Cost elements classify an organization's valued consumption of production factors within a controlling area. They provide information concerning the value flow and value consumption within the organization. A cost element corresponds to a cost-relevant item in the chart of accounts.
Note
Cost elements are represented in the system as a type of G/L account.
You maintain cost elements in the SAP Menu under FS00
) or the corresponding Fiori app.
Primary cost or revenue elements are G/L accounts of the G/L account type Primary Costs or Revenue
. Primary cost elements reflect operating expenses such as payroll, selling expenses, or administration costs.
Examples of primary cost elements:
Material costs
Personnel costs
Energy costs
Secondary cost elements are G/L accounts of the G/L account type Secondary Costs
. Secondary cost elements represent costs resulting from value flows within the organization, such as internal activity cost allocations, overhead allocations, and settlement transactions.
Examples of secondary cost elements:
Overhead allocation
Internal activity allocation
Order settlement
Cost element master data includes the following settings:
Cost Element Category
Cost element categories determine the transactions with which you can use the cost element, such as internal settlement or allocations.
For more information, see Cost Element Categories.
Record Quantity
This checkbox defines whether a message is issued in case no quantity or quantity unit is specified for commitments or actual postings. The checkbox has no effect on quantity updates.
Internal Unit of Measurement
This indicator determines which unit of measurement is recorded.
You can create hierarchical groups of cost elements with similar characteristics.
For more information, see Cost Element Groups.
Cost Element Accounting
and Cost Center Accounting/Internal Orders
are closely linked. Each posting to a cost element is assigned to either a cost center or an order. This ensures that the data is broken down into cost elements and cost centers/internal orders for analysis purposes.