Defining Data Structures

Name an operating concern and then define its attributes. After the attributes are defined, define the data structures for the operating concern by selecting the required value fields and characteristics for the profitability segment. Then save, activate, and generate the data structures.

During the generation process, the system creates the tables CE1XXXX through CE8XXXX, and check tables. The tables CE1 through CE4 are of particular significance for the market segments. Note that the data in costing-based Profitability Analysis (CO-PA) is stored in separate tables. The actual data for Margin Analysis is stored in the universal journal ACDOCA, the plan data in table COSP (totals) and COEJ (plan line item).

The following steps describe the process for defining data structures:

1. Check whether all required characteristics and value fields are available. If not, create them using transaction KEA5 (characteristics) and KEA6 (value fields).

2. Define attributes:

   Define attributes of the operating concern and save the operating concern.

3. Define data structures:

   Copy the required characteristics and value fields (applicable for costing-based CO-PA) to the operating concern, save them, and activate the data structures. Following activation of the data structures, all the necessary tables are created. When assigning characteristics and value fields, activation is required. Otherwise, the assignment is lost.

Reactivate the environment after you change the data structures of an operating concern. For example, reactivate the environment after you add a new characteristic or a value field.

CO-PA Transaction Data Structures

Costing-based CO-PA stores its transaction data in its own data tables. The system creates these tables when it activates and generates the operating concern. Because costing-based CO-PA stores its transaction data in its own data tables, it does not affect the speed at which reports are executed in other CO applications.

Margin Analysis stores its transaction data with SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management in the following tables:

• Line item actual data in the universal journal ACDOCA

• Plan data in the classic tables COSP (totals) and COEJ (line items).

  Note

  All line items with an account assignment to a controlling object like COPA are updated in table ACDOCA and in table COEP. One reason is PRIMA NOTA which means, that a posting caused by a controlling object must be updated by a cost accounting line item. Another reason is the fact. that ACDOCA is not available for all value types. Although, the actual data in reporting in Margin Analysis are selected from COEP, such data are synchronized with ACDOCA.

The table for summarized actual data COSS is just a view. This table does not contain any data. The table COSP and COEJ are still used for plan data in Margin Analysis.

The system stores the definitions of profitability segments for both CO-PA sub-modules in the same table, CE4XXXX (where XXXX is the operating concern). The system always accesses this segment definition table when posting the transaction data for costing-based or Margin Analysis.

Profitability segments represent the account assignment objects for CO-PA. These segments are a unique combinations of characteristic values that are created by the system. The characteristic values are numbered automatically by the system from the information in the originating transactions.

CO-PA Costing Based Transactions and Tables

The tables CE3XXXX and CE4XXXX work effectively together to store the summarized transaction information, both actual and plan, for costing-based CO-PA.

The CO-PA drill-down reporting tool accesses the data in the tables CE3XXXX and CE4XXXX. You can access the line item data and the information from the tables CE1XXXX and CE2XXXX through line item display features.

CO-PA Costing Based Database Structures

The data of CO-PA is divided into characteristics and value fields. The system stores the characteristics in the data division of the table CE4XXXX. The key of the table CE4XXXX consists of the profitability segment number that is used as a join field for the table CE3XXXX. The key of the table CE3XXXX consists of the profitability segment number, the posting period, and some other technical fields that are not listed. The value fields are also specified.

The table CE4XXXX represents the profitability segments that are created based on business considerations. The table CE4XXXX is created when an operating concern is created. The table CE3XXXX contains the values posted to the profitability segments, broken down into the posting period.

The typical record lengths are as follows:

• CE4XXXX = 250 bytes
• CE3XXXX = 2000 bytes

In the SAP ERP architecture, SAP Accounting has to solve the following challenges:

• The usage of different actual tables in the specific modules of Financial Accounting (FI) and Management Accounting (CO) requires the reconciliation of the results of FI and CO.

• The modules contains only its own data, in comparison with other modes probably at different data levels.

• The modules are structured in a different way, and data fields and entities are different.

• There are different economic principles in the different modules, like Multi-GAAP, customer fields, currencies, and so on.

• To report the whole truth in Business Intelligence, several BI - Extractors are necessary.

The complete profit-and-loss statement requires all the modules in financial and management accounting. The following restrictions apply:

1. The Material Ledger does not store the general ledger account and has no profit center.

2. Asset Accounting does not store the totals and sub-totals in profit center and general ledger accounts.

3. Different detail levels in FI and CO. The ratio of FI to CO documents is 1:n. The ratio of positions is n:m.

4. General ledger and CO-PA are posted to a different point in time and are actualized with different entities.

In the SAP S/4HANA architecture, the general ledger uses the universal journal. The universal journal takes the "Best of all Modules", such as ledger, profitability segment, coding block, and so on. The general ledger table ACDOCA is for actual data and ACDOCP is for plan data. It contains all details for all applications and gives the possibility for table extension.

The data are stored only once, so a reconciliation is no longer necessary. Redundancy is removed and memory space is reduced.

A fast multi-dimension reporting is possible without the necessity to replicate the data to Business Warehouse (BW). For the use of BI (Business Intelligence), only one extractor is needed.

The reconciliation effort is obsolete because of using the Universal Journal. These efforts include the following:

• G/L versus FI sub-ledgers and CO

• G/L versus CO-PA

• Reconciliation of multiple ledgers

• Reconciliation ledger

• Reconciliation of SAP ERP and data warehouse

• Reconciliation of totals versus line items

This enables you to fasten the periodic end closing and save costs.

In the further generation SAP ECC, it is recommended to keep the number of profitability segments as low as possible. Therefore, the quantity of totals records required in the profitability segment also remains low. This can be achieved by restricting the selection of characteristics for the profitability segment using the transaction. This function is no longer necessary in SAP S/4HANA and is therefore simplified.

Using Margin Analysis, it is possible to use the derivation of characteristics as defined in CO-PA within a posting in the New GL. Requirements:

• Margin Analysis must be active.

• The corresponding G/L account must be one of the following account types:

  • Primary Costs or Revenue

  • Secondary Costs

• A settlement rule has been defined in the order or project.

• Results analysis has been performed.

• The cost object has been completed in subsequent steps in the business process.

Example: If a revenue is posted with assignment to a sales order item as cost object and the sales order item has a settlement rule to a profitability segment, the corresponding profitability segment data is read and written to the income statement item. The attribution for balance sheet accounts in only available for special cases which are event-based revenue recognition and the settlement of a production order to Financial Accounting. Using event-based revenue recognition means an automatic execution of result analysis, when posting to the cost object. The classic reporting tools for drill-down reporting in CO-PA cannot report such data, only the new reporting tools for ACDOCA.

The usage of Prediction Ledger will be discussed in unit 4.

CO-PA provides operating concern templates, predefined sample operating concerns, and an environment to display the Customizing settings for these operating concerns. You can change the Customizing settings and copy them.

The following operating concern templates are delivered by SAP:

• S_AL: Template for airline profitability
• S_GO: Cross-industry template
• S_CP: Consumer goods industry template

Operating concern templates offer the following advantages:

• They enable you to demonstrate and gain an insight into CO-PA without performing Customizing.
• They simplify Customizing in CO-PA. If necessary, you can adjust your Customizing settings for an operating concern template as required, copy these settings, and then use the copied and adjusted operating concern productively.

Quickstart

With an operating concern template, you can gain an initial overview of CO-PA without any specialist knowledge and without carrying out any prerequisite settings. Preset operating concerns are also available, allowing CO-PA to be integrated into your productive system quickly. If required, you can customize these operating concern templates and reset the templates to their original settings.

To use a template, start the transaction for operating concern templates and choose a template.

The details view provides an overview of the delivered settings and the modifications that you can make. By choosing Application Examples, you can view reports and planning layouts. The system fills the application examples with example data to demonstrate clearly how the application works. You can delete the example data later.

If you want to use an operating concern template for your CO-PA, first copy it. You can find this function under Tools, from where you can also choose to reset an operating concern template back to its initial state.

• Profitability segments are unique combinations of characteristic values.
• In Margin Analysis, actual data is stored in ACDOCA.
• Margin Analysis allows characteristic derivation in New GL postings.
• In costing based profitability analysis, actual data is stored in CEXXXXX tables.