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 Easy Cost Planning in the Project System

Use

The Easy Cost Planning tool enables you to plan costs at WBS level, based on quantities and characteristics.

You use it to create quantity structures (possibly temporary) for the cost calculation, starting from the project structure. The system valuates your entries using the prices and rates defined in the system, then distributes the costs in line with the basic dates for the respective WBS elements.

You can make best use of this tool in the following processes:

  • Project processing concentrating on cost controlling

  • Preliminary costing for complex projects

Project Processing Concentrating on Cost Controlling

If you use projects as cost control tools, cost planning which is high performance, clear, and easy to use is particularly important.

Easy Cost Planning meets this requirement. It has the additional advantage that, as the project progresses, you can trigger a range of follow-up processes, called the "execution services", from the costing. The Execution Services include the purchase requisitions, purchase orders, material reservations, goods issues, and internal activity allocation. As the system carries out Execution Services with the help of the data entered for the costing, there is no need for duplicated data entry for further processing to take place. If necessary, you can overwrite the data taken over; the values are only intended as default values.

Simplified Preliminary Costing for Complex Projects

You use the Project System to process complex overhead cost projects or customer projects. In this case, you need a preliminary costing tool that is easy to use, but high performance, to serve as the basis for creating quotations.

You can use Easy Cost Planning to carry out preliminary costing, using data from a temporary WBS.

You can also use Easy Cost Planning to carry out sales pricing and, if required, create a corresponding quotation.

You create your concurrent costing after the project is approved or when the order is received, using the networks from your WBS. The preliminary costing is preserved for analysis purposes in a separate CO version.

The integration of Easy Cost Planning and sales pricing with the Project Builder means that you can control the whole business process - from creating the project to carrying out the sales pricing - using just one tool.

Prerequisites

For information on the prerequisites for using Easy Cost Planning, see Executing Easy Cost Planning .

For information on the prerequisites for using Execution Services, see Triggering Execution Services .

To use Easy Cost Planning for network activities, you carry out the activity Activate Multiple CO Versions in the Implementation Guide for the Project System.

Under:

Start of the navigation path Project System Next navigation step Costs Next navigation step Planned Costs Next navigation step Easy Cost Planning and Execution Services Next navigation step Easy Cost Planning Next navigation step Activate Multiple CO Versions. End of the navigation path

Note Note

Once you have activated Easy Cost Planning for multiple CO versions, you cannot deactivate it. For more information, see Easy Cost Planning in Multiple CO Versions .

End of the note.

Features

You access the function via the Project Builder.

The work breakdown structure (WBS) or network forms the basis for the costing structure, which you use to plan and calculate costs. You can subdivide the costing structure as you want; the changes you make do not affect the WBS or network. This way, you retain a clear overview of your cost planning at project level.

You enter the data for the costing in the planning templates you have defined; these are the costing models. You use the costing models to reproduce typical business processes, whose costs always occur in the same way. You enter data typical of the business process in the model. This data is known as the "characteristics" and includes things like required quantity, number of days, and number of documents to be produced. The system uses the chosen characteristics to generate the costing items for the unit costing. If necessary, you can postprocess the unit costing.

The system distributes the planned costs along the time axis, in line with the basic dates in the WBS elements or network activities. The system adapts the cost distribution automatically if the project schedule changes. If you have not maintained basic dates, the system automatically takes the data from date control, which you maintain in the Project System IMG (by choosing Start of the navigation path Costs Next navigation step Planned Costs Next navigation step Easy Cost Planning and Execution Services Next navigation step Create Costing Variant) End of the navigation path .

You can also carry out costing from Easy Cost Planning in a simulation version, which you can also create and process in the Project Builder.

You can use the planned values calculated as the basis for carrying out sales pricing from the Project Builder.

You can trigger the following activities (the Execution Services) using the quantity structure entered in the costing:

  • Purchase requisition

  • Purchase order

  • Reservation

  • Goods issue

  • Internal activity allocation

The Execution Services function selects the costing items relevant for the process to be triggered. At the same time, the system displays the postings already made for the relevant service. If a purchase order is to be triggered for a WBS element, for example, the purchase orders that exist for this WBS element are displayed. In this way, the system helps you to avoid a duplicate purchase order.

Note Note

The Execution Services function is not available for network activities.

End of the note.

Structure, hierarchy, and cost element reports are also available, as well as SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence reports.