Method 

Definition

Customizing tool in consolidation. You use methods to control how the system calculates and posts automatic consolidation entries.

Most methods are based on method layouts.

Integration

To be able to execute the tasks, assign the methods to the appropriate tasks or consolidation units.

The assignments are always based on the version and time: The version dependency is established by task versions. There is a separate task version for each task category for which version-dependent assignments are required (such as the method or document type). In customizing, you must assign a task version to the version.

The following types of method assignments are available:

·        Assignment of methods to tasks

·        Assignment of methods to consolidation units and consolidation groups

You assign a method to tasks and consolidation units when you create a new task:

Assigning Methods to Tasks

You assign the methods to tasks with the following task categories:

·        Balance carryforward

·        Data collection

·        Copy task

·        Currency translation

·        Validation

·        Interunit elimination

·        Reconciliations

·        Reclassification

·        Allocation

In addition to the version and time dependency mentioned above, there is also a dependency on the period category for the assignment of methods to tasks (exception: balance carryforward). This means that within the same task, you can assign methods to different period categories. However, you can only choose period categories that belong to the same period category group.

You have defined a period category group that contains the following period categories:

Period Category Group (PCG)

Period Category	Description	Periods
410	January to November	1, 2, 3, ... , 11
411	December	12

You could make the following assignment between methods and period categories:

Period Category	Method
410	METH1
411	METH1

You can choose the possible period categories freely in the customizing of the method. If several period categories are possible, the system chooses the period category that best suits the current values of the global parameters as a default setting when it creates the method. In the example above, the system would propose period category 411, if 12 is set as the period in the global parameters. But you can also choose another period category.

Creating a new IU elimination task: Assigning the document type and method

Assigning Methods to Tasks Dependent on the Consolidation Unit

You can assign methods to the task depending on the consolidation unit with the following task categories:

·        Validation

·        Currency translation

·        Data collection (Special conditions apply to data collection. For more information, see Data Collection Method).

Creating a new currency translation task

Assigning Methods to Consolidation Units and Consolidation Groups

This type of assignment applies to:

·        Accounting Techniques for consolidation of investments

·        Consolidation of investment methods

For more information on this topic, see the section on assigning accounting techniques and consolidation of investment methods.