Managing Subitems and Breakdown Categories

At ABC Corporation, you're going to add to the delivered subitems to support reporting requirements. Before we create the new subitems, let's review a key points.

You may recall that there are two delivered categories of subitems:

1. Transaction Types: Relevant for balance sheet accounts and includes opening balance, incoming units, and net variation
2. Functional areas: Relevant for income statement accounts and includes sales revenue, marketing, and consulting

Keep in mind the following:

• Subitem and subitem categories help to describe data for FS items.
• Subitem category and subitem are assigned to the relevant FS items via breakdown categories.
• Subitems and subitem categories are independent of the consolidation chart of accounts.

To maintain subitems, to the Define Subitem Categories and Subitems activity in customizing.

• Carryforward to Subitem: If you set this indicator, you can enter a separate subitem (a transaction type) for carrying forward balances.
• Carryforward to Deviating Subitem: If you select this option, then you can enter a different subitem for carrying forward balances from the source version to the destination version. You enter this deviating subitem on the details page of a subitem in this subitem category.
• Subitems for Acquisitions and Divestitures: If you set this indicator, you can enter a retirement subitem (transaction type) for the subitems.

Note

Customers can use fields other than functional area. For example, cost center could be used as an alternative subitem. In this example, subitem category 3 could be created.

At ABC Corporation, you need a new transaction type for a dividend adjustment that will be used in manual group journals:

• Carryforward Subitem: When balance carryforward is run, values for this transaction type will be written to 900.

• Deviating carryforward Subitem: Input the subitem where the current subitem's balances are transferred.

• Subitem for retirements/divestitures: Which transaction type is posted during a divestiture or retirement.
• Acquisition subitem: The prepare for cons group change task uses this subitem to specify how much of the movement was due to the acquisition vs. ongoing operations.
• No Posting / Entry: Subitem blocked against manual postings.

Note

Transaction type 900 is reserved for the balance carryforward task. It can’t be updated via data collection unless the import is during the period of first acquisition for the consolidation unit. In the delivered content, 900 is blocked for postings. Transaction type 900 can be unblocked if needed for start up scenarios.

• For group reporting, the correct term is: Consolidation Transaction Type (field RMVCT).

• Consolidation Transaction Types are only relevant for balance sheet items.

• In SAP S/4HANA, fixed assets have their own asset transaction types such as 100 External Acquisition. Asset transaction types are mapped (on a many-to-one basis) to consolidation transaction types such as 120 Acquisitions (table V_TABW).

• There are separate FS Items for acquisition costs and accumulated depreciation. After balance carryforward, acquisition costs and accumulated depreciation values reside in consolidation transaction type 900 (opening balance).

• SAP S/4HANA Finance consolidation transaction types (transaction code oc08 | table V_T856) can also exist in group reporting (transaction code CX1S4 | table TF115).

• Group reporting can have consolidation transaction types that don’t exist in SAP S/4HANA Finance. For example, there are ownership and currency (980) related consolidation transaction types that are unique to group reporting.
• In group reports, both consolidation transaction type and subitem are available to report on.

A functional area is an element in an organizational structure that classifies expenses based on the functions performed by the employees. Typical functional areas are Sales, Production, Marketing, Administration, Other Gains, and Research and Development.

At ABC Corporation, you need a new functional area for Other Losses. This new subitem will be used in manual group journals.

Breakdown categories control subassignments that are needed for FS items to perform consolidation tasks.

• Breakdown categories (BDC) are chart-dependent.

• Breakdown categories are assigned to FS Items.

• The assignment to FS Items is version-independent and time-independent.

• Sample BDCs:

  • Cash FS item 111100 has BDC 1B00, which requires consolidation transaction type as a subitem.

  • Sale of Goods FS item 411100 has BDC 2B10 which requires functional area as a subitem.

  • Investments in subsidiaries FS item 172100 has BDC 1D20, which requires both consolidation transaction type and partner unit as subassignments.

For each FS item, the breakdown category controls which subassignments are recorded into the ACDOCU table. If the source records don't contain a required consolidation transaction type, then it will be derived if the breakdown category allows it.

In the following example, consolidation transaction type is blank in the ACDOCA table. As the data goes through the release process, the breakdown category is used along with the default values to fill ACDOCU with subitem category 1 and subitem 915 (variation).

At ABC Corporation, you need to create a new breakdown category because of a change in how the accounts receivable FS item is used. FS item 121100 was intended to include both internal and external accounts receivable, but going forward, it will only be used for external transactions. Currently, FS item 121100 uses a breakdown category where partner unit is optional. Therefore, you need a new breakdown category that requires partner unit.

You can maintain breakdown categories in the Display Breakdown Categories app.

SAP Fiori is the tool of choice to maintain breakdown categories. But you can also use the transaction code CX1i4. In the following image, you can see that Partner Unit is required.

Note

Use the Consistency button to check if existing data records are consistent with the current breakdown categories.

• Period of Acq.: Used to determine historical exchange rates by feeding the date from the G/L posting.

• Partner Unit: The trading partner in an inter-company transaction.

• Trans.currency: Transaction currency can be used to separate the true vs. exchange rate difference for intercompany transactions.

• Unit of Measure: Relevant for quantity data.

• Subitem Category: Transaction type (1) or functional area (2).

• Subitem: Consolidation transaction type value or functional area value.

• Acquis. Year: Used to determine historical exchange rates based on the date from the general ledger posting.

Each breakdown category refers to one chart of accounts, version, and period.

• Blank: The associated items can't be sub-classified by the subassignment. Same as type 0.

• 0 No breakdown: The associated items can’t be sub-classified by the subassignment. Same as the blank type.

• 1 Optional breakdown: Initialized value allowed: The related items can be sub-classified by the subassignment or it can be left blank.

• 2 Required breakdown: If blank, the default value is used: The default value is automatically used if the field is blank in the source data.

• 3 Required breakdown: Entry is forced, default allowed: The associated items must be sub-classified by the subassignment, and the default value can be used.

• 4 Required breakdown: Entry is forced, default not allowed: The associated items must be sub-classified by the subassignment, the default value can’t be used.

Max Selection is used to control possible subitem values that are can be used. In the following example, the Z-BC-TT-02 selection object allows subitems 900 to 903, 909, 915, and so forth. But it doesn’t allow the use of 904, 906, and others.

In the following image, you can see that different FS items can have different breakdown categories.

If you change the breakdown category for an FS item, you’ll receive the following message: Changing the breakdown category of the FS item can lead to inconsistencies in the transactional data that was in the system before the change. Such inconsistencies can lead to problems when processing subsequent tasks, for example, when inconsistent source data is inherited in the target data of an automatic task, such as currency translation or reclassification. Processing the task then leads to an error message when trying to write such inconsistent data to the database.

If you change the breakdown category, run the Check and Correct Breakdowns of Transaction Data app afterwards.

At ABC Corporation, you just received a request to change a breakdown category. You need to make the Partner Unit required in breakdown category 1o10. In the following image, you can see that the change is made but it'sn't saved yet.

When the breakdown category is saved, a consistency check prompt appears.

When you run the consistency check, they system identifies the number of records in group reporting that will be changed if you choose Save.

In the Subassignments tab, the affected FS items can be displayed.

You should check if existing transaction data is consistent whenever you change the breakdown category assignments to FS items. Use the Check and Correct Breakdowns of Transaction Data app displayed in the following image, to perform the check.

After specifying criteria, such as consolidation chart of accounts and fiscal year, choose Execute. The list of inconsistent data records is displayed. Go to the Subassignments tab to enter the missing values. Or, if the breakdown type was changed to allow default values, the default values in configuration are used.