Transaction-Based Distribution 

Use

In transaction-based distribution, an IDoc in the sender system is sent for every CO-PA posting to the receiver system together with the line item. New line items from the sender system are posted in the receiver system as copies.

In costing-based Profitability Analysis, the sender and receiver roles of the systems involved are very flexible. Not only can a sender system send data to several receivers, but senders and receivers can also swap roles. Hence system A can send data to system B and B can also send data to A simultaneously.

The basic scenario has thus been enhanced in the following ways (see the section Distributed Profitability Analysis):

Advantages

Disadvantages

In the receiver system, information remains current and is available at the greatest level of detail.

System workload is made greater since each line item is sent.

In cases where discrepancies occur between the sender and receiver systems, you can use the synchronization function (see below) to determine exactly which line items in the sender system were sent to the receiver system.

 

Integration

In account-based Profitability Analysis, distribution is always transaction-based. In costing-based Profitability Analysis, you have the alternative of performing a Periodic Rollup.

Activities

You can activate transaction-based distribution in CO-PA Customizing by choosing Tools ® Data Transfers Between CO-PA and Other Systems ® Distributed Profitability Analysis (ALE) ® Activate Distributed Profitability Analysis.

Data Synchronization

To ensure that all the data actually arrived in the central system, you can synchronize the data in your local and central systems. This function is for control purposes only and should not be used to synchronize all your CO-PA data. You perform this function in the CO-PA application menu by choosing Tools ® Distribution ® Synchronization.

If you suspect that data has not been transferred correctly to the central system, you should first try to locate any differences by calling up the same report in both the local and central systems. Then carry out the same steps in both systems. First, drill down in the report to zoom in on the time period and characteristics for which differences occurred. This may require going all the way down to the line item level.

Once you have done this, you can use the synchronization function to determine the cause of the discrepancy. Examine the cause closely.

Always check the ALE buffer before performing the synchronization function. Buffered data that has not yet been distributed can lead to differences between the systems.