Define a Company

Company: Smallest organizational unit for which individual financial statements can be drawn up according to the relevant commercial law. A company can consist of one or more company codes.

A company is generally used in the legal consolidation module to roll up financial statements of several Company-Codes. A company can consist of one or more Company-Codes. It is important to make the distinction that a Company is NOT the same as a Company-Code.

Company code links – What is a company code? Company code Configuration


Menu Path:

SAP Reference IMG -> Enterprise Structure -> Definition -> Financial Accounting -> Define Company

Click on “New entries”

Enter the details for the fields listed below:
Company (Enter a six-character alphanumeric identifier)
Company Name
Name of your Organization
Street Street Address
Postal Code / ZIP
City
Country US
Language Key EN
Currency USD


Click on SAVE

A notification screen pops up showing that your request was carried out. Click on “Enter” to continue on the pop up screen showing compliance of request




At the bottom of the screen in the “Status Bar” another message is given showing that the Data was saved.

Controlling Terms

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. The allocation 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.

 

Finance Terms

Client: In commercial, organizational and technical terms, a self-contained unit in an R/3 System with separate master records and its own set of tables.

Company Code: The smallest organizational unit of Financial Accounting for which a complete self-contained set of accounts can be drawn up for purposes of external reporting.

Business Area: An organizational unit of financial accounting that represents a separate area of operations or responsibilities within an organization and to which value changes recorded in Financial Accounting can be allocated.

Enterprise structure: A portrayal of an enterprise’s hierarchy. Logical enterprise structure, including the organizational units required to manage the SAP System such as plant or cost center.

Social enterprise structure, description of the way in which an enterprise is organized, in divisions or user departments. The HR application component portrays the social structure of an enterprise

fiscal year variant: A variant defining the relationship between the calendar and fiscal year. The fiscal year variant specifies the number of periods and special periods in a fiscal year and how the SAP System is to determine the assigned posting periods.

Fiscal Year: A period of usually 12 months, for which the company produces financial statements and takes inventory.

Annual displacement/Year shift: For the individual posting periods various entries may be necessary. For example, in the first six periods the fiscal year and calendar year may coincide, whereas for the remaining periods there may be a displacement of +1.

Chart of Accounts: Systematically organized list of all the G/L account master records that are required in a company codes. The COA contains the account number, the account name and control information for G/L account master record.

Financial statement version: A hierarchical positioning of G/L accounts. This positioning can be based on specific legal requirements for creating financial statements. It can also be a self-defined order.

Account group: An object that attributes that determine the creation of master records. The account group determines: The data that is relevant for the master record A number range from which numbers are selected for the master records.

Field status group: Field status groups control the additional account assignments and other fields that can be posted at the line item level for a G/L account.

Posting Key: A two-digit numerical key that determines the way line items are posted. This key determines several factors including the: Account type, Type of posting (debit or credit),Layout of entry screens .

Open item management: A stipulation that the items in an account must be used to clear other line items in the same account. Items must balance out to zero before they can be cleared. The account balance is therefore always equal to the sum of the open items.

Clearing: A procedure by which the open items belonging to one or more accounts are indicated as cleared (paid).

Reconciliation account: A G/L account, to which transactions in the subsidiary ledgers (such as in the customer, vendor or assets areas) are updated automatically.

Special G/L indicator: An indicator that identifies a special G/L transaction. Special G/L transactions include down payments and bills of exchange.

Special G/L transaction: The special transactions in accounts receivable and accounts payable that are shown separately in the general ledger and sub-ledger.

They include:

  • Bills of exchange
  • Down payments
  • Guarantees

House Bank: A business partner that represents a bank through which you can process your own internal transactions.

Document type: A key that distinguishes the business transactions to be posted. The document type determines where the document is stored as well as the account types to be posted.

Account type: A key that specifies the accounting area to which an account belongs.

Examples of account types are:

  • Asset accounts
  • Customer accounts
  • Vendor accounts
  • G/L accounts

Dunning procedure: A pre-defined procedure specifying how customers or vendors are dunned.

For each procedure, the user defines

  • Number of dunning levels
  • Dunning frequency
  • Amount limits
  • Texts for the dunning notices

Dunning level: A numeral indicating how often an item or an account has been dunned.

Dunning key: A tool that identifies items to be dunned separately, such as items you are not sure about or items for which payment information exists.

Year-end closing: An annual balance sheet and profit and loss statement, both of which must be created in accordance with the legal requirements of the country in question.

Standard accounting principles require that the following be listed:

  • All assets
  • All debts, accruals, and deferrals
  • All revenue and expenses

Month-end closing: The work that is performed at the end of a posting period.

Functional area: An organizational unit in Accounting that classifies the expenses of an organization by functions such as:

  • Administration
  • Sales and distribution
  • Marketing
  • Production
  • Research and development

Classification takes place to meet the needs of cost-of-sales accounting.

Noted item: A special item that does not affect any account balance. When you post a noted item, a document is generated. The item can be displayed using the line item display. Certain noted items are processed by the payment program or dunning program – for example, down payment requests.

Accrual and deferral: The assignment of an organization’s receipts and expenditure to particular periods, for purposes of calculating the net income for a specific period.

A distinction is made between:

  • Accruals –

An accrual is any expenditure before the closing key date that represents an expense for any period after this date.

  • Deferral –

Deferred income is any receipts before the closing key date that represent revenue for any period after this date.

Statistical posting: The posting of a special G/L transaction where the offsetting entry is made to a specified clearing account automatically (for example, received guarantees of payment).

Statistical postings create statistical line items only.

Valuation area: An organizational unit in Logistics subdividing an enterprise for the purpose of uniform and complete valuation of material stocks.

Chart of depreciation: An object that contains the defined depreciation areas. It also contains the rules for the evaluation of assets that are valid in a specific country or economic area. Each company code is allocated to one chart of depreciation. Several company codes can work with the same chart of depreciation. The chart of depreciation and the chart of accounts are completely independent of one another.

Asset class: The main criterion for classifying fixed assets according to legal and management requirements.

For each asset class, control parameters and default values can be defined for depreciation calculation and other master data.

Each asset master record must be assigned to one asset class.

Special asset classes are, for example:

  • Assets under construction
  • Low-value assets
  • Leased assets
  • Financial assets
  • Technical assets

Depreciation area: An area showing the valuation of a fixed asset for a particular purpose (for example, for individual financial statements, balance sheets for tax purposes, or management accounting values).

Depreciation key: A key for calculating depreciation amounts.

The depreciation key controls the following for each asset and for each depreciation area:

  • Automatic calculation of planned depreciation
  • Automatic calculation of interest
  • Maximum percentages for manual depreciation

The depreciation key is defined by specifying:

  • Calculation methods for ordinary and special depreciation, for interest and for the cutoff value
  • Various control parameters

Period control method: A system object that controls what assumptions the system makes when revaluating asset transactions that are posted partway through a period.

Using the period control method, for example, you can instruct the system only to start revaluating asset acquisitions in the first full month after their acquisition.

The period control method allows different sets of rules for different types of asset transactions, for example, acquisitions and transfers.

Depreciation base: The base value for calculating periodic depreciation.

The following base values are possible, for example:

  • Acquisition and production costs
  • Net book value
  • Replacement value

 

What is Company Code?

Company Code is a unique four alphanumeric characters that represents an independent and legal accounting entity. It’s the smallest and minimum necessary organizational structure in SAP that required by law to provide a set of financial reports (such as Balance Sheet and Profit/Loss Statements). In the real world, a company code can be a company of a corporate group. In an SAP client, there can be one or several company codes. The general ledger is kept at company code level. For consolidation process in SAP EC module, a company code must be assigned to a company. A company can comprise one or more company codes.

With SAP FI module, we can generate the financial reports of a company code. A company code’s financial reports are used for external purpose, such as for external auditors, shareholders/stock exchange commission, tax office, etc.

Company code is one of the two main organizational units of SAP FI module. The other one is Business Area. Business areas are used for internal purpose, such as for company’s management. Business areas represent separate areas of operation within one or some companies. With business areas, for example, SAP can generate financial reports of a specific regional area of a company.

Let’s say ABC company has one company code in USA (and several company codes in the whole world). With company code, SAP can only generate one set of financial reports for USA office. But, with business areas (depends on how it configured), SAP can generate sets of financial reports per state in the USA. By doing so, the management can analyze the performance of each branch in each state better. It gives more useful information that can be used in decision making process. The use of Business Areas is optional in SAP FI module.All SAP transactions that have impact to the financial reports from all SAP modules (such as FI, MM, HR, etc) will generate accounting journals in company code’s general ledger.

The transaction can determine the company code involved either from the user input for the company code (such as in FI module) or from other organizational unit that related to the company code (such as in MM module, company code can be determined from the plant that input by user).

In MM module (Logistics), each plant must be assigned to a company code. A company code can have several plants.

A plant can also be assigned to a business area. A business area can be assigned to several plants.
Material valuation can be set at company code level or plant.

SAP FICO Company code configuration
SPRO path for company code creation

In short :
This is used for the consolidation purposes in SAP
Creation of a company is optional in SAP and is mandatory if ECCS is used
Company is used in ECCS( Enterprise Controlling Consolidation System) Module of SAP for consolidation purposes
Company can be assigned to one or more company codes
Creation of Company SPRO > Enterprise Structure > Definition > Financial Accounting >
Maintain Company
OX15

How To Use SAP FI Module

Five previous IBM workers in Mannheim, Germany were the 1st ones to start SAP or Applications and Products in 1972. It is the biggest inter-enterprise software company in the universe. It was a different idea from SAP to provide customers the capability to process unitedly with a ordinary corporate database for massive ranging applications. As a matter of fact a amount of big organisations like IBM and Microsoft are taking the help of SAP products today, for the easy working of their business.

SAP applications have been set up around the R/3 system, which makes it efficient to handle production operations and materials, financial and cost accounting, personnel and other archived documents. SAP in plain words is a answer for planning the resource of the corporation by taking the several procedures of the corporation unitedly.

A fresh package has been established explicitly for financial issue acknowledged as SAP FI module. It has been projected specifically to see comprehensive accounting and financial requirement of the business. The financial situation of a company can be evaluated by the financial managers of the enterprise in existing time with the assistance of this module. With the facility open by the procedures of the SAP FI modules, it is attend the financial managing director to come up with decisions which are more positive for the company and they can also make estimated programmes. The SAP FI module has the capacity to amalgamate with different facets of the corporation like human resource, materials management, sales, production planning and different vital modules.

There are numerous main requirements which the company has to see if they plan to acquire the help of this SAP module. A structure has to be planned in the organization which has to be managed well by the several coaches. This structure is developed by taking the organization, client, business region configurations in mind. The client unit is the top unit in a SAP system and it has every essential and legal records including the tables.

In Fact there are a number of sub modules of the SAP FI Module and are taken into use as per the essential of the enterprise. These can be named as:

Travel Management
Accounts Payable
Funds Management
Special Purpose Ledger
Asset Accounting
General Ledger
Accounts Receivables
Bank Accounting
Consolidation

There is no doubt that putting SAP into service is an pricey suggestion. But then the rewards far outweigh the money which you spend on this. This makes the task of every of your coaches much easier and the time they save is money gained for your company. As a matter of fact you can redeem a great deal more than you always thought. Testimonials of the customers who are using the different applications of SAP including SAP FI modules will validate the truth. It is possible to negotiate the price with SAP and it too counts on whatsoever things like the number of individuals who will utilize etc.

SAP is famous among the people who use it as a wholly integrated system. You should study about all the tips of integration in the new SAP FI Module to be able to manage the software good enough. The units of company are much easier classified in SAP FI Module compared to the other SAP modules.

ERP Software and Customization

FICO Configuration Series – Part 1

If you are not new to SAP configuration, skip this post.

If you don’t know what SAP is, click here….

  • Almost every other module affects FI/CO modules. Example: when a HR consultant runs the payroll incorrectly and posts it to the FI/CO modules, this affects the FI/CO consultants. So, FI/CO consultant mostly ends up reviewing all the financial updates to the system. As a FI/CO consultant, keep all this in your mind. So, the first thing you would ask yourself when you face a problem is which updates have come in from other systems J

What and Why ERP?

Companies can choose between buying packaged software and building applications from scratch to suit the organization’s needs.

Buy Packaged Software

Build Customer specific applications

Is the recent Trend

Old fashioned

Customizing the software for company’s needs

Develop Information systems that meet the specific requirement for the company

Better suited to meet the timeline based on experience

Tedious process especially given missed/changing business requirements

Software is updated regularly by the software provider on a regular basis

Maintenance was very costly as most of the programmers were retained

Integrated systems especially ERP software like SAP ensure data is not updated real-time and the various systems are well integrated

Various systems which were built were fragmented and stored data repetitively thus resulting in out-of-sync data

 

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems provide single source of data with designed integration between different functional modules to take advantage of an enterprise’s stored information.

What is Customization?

For these systems, a common set of source code was needed for these packages so that changes in technology could be rapidly introduced via upgrades to the programs. To facilitate these systems, a new way of customizing systems was needed. This new way was known as table-driven customization or configuration. Table-driven customization allows for rapid changes in business requirement with a common set of source code or programs. This is what makes the ERP systems so flexible.

SAP CO Module – Other Configuration

Other configuration

After the Controlling Area, Number Ranges, and Plan Versions have been defined and maintained, then settings for the other components in the CO(Controlling) Module should be maintained. (Cost Center Accounting, Cost Element Accounting, Activity-Based Costing, Internal Orders, Product Cost Controlling, Profitability Analysis, and Profit Center Accounting. )

The Account Assignment Logic allows configuration for Validation and Substitution Rules whose purpose is to check certain input values as defined by the User.

More specifically, Validations allow for business transactions to either post or not post documents based on the criteria defined in the validation rule. Certain input conditions are checked as defined by the User and if those conditions are met then the document(s) are updated and/or posted in the system. If the condition is not met, then an error message is generated to the User with a brief explanation of the error. These messages are defined in Configuration and can be identified as a warning, error, or a note. You also have the option to deactivate messages.

Substitutions on the other hand, checks input values and replaces the values with another value if the criteria as defined is met.

Maintaining Currency and Valuation Profiles allows for the definition of valuation approaches to be used in accounting components . These valuation profiles are checked in the system when activated in the Controlling Area. Certain rules apply if there is a need to maintain the currency and valuation profiles: (1) Company Code Currency must be assigned to a legal valuation approach, (2) Valuation approaches must also be maintain in the material ledger, and (3) Profit Center valuations can only be maintained if you are using Profit Center Accounting.

The CO(Controlling)Module has multiple configuration steps that must be followed for complete implementation of this module. Each sub-component of the CO (Controlling) Module has it’s level of configuration requirements. Once you have defined your business needs in the Controlling Area, a determination can be made as to what should be configured and what you do not need.

SAP CO Module- Number ranges

Number ranges

Configuration in the CO (Controlling) Modules requires maintenance of number ranges for documents generated from business transactions. A systems’ generated document number is assigned for every CO (Controlling) posting. These numbers are sequential and are required to be assigned to number range groups. The number range groups consists of two number intervals, one for internal document numbering and one for external document numbering. The SAP R/3 system keeps track of those document numbers that are externally generated and fed to SAP via batches and User manual input, otherwise, the system generates the next internally assigned document number for the transaction posted.

As previously stated when defining the Controlling Area, you have the ability to copy the Standard SAP Controlling Area “0001” which already has the number ranges defined eliminating the need for maintenance of number ranges. Keep in mind that you also have the flexibility to change number ranges and number range groups to meet your business needs. As a caution, never overlap number intervals in a group . For example, if you decide to assign number range interval 10000000 thru 199999999 to the number range group “05”, you can not assign it to number range group “06”. Number ranges should never be transported for data consistency purposes, therefore create these manually in each system.

Within the CO (Controlling) Module, you can configure Plan Versions. Maintaining Plan Versions allows for set-up of planning assumptions and determination of plan rates for allocation and plan activity purposes. The SAP Standard Version “000” is created for a five year fiscal year plan. It is recommended that the standard version be utilized for your plan/actual comparisons if you do not require multiple plan versions. SAP always allows the flexibility to create additional Plan versions by coping the Standard Version “000” and changing certain fields as required. There is also the option of defining and creating a totally new Plan Version.

SAP CO Module – Configuration

Primary configuration considerations

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, and Currency 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 Module – 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.