Controlling Terminology

Controlling Area: An organizational unit within a company, used to represent a closed system for cost accounting purposes. A controlling area may include single or multiple company codes that may use different currencies. These company codes must use the same operative chart of accounts.

Cost center std Hierarchy : Indicated hierarchy of cost center groups in which all cost centers in a controlling area are gathered together.

Cost element : A cost element classifies the organization's valuated consumption of production factors within a controlling area. A cost element corresponds to a cost-relevant item in the chart of accounts.

Primary cost element: A cost element whose costs originate outside of CO and accrual costs that are used only for controlling purposes

Secondary cost element: A cost element that is used to allocate costs for internal activities. Secondary cost elements do not correspond to any G/L account in Financial Accounting. They are used only in Controlling and consequently cannot be defined in FI as an account.

Cost element category: The classification of cost elements according to their usage or origin.

Examples of cost element categories are:

• Material cost elements
• Settlement cost elements for orders

Cost elements for allocating internal activities

Reconciliation ledger: A ledger used for summarized display of values that appear in more detailed form in the transaction data.

The reconciliation ledger has the following functions:

• Reconciles Controlling with Financial Accounting: The reconciliation ledger provides reports for monitoring the reconciliation of Controlling with Financial Accounting by account.

• It can identify and display value flows in Controlling across company code, functional area, or business area boundaries

• Provides an overview of all costs incurred : Reconciliation ledger reports provide an overview of the costs and are therefore a useful starting point for cost analysis. For example, an item in the profit and loss statement from the Financial Information System (FIS) can be examined in the reconciliation ledger reports with respect to the relevant costs. For more detailed analysis, reports from other components within Controlling can be accessed from the reconciliation ledger reports.

Cost Center: An organizational unit within a controlling area that represents a defined location of cost incurrence.

The definition can be based on:

• Functional requirements

• Allocation criteria

• Physical location

• Responsibility for costs

Cost center category: An attribute that determines the type of cost center.

Example

• F - Production cost center
• H - Service cost center

Controlling area: An organizational unit within a company, used to represent a closed system for cost accounting purposes.

A controlling area may include single or multiple company codes that may use different currencies. These company codes must use the same operative chart of accounts.

All internal allocations refer exclusively to objects in the same controlling area.

Statistical key figure: The statistical values describing:

• Cost centers
• Orders
• Business processes
• Profit centers

There are the following types of statistical key figures:

• Fixed value - Fixed values are carried forward from the current posting period to all subsequent periods.
• Total value -

Totals values are posted in the current posting period only

Activity type: A unit in a controlling area that classifies the activities performed in a cost center.

Example

Activity types in production cost centers are machine hours or finished units.

Allocation cost element : A cost element used to illustrate activity allocation in terms of values. Theallocation cost element is a secondary cost element , under which the activity type or business process is allocated.

The allocation cost element is the central characteristic used in all CO postings. It is therefore also an important criterion for reporting - for example, many reports are structured according to the posted cost elements.

Assessment cost element: A secondary cost element for costs that are assessed between Controlling objects.

Reposting: A posting aid in which primary costs are posted to a receiver object under the original cost element (the cost element of the sender object).

Repostings are used to rectify incorrect postings. The following methods are available:

• Transaction-based reposting -

Each posting is made in real time during the current period.

• Periodic reposting -

Produces the same results as transaction-based reposting. The costs being transferred are collected on a clearing cost center and then transferred at the end of the period according to allocation bases defined by the user.

Distribution: A business transaction that allocates primary costs.

• The original cost element is retained in the receiver cost center.
• Information about the sender and the receiver is documented in the Controlling document.

Assessment: A method of internal cost allocation by which you allocate the costs of a sender cost center to receiver CO objects (such as orders and other cost centers) using an assessment cost element.

The SAP System supports the following:

• Hierarchical method (where the user determines the assessment sequence)
• Iterative method (where the SAP System determines the sequence of assessment using iteration).

Example:

The costs from the cafeteria cost center could be assessed based on the statistical key figure "employee", which was set up on the receiver cost center.

Receiver cost center I has 10 employees, receiver cost center II has 90. The costs of the cafeteria cost center would be transferred (assessed) to receiver cost center I (10%) and receiver cost center II (90%). The credit on the cafeteria cost center and the debit of the two receiver cost centers are posted using an assessment cost element. Depending on the system setting, the total costs or some of the costs for the cafeteria cost center would be

Internal order: An instrument used to monitor costs and, in some instances, the revenues of an organization.

Internal orders can be used for the following purposes:

• Monitoring the costs of short-term jobs
• Monitoring the costs and revenues of a specific service
• Ongoing cost control

Internal orders are divided into the following categories:

• Overhead orders - For short-term monitoring of the indirect costs arising from jobs. They can also be used for continuous monitoring of subareas of indirect costs. Overhead orders can collect plan and actual costs independently of organizational cost center structures and business processes, enabling continuous cost control in the enterprise.

• Investment orders - Monitor investment costs that can be capitalized and settled to fixed assets.

• Accrual orders - Monitor period-based accrual between expenses posted in Financial Accounting and accrual costs in Controlling.

• Orders with revenues - Monitor the costs and revenues arising from activities for partners outside the organization, or from activities not belonging to the core business of the organization.

Order type: A tool that categorizes orders according to purpose.

The order type contains information which is necessary for managing orders. Order types are client-specific. The same order type can be used in all controlling areas in one client.

Example

• Production orders
• Maintenance orders
• Capital investment orders
• Marketing orders

•  

Cost of sales accounting: A type of profit and loss statement that matches the sales revenues to the costs or expenses involved in making the revenue (cost of sales).

The expenses are listed in functional areas such as:

• Manufacturing
• Management
• Sales and distribution
• Research and development

Cost of sales accounting displays how the costs were incurred. It represents the economic outflow of resources.

SAP CO Configurations basics

There are several configuration steps that must be considered when implementing the CO (Controlling) Module. Creating the Controlling area is one of the first steps in the CO (Controlling) configuration process. SAP has provided standard controlling areas and company codes which can be utilized as a basis for creating your company’s Controlling Area. The SAP Standard for Controlling Area is “0001” and for company code is “0001”.

It is recommended that these be used as a basis to create the Controlling Area or Company Code that you would like to define . Certain defaults setting such as number ranges have already been set-up in the standard SAP settings, thereby eliminating the need to redo this configuration requirement. Through the SAP Configuration process, you can create a copy of the Standard Controlling Area and Company Code, then update the other fields as needed including the four character alpha numeric field which identifies these areas. (You may want to change the controlling area from “0001” to “A001” and the Company Code from “0001” to “ AA01” as an example.)

Keep in mind that Company Codes are assigned to Controlling Areas and affect the COA (Chart of Accounts), the Fiscal Year Variants, andCurrency set-ups. Cost Center hierarchy and Reconciliation ledger settings are also include in the Controlling Area set-up.

The Control Indicator activates and deactivates certain functions in the Controlling Area. The Controlling Area can also be used for cross-company code business transactions. To enable this function the Controlling Area must be assigned to all company codes used for cross-company code accounting.

SAP CO introduction

Introduction

The SAP CO (Controlling) Module provides supporting information to Management for the purpose of planning, reporting, as well as monitoring the operations of their business. Management decision-making can be achieved with the level of information provided by this module. 

Some of the components of the CO(Controlling) Module are as follows: 

· Cost Element Accounting

· Cost Center Accounting

· Internal Orders

· Activity-Based Costing ( ABC)

· Product Cost Controlling

· Profitability Analysis

· Profit Center Accounting

The Cost Element Accounting component provides information which includes the costs and revenue for an organization. These postings are automatically updated from FI (Financial Accounting) to CO (Controlling). The cost elements are the basis for cost accounting and enables the User the ability to display costs for each of the accounts that have been assigned to the cost element. Examples of accounts that can be assigned are Cost Centers, Internal Orders, WBS(work breakdown structures). 
Cost Center Accounting provides information on the costs incurred by your business. Within SAP, you have the ability to assign Cost Centers to departments and /or Managers responsible for certain areas of the business as well as functional areas within your organization. Cost Centers can be created for such functional areas as Marketing, Purchasing, Human Resources, Finance, Facilities, Information Systems, Administrative Support, Legal, Shipping/Receiving, or even Quality. 

Some of the benefits of Cost Center Accounting : 
(1) Managers can set Budget /Cost Center targets; 
(2) Cost Center visibility of functional departments/areas of your business; 
(3) Planning ; 
(4) Availability of Cost allocation methods; and 
(5) Assessments/Distribution of costs to other cost objects. 

Internal Orders provide a means of tracking costs of a specific job , service, or task. Internal Orders are used as a method to collect those costs and business transactions related to the task. This level of monitoring can be very detailed but allows management the ability to review Internal Order activity for better-decision making purposes.

Activity-Based Costing allows a better definition of the source of costs to the process driving the cost. Activity-Based Costing enhances Cost Center Accounting in that it allows for a process-oriented and cross-functional view of your cost centers. It can also be used with Product Costing and Profitability Analysis. 

Product Cost Controlling allows management the ability to analyze their product costs and to make decisions on the optimal price(s) to market their products. It is within this module of CO (Controlling) that planned, actual and target values are analyzed. Sub-components of the module are: 

· Product Cost Planning which includes Material Costing( Cost estimates with Quantity structure, Cost estimates without quantity structure, Master data for Mixed Cost Estimates, Production lot Cost Estimates) , Price Updates, and Reference and Simulation Costing. 

· Cost Object Controlling includes Product Cost by Period, Product Cost by Order, Product Costs by Sales Orders, Intangible Goods and Services, and CRM Service Processes. 

· Actual Costing/Material Ledger includes Periodic Material valuation, Actual Costing, and Price Changes. 

Profitability Analysis allows Management the ability to review information with respect to the company’s profit or contribution margin by business segment. Profitability Analysis can be obtained by the following methods: 

· Account-Based Analysis which uses an account-based valuation approach. In this analysis, cost and revenue element accounts are used. These accounts can be reconciled with FI(Financial Accounting).

· Cost-Based Analysis uses a costing based valuation approach as defined by the User. 

Profit Center Accounting provides visibility of an organization’s profit and losses by profit center. The methods which can be utilized for EC-PCA (Profit Center Accounting) are period accounting or by the cost-of-sales approach. Profit Centers can be set-up to identify product lines, divisions, geographical regions, offices, production sites or by functions. Profit Centers are used for Internal Control purposes enabling management the ability to review areas of responsibility within their organization. The difference between a Cost Center and a Profit Center is that the Cost Center represents individual costs incurred during a given period and Profit Centers contain the balances of costs and revenues.