Item categories are used to break down cost estimates. In unit costing, when items are added, an item category must be included. The item category determines what data you enter and what data is read or calculated by the system.
Note
Item Categories are delivered with the system and cannot be added to or modified.
There are quite a few more item categories used in cost estimates with a quantity structure. They can be viewed in the itemization view of a cost estimate.
The following table lists item categories:
Item Categories
| Item Category | Your Entry | Determined by System |
|---|
| V (Variable item) | Quantity, price, description, cost element* | Nothing |
| T (Text item) | Description | Nothing |
| E (Internal activity) | Cost center, activity type, quantity | Price, unit of measure, text, cost element, value |
| P (Manual process) | Business process, quantity | Price, unit of measure, text, cost element, value |
| M (Material) | Material, plant, quantity | Price, unit of measure, text, cost element, value |
| N (Service) | Service, plant, quantity | Price, unit of measure, text, cost element, value |
| F (External activity) | Purchasing organization, info record, plant, cost element, quantity | Price, unit of measure, text, cost element, value |
| L (Subcontracting) | Purchasing organization, info record, quantity | Price, unit of measure, text, cost element, value |
Cost Element Source
The system automatically determines a cost element for most costing items, depending on the item category.
The following table lists the source of the cost elements:
Cost Element Sources
| Item category | Cost Element Source |
|---|
| Internal activity | Activity type master record |
| External activity | Your manual entry |
| Subcontracting | Your manual entry |
| Overhead | Costing sheet |
| Manual process costs | Your manual entry |
| Automatic process costs | Process template |
| Material | Automatic account determination |
| Service | Service master |
| Variable item | Your manual entry |
When displaying a cost estimate, only the fields that are ready for input are displayed in the detail screen section.
Item Categories Determined by the System
The item categories listed below, do not require manual entry for the resource, plant/activity type, quantity, and unit.
In addition to the manual costing item categories mentioned, there are system-costing item categories as shown in the figure. A short description of these costing item categories is as follows:
- Overhead (G):
Overhead costs are not directly related to the costs of production but have a sizeable effect on the manufacturing costs. In order to allocate this cost the costing sheet functionality is used.
- Process costs (X):
You can use the costs for business processes in a cost estimate as either a replacement for, or supplement to, the traditional method of allocating overhead costs. The process costs are generally allocated using templates.
- Raw materials cost estimate (I):
The raw material cost estimate enables you to include delivery costs, allocate overhead and include additive costs at the material component level even though there are no BOMs or routings for these. Data for cost calculation of these raw materials is taken from Purchasing Info Records.
- Total items (S):
Total items are used by the system to calculate totals for rows. You can define which rows will be totalled in a formula. By default, the total row will summarize the values of all rows above it.
- Operation items (O):
Operation items transform the values of other rows of the cost estimate using simple formulas. For example, you can create a formula to summarize rows 1 to 10 of the cost estimate and add 10% to the result.
Note
To apply a totals row or formula to the cost estimate, take the following steps:
On the List screen, select the costing items to which you want to apply a total or formula.
Place the cursor on the row where you want the formula to be displayed.
Choose the Totals or Formula push button to confirm.
Formulas cannot be longer than 50 characters.
