Functions of the Asset Class 

Use

Asset classes are the most important means of structuring fixed assets. You can define any number of asset classes in the system during Customizing (select Organizational Structures). You use the asset classes to structure your assets according to the requirements of your enterprise. The asset classes are defined to apply in all company codes. The asset class catalog, therefore, is relevant in all company codes in a client. The preceding is also true when the company codes have different charts of depreciation and therefore different depreciation areas.

Features

Depending on the functions you want the asset class to have, consider the following criteria when creating asset classes:

It is particularly useful to use the asset class to provide default values for valuation parameters (depreciation key, and so on). Therefore, define at least as many asset classes as you have assets with different valuation parameters.

Account Determination

One of the most important functions of the asset class is to establish the connection between the asset master records and the corresponding accounts in the general ledger in Financial Accounting. This connection is created by the account determination key in the asset class (see Account Determination

Account Determination

Structure of the Asset Class

An asset class consists of three main sections:

Structure of the Asset Class

You can assign any number of charts of depreciation to each asset class. In this way, you can have depreciation terms for each asset class/chart of depreciation that are country-specific, that are defined as default values (Customizing: Valuation ® Determine depreciation areas for asset class).

Graphic: Asset Class with Charts of Depreciation

The control parameters and the master data section of the asset class are always valid for all company codes within a client. However, it is also possible to specify that certain data is dependent on the chart of depreciation, and make more than one entry for this master data (see "Default Values" below).

Default Values

You should create reasonable default values in the asset class for control and valuation parameters in the asset master records. The most important fields of the asset master record are also found in the asset class (administrative data as well as valuation data). You can define the screen layout control, so that these fields can no longer be changed at the master record level (see Screen Layout and Maintenance Level).

Generally, you only need to enter the defaults for administrative details (such as insurance information) once for each asset class, and therefore uniformly for all company codes and charts of depreciation. The following master data can, however, also be entered separately in the asset class for each chart of depreciation:

Creating the Asset Class

Creating the asset class is a Customizing activity. Account determination is the most important function of the asset class. There is a function in the system, therefore, for generating an asset class to correspond to each APC general ledger account. The system generates these asset classes automatically, in a one-to-one correspondence to the accounts (FI-AA Customizing: Organizational Structures ® Asset Classes).

Note that several asset classes can use the same account determination key. Therefore, you can copy the asset classes that were generated by the system. The asset class, as a result, can provide a more detailed classification of assets than the asset G/L accounts (Define asset classes). You must assign the asset class key yourself for asset classes that you copy (there is no internal number assignment of the asset class key). It can be alphanumeric and up to 8 characters long. When you use the system to automatically generate asset classes, the system uses the APC account number as the account key.

After the system creates the asset class, only the account key and the control portion of the asset class are created at first. You create the default values of the asset class in later Customizing steps (for example Special Valuation ® Insurance). You maintain the depreciation terms (such as the depreciation key) under Valuation.