Version

Definition

You can use versions to execute parallel consolidations according to different aspects, such as:

Data categories (for example, Actual, Plan, Target)

·       Accounting principles (for example, U.S. GAAP, IAS, German HGB)

Valuations

Simulations (for example, to see how different exchange rates or a divestiture of a consolidation unit affect the consolidated statements)

Use

A consolidation area can have one or more characteristics with the role version . If multiple characteristics have the role version , you can choose which version combination is to be used in consolidation.

The role version can not be assigned to dependent characteristics, which are compounded with independent characteristics.

There are two characteristics with the role version : Accounting Principles and Data Category. These might have the following characteristic values:

Data category: Actual and Plan

Accounting principles: U.S. GAAP and German HGB

You use both accounting principles for planning, but you use only U.S. GAAP for creating consolidated statements with actual data. Therefore, you select the following three combinations (out of the four that are available):

Actual / U.S. GAAP

Plan / U.S. GAAP

Plan / German HGB

Structure

Versions and Special Versions

Various Customizing settings are dependent on the version. These settings are stored internally in special versions. Special versions summarize the Customizing settings according to specific topics – for example data collection and currency translation . When you define your versions, you can allocate the Customizing settings of one special version to several other versions. By doing this, you can define a number of versions that differ in only one or a few areas, without having to repeat the same settings for each different version.

In Customizing of versions you assign the desired special versions to the version combinations. When you execute a task in a version combination, the system reads the assigned special versions and uses them to access the related customizing settings.

The system provides a function to give you an overview of the use of special versions. To see an overview, select a consolidation area in the workbench. Choose List Field Properties in the context menu of the consolidation area . The system generates a hierarchical list. In this list expand the Basic Data section and the relevant characteristics. The list displays for each characteristic in the Special Version Type column whether the characteristic is dependent on a special version, or which one it is dependent on. In this list you can also see an overview of the version and time dependencies within a consolidation area.

The following figure shows the scheme for accessing the totals data: