Project Accounting with cProjects 

Purpose

You can use this business process to plan, budget, and monitor the costs and revenues of a project. cProjects provides a convenient accounting integration function via single-object controlling in SAP CO. You can create one or more cost collectors (CO internal order) for each project or assign your project elements in cProjects to the WBS elements in a project structure (SAP ERP). The costs and revenues of your project are then posted to the WBS elements.

Project accounting fulfills different purposes in the different phases of a project:

·        It helps you calculate the level of costs and the expected revenues when planning a project.

·        Once the costs have been approved, it forms the basis for allocating the budget.

·        During project execution, you use it to monitor and check variances in the costs.

Prerequisites

You have carried out the Project Planning with cProjects process and the planning section of the Resource and Time Management with cProjects process.

Process Flow

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       1.      Define cost and revenue rates (cProject Suite)

You can specify cost and revenue rates for the roles involved, to serve as a basis for project costing.

       2.      Carry out costing for project (cProject Suite and SAP ERP)

Project costing is based on the cost and revenue rates and is carried out for each project role. If the project role has already been staffed by a person, project costing is carried out per person. Project costing provides you with an estimate of the costs and revenues based on the capacities planned for the project.

       3.      Create and assign cost collector (cProject Suite and SAP ERP)

You decide which objects you want to carry out your project accounting for and to which level of detail you want to do this. You do this for each project type. You can link different project elements (project definition, phases, and tasks) to a single WBS element from the project structure of the project system (SAP ERP), or you can assign the project elements to different internal orders (multilevel controlling). You have the following options:

                            a.      You create a WBS structure manually for your cProjects project. The structure does not have to be identical to the cProjects project. You then assign one or more project elements to each WBS element as cost objects. Alternatively, the assignment can be based on the project roles.

                            b.      The system automatically creates a WBS structure identical to the cProjects project in the project system (SAP ERP) and the WBS elements are assigned automatically. You can adjust this assignment afterwards.

Alternatively, you can have an internal order created automatically as a cost collector for your project. You can specify when the internal order is to be created:

¡        When the project is saved for the first time.

¡        When the project is released.

¡        When you set the project status to Flag for Transfer

       4.      Update cost and revenue planning (cProject Suite and SAP ERP)

The costs and revenues that are calculated for a project are updated in the ERP system. As soon as you make changes in cProjects, for example, if you staff a project role with a different person, the system updates the costs. You can change the automatically created plan using a costing method based on a template, or you can add more costs to the plan, for example, travel costs or material consumption.

       5.      Assign budget (SAP ERP)

The budget for a project is assigned on the basis of internal orders or WBS elements and you can keep the budget up-to-date with the latest project status using the budget update function. The availability control can always provide you with an overview of the means available.

       6.      Collect actual costs (SAP ERP)

Commitments and actual costs are incurred in your project during the course of the realization phase as a result of attaching documents to the internal orders or WBS elements. The actual costs in your project result from confirmations, postings from financial accounting, such as posting travel costs, and from internal activity allocations and goods movements. Commitments are incurred, for example, by entering orders; these costs then decrease again at goods receipt.

The project member records his or her time and expenses (for example, expenses for external employees) in the Resource and Time Management with cProjects process. Confirmation for project tasks and roles can also be carried out directly in the Cross Application Time Sheet (CATS).

       7.      Carry out reporting for project (cProject Suite and SAP ERP)

The project lead can use reporting to evaluate the status of the project at any time. Reports are available for your project accounting as part of the project evaluations (cProjects) or via the SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW).

       8.      Settle project (cProject Suite and SAP ERP)

The planned and actual costs incurred and planned and actual revenues in a project are settled wholly or partly for one or more recipients. The settlement transfers the costs or revenues to financial accounting (G/L account), Asset Accounting (fixed asset), profitability analysis (profitability segment), and Controlling (order, cost center).

Result

Precise planning and monitoring of costs and turnover creates transparency throughout the project process and enables you, for example, to tackle development errors early on. In this way, project accounting contributes significantly to the success of your project.