Project Settlement 

Purpose

Costs and revenues are collected in projects only temporarily. They are settled to one or more receivers as part of period-end processing.

You use settlement to:

See also Settlement Functions for capital investment.

Integration

You cannot transfer settlement rules to simulation versions or maintain them there.

You use the settlement profile to define the following for actual costs:

Depending on the settings in the settlement profile, you must settle the costs of an object in full before you can archive it.

Prerequisite

A system status which allows settlement must be set for the objects you want to settle.

You must also maintain a settlement rule in each sender before you can settle a project.

You define the settlement criteria in the project master data.

You maintain profiles in the Project System IMG. You store the settlement profile in the project profile or in the network type. It then acts as a default value for the individual objects. The profile regulates, for example, whether settlement is allowed, prohibited, or required.

You must enter a settlement rule for each object you want to settle. The settlement rule contains the receiver, the apportionment rule, and other settlement parameters. You can change the profile settings in the settlement rule parameters for an object.

If you only want to settle amounts from results analysis, you must maintain results analysis keys for the relevant objects. The key contains all the control data necessary for results analysis.

Features

Settlement is the process where the actual costs incurred for a WBS element, network, or activity are allocated, in whole or in part, to one or more receivers. In the process, offset entries crediting the project are generated automatically. The debit postings remain in the receivers after settlement. You can display them in the information system. The settled costs are recorded in the relevant receiver, and you can evaluate them in reporting.

You have the following options for settling objects within a project (WBS elements, orders, networks, activities):

Each object is settled directly to the external cost object (examples: cost center, profitability segment).

You settle individual objects in the project to the higher-level WBS element first. This then settles the costs collected to the external receiver.

Do not use multi-level settlement for the phased roll-up of values within the project hierarchy.

Failure to do this may lead to incorrect cost figures being displayed for the higher-level WBS element in the Project Information System. The structure overview and hierarchy reports take due account of internal settlements. To ensure consistent reporting, note the following:

Hierarchy Structure and the Effects on Values Displayed

Check whether your project needs multilevel settlement. The documents also generated for settlement to the interim receivers may adversely affected system performance during settlement, in the information system, and in archiving.

Which of these you use depends on the project type. We recommend that you have the system generate the settlement rule.

See also:

As settlement rule maintenance can be very time consuming if the project hierarchy structure is complex, we offer the following support:

You can use this report profile to check, among other things, the settlement rule in the billing element according to particular criteria.

The settlement logic is the same throughout the various SAP applications.

For more information on settlement, read CO - Settlement .