Editing Costing Models and Assigning Attributes

Use

In Easy Cost Planning the planner can use the costing model that you create with this function as a planning form. This enables costs to be calculated from the planner's point of view. The costing model can be used for all similar planning processes.

By assigning attributes to the role of the planner, you decide which screen areas of cost planning are displayed for the planner in the cost estimate, and to what extent they can be changed. This assignment applies across all models and hence is only required once for each role.

Prerequisites

During the implementation phase, organizational boundaries must have been defined for the namespaces of the characteristics to control the use of characteristics that use the Classification System (CA-CL).

To be able to define costing models, you should have experience in using the SAP System, particularly in the following areas:

Application

Area

Product Cost Controlling (CO-PC)

Costing tools, especially unit costing and costing items

Overhead Cost Controlling (CO-OM)

Chart of accounts, cost centers, cost elements and activity types, internal orders, overhead

Materials Management (MM)

Purchasing, services, material valuation, inventory management

Activity-Based Costing (CO-OM-ABC)

Templates

Classification System (CA-CL)

Characteristics

Features

The following graphic shows an overview of the structure of the Easy Cost Planning: Model screen:

You can show or hide ( ) the screen area Worklists and also change the size of the screen areas.

Definition Area

Here you can edit a costing model or role. To switch from editing the costing model to editing the roles, either choose or choose the role directly in the worklist. To return to editing the costing model, choose or select the model directly in the worklist.

Having selected a costing model or created a new one, you can carry out all changes or definitions (by clicking on the nodes) in this area. You can enter a description for the model ( ). You can then use it to document the model. When the planner wants to create a cost estimate, this description is available for finding a planning form. For information on the editor, see PC Editor and Editing Text .

If you have selected a role , you can select here the attributes which should be assigned to the role.

Example Example

If you assign the attribute Hide cost estimate item view to the single role Maintain Internal Orders (SAP_CO_OM_JOB_INTORDER_MAINT), the relevant button is hidden. That is, it is no longer possible to see the item view. This applies to all planners to whom only this role has been assigned. If you want to prevent a planner to whom multiple roles have been assigned from displaying the item view, assign this attribute to all of the planner’s roles. The simplification of the screen achieved by this is particularly useful for occasional users, especially if they do not have extensive knowledge of Controlling in the SAP System. However, for the planner it also means that it is no longer possible to change the costing items manually.

End of the example.

Work and Display Area

In this area, you can assign the characteristics. When you create new characteristics, you can define the characteristics directly from here. If the characteristics exist already, you can change them using in the Characteristics Maintenance column.

In addition, you can display a preview on the entry screen by clicking on the node Structure model entry screen . You can then edit it here.

Note Note

If you delete, change, edit or create new characteristics then these changes will only be displayed in the preview once you have saved the model.

End of the note.

Worklists Area

This area contains the planning forms , characteristics , and roles . These are the predefined directories. The worklists provide an overview of the data present in the system and a user-friendly view of its structure. Once you have loaded the most frequently used planning forms, characteristics, and roles into the worklists, they are always immediately available. The directories can be made available to everyone, limited to a specific role to which you must have been assigned, or defined such that only you can use them.

To load the available data into the worklists, either choose immediately next to the node, or . You can create, insert ( ), rename, and restrict ( ) worklists, as well as modify what users can display them (change from user-specific to role-specific or all users). You can copy planning forms, characteristics, or roles to other worklists of the same category with drag & drop. Make sure that you select nodes supplied with a hyperlink together with the symbol in front of them. It is not possible to copy subdirectories. Use to call up any worklists that are in the system but have not yet been displayed. To delete worklists, choose . To remove subdirectories or loaded data from a worklist, choose . To save worklists, choose in the screen area Worklists .

You can call up a costing model and role directly by clicking on the relevant node in the worklist.

You can assign a characteristic directly to a model. To do so, you must have chosen the model and called up the assignment of the characteristics in the work area. You can copy the characteristic into the table in the work area by dragging it with the mouse.

Activities

  • Choose:

    • Choose Logistics → Project System → Basic Data → Templates → Models for Easy Cost Planning .

    • Accounting → Investment Management → Appropriation Requests → Environment → Maintain Costing Model

    • Accounting → Controlling → Product Cost-Controlling → Product Cost Planning → Easy Cost Planning & Execution Services → Edit Costing Model

  • Create costing model:

Choose . Enter a name for the costing model. The name must not begin with a number or contain any blanks. If you don’t enter a description, the system copies the name automatically into the Description field. You can change the description at any time by choosing .

Note Note

If the costing model is valid for all objects , you can also cost the following objects with the model:

End of the note.

  • Internal orders

  • WBS elements

  • Appropriation requests

When you copy a model ( ), answer the dialog box Save template? with Yes. Otherwise the template will not be copied.

Note Note

If you choose All Objects as the reference object, you can use the costing object for any planning process. If you limit your choice to one reference object, you will have special functions in the template for that object.

End of the note.

  • If you want to display the screen areas in the cost estimate on a role-specific basis, select a role and assign the relevant attributes to it by setting the indicator. Save your settings in the screen area Definition using (Save attribute assignment).

  • Save your entries.

Multilingual Capability

If the planner needs the costing model to be available in more than one language, you need to carry out the following activities, noting the special features:

Characteristics

When creating the characteristic, enter the description of the characteristic on the tab Descriptions in all the languages that you require.

If you want to set default values, go to the Values tab, select a value, and choose . Enter a description in all required languages.

If you choose Extras → Change Language, you can enter the characteristic description and the descriptions for all values for the language selected.

Entry Screen

Do not change the characteristic descriptions on the entry screen. Additional text (for example notes or texts for hyperlinks) and changes can only be entered in one language, and consequently are only available in that language. The Confirm button and the heading Comment are automatically displayed in the correct language.

Derivation Rules

You must ensure that descriptions are available in all of the languages that you require. Make sure when you use a costing model (item category J ) that this also applies for the description of the model used. Do not enter any descriptions in the item lines. The descriptions are then automatically displayed in the correct language. Exception: You must enter a description for the item categories comment row , calculation row (process and cost center/activity type) and text item . This is only possible in one language, so the descriptions are then only available in the one language.

Description for the Costing Model

Once you have created the model, log on to the system in each language in turn that needs to be available. Call up the model for editing and choose . Enter the description for each model in the correct language and save your entries. To ensure the description of the model is available in the languages you require, enter it in each of the relevant languages.

Result

The costing model is available as a template on a permanent basis. For more information, see Using Easy Cost Planning .

Example

Example of Easy Cost Planning for a Project