumes that the delivery is free of charge. Usually, however,
an invoice receipt is dened in the purchase order.
Factual invoice
verication
System support
Logistics Invoice
Verication
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132
4
Procurement Process
Another critical speci cation for invoice veri cation is made in the pur-
chase order. You de ne against what the invoice is checked: the purchase
order or the goods receipt (GR). You make this decision via the
GR-Based
Invoice Veri cation
checkbox. You can nd this checkbox in the detail
view of the purchase order item on the
Invoice tab (see Figure 4.33).
Invoice Receipt Speci cations in the Purchase OrderFigure4.33
Let us take a closer look at the consequences of this decision using two
examples:
The invoice is received before the goods are received.
A partial delivery is received and the invoice is received afterward.
In the example, two purchase orders with 10 m2 of box calf leather are
created. In the  rst purchase order, the indicator for the GR-based invoice
veri cation is not selected; in the second purchase order, the indicator is
selected.
Let us assume that the vendor issues the invoice faster than delivering the
goods. The following section details what happens next.
Purchase Order Without GR-Based Invoice Veri cation
The invoice is checked against the purchase order. The SAP system gener-
ates a warning that no quantities have been posted yet (see Figure 4.34).
Message if the Invoice is Received Before theFigure4.34
Goods are Received—Without GR-Based Invoice Veri cation
However, this message is only a warning and does not prevent you from
posting the document. Nevertheless, in this case, the system automatically
blocks the document for payment because there is a quantity variance
because of the missing goods.
GR-based invoice
veri cation
“Invoice receipt
speci cations”
example
IR before GR
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133
Invoice Veri cation 4.7
Purchase Order with GR-Based Invoice Veri cation
The system behaves differently with GR-based invoice veri cation. Because
no goods receipt has been posted yet, the SAP system cannot verify the
invoice. It therefore prevents you from entering the invoice (see Figure
4.35).
Message for GR-Based Invoice Veri cation and Invoice Receipt Figure4.35
Before Goods Receipt
Although these messages are not actual error messages, they make it impos-
sible to enter the invoice with reference to the purchase order.
This system behavior indicates the rst consequence of the
GR-Based
Invoice Veri cation
indicator: If it is selected, you cannot enter the
invoice until the goods receipt has been posted. For purchase order items
for which you do not expect timely postings of the goods receipt—for
example, for the weekly beverage delivery for the of ce—you should avoid
using GR-based invoice veri cation. Alternatively, you have to consider-
ably increase the discipline applied for posting the goods receipts.
Let us take a different situation as an example: First, the goods receipt and
then the invoice is posted. Because real life is not always as ideal as we
would like it to be, let us add another detail. According to the principle
“trust is good, control is better,” a proper incoming inspection also entails
counting the actual quantity and it is possible that only a partial delivery is
received instead of the entire ordered quantity. It is also possible that the
vendor is honest and has made a partial delivery due to delivery problems
on his end, for example. Therefore, let us assume that the vendor in the
example has production problems and can therefore only deliver 8 instead
of 10 m2 of leather. Unfortunately, the ordered 10 m2 were invoiced.
In both cases—with and without GR-based invoice veri cation—the sys-
tem provides only a quantity of 8 m2 for selection when you want to enter
the invoice using Transaction
MIRO (see Figure 4.36).
Item Proposal in the Invoice Receipt for Partial DeliveryFigure4.36
We will overwrite this proposal and post 10 m2 of our material at a net
price of EUR 2,000.00. The only consequence is an automatically set payment
GR with partial
delivery before IR
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134
4
Procurement Process
block due to the quantity variance between invoice and goods receipt. As
an alternative to the purchase order history, you can also have the system
display the status of the purchase order (Figure 4.37).
Purchase Order Status for Partial Delivery and Complete Invoice ReceiptFigure4.37
It is obvious that the vendor has invoiced more than delivered. You can
also see that it makes little difference whether you work with or without
GR-based invoice veri cation. Only the case where the invoice is received
before the goods receipt is posted is handled more restrictively for GR-
based invoice veri cation.
You were already introduced to the Logistics Invoice Veri cation settings
that are implemented by the purchasing department in the purchase order.
These settings include the de nition whether an invoice is expected at all
and against which material document—purchase order or goods receipt—
the invoice is checked. Let us take a step back and have a look at the
parameters that the invoice veri cation itself provides. You can nd all cor-
responding settings in the Implementation Guide under
Materials Man-
agement
Logistics Invoice Veri cation.
The fact that Logistics Invoice Veri cation also creates both an MM doc-
ument and a Financial Accounting document often leads to discontent
among invoice veri cation clerks, particularly in the event of SAP imple-
mentations. One of the reasons for this is an admittedly unfavorable pro-
cedure in the SAP standard: When an invoice is posted, the SAP system ini-
tially only displays the MM document number. However, this document
number is usually rather uninteresting because—as for any other Financial
Accounting transaction—the system shows the Financial Accounting docu-
ment number in the line item display of the vendor account. There are two
solutions to this situation:
The MM document number is also used as the Financial Accounting
document number.
In the message that indicates that a document has been posted, the sys-
tem displays the Financial Accounting document number in addition to
the MM document number.
Customizing of the
Logistics Invoice
Veri cation
Document number
assignment
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135
Invoice Veri cation 4.7
In the early Logistics Invoice Veri cation years, only the  rst variant was
available. You had to provide external number assignment for the Financial
Accounting number range to have the system use the MM document num-
ber. Additionally, you had to deactivate the buffering of the MM number
assignment, which also leads to an improved posting performance. How-
ever, because the buffer is rebuilt regularly, independently of whether it
has been used to its full extent, gaps between the numbers occur. These
gaps also continue to exist in the Financial Accounting component, which
is not permitted regarding revision.
Procedure for Deactivating the Buffering
SAP Note 62077 (Info: Internal Number Assignment is Not Continuous) de-
scribes the detailed procedure for deactivation of buffering. This is a modi -
cation of the system, which should usually be avoided, because modi cations
entail additional work in the event of release changes.
In this case, however, the modi cation is not critical and therefore also justi-
able from the point of view of the IT.
In the meantime, SAP has developed an easier solution, which you can
completely implement in the standard SAP system. For this purpose, you
only have to expand the parameters in the user master. Users can maintain
their master using the
System
User Pro le
Own Data menu path (see
Figure 4.38).
Changing the User Pro le for Logistics Invoice Veri cationFigure4.38
Next, you have to specify the IVFIDISPLAY entry on the Parameter tab and
add a large X. After you have saved the settings, the system reports both
document numbers when you post incoming invoices (see Figure 4.39).
Display with MM and Financial Accounting Document NumberFigure4.39
With this information, you considerably facilitate the work of invoice veri-
cation clerks without having to implement modi cations.
Buffering
deactivation
Adapting the
information
message
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136
4
Procurement Process
Material Document Number in a Reference Field
The standard SAP system writes the number of the material document to the
Reference Key eld in the accounting document header. Therefore, if you
want to view Financial Accounting and MM document numbers in the line
item display of accounts payable accounting, you have to permit the BKPF-
AWKEY eld in the line item display.
You can initiate this in the Implementation Guide, for example, under
Financial Accounting (new)
Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable
Vendor Accounts
Line Items
Display Line Items
De ne Additional
Fields for Line Item Display.
We will now proceed with the Logistics Invoice Veri cation posting
technologies.
Logistics Invoice Veri cation uses MM account determination. Section
4.5.3, Determining Transactions, already described that there is a speci c
transaction key for unplanned delivery costs and that there are two posting
options. You can make the following decisions:
Whether you divide the additional costs between the purchase order
items
Whether you want to post a special G/L account line
For materials with moving average price, the rst variant ensures that the
price will be adjusted. For materials with a standard price, a posting is made
in the price variances. You cannot make this decision for each case individu-
ally because it is a permanent speci cation at the company code level. You
implement the corresponding setting in the Implementation Guide under
Materials Management
Logistics Invoice Veri cation
Incom-
ing Invoice
Con gure How Unplanned Delivery Costs Are Posted.
Unplanned delivery costs are a special invoice veri cation case. They are
posted at the header level and not at the posting item level to allow for a cost
distribution across the purchase order items if required (see Figure 4.40).
Posting Unplanned Delivery CostsFigure4.40
You have to post unplanned delivery costs on the Details tab. The follow-
ing sections describe two posting examples.
Unplanned
delivery costs
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137
Invoice Veri cation 4.7
Posting Unplanned Delivery Costs with Distribution
Figure 4.41 displays the Financial Accounting document of an invoice
receipt.
Distribution of Unplanned Delivery CostsFigure4.41
This document contains two purchase order items that were posted to the
GR/IR account (items 2 and 4). Furthermore, you can also see that a post-
ing to the raw materials account was made twice (see
1
and
2
in Figure
4.41). This indicates that the ordered materials have a moving average
price because materials with a standard price would be posted to a price
difference account. The unplanned delivery costs of EUR 200.00 are there-
fore directly added to the stock value of the two materials.
Posting of Unplanned Delivery Costs in a Separate Line
This is different for the Financial Accounting document when you do not
distribute the unplanned delivery costs but instead post them in a separate
line (see Figure 4.42).
Special Posting of Unplanned Delivery CostsFigure4.42
Here, you can see that the EUR 200.00 of unplanned delivery costs were
posted in their entirety to account 231600. The prices of the two ordered
materials are consequently not increased, and the entire amount is posted
as expenditure. However, you can easily recognize the problem with this
posting: The system cannot derive a useful Controlling account assignment.
This means you can either treat account 231600 as a neutral account by
creating no cost elements for it or, alternatively, de ne a standard account
assignment, for example, via Transaction OKB9.
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138
4
Procurement Process
In real life, you will often come across invoices that do not refer to a pur-
chase order. In these cases, you can post the invoice without integration
with MM, which is discussed in Section 4.9.1, Invoice Receipt Without
MM Integration. Or you can use Logistics Invoice Verication. For this
purpose, however, you have to enable this kind of posting rst. You can
nd the corresponding Customizing in the Implementation Guide under
Materials Management
Logistics Invoice Verication
Incom-
ing Invoice
Enable Direct Posting to G/L Account and Material
Accounts.
Transaction MIRO provides the corresponding tabs only when
you enable the functions here.
Considering Tolera4.7.2 nces
The procurement process can include numerous variances. Some of them
can be tolerated such as differences of a few cents in an invoice due to the
summation of all invoice items.
Other variances are not acceptable such as an obvious price difference
between purchase order and invoice. To set a limit for variances you are
willing to accept, you have to dene tolerance limits in Customizing.
Depending on your individual situation, you can maintain various toler-
ances. The standard SAP system provides the following tolerances:
AN amount for item without purchase order reference
AP amount for item with purchase order reference
BD form small differences automatically
BR percentage OPUn variance (IR before GR)
BW percentage OPUn variance (GR before IR)
DQ exceed amount: quantity variance
DW quantity variance when GR quantity = zero
KW variance from condition value
LA amount of blanket purchase order
LD blanket purchase order time limit exceeded
PP price variance
PS price variance: estimated price
ST date variance (value * days)
VP moving average price variance
Posting without
purchase order
reference
Acceptable
variances
Individual
tolerance limits
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139
Invoice Verication 4.7
You cannot add custom tolerances to this list of what are called tolerance
keys.
Normally, all tolerance settings have the same structure. You can dene
an upper and a lower limit for the variance; additionally, the variance is
dened in absolute amounts and in percentages.
The denition of upper and lower limits enables you, for example, to pre-
vent vendors from considerably exceeding or going below the price that
has been agreed in the purchase order. By setting an absolute tolerance in
amounts and additionally a tolerance in percentages, you avoid that you
dene unwanted high tolerance limits.
You implement the Customizing of tolerance limits in the Implementation
Guide under
Materials Management
Logistics Invoice Verication
Invoice Block
Set Tolerance Limits. Figure 4.43 displays the denition
of the tolerance limits for price variances in the Lederwaren-Manufaktur
Mannheim company code as an example.
As you already know, there are numerous tolerance limits that can be
checked, however, you do not have to use them all. For example, the AN
and AP tolerance keys are often deactivated for the check of the permitted
maximum amount for each document item.
The BD tolerance key enables you to accept that an invoice document ini-
tially does not balance to zero. This can happen especially if the taxes for
the individual items lead to a smaller amount than the tax calculation for
the total net amount. To be able to post the invoice without problems in
such situations, you should allow for a small tolerance of approximately
EUR 2,00.
Denition of upper
and lower limits
AN and AP
tolerance keys
The BD
tolerance key
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140
4
Procurement Process
Tolerance Limits for Price VariancesFigure4.43
Figure 4.43 displayed the PP tolerance keys for basic price variances. How-
ever, there is also a speci c tolerance key (the KW tolerance key) for price
variances for delivery costs.
Furthermore, there is the PS key for price variances for estimated prices.
With this, the purchasing department can insert a note in the purchase
order if the purchase order price is estimated. In this case, you would allow
for larger variances than for normal purchase orders with xed prices/
prices agreed upon with the vendor.
Setting the PS Tolerance Key by Default
Unfortunately, some purchasers set the “estimated price” indicator regularly
because they know about higher tolerance limits. This reduces the number
of questions the purchaser receives from the invoice veri cation department.
Thus, you should think twice before setting higher tolerance limits.
Finally, SAP also supports you in verifying blanket purchase orders by
enabling you to de ne tolerances for the amount (LA key) and schedule
ful llment (LD key).
The VP tolerance key is also quite interesting. It compares the moving
average price before the invoice receipt with the moving average price
PP, KW, and PS
tolerance keys
LA and LD
tolerance keys
The VP
tolerance key
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141
Invoice Verication 4.7
after the invoice receipt. If the difference is too large, the system blocks
the invoice for payment.
If the amount exceeds or falls below all mentioned tolerances, the SAP sys-
tem indicates the reason for the variance in the document and blocks the
open vendor item for invoice. The system also supports you in releasing
blocked invoices as you will see next.
Automatically Releasing Blocked Invoices4.7.3
To automatically release blocked invoices, you use Transaction MRBR
(Release Blocked Invoices). If you start the report with the automatic
invoice release option, the system checks for every automatically blocked
invoice if the invoice blocking reason still exists. If not, the system releases
the payment block.
Regardless of the elimination of the invoice blocking reason, you can also
delete the invoice blocking reason manually using Transaction MRBR. For
this purpose, you have to start the report using the
Release Manually
option.
This concludes our discussion of entering incoming invoices. In this con-
text, we also came across the GR/IR account, which is described in further
detail in the following section.
Outside of
tolerances
Automatic release
Manual release
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4
Procurement Process
GR/IR Account4.8
You already know that the goods receipt and the invoice receipt involves
the GR/IR account if the corresponding goods receipt and the invoice
receipt refers to an invoice.
Posting to the GR/IR Account4.8.1
To allow for high automation, GR/IR accounts are also dened in the MM
account determination. This was explained in detail in Section 4.5.3, Deter-
mining Transactions. You normally use the GR/IR account independently
of valuation classes. Many times, only one GR/IR account is used.
From the accounting perspective, the GR/IR account is a balance sheet
account that is not mapped in the nancial statement because it is just a
clearing account. This is discussed in more detail later on. Then what is the
reason for this account?
In college, you learned the following posting record:
Material Stock
Tax
to
Payables
In real business life, however, you will have noticed that this posting
record does not exist in this form. In this posting record, the goods move-
ment and the accrual of the payables are posted simultaneously. From the
business perspective—and also according to the SCOR model—these are
two different transactions: rst goods receipt and then invoice receipt.
This separation of goods and invoice receipt is implemented using the GR/
IR account. Figure 4.44 shows a posting example.
90100 Leather Supplier Greiner 300000 Raw Material Stock
191100 GR/IR
(1) EUR 2,000.00
(2) EUR 2,000.00 (1) EUR 2,000.00
(2) EUR 2,000.00
Posting Example—GR/IR AccountFigure4.44
The WRX
transaction
Purpose of the
GR IR account
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143
GR/IR Account 4.8
Let us take the previous purchase order of 10 m2 of box calf leather with
EUR 200.00 each as an example—you can nd the goods receipt (10 m
2
) of
EUR 2,000.00 and the invoice receipt (10 m
2
) of EUR 2,000.00.
As agreed, the vendor delivered 10 m
2
of leather. These are posted to the
material stock account for raw materials. The GR/IR account is the offset-
ting account. The value can be derived from the price according to the
purchase order, multiplied by the actual quantity of goods received.
With the invoice receipt, the vendor account is debited. For the offsetting
account assignment, the GR/IR account is used. The following is the ideal
situation: The purchase order was delivered in full and invoiced and there
are no quantity or price variances. Therefore, the GR/IR account is cleared
for this purchase order. But the clearing cannot be implemented directly,
neither through the goods nor through the invoice receipt. Instead, it is
part of the GR/IR account maintenance, which must be done with urgency
and on a regular basis—at the latest, when preparing closing operations.
Clearing the GR/IR Account4.8.2
For clearing, use the function for automatic clearing of G/L accounts in
Financial Accounting. You can nd this function in the user menu under
Accounting
Financial Accounting
General Ledger
Periodic Pro-
cessing
Automatic Clearing
Without Speci cation of Clearing
Currency
(or directly via Transaction F.13). In this case, the system tries
to clear open items on the account according to de ned rules. You de ne
the rules in Customizing under
Financial Accounting (New)
Gen-
eral Ledger Accounting (New)
Business Transactions
Open Item
Clearing
Prepare Automatic Clearing. Here, you can specify which
elds of the open items have to match so that the items can be grouped.
Figure 4.45 displays the default settings.
Default Settings—Automatic ClearingFigure4.45
The de nitions are made for each account type and at intervals if required.
In our case, the ZUONR (assignment number), GSBER (business area), and
VBUND (trading partner number) elds must match. In our small sample
enterprise, the check whether these three  elds match is suf cient. In real
Automatic clearing
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144
4
Procurement Process
life, however, you should additionally de ne the purchasing document
number (EBELN) and item (EBELP) for the GR/IR account. The system
groups all documents that contain identical entries. If the grouped doc-
uments balance to zero, the system proposes or implements automatic
clearing.
Let us have another look at the example from Section 4.7.1, Invoice Veri -
cation Process, and consider this situation for clearing via Transaction F.13.
Three items are found on the GR/IR account of which two match in the
relevant elds (according to the Customizing shown in Figure 4.45) so that
the system identi es that they belong together. Because the group balances
to zero, the system clears the open items (see Figure 4.46).
Clearing the GR/IR Account Using Automatic ClearingFigure4.46
The two document items highlighted in green are cleared. The system
also displays the number of the resulting clearing document. Due to the
SAP General Ledger and the activation of document splitting, there is one
essential innovation for the clearing document (see Figure 4.47).
Clearing Document from the GR/IR Account MaintenanceFigure4.47
Clearing
transaction
Clearing document
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145
GR/IR Account 4.8
As you can see in Figure 4.47, the document now includes line items. Prior
to the introduction of the SAP General Ledger and its document splitting,
the document consisted of a document header only and no document
items were posted.
Transaction F.13 provides two additional functions we used in our exam-
ple: You can consider implementing tolerance limits and reduce the criteria
for the grouping of documents on the GR/IR account.
Considering implementation of tolerances
Considering the implementation of tolerances for exchange rate differ-
ences and rounding differences enables you to clear documents despite
small variances in the amount. The system then posts the difference to
the respective expense or revenue account.
Reducing criteria for the grouping of documents on the GR/IR account
Alternatively, you can also reduce the rules for the grouping of docu-
ments. In the standard, the link is implemented via the purchase order
number and item. For GR-based invoice verication, you can also
implement the grouping via the material document. This is only useful
if the link via the purchase order is not meaningful for, for example,
scheduling agreements.
However, Transaction F.13 does not provide support for deviating goods or
invoice receipts—for example, if no goods or invoice receipts are expected
for a purchase order or if the existing documents cannot be cleared due to
quantity variances. You can clear them in the GR/IR account maintenance
using Transaction MR11. You can nd this transaction in the user menu
under
Logistics
Materials Management
Logistics Invoice Veri-
cation
GR/IR Account Maintenance
Maintain GR/IR Clearing
Account
.
You can start the program automatically or manually. In automatic opera-
tion, the system can write off open items for which the delivery quantity
is larger than the quantity invoiced or for which the quantity invoiced
exceeds the delivery quantity. If all expected goods and invoices have been
received but the purchase order quantity has not been reached, you have
to clear the items manually.
For these transactions, you do not have to congure a specic account
determination. The system works with the settings that are also used for
Transaction F.13
GR/IR Account
Maintenance with
MR11
Automatic or
manual start
Posting
congurations
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146
4
Procurement Process
the invoice receipt. The possible posting records depend on the price con-
trol of the materials or on the purchase order. The following posting con-
gurations are likely:
Purchase orders with account assignment
The offsetting entry is posted to the account assignment that is dened
in the purchase order.
Material
with standard price
The offsetting entry is posted to the price difference account.
Material
with moving average price
If the stock level is greater than/equal to the difference quantity, the
posting is made to the material stock account (this corresponds to a
revaluation). If the stock level covers the difference quantity, the offset-
ting entry is posted to the price difference account, as is the case for
materials with a standard price.
It has already been mentioned that the GR/IR account is not mapped in
the nancial statement. However, to ensure that the nancial statement is
correct, all values on the GR/IR account that exist at the time the nancial
statement is created need to be reposted to other accounts. This repost-
ing is implemented at the period key date and reversed in the subsequent
period. Both is done using Transaction F.19. When the posting is made,
however, the GR/IR account is not addressed directly to set a zero bal-
ance. Rather, the zero balance is set using an adjustment account, which is
mapped in one item in the balance sheet structure together with the GR/IR
account. This means that the zero balance is not set on the GR/IR account
but on the corresponding balance sheet item. The repostings are usually
implemented on two accounts:
An account that maps invoice receipts for which no goods have been
received
An account for goods receipts for which the vendor has not yet issued
an invoice
The account determination here is not part of the MM account determina-
tion, because the postings are exclusively made in the G/L. You can nd
the corresponding settings in the Implementation Guide under
Financial
Accounting (New)
General Ledger Accounting (New)
Periodic
Processing
Reclassify
Dene Adjustment Accounts for GR/IR
Clearing.
Figure 4.48 shows an example.
Mapping in the
nancial statement
using F.19
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 146 12/4/09 3:48:16 PM
147
Integration of Accounts Payable Accounting 4.9
Account Determination for the Reclassi cation of the GR/IR AccountFigure4.48
Here, you can see Transaction BNG (Invoiced but not yet delivered).
For our 191100 GR/IR account, the 191199 adjustment account has been
de ned as the account to which the posting is made instead of the GR/IR
account. The 191101 account is the target entry, which is mapped along
with the stocks in the nancial statement. It should be mapped in the
nancial statement because goods have been received for the received
invoice, which means that a material value exists. In the other case—
material has been delivered, but not invoiced—Lederwaren-Manufaktur
Mannheim makes the posting to the 191102 account (
Delivered but not
yet invoiced
). Here, you have to maintain Transaction GNB. The nan-
cial statement maps the 191102 account in other provisions. The GR/IR
account and the 191199 adjustment account balance to zero, which means
that the adjustment account must be mapped in the not assigned accounts,
along with the GR/IR account.
Account Control of the GR/IR Account
For GR/IR accounts, the balance indicator must only be set for the local cur-
rency. Otherwise, there may be problems when you clear open items with
foreign currencies.
From a business perspective, this is not a problem because foreign currencies
are not relevant for GR/IR accounts.
Let us now turn our attention from general ledger accounting to the sub-
sidiary ledger—that is, accounts payable accounting.
Integration of Accounts Payable Accounting4.9
In accounting, the FI-AP subcomponent (Accounts Payable) maps all trans-
actions that affect vendors. FI-AP is accounts payable accounting with an
integration into general ledger accounting, and its account assignment
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 147 12/4/09 3:48:16 PM
148
4
Procurement Process
object is the vendor master. In addition to the entry of incoming invoices
via Logistics Invoice Verication, which was described in Section 4.7.1,
Invoice Verication Process, you can also directly enter invoices and credit
memos in Accounts Payable.
Invoice Receipt Without MM Integration4.9.1
The lack of integration with MM and Purchasing is a problem when the
data should be directly entered in FI-AP. It means that you cannot access
purchase orders. You also cannot post materials that are subject to inven-
tory management. This method is particularly suited for “minor” invoices,
such as for the ower pot that is paid from the department’s kitty. These
transactions are often called secondary businesses.
These kinds of documents are usually not posted with the RE document
type, but—if you use the standard SAP system—with the KR document
type for invoices and the KG document type for credit memos. Unlike
the document types from Logistics Invoice Verication, these document
types do not use the same number range. This—as well as the necessity of
an additional input screen and the missing verication against a purchase
order or goods receipt—is often the reason why invoice verication clerks
do not fully accept this screen variant. You can address this by providing
an option in Logistics Invoice Verication for postings to G/L accounts.
This enables invoice verication clerks to enter all incoming invoices with
a standardized transaction. For more information, you can also refer to the
descriptions in the context of Logistics Invoice Verication in Section 4.7,
Invoice Verication.
The direct posting of invoices to Accounts Payable is useful, however, if
you have to enter recurring documents at regular intervals. A prominent
example of this is rent. In this case, the amount, account assignment, and
due dates are known over a longer period and normally stay the same. To
facilitate the regular posting of such documents for user departments, the
SAP system provides what are called recurring entries. They work exactly
like standing orders at a bank. You dene the posting with the complete
account assignment, the amounts, the start date, and the end date as well
as the desired cycle (for example, monthly, weekly). This information is
then stored in a recurring entry original document, which is an accounting
document that does not trigger updating the transaction gures. You can
consider it a template for the actual postings. At regular intervals, usually
Lack of integration
Deviating
document type
and number
Recurring entries
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 148 12/4/09 3:48:16 PM
149
Integration of Accounts Payable Accounting 4.9
monthly, the system starts a job that checks all original documents and
generates the respective posting if required.
This tool has the following advantages:
Reduction of the work involved in accounting because you do not have
to re-enter documents every time they recur
Reduction of error sources because the number of manual entry opera-
tions has been reduced
Regardless of how invoices get into an SAP system—they have to be paid
sometime. This is the task of the payment run.
Outgoing Payments4.9.2
The payment run is an accounting tool that enables you to trigger all exist-
ing payments automatically. In many enterprises, the majority of payments
refer to due vendor invoices. However, you can also pay credit memos to
customers or fulll other payment obligations. SAP supports the common
methods such as payments via bank transfers, checks, bills of exchange,
or lockbox procedures. These procedures are called payment methods in
the SAP world.
The behavior of an individual payment run depends on different factors
such as the Customizing of the payment program, the information from
vendor master and single document, or the parameters of the current pay-
ment run (see Figure 4.49).
Functional scope
of the payment run
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150
4
Procurement Process
Behavior of the Payment Run:
What Will Be Paid?
Which Media are Used for Payment?
Information from the
Vendor Master
Information from the
Single Document
Customizing of the
Payment Program
Parameters of the
Current Payment Run
Inuencing Factors of a Payment RunFigure4.49
You can nd the Customizing of the payment program in the Implementation
Guide under
Financial Accounting (New)
Accounts Receivable and
Accounts Payable
Business Transactions
Outgoing Payments. Here,
for every company code that should map outgoing payments, you have to
dene the valid payment methods. For each payment method, you specify a
minimum and a maximum amount, for example. Additionally, you dene
whether payments in foreign currencies or to foreign banks are allowed and,
if required, which forms have to be printed. Furthermore, you dene for
each payment method which information is required, for example, the ven-
dor address for payments by check or the bank details for bank transfers.
Because enterprises today typically have more than one bank account and
often at different banks, bank determination needs to be congured. Here,
depending on the payment methods and currencies, you can dene a rank-
ing of the house banks and accounts. In the standard SAP system, the bank
determination is part of Customizing. An option for changing the ranking
of house banks and accounts in the course of day-to-day operations is not
provided. However, many users want to keep the option for possible short-
term adjustments open. You can meet this user department requirement
by dening tables T042A and T042D as current settings.
You have two options for selecting the payment method that should be
used for an individual open item: by denition in the company code-spe-
cic data of the vendor master or directly in single documents. Normally,
the payment method is dened in the vendor master. You should select
the option of assigning the payment method at the document level only
Customizing of the
payment program
Bank
determination
Information from
the vendor master
and single
document
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 150 12/4/09 3:48:17 PM
151
Integration of Accounts Payable Accounting 4.9
if you want to use a speci c payment method for individual documents.
If a payment method is speci ed twice, the more speci c de nition wins;
that is, the single document. You can always de ne more than one pay-
ment method in the
Payment Methods eld. If there are several entries,
the priority of the entries decreases from the left to the right—that is, the
rst entry from the left usually wins.
Figure 4.50 shows an example. Here, three entries are maintained in the
Payment Methods eld: U for domestic bank transfer, S for payment by
check, and
L for foreign bank transfer. A payment run that provides for all
three payment methods pays open items of vendor K1100 via domestic
bank transfer because this payment method comes rst. A payment run
that only allows for payment by check or foreign bank transfer, in contrast,
would pay the vendor invoices with a check.
The vendor master also contains the bank details.
Using the Partner Bank Type
Lederwaren-Manufaktur Mannheim has a leather supplier that supplies both
the German and the Belgian production. The invoices of the supplier are
directly paid by the respective branch of ce. Let us assume that the supplier
has a German and a Belgian bank account. To minimize costs, the transfers
should be made nationally: Brussels makes it payments to the Belgian vendor
bank account and Mannheim to the German vendor bank. You can imple-
ment this using the partner bank type.
First, create the two bank accounts in the general vendor master view. For ex-
ample, the Belgian account obtains the BE partner bank type and the German
account the DE partner bank type. All invoices of this supplier that specify
the BE partner bank type are now paid against its Belgian bank account and
all with the DE partner bank type against the German account.
If the document does not de ne a partner bank type, the system always uses
the  rst bank in the vendor master.
Payment Methods in the Vendor MasterFigure4.50
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152
4
Procurement Process
The payment run also allows you to set parameters you can use to con-
gure the payment of open items. To do so, navigate to the payment run
using Transaction F110 or in the user menu via
Accounting
Financial
Accounting
Accounts Payable
Periodic Processing
Payments.
Here, you have to specify a scheduled execution day as well as an alpha-
numeric ID. It is important to know that the day of the execution is not
relevant for the open items that are supposed to be selected or the value
date of the payment. These are de ned in the payment run.
De nition of the Parameters in the Payment RunFigure4.51
Figure 4.51 shows an example of the parameter de nition in a payment
run. Here, you can nd the posting date that is used for the accounting
documents. You use the
Documents entered up to and Customer items
due by
elds to de ne which documents should be considered. In addi-
tion, you must enter various vendor and/or customer accounts that the
payment run should take into account.
The payment run de nes for which
Company Codes payments are made
and which
Payment Methods are considered. In this case also, the rule
applies that the payment method on the very left has a higher priority
than the one on its right. Via the date in the
Next posting date eld, the
SAP system determines which open items that are not yet due have to be
paid. Let us look at an example of an open item that is due on 08/15 (see
Table 4.6).
Payment run
parameters
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153
Integration of Accounts Payable Accounting 4.9
Payment Run
Date
Next Posting
Date
Behavior
08/10
08/12
The document is not paid because
the next payment run takes place
before the due date (08/15).
08/10
08/18
The document is paid because it
would be overdue for three days in
the next payment run (08/18).
Due Date and PaymentTable4.6
However, you can also set grace days for yourself in Customizing. For
example, if you dene three grace days for this example, the open item
will not be paid on 08/10 in the second case.
During the further course of the payment run, the system creates a pay-
ment proposal. You can modify it by blocking items for payment or releas-
ing blocked items for payment. However, this blocking (or releasing) of
invoices applies only to this specic payment run. If you want to perma-
nently block an invoice payment, you have to directly navigate to the doc-
ument using Transaction FB02 and set a permanent payment block there.
It is only during the update run that the system makes a posting “vendor
to bank clearing” and thus clears the open item. In the last step, you can
Grace days
Payment proposal
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154
4
Procurement Process
send a payment medium le to the bank or print payment advices, checks,
bills of exchange, and so on.
After your bank has executed the payment request, the purchasing process
is complete from the accounts payable accounting view. But there is still
another leg of the value ow, which leads you from the invoice receipt
directly to G/L accounting and maps the taxation of purchases.
Although numerous tax types are involved when purchasing goods
or services, we want to focus on a widely used type: the tax on sales/
purchases.
Mapping the Tax on Sales/Purchases4.10
In the SAP system, the tax code is the central object for mapping tax on
sales/purchases. It denes the type as well as the calculation and posting
of taxes.
Tax codes enable you to map the input and output tax. There are also tax
codes for the handling of withholding taxes, which are particularly critical
in Southern Europe. They will not be discussed in further detail here.
You can nd the settings for the tax on sales/purchases centrally in the
Financial Accounting component. Customizing takes place in the Implemen-
tation Guide under
Financial Accounting (New)
Financial Account-
ing Global Settings (New)
Tax on Sales/Purchases. The standard SAP
system provides country-specic pricing procedures, called tax procedures,
which meet country-specic basic taxation conditions. However, you should
always check the settings for any new SAP system implementation.
You need to assign a tax procedure to every country in which you perform
business transactions that are subject to taxes on sales/purchases. In turn,
the tax procedure is assigned a tax code. This means that tax procedures
must include all required tax types and rates in the form of tax codes. For
example, if accounts need to be assigned for Belgian taxes on sales/pur-
chases for an incoming invoice in Germany, a code is required that enables
you to determine the Belgian tax correctly and clearly identify it for the
tax return later on.
You maintain the tax codes using Transaction
FTXP. The system indirectly
determines which tax code is used by initially querying the country. Let
us continue with the VN tax code, which was already used in the sample
postings (see Figure 4.52).
Tasks of the
tax code
Attributes of a tax
procedure
Scope of tax
procedures
Maintaining
tax codes
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155
Mapping the Tax on Sales/Purchases 4.10
Maintaining the VN Tax CodeFigure4.52
This example shows the input tax code for a taxation of 19 percent. To
determine the tax amount, the system uses only active lines of the proce-
dure. You can identify them because they are highlighted in blue writing.
In this example, it is level 120.
The account determination is also de ned at the tax code level. This means
that you only have to specify the tax code in the posting process. The sys-
tem can then assume the determination and posting processes. Both in
the procurement process and in the sales and distribution process, this
provides for signi cant advantages for the upstream MM and SD compo-
nents. They only have to identify the correct code; the Financial Account-
ing component then assumes further processing. The tax procedure also
de nes the basic screen, including the lines.
Figure 4.53 provides a schematic overview of the Customizing.
Transferring the Sales Tax Code
Sales tax codes have the disadvantage that they may not be correctly trans-
ferred to the target system. The SAP system therefore provides a download
and upload function for which the target client needs to be modi able. When
you create individual codes, the direct maintenance is usually less time-con-
suming in the target system.
Account
determination
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156
4
Procurement Process
Country Key
Tax Procedure
Assigned
Tax Keys
Assigned
Determined
Base Amount
Tax Rate
Posting Key
Account Determination for Posting
of Taxes on Sales/Purchases
Schematic Illustration of the Customizing for the Tax on Sales/PurchasesFigure4.53
When creating new sales tax codes, there is an additional step you need to
perform. You have to permit the new code for what are called Enjoy trans-
actions. In contrast to older transactions, for example FB01 (General Post-
ing), these transactions—such as FB50 (Enter G/L Account Document) and
FB60 (Enter Invoice)—enable you to enter all specications in one screen.
You register the tax codes using Transaction OBZT (Tax Code Selection
for Transactions), which you can nd in the Implementation Guide, for
example, under
Financial Accounting (New)
Accounts Receivable
and Accounts Payable
Business Transactions
Incoming Invoices/
Credit Memos
Incoming Invoices/Credit Memos - Enjoy
Dene
Tax Code per Transaction
.
Here, depending on the country keys (required for determining the tax
procedure) and tax codes, you can dene for which posting procedures a
code is available in the Enjoy transactions. The following posting proce-
dures are available:
(Logistics) invoice verication
Invoice receipt for nancial accounting
Invoice issue for nancial accounting
All transactions
You usually should not use the “all transactions“ selection because this
way, for example, you also provide tax codes for the output tax to users
who want to enter incoming invoices. You must assign the input tax codes
Enjoy transactions
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157
Summary 4.11
both to the invoice verication and to the invoice receipt in Financial
Accounting to allow for the use in Logistics Invoice Verication and within
Accounts Payable.
If you forget this setting, you created the sales tax code but the system can-
not use it in operational business.
Summary4.11
This chapter explained that the purchasing process is characterized by high
integration of inventory management in the MM component with Finan-
cial Accounting and Controlling. You already have to dene many aspects
in a purchase requisition or purchase order that control the remaining
value ow.
If commitments management is enabled, Controlling is already supplied with
information when a purchase requisition or purchase order is created. By
creating a commitment, you can identify potential budget overruns before
the actual value ow—that is, when the goods or invoices are received.
MM account determination is the central element for controlling the
value ow in the purchasing process. It is quite complex but also ensures
high automation in the process ow. If you do not want to congure
account determination manually, you can use the account determination
wizard. This wizard asks the most important questions, which were also
introduced in this context. While the goods receipt usually does not pose
any problems regarding the integration, the invoice receipt covers special
cases. MM account determination is used here as well, for example, to
map exchange rate differences or small price differences. Invoice verica-
tion enables you to set tolerances to block factually incorrect invoices for
payment.
You usually link the goods receipt and the invoice receipt via a GR/IR
account. Its maintenance is critical for correct mapping in the nancial
statement but is often neglected in real life.
However, the invoice receipt ensures the integration with accounts pay-
able accounting by creating an open item on the vendor account that can
be paid later on.
Except for commitments management, MM account determination, and
goods receipts for purchase orders with account assignment, the topic is
driven by accounting rather than cost accounting and the focus will prob-
ably be on invoice verication.
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 157 12/4/09 3:48:19 PM
429
Index
A
Access sequence, 168, 211
KOF1, 211
PR00, 169
Account assignment, 93
Incorret account assignment, 95
Account assignment category, 72, 95,
212
Account assignment group, 207
Customer, 207
Material, 207
Account assignment manual, 396
Account assignment object
Classic, 260
Custom, 51
Account balance, 346
Account category reference, 110
Assign, 112
Define, 111
Account control
GR/IR account, 147
Account determination, 155
Account determination for real-time
integration, 306, 309
Adjustment account, 331
Configure, 331
MM, 124
Rebuild, 123
SD, 205
Secondary cost element, 306
Account determination procedure, 213
Account determination type, 211
Account group, 183
Account grouping, 114, 118
Accounting, 333
Indicator, 83
International, 321
Accounting principle, 54
Assign, 332
Accounting reconciliation, 341
Account key, 172, 214
Account origination, 161
Accounts
Neutral, 62
Parallel, 55
Accounts Payable, 148
Accounts Receivable, 182
Post bills, 194
Account symbol, 199
Accrual/deferral, 336
Accrual Engine, 338
Acquisition and production costs (APCs),
320
Activation date, 386
Activity price, 231
Maintain, 231
Activity type, 229
Define, 230
Activity Type
Plan, 231
Ad-hoc costing, 244
Adjustment account
Account determination, 331
Use, 330
Adjustment posting
Reverse, 330
After-image delta method, 371
Allocation, 338
Maintain, 340
Allocation structure, 277
Define, 277
APC values posting
Periodic, 323
Application Link Enabling (ALE), 314
Assembly, 225
Assessment, 338
Asset, 96
Capitalized, 96
Asset Accounting
Function, 317
Asset acquisition, 128
Asset history sheet, 325
Asset under construction (AuC), 96, 317
Distribution rule, 318
Settle, 317
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 429 12/4/09 3:50:22 PM
430
Index
Authorization group, 328
Automatic clearing, 143
Automatic release, 141
Availability control, 102, 103
Tolerance, 103
B
BAdI
ACC_DOCUMENT, 323
FAGL_COFI_ACCIT_MOD, 305
FAGL_COFI_LNITEM_SEL, 304
FAGL_DERIVE_SEGMENT, 164
Balance carryforward, 335
Balance sheet, 346
Balance sheet and P&L statement/
cashow, 346
Balance sheet structure, 372
Create, 348
Bank determination, 150
Base planning object, 251
Base planning object and simulation
costing, 242
Benchmarking, 32
Best practice analysis, 32
BEx Analyzer, 362
BEx Query Designer, 361
BEx Suite, 361
BEx Web Application Designer, 363
Billing document, 161
Bill of material, 225
BOM, 295
BOM explosion, 227
Branch ofce, 185
Budget, 87, 98
Monitoring, 98
Buffering
Deactivate, 135
Business area, 45
Business Area, 301
Business Content, 364, 368
SAP ERP, 364
SAP NetWeaver BW, 367
Business intelligence, 353, 354
Business perspective, 28
Business process categories, 32
Business process reengineering, 32
Business transaction
Periodic, 188
Special, 175
C
Calculation
Base, 238
Data volume, 384
Determine base, 238
Capitalized asset, 96
Category, 271
Change management, 396
Characteristic, 76
Assign, 78
Create, 77
Derivation rule, 79
Select, 375
Update, 74
Characteristics item, 383
Characteristic value
Derive, 79
Chart of accounts, 63
Additional, 63
Country-specific chart of accounts, 65
Group chart of accounts, 64
Hierarchy, 63
Operating, 64
Clearing
Automatic, 143
Document, 144
Closed loop process, 356
Closing
Early, 58
Closing procedure document, 312
Closing procedure document, 401
Commission, 173
Commitment, 98, 190
Blocks, 100
Calculation, 101
Change, 100
Cost center, 99
Management, 98
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 430 12/4/09 3:50:22 PM
431
Index
Order, 99
Reduce, 101
Update, 98
Company, 45
Company code, 45
Cross-company-code transactions, 310
Global transactions, 48
Parallel, 54
Condition
Assign, 81
Condition exclusion, 171
Procedure, 172
Condition record, 167, 168
Condition table, 210
Condition technique, 210
Condition type, 167
Customizing, 168
PR00, 167
RA01, 170
Consolidation
Preparation, 300, 342
Consumption posting, 117
Contribution margin accounting, 82
Contribution margin scheme, 377
Control
Extended, 268
Controlling
Operative, 349
Controlling approach, 37
Controlling approaches, 37
Controlling area, 47
General, 47
CO-PA, 73
Account-based, 74
Costing-based, 74, 75
Value field, 81
Co-product, 278
Cost accounting, 262
Cost Center Update, 300
Cost component split, 233
Cost component structure, 232
Customizing, 233
Cost element, 59, 60, 82, 230
Category, 61
Category 90, 62
G/L account, 60
Group, 277
Number, 61
Primary, 61
Secondary, 61
Cost element calculation
For each recipient type, 278
Costing, 70
Ad-hoc costing, 244
Base object and simulation costing,
251
Base planning object and simulation
costing, 242
Current, 236
Inventory costing, 235
Modified standard cost estimate, 236
Order BOM cost estimate, 295
Period-end closing, 262
Simultaneous, 261
Without quantity structure, 243
With quantity structure, 243, 244
Costing-based element, 166, 173
Costing procedure, 242
Costing run, 244
Create, 244
Operation, 245
Status development, 247
Costing sheet, 166, 169
Pricing, 167
Costing type, 234
Costing value
Transfer, 294
Costing variant, 231, 252
Cost object, 287
Controlling, 223, 257, 281
Hierarchy, 259
Node, 259
Cost object controlling
Periodic, 258
Cost-of-sales accounting, 46, 346
Cost-of-Sales Accounting, 301
Cost-of-sales accounting ledger, 46
Country-specic chart of accounts, 65
Create
Balance sheet structure, 348
Credit control area, 47
Credit limit calculation, 190
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 431 12/4/09 3:50:22 PM
432
Index
Crystal Reports, 364
Cube
Virtual, 371
Current costing, 236
Current setting, 150
Custom account assignment object, 51
Custom DataSource, 373
Customer account, 183
Company code data, 185
General part, 183
Reconciliation account, 186
Sales data, 183
Customer enhancement, 80
Customer hierarchy access, 80
Customer-specic table, 392
Customer with a credit balance, 333
Customizing, 196
D
Data acquisition, 356, 357
Data modeling, 357
Data provisioning layer, 357
Data retention, 357
DataSource, 357
Activate, 370
Custom, 373
DataStore object, 357, 359
Data structure, 357
Data transfer, 240
Data volume, 381
Calculate, 384
Data Warehousing Workbench, 367
Date control, 248
Decision
Strategic, 221
Dene
Activity type, 230
Allocation structure, 277
Credit, 239
Distribution cycle, 339
Line identification, 270
Segment, 339
Standard value key, 228
Dene credit, 239
Delivery, 161
Delivery cost provisions (RUE), 122
Delivery costs, 136
Unplanned, 122
delta compatibility, 365
Delta method, 371
Depreciation, 320
Depreciation key, 320
Depreciation posting run, 320
Function, 320
Derivation option, 164
Derivation procedure, 393
Derivation rule, 79
Design level, 35
De-taxation, 175
Deviating document number, 148
Deviating document type, 148
Discount, 170, 171
Distribution, 338
Distribution cycle
Define, 339
Distribution rule (AuC settlement), 318
Document ow, 27
SD, 180
Document/journal entry report, 345
Document number
Deviating, 148
Document number assignment, 134
Document splitting, 59, 60
Document summarization, 305
Document type, 194
Deviating, 148
Down payment, 188
Dummy account assignment, 395
Dunning, 195
Dunning charge, 195
Bill, 196
Dunning interests, 195
Duplicated CO-PA record, 165
Duplicated invoice, 91
E
Early closing, 58
Earnings Before Interests and Taxes
(EBIT), 61, 182
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 432 12/4/09 3:50:22 PM
433
Index
Easy Cost Planning, 244
Electronic bank statement, 196
Account symbol, 199
External transaction code, 198
Number logic of the bank accounts,
200
Posting rule, 198
Transaction category, 198
Element
Costing-based, 166
price-determining, 170
Price-determining, 166
Engineer-to-order, 224
Controlling approach, 37
Enjoy transaction, 156
Entity model, 43
Exchange rate rounding differences for
Materials Management (KDR), 121
Execution processes, 34
Expenditure/income from consignment
material consumption (AKO), 118
Expenditure/income from transfer
posting (AUM), 119
Explosion type, 240
Extended control, 268
Extractor, 357
General ledger balances, leading
ledger, 369
F
Fast close, 57
Feeder system, 357
Field control, 127
Final costing, 264
Financial statement, 48
First In - First Out (FIFO), 70
Fiscal year change, 325
Fixed account assignment, 179
Flat-rate value adjustment, 335
Foreign currency valuation, 329
Function, 329
Full settlement (FUL), 286
Functional area, 46
Overwriting, 47
Functional area derivation, 46
G
General controlling area, 47
General ledger account, 59
G/L account, 59, 60
Goods issue
Valuate, 181
Goods issue posting, 178
Goods receipt, 87, 93, 128
Non-valuated, 128
Valuated, 128
Grace day, 153
GR/IR account, 142
GR/IR clearing (WRX), 122
Gross discount, 171
Gross schema, 175
De-taxation, 175
SAP standard, 175
Group
Cost element, 277
Group chart of accounts, 64
H
Head ofce, 185
House bank, 150
Human Resources, 312
I
Implementation level, 36
Income/expenditure from revaluation
(UMB), 122
Incoming payment, 161, 196
Individual value adjustment, 335
InfoCube, 357
InfoObject, 357
InfoProvider, 357
Information
Inherit, 340
Information broadcasting, 364
Information ow, 27
Information message
Adapt, 135
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 433 12/4/09 3:50:22 PM
434
Index
Information system, 353
Integrated value ow, 25
Definition, 25
Integration, 28
Financial Accounting and Controlling,
42
Information flow and material flow,
27
In SAP ERP, 41
Interest group, 28
Lack of, 148
Missing, 42
MM and Financial Accounting/
Controlling, 102, 104
SD and Accounts Receivable, 193
Intercompany clearing account, 310
Intercompany reconciliation, 342
Interface, 172
Internal invoicing, 312
International accounting, 321
International Accounting Standards
(IAS), 54
International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS), 54
Inventory, 315
Asset Accounting, 324
Continuous, 315
Deferred, 315
Periodic inventory, 315
Procedures subject to permission, 316
Sample-based physical inventory, 315
Inventory costing, 235
Invoice
Cuplicated, 91
Invoice receipt, 87, 94
Invoice verication, 130
GR-based, 132
Logistics, 131
Process, 131
Technical, 131
Invoicing
Internal, 312
Item category, 93, 97, 253
L
Lack of integration, 148
Last In - First Out (LIFO), 69
Lease Accounting Engine (LAE), 317
LeatherWorks Manufacturing, 20
Ledger
Compare Financial Accounting and
EC-PCA, 344
Cost-of-sales accounting ledger, 46
Parallel, 57
Post to, 56
Special, 54
Update, 300
Legal entity, 45
Level of integration, 221
Life cycle, 241
Limitation
Planned revenues, 294
Line identication, 270
Assign, 271
Define, 270
List of stock values, 343
List screen, 253
Logistical master data, 225
Logistics Invoice Verication, 131
Lowest value principle, 69
M
Maintain
Allocation, 340
Make-to-order, 224
Make-to-stock, 224
Controlling approach, 37
Management reporting, 350
Manufacturing order, 259
Manufacturing process, 223
Mapping of delivery costs, 120
Masking, 233
Master data
Logistical, 225
Master data concept
Value flow-oriented, 58
Master data report, 345
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 434 12/4/09 3:50:22 PM
435
Index
Master recipe, 229
Material ow, 26
Material group, 92, 95
Material ledger, 224
Material master, 65
View, 66
Material type, 110, 112, 113
New, 113
Mickey Mouse model, 55
Migration date, 385
Migration scope, 386
Migration to the SAP General Ledger, 44
MM account determination, 104, 105
Simulation, 125
Structure, 105
Transaction, 114
MM document, 104
Modied standard cost estimate, 236
Movement indicator, 115
Movement type, 114, 116
Moving average price, 67
N
Net discount, 171
Net schema, 175, 176
Non-valuated goods receipt, 128
Noted items, 189
O
Offsetting entry to the stock posting
(GBB), 120
Open item control, 59
Operating chart of accounts, 64
Operating concern, 49, 76
Error message, 79
Operative controlling, 349
Order BOM cost estimate, 295
Order-related cost object controlling,
258
Order status, 290
Order type
Commitment update, 99
Organizational structure, 44, 51
Changing, 51
Organizational unit
Controlling, 50
Financial Accounting, 50
Outgoing payments, 88
Overhead, 262
Overhead application, 262
Overhead cost controlling, 262
Overhead Cost Controlling, 216
P
Parallel accounting
Classic general ledger, 54
Parallel accounts, 55
Parallel company codes, 54
Parallel ledger
Migration, 57
Parallel ledgers, 56
Parallel rendering of accounts, 53
SAP General Ledger, 56
Partial payment, 203
Partner role, 193
PA transfer structure, 81, 278
Payable, 90
Payer, 193
Payment block
Permanent, 153
Payment difference, 201
Large variance, 203
small difference, 201
Payment method, 91, 150, 196
Payment on account, 203
Payment proposal, 153
Payment run, 149
Percentage rate
Define, 239
Performance management, 37
Period accounting, 346
Period closing program
Settings, 327
Period control, 326
Period-end closing, 285, 289, 297
Periodic APC values posting, 323
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 435 12/4/09 3:50:22 PM
436
Index
Periodic business transaction, 188
Periodic cost object controlling, 258
Periodic settlement (PER), 286
Periodic unit price, 68
Period-related product controlling, 281
Permanent payment block, 153
Perspective
Business, 28
Value-based, 28
Physical inventory prices, 68
Plan
Activity type, 231
Planning, 32
Planning processes, 33
Plant level, 106
Porter‘s value chain model, 30
Posting
Automatic, 268
WIP posting, 268
Posting period, 327
Close, 327
Open, 327
Posting Procedure, 191
Posting rule, 198
Preliminary costing, 283, 289, 294
Price
Update, 106
Price control, 67
Price determination, 166, 209
Price-determining element, 166
Article, 171
Customer, 171
Sales and distribution, 170
Price differences (PRD), 121
Price update, 250
Pricing
Costing sheet, 167
Trigger, 177
Pricing procedure, 236
Primary activity, 30
Primary cost element, 61
Process
Integration, 43
Process category, 161
Process design, 37
Procurement, 32
Procurement process, 85
Product controlling
Period-related, 281
Resource-related, 258
Sales-order-based, 258
Product cost by sales order, 258, 292
Product cost collector, 259, 282
Product cost controlling, 225
Basic setting, 231
Time schedule, 261
Product cost planning, 241
Type, 241
Product Cost Planning
Type, 242
Production, 32
Production cost planning, 222
Production process, 221
Production typology, 260
Protability analysis, 373
Prot and loss statement (P&L
statement), 346
Capitalization, 317
Return, 317
Prot center, 48, 163
Matrix organization, 163
Prot Center Accounting, 380
Prot center assignment
Change, 53
Prot center derivation, 49, 163
Derivation rules, 384
From the material master, 163
Substitution, 164
Prot center/segment link, 50
Prot Center Update, 301
Pro forma invoice, 214
Project
Charter, 379
Dry run, 397
Financial Accounting/Controlling
value flows, 396
Initial situation, 379
Phases, 387
Plan, 385, 387
Preliminary considerations, 380
Redesigning value flows, 391
Review, 397
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 436 12/4/09 3:50:23 PM
437
Index
Scope, 384
Segment, 391
Value flows in sales process, 394
Value flows in the procurement
process, 393
Purchase order, 92, 128
Purchase order history, 129
Purchase order status, 129
Purchase requisition, 92
Purchasing data, 91
Purchasing info record, 94
Q
Quantity eld, 80
Quantity elds, 177
Quantity ow
MM, 180
Quantity update, 112
Query, 359
R
Real-time integration, 58, 302
Account, 308
Account determination, 306, 309
Variant specification, 304
Real-time integration (RTI), 396
Rebate, 174
Receipt indicator, 117
Receivable, 182
Reclassication, 333
Reconciliation, 341
Accounting, 341
Financial Accounting and inventory
management, 343
Financial Accounting ñ Controlling,
344
Financial Accounting ñ EC-PCA, 344
Financial Accounting ñ FI-AA, 324
Reconciliation account, 89, 186, 333
Changeable, 188, 341
Vendor, 89
Reconciliation ledger, 302
Recurring entry, 148
Reference variant, 240
Release
Automatic, 141
RemoteCube, 372
Replacement value, 70
Report
RGUIST01, 384
Reporting, 345, 349
Reporting and analysis option, 353
Requirement
International, 53
Requirements class, 71, 212
Derivation, 72
Requirements type, 72
Resource, 227
Results analysis, 297
Key, 72, 266
Version, 266
Retained earnings account, 335
Parallel financial reporting, 336
Returns, 33
Revaluate, 256
Revaluation, 256
Revenue, 217
Cost-reducing, 217
Revenue account determination, 206
Account determination procedure, 213
Account determination type, 211
Condition technique, 210
Customer account assignment group,
207
Material account assignment group,
207
Prerequisites, 206
Rebuild, 217
Troubleshooting, 218
Revenue planning, 294
Revenue recognition, 204
Method, 204
Time, 204
Time of service performance, 204
S
Sales and distribution, 33
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 437 12/4/09 3:50:23 PM
438
Index
Sales document item, 259
Sales order, 162
Profit center account assignment, 181
Sales order controlling, 38, 74
Sales order costing, 294
Sales revenue, 204
SAP BusinessObjects, 364
SAP ERP
Value flow model, 42
SAP General Ledger
Account determination, 331
SAP Management Cockpit, 364
SAP NetWeaver BW, 353
Additional information, 377
SAP Note
69642, 150
77430, 150
81153, 150
213444, 192
SAP system
Components, 43
Historically grown, 42
Organizational element, 44
Structure, 42
Scenario, 300
Scheduling, 240
SCOR model, 31, 86, 160, 223
Business process category, 32
Configuration level, 33
Design level, 35
Extend, 36
First level, 33
Link levels, 34
Production model, 35
second level, 33
Secondary activity, 30
Secondary business, 194
Debit-side, 194
Vendor, 148
Secondary cost element, 61
Segment, 49, 164
Define, 339
Financial statements, 57
Segmentation, 301
Segment derivation, 164
BAdI, 165
Select
Characteristic, 375
Value field, 375
Service, 371
Setting
Current, 150
Settlement, 275, 297
Control, 279
Profile, 72, 276, 318
Rule, 72
Simulation and base planning object,
251
Simulation costing, 251
Simultaneous costing, 261, 284, 289,
295
Single document
Transfer, 58
Small differences in Materials
Management (DIF), 121
Source, 82
Source of supply, 92
Source structure, 278
Special business transaction, 175
Special G/L indicator, 189
Create, 189
Down payment request, 191
Property, 190
Special G/L sales, 190
Special G/L transaction
Integrated with SD, 192
Special G/L transactions, 188
Special ledger, 54
Special stock, 116
Split valuation, 109
Standard account assignment, 119
Standard cost estimate, 235
Standard price, 121
Standard value key
Define, 228
Stock change account, 181
Stock change (BSV), 119
Stock issue
Account determination, 181
Stock posting (BSX), 119
Storage
Final, 255
Temporary, 255
Strategic decision, 221
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 438 12/4/09 3:50:23 PM
439
Index
Structural change, 51
Substitution, 164
Subtotal, 170
Supply chain, 26
Supply Chain Council (SCC), 32
Support processes, 34
Surcharge, 170, 171
Symbolic account, 313
T
Tab
Additional Log, 153
Basic Data, 228
Control, 282, 287
Cost Accounting, 282
Costing, 66, 228, 229
Costing 1, 163
Costing1, 70
Costing 2, 70
Dates, 244
Details, 136
Financial Accounting, 66
Header, 283
Invoice, 132
Overhead Costs, 236
Parameter, 135
Payment Transactions, 202
Sales General/Plant, 70, 163
Sales sales org. 1, 70
Valuation, 244
Table
ANLC, 324
BKPF, 382
BSEG, 382
Customer-specific, 392
FAGLFLEXA, 382
FAGLFLEXT, 369, 382
T042A, 150
T042D, 150
T156SY, 117
Totals table, 381
Table access, 79
Target costs, 257
Calculate, 257
Target ledger group, 332
Task list, 396
Tax code, 154
Maintain, 154
Tax on sales/purchases, 154
Tax procedure, 154
Terms of payment, 186
Test phase, 388
Tolerance, 138
Tolerance group, 202
Tolerance key, 139
AN, 139
AP, 139
BD, 139
KW, 140
LA, 140
LD, 140
PP, 140
PS, 140
VP, 140
Tolerance limit, 138
Totals table, 381
FAGLFLEXT, 306
Transaction, 114, 118
0KEM, 164
3KEH, 49
ABST2, 324
AJAB, 325
AJRW, 325
AO90, 320
ARAL, 325
ASKB, 323
CK11N, 251
CK24, 251
CK40N, 244
CKMATSEL, 244
Clear, 144
CO01, 282, 287
CO02, 289
CR01, 228
CS01, 225
CS11, 227
Enjoy transaction, 156
F.03, 341
F.07, 336
F.13, 143, 144, 145
F.19, 146
F110, 152
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 439 12/4/09 3:50:23 PM
440
Index
FAGLBW03, 369
FAGLF101, 334
FAGLGVTR, 335
FB01, 156
FB02, 153
FB50, 156
FB60, 156
FTXP, 154
GCAC, 344, 388
KAH1, 82
KALC, 58, 302
KEA0, 78
KEA5, 76
KEA6, 80
KEAT, 344
KEAW, 344
KEND, 51
KI12, 262
KKAX, 272
KKE1, 251
KKEB, 256
KKF6N, 282, 283
KKS2, 275
KOT2_OPA, 99
MB5L, 343
ME21, 68
MF30, 283
MIGO, 115
MIGO_GI, 115
MIGO_GO, 115
MIGO_GR, 115
MIGO_TR, 115
MIRO, 133, 138
MR11, 145
MRBR, 141
OB52, 327
OB58, 348
OBA5, 91
OBZT, 156
OKB9, 119, 137, 179, 203
OKG1, 266
OKG8, 267
OKGB, 271
OKKP, 98
OKO7, 318
OKP1, 328
OME9, 98
OMWB, 125
OMWN, 118
OV25, 210
OVF3, 179
OVZG, 71
RSA1, 367
SA38, 384
SAP standard, 118
SBIW, 365, 374
V/08, 167
VA03, 179
VA44, 297
VF03, 218
VOFA, 194
Transaction category, 198
Transaction code
external, 198
Transaction key, 114
Transfer control, 240
Transfer posting
Manual, 308
Transformation, 358
Turning action into data, 36
U
Unit costing, 251
United States Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles (US-GAAP, 54
Unplanned delivery costs (UPF), 122
Post, 137
Update material price, 242
Updating
Material price, 242
V
Valuated goods receipt, 128
Valuation
Split, 109
Valuation area, 107
Group, 107
Valuation class, 66, 109, 123
Assign, 112
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 440 12/4/09 3:50:23 PM
441
Index
Create, 112
Customizing, 110
Valuation grouping code (VGC), 107
Assign, 108
Valuation level, 106, 123
Valuation variant, 236, 248, 273
Valuation view, 236
Value-based perspective, 28
Value creation
Increase, 31
Value eld, 80, 177
Assign, 83
Create, 80
fill, 80
Value ow, 26
Integrated, 25
Order-related product controlling, 291
Period-based product controlling, 285
Sales-order-related product
controlling, 295
Sales process, 162
Start in sales order, 161
Value ow model
In SAP ERP, 42
Value string, 117
Value update, 112
Variance calculation, 273
Variance Calculation, 275
Variance category, 83
Variance key, 273
Variance variant, 274
Vendor consignment stock, 129
Vendor management and vendor
controlling, 38
Vendor master, 89
Accounting view, 89
General part, 89
Vendor secondary business, 148
Vendor selection, 86
Vendor with a debit balance, 333
View, 91
Virtual cube, 371
W
Wage type, 313
Web browser, 363
Work in process (WIP), 264
Customizing, 272
Posting, 268
Updating, 270
Worklist, 244
Y
Year-end closing, 325
298 Book_TIGHT.indb 441 12/4/09 3:50:23 PM