Configuring Additional Master Data

At ABC Corporation, you’ve completed the setup of consolidation groups, consolidation units, and FS items. However, you need to adapt other dimensions to meet your business requirements. Fortunately, you can maintain additional master data types for consolidation use, such as business area, segment, profit center, and customer group. The additional master data types are also referred to as dimensions and characteristics.

In group reporting, you can control the master data, hierarchy, aggregation, matrix consolidation, and reporting behavior of the additional dimensions.

You can make the following settings in the Define Consolidation Master Data Fields configuration activity:

1. Enable Inputs: Allows postings via group journals and automatic tasks such as currency translation.
2. Enable Master Data: Allows maintenance in the Define Master Data for Consolidation Fields app.
3. Enable Hierarchy: Permit hierarchies for group reporting.
4. Enable Hierarchy Elimination: Enable dynamic eliminations for matrix consolidation.
5. Aggregate on Balance Carryforward: If selected, this field is aggregated when running balance carryforward. For example, if cost center is selected, it will be blank in the new year.
6. Aggregate Data on Release: If selected, this field is aggregated when releasing documents from accounting.

Note

Dimension values are released into group reporting even if none of the six options are selected in the Configuration of Additional Characteristics screen.

In the following video, we'll show you several examples of how to use additional master data.

You have the following business requirements at ABC Corporation:

• Cost Center:
  • You need to include cost center in group journals: You need to select Enable Inputs.
  • You need to create group reporting cost centers for your external companies: You need to select Enable Master Data.
  • You need group reporting hierarchies that include accounting as well as group reporting cost centers: You need to select Enable Hierarchy.
• Profit Center and Segment: You need to perform matrix consolidation with profit center and segment: You need to select Enable Hierarchy Elimination.
• G/L Account: You need to exclude G/L account from balance carryforward because it'sn't needed in the opening balance: You need to select Aggregate on Balance Carryforward.
• WBSElementExternalID: You need to exclude this field from the data release because it adds too much granularity: You need to select Aggregate Data on Release.

The configuration settings that you make in the Define Consolidation Master Data Fields activity affects the Define Master Data for Consolidation Fields app. For example:

• Dimensions (such as Cost Center) with Enable Master Data turned on, are available in the app.
• Dimensions (such as Cost Center) with Enable Hierarchy turned on, have the Manage Global Hierarchies hyperlink.

In the following image, three cost centers have been created in group reporting.

In the following image, the hierarchy includes cost centers from accounting and group reporting.