Hello All,

This is a document which Shows the actual Connection and Background Settings in generating a Project automatically during the Make to order process from sale order.

Make sure all the Settings are maintained before creation of a sale order

In case you have doubts in the SD customizing contact SD Consultant always.

But it is the reponsibility of both PS and SD Consultant to make sure the process Triggers Projects automatically.

I have tried my best to fit everything into one page. Do let me know if i have missed out anything

The Grey area indicates customization and the blue as transactional or master data

During the Project Trigger, it is important to maintain the Project coding mask with the same length as sale order

Every line item in sale order can Trigger a new WBS element if the SD/PS indicator is checked in the Project Definition of the template

In the MTO process, typically the Project is a the main Management tool for financials,Progress and logistics activities but in this Image i have justed mentioned the first part which is the creation of Project automatically from the Sale order

You can also customize in such a way that not every item in Sale order generates a WBS in the project

So ideally it is 1:1 mapping between Project and sale order

I will try to cover the next parts as and when i have more time

Thanks

Any Feedback is  always appreciated

Regards

Vittal

The objective of this article is to guide you through SAP PS system customizing that prevents Release for WBS-elements before the budget allocation.  Same approach can be applied to orders.

It is a very common business requirement to avoid any postings before the budget is assigned and availability control is activated.  It can be achieved in few easy configuration steps with a user status profile.

Step 1: Create initial WBS user status

In a new or existing user status profile create a new initial user status.  This initial user status should prevent everything except budgeting, and it can auto delete afterwards.

Let us assume I do not use any user status profiles with my WBS-elements yet, therefore I will create a new user status profile called ZWBS0001.  Use the following IMG path:

Next click on New entry icon and populate the data as on the below screen:

Next double-click on the new profile record to drill down into setup of user statuses and maintain the following data:

Double-click the newly created NOBU status to browse into the overview of available operations, the system will display a pop-up window suggesting profile assignment to allowed object types:

I will select Yes option and maintain a check-mark for WBS-element:

Save the data, go back, drill-down again on the NOBU status and click on New entries button.  This is a radio-button selection to allow or disallow different business transactions.  I will keep budget related transactions active with status Delete option on Budgeting.  Besides I will keep Release forbidden as shown on two next screens:

In case you are using availability control based on released budget you need to enable additional business transaction into the User Status list of managed business transactions that can influence the User Status.

Use transaction code BS32 and set a check mark for KBFR as shown on the below screen:

Next it will show up on the list of business transactions with additional radio-buttons and similar settings can be made:

Step 2: Assign the user Status Profile within Project Profile

Use the following IMG path:

Next I will assign the user status profile ZWBS0001 to the project profile0000001 for the purpose of this example as shown on the below screen:

Now the customizing is completed and I can proceed with testing.

Step 3: Unit test

I will create a new project and a sample account assignment WBS-element with CJ01 transaction code. You can see that the initial user status NOBU is being automatically assigned:

Next I will try to Release the WBS-element using CJ02 transaction, the system will display an error message:

Finally I will go to transaction CJ30 to maintain original budget for the Project/WBS and next will display WBS master data in CJ03:

You can see that system status BUDG was raised by the system, while user status NOBU has disappeared.

This configuration setup is based on OSS Note 602588- Availability control before budgeting and the note can provide additional support information as well as references to related OSS notes.

You are welcome to suggest any improvements to this article!

Thank you for reading,

Paulo

FACTORS FOR DECIDING A PROJECT CODING MASK IN SAP

In SAP Project Systems, a Project Coding Mask is used to create a structure for the project number. Masks help in displaying complex project numbers and  in indicating the position of a WBS element in the project hierarchy.

Complex projects often require a complex numbering structure. A WBS element number may look like this: M-EIPL123-02-A7/18. Here a project coding mask can be used to provide this structure uniformly to all WBS elements in that project, without giving scope to user errors.

The project coding mask is made up of 2 parts: Project Coding Key and Coding Mask.

A. Project Coding Key:

1. The Key is present at the start of the project coding mask, in the above example being ‘M’. The Key determines the structure used for coding the Project definition and WBS elements, hence it is a mandatory field if a company decides to use a coding mask for their projects.
2. What if the user enters a different Key while creating a project? The system can be customized to prevent the user from entering a different Key.
3. The project coding mask can have a maximum of, but not necessarily, 24 characters. Out of these 24 characters, the Key can have a maximum of 5 characters (For ex. ABCDE). This maximum possible length for the Key needs to be specified in customizing under Define special characters for projects.
4. The Key has a few restrictions:
   1. If a project is created using say 3 characters for the Key, then the length as specified above cannot be edited to a lower value unless the project is deleted.
   2. This length specified in customizing, say 3, is then reserved for the Key out of the 24 characters for all the projects in the system. The balance quantity can be used by the mask section. This is irrespective of the Key length specified while creating a project coding mask. That means even if the Key is assigned as 1 character, the mask section can still have a maximum of 21 characters only.
   3. No two keys can start with the same character. That is, if you have a key ‘G’ for a particular coding mask, then you cannot have another one as say ‘GRK’. For this reason the Key is not limited to numeric or alphanumeric characters. It can be created using any character.

B. Coding Mask:

1. The coding mask can consist of numeric characters (represented by ‘0’), alphanumeric characters (represented by ‘X’), and separators.
2. A separator is a symbol which distinctly separates the coding mask from the Key. It is also used to represent the next level of WBS elements. A separator can be any of the following: / . : > ; - < =. A separator is also counted as a character.
3. Thus a project coding mask may be represented as, say, ABC-XXXXXXX-000.XX/00. Here each separator creates the next WBS element level representation. Thus ‘XXXXXXX’ represents the top level WBS element (Level 1), ‘000’ represents WBS elements of Level 2, ‘XX’ Level 3 and so on.
4. The coding mask also has a few restrictions:
   1. The first character following the Key must be a separator.
   2. At each WBS element level the mask can either be numeric characters (-00) or alphanumeric characters (-XX), but not both (-X0).
   3. Once a project is created using a project coding mask, the mask cannot be deleted in customizing unless the project itself is deleted.

Creating a project with a Project Coding Mask:

1. While creating a project, the system identifies the coding mask from the Key being entered by the user. If the project coding Key consists of more than 1 character, it is mandatory for the user to enter the entire Key exactly. Otherwise it will reject the entry.
2. Once the Key is entered correctly, the system creates the project and displays the project coding mask on the screen.
3. The system cannot prevent the user from creating the project definition with just the coding Key. It can make automatic corrections in some other cases. These corrections vary in nature for numeric and alphanumeric coding masks. For example, if the project coding mask is TFP/XXXXX-0-0-0, following are the user entries and the corresponding system corrections:

If the project coding mask is TFP/00000-0-0-0:

In any other case the system will give an error.

• If more than one project coding mask is present in the system, the system can be customized to limit the user to entering only the required coding key.
• If no project definition text is entered by the user, the system automatically names it as ‘Project Definition [project number entered by user]’. The text field is editable and can have a maximum of 40 characters.

Limitations of using project coding mask:

There is one limitation of using the coding mask. While creating the project definition, the user must enter the exact number of characters as given in the coding mask after the first separator. That is, for TFP/XXXXX-0-0-0, the user must enter the definition with 5 characters after “TFP/”. The system is unable to prevent the user from doing otherwise. There are 2 scenarios:

1. When the system converts a user entry TFP-ABCD133 to TFP/ABCD1-3-3, the user should manually trim it down to TFP/ABCD1. This is because when the system generates the WBS element number, it copies the entire definition number and adds one level to the same. For example, if the definition is kept unchanged as TFP/ABCD1-3-3, the top level WBS element (level 1) is named as TFP/ABCD1-3-3-1. As per the coding mask TFP/XXXXX-0-0-0, the system then identifies this WBS element to be at level 4, which is the last level. Beyond the last level in the coding mask, the system only provides a temporary number (%00000001) which cannot be saved as is.
2. If the user enters TFP/ABC, the project definition stays as TFP/ABC. However, the top level WBS element (level 1) gets named as TFP/ABC1, and a subordinate WBS element gets named as TFP/ABC11. As per the coding mask TFP/XXXXX-0-0-0, the system then identifies both the WBS elements to be at level 1, which is not desired.

Structuring the client's Project Coding Mask:

Considering all the above points, assuming that the client has specified 5 WBS element levels, the coding mask can be structured as follows:

The project coding Key is assigned only 1 character so that more characters can be available for the top level WBS element. The Key characters can be one of the following:

G – indicates projects involving ground mounted structures

R – indicates projects involving roof mounted structures

M – Mixed

  In the mask section for this client, alphanumeric characters are desired for the project definition, while numeric characters are desired for the WBS element levels. Thus the sample project coding mask would show as: G-XXXXXXX-00-00-00-00

Any suggestions / corrections are most welcome.

PRELUDE

Certainly, there might be several experts who might have written on this topic before, but perhaps no body has embarked on a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of implementing SAP ERP for Engineering, Construction & Operations (EC&O) companies whether they are main contractors or sub-contractors especially those based in the MENA region. In this article, I will shed some lights on the main software components in SAP that needs to be addressed properly while implementing the EC&O Best Practice provided by SAP along with some important components that should constitute the solution design. I hope the readers would find this article very useful to their implementations. In this article, I am sharing the lessons learnt from a real implementation project that was delivered recently. Knowledge sharing should become a habit and with faithful intentions towards happy and successful projects as well as satisfied stakeholders. Our continuous goal as ERP Consultants is to create value for customers, a value that was never realized before. So, by creating value to customers, you earn both respect and trust to do more business. We realize success once the customer adopts the solution and enable business firms to manage their complex projects. It's worth mentioning that the ERP Industry and the EC&O Industry have many common grounds such as both of them are project-based companies delivering projects to others and both earn money in milestones based on agreed deliverable items to their customers. Having that said, I will demonstrate how SAP ERP fits into the EC&O spectrum and the cornerstones that should be laid down in every step of the project life-cycle.

Meanwhile, I would like to stress the importance of enabling the business functions on the SAP ERP related to the EC&O industry which is known as DIMP (Discrete Industries & Mill Products). Enabling this business function set from the Switch Framework (SFW5) by the BASIS Consultant opens a whole set of functionalities, screens, reports that are made available for these types of industries including the EC&O. If you are wondering what are these features that will be enabled, I have to say that the most important from these features in relevance to the EC&O industry are the Bill of Services (BOS) in the SD module and the Equipment & Tools Management (ETM).

Now, it's worth mentioning that Bill of Services (BOS) depicts the Bill of Quantities (BOQs) known as a very common terminology among Engineers and Project Planners, and the EC&O community members. To understand the BOS functionalities, we need to understand the business behind it first. Perhaps, some of you are not familiar with the business. So, it's quite important to understand the business processes in details. The details might be overwhelming at first sight but I will manage to summarize the main points at the end.

EC&O Solution Design and Business Issues

The solution design for any EC&O implementation should at least involve the deployment of the following components and I will give sufficient reasoning behind each component. I will start with the licenses BOM to be followed with the Areas to be deployed by the consultants during their project. The BOM of licenses listed below represents a personal opinion of what should be included in terms of the desirable optimum solution design and regardless of the deployment method whether on-premise or cloud options. Any customer purchasing SAP ERP or any other ERP system should expect to pay for 3 main elements: Software Licenses, Implementation Services, and Annual Support Maintenance/Service Level Agreement. I will list down the Licenses BOM and I will outline the areas to be deployed before diving deep in each area of deployment with respect to the EC&O Industry.

1. SAP ERP Foundation (Basic Engine) "Licensed Product"
2. SAP HANA DB (Licensed Product) / Other DBs are possible and are licensed
3. SAP Professional and Project User Licenses
4. SAP ETM "Licensed Product"
5. SAP HCM Payroll Processing "Licensed Product" - sold in brackets of 500 Employees
6. SAP Project Connector "Licensed Product" - for Integration with Primavera | Primavera is an industry mandate, irreplaceable and EC&O companies are using this software to plan/schedule their projects and monitor progress as required by consultant and industry stakeholders. Although SAP has Primavera's business functionalities, integration/interfacing is highly recommended because without it, it will be quite challenging to arrive at the fruits of PS reports such as Earned Value Management and Progress reports. Without scheduling and durations flowing into SAP, the PS module will be only used for budgeting controls and execution and the users will be always working on different platforms or islands. 
7. SAP Process Orchestration "Licensed Product" (for Process Integration with 3rd party software) / BAPIs is an option but PO is highly recommended. Integration with 3rd party software in the EC&O world is very common. A common example is Candy which is a software used for Projects Estimation and Planning. This software is highly specialized in the tendering process and is preferred/recommended by planning engineers. I will showcase the solution design with and without Candy and its impact on the tendering process.
8. SAP Treasury & Risk Management "Licensed Product" - This product is needed to manage the Loans and Bank Facilities to finance the business operations. This product is very rich with features and it can be further leveraged to manage financial assets and investments.
9. Mobility Solution & Mobility Platform "Licensed Product" - Needed to capture and record activities performed by labor as well as their hourly confirmations. A mobility solution is not mandatory but highly recommended to realize better value and operational efficiency. When we come to real life cases of managing time sheets for thousands of labor workers in project site, you will understand the rationale behind including mobility as part of the proposed basic solution.

These would constitute the BOM but would require validation with SAP Sales Partners. The above is as per my very recent knowledge as of the date of this article. So, please refer to your SAP Partner while asking for SAP products and licenses BOM for SAP EC&O Implementations. And I will not write more about these licenses or products. These components are the basic components required to achieve an optimum, acceptable and efficient performance on the system. SAP has a complete Roadmap for the EC&O industry and they have recently unveiled new products or add-ons that complete its portfolio of products available for the industry. Nevertheless, my focus will be confined to SAP ERP only given that it's the foundation for all business operations. So, I'm not really concerned with other SAP products that can be extremely useful for an EC&O company but probably would not be immediately needed or required by the company.  

Areas of Deployment:

1. Activating the DIMP Business Function framework
2. SD - Bill of Services, Service Entry Sheets, Progressive & Commercial Billings with focus on Payment Terms as payment plans.
3. MM - Materials Management and External Services
4. PS - Project Systems & Integration with all other areas
5. FICO - Financials with localization for MENA involving Retentions on Vendor and Customer  along with EXIM-MENA. The latter package includes Letters of Credit and Bank Guarantees.
6. EC-CS - Enterprise Controlling & Consolidation module will be needed most probably to consolidate their business divisions or Profit Centers running under the contracting company, especially main contractors employing several business units delivering projects for internal projects or external projects for other customers. Inter-Eliminations will be required as per Accounting principles and IFRS between profit centers especially if they are doing business internally. Inter-eliminations for Group subsidiaries or profit centers are possible only via EC-CS module. Otherwise, special solution design will involve SD-MM-COPA configuration in a way to cancel inter-divisions transactions appearing in the COPA reports.
7. FSCM-TRM - Treasury module is needed for financing EC&O Companies and their operations that are heavily dependent on Banks' finances. This module is used to manage bank facilities such as Overdrafts, Guarantees, Loans...etc.
8. HCM - Deployment of HCM should include the localization package for the country where the EC&O company is operating. CATTS as a tool will be needed to record
9. ABAP - Significant amount of special customizations/enhancements are needed due to substantial business needs that are common among EC&O Companies but are not fulfilled by standard functions. These enhancements are easily doable and covers the business. Due to the sensitivity of this point, I would like to stress the fact that SAP is a perfect fit for any business given its impressive functionalities and capabilities. The fact that the system allows for such enhancements is a clear indicator of how the system is very flexible and highly customizable to accommodate any business requirement on earth. I will dedicate a special section in this article on the exact ABAP enhancements that are needed to achieve a superb and flawless solution design on SAP.

BILL OF SERVICES (BOS) or QUANTITIES (BOQ)

Prior to any Construction project, normally the Project Customer seeks an Architecture Consultancy firm that prepares a comprehensive study for the proposed construction project. The study produces a booklet known as the Project Bill of Quantities. The customer issues a tender with comprehensive documents including drawings, quality standards of materials, and this BOQ booklet which is the core component of the tendering documents to be submitted by the bidder. Normally, the Project Customer will issue a tender for big projects that are worth millions of dollars so that they select the best offer price and how far it's in compliance with the BOQs specs and guidelines. The project customer usually refers to the Consultancy firm to compare the different proposals submitted by the bidders to evaluate each one and gives its fair recommendation accordingly to the Project Customer.

When the bidder (the Contractor) is interested in bidding, a special team is formed by the Contracting company known as the Estimation & Planning team to prepare their response for this tender. The tender becomes a small project requiring team members to collaborate in preparing a proper tender response. Normally, the bigger the project, the more time and efforts it takes to prepare for the tender responses. Any tender has a deadline that has to be met as well as some financial commitments including a tender bond for example which is a significant amount of money will be blocked in the bank allocated for this tender. The tender document for any construction project contain tens and hundreds of pages containing details of building materials and technical specs that should be delivered during the project course. We call these details the BOQ items or the Bill of Quantities' items. BOQ items are not building materials solely. A BOQ item is a set of related activities to complete a significant deliverable or a phase in the project. So, for instance, Earth Excavation & Removal Works for the Foundation is a BOQ item. This can be also known as a WBS Element (Work breakdown Structure Element), a terminology that is very common among Project Planners or those who are PMP veterans. The term WBS is also a standard functionality of the Project System module in SAP known as PS. The PS module will be addressed later in this article.

Each BOQ item in the BOQ booklet is expected to be Quantified and Priced in terms of the materials needed, labor needed, and machinery needed. Interestingly, the BOQs actually comes with Quantities based on the study prepared by the Consultancy firm earlier. Accordingly, bidders are only requested to provide pricing for these BOQ Items aggregated to be the overall project price. You may find below a snapshot from a sample BOQ document that explains the above visually.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

However, the Contractor might have different findings based on the Estimation team's survey that can be conducted by analyzing the drawings and visiting the project site. These findings are normally deviations in the quantities actually needed for the project from those stated in the BOQ booklet. This deviation emanates from the difference between Consultants and Contractors. Each belong to different school of thinking and reality. Contractors possess more hands-on practical field knowledge and they have their own formulas to calculate actual activities based on historical analysis of previous projects. They deal with wastage, machine breakdowns, scrapped materials, labor over/under utilization, timelines, and capacities. In other words, the Quantities to be Quoted and delivered as per the BOQ are prepared in ideal standards by the consultants overlooking realities while each Contractor has his/her own perspective. Hence, the bidder or the construction company will usuallt have to Quantify actual quantities of each BOQ item needed to deliver it and to arrive to the proper and accurate costing of it before pricing it.

This process is done in accordance with the same exact BOQ Booklet taking into consideration that the bidder is not allowed to modify the Quantities listed in the tender documents or even the pages contents or formats. The bidder has to accommodate deviations into the prices quoted only. The reason behind this is the mandate from the Consutlancy firm to strictly comply with the Quantities in the tender documents because they will be evaluating several quotations from different bidders and the only distinguishing factor should be the prices quoted for the BOQs. Having the Quantities of materials as a variable to be filled by the bidders will add more complexities while evaluating proposals by consultants. This goes with the fact that all contractors should comply with the quality of materials to be supplied as per the tender documents.

Tip 1: The BOQs are organized in the tender documents in Bills numbered as Bill 1, Bill 2...etc. Each bill will be actually billed by the contractor during the Project Execution phase once the BOQ items of each bill has been delivered. So, each Bill becomes a Billing Document eventually issued by the SD module to be processed by the Finance Dept. for Collection from the Project Customer. You should also note that Bills can be paid partially based on actual progress meaning that the Payment Terms can be different from the Billing documents. I will outline more details on Payment Terms and its role in orchestrating the project cash flows. 

Tendering Process in SAP

Now, this process is known as Tendering and it's the starting process of any contracting business towards a new potential project. This process is part of the latest Best Practice business scenarios for the EC&O industry from SAP (China edition). Surprisingly, this process takes place solely in the SD module and has nothing to do with the PS module at this stage. The SD module has to be configured by the SD Consultant enabling the Bill of Services into the Sales Documents. SD Documents include Sales Inquiry, Sales Quotation and Sales Order. The tendering process can be applied on any of these documents but it's logical to do it on the Sales Quotation document. On this document, we would be able to list the BOQ Items using the Bill of Services in the "Services" tab in the line item. We simply create a material master and we call it Project. This material should have some SD related settings such as Item Category and Item Group allowing the Bill of Services to be activated for this material. Accordingly, we find a special screen allowing us the build and Outline Path or Levels to design the BOQ as per the Tender BOQ booklet. After creating these BOQ Items, we would be able to cost each BOQ item in terms of materials, labor, machinery and any other overheads needed to deliver the works. This is viable by using the beautiful functionality of the Easy Cost Planning (ECP). This tool is common and well known by Controlling Consultants because this is the same tool used in other modules and areas such as Complex Production Orders, Internal Orders, and Projects Costing in SAP. In this tool, the system retrieves the labor hour cost, material average/standard cost, and machinery usage rates automatically from the system due to Integration capabilities inherent in SAP. Yet, the costing sheet in the ECP allows for modifying cost rates manually knowing that cost rates will become the basis for prices quoted in the future; so, market conditions, fluctuations and forecasts are to be considered during costing and pricing for project works.

When the estimator is done with the costing, he may proceed with pricing based on the outcomes and management input. Copying and maintaining multiple costing versions are possible to be compared and reviewed by the management for optimum decision making. The system then carries the total aggregated costs and prices to the SD pricing procedure on the SD Document level. Accordingly, we get to know the expected profit margin from the project. 

SAP Vs. CANDY

It's quite common among Estimators that we find them using a software called "Candy". Frankly speaking, the software is highly specialized in Project Estimation with user friendly and critical functionalities made available. An expert would easily notice that ECP and the BOS functionalities in SAP are not equalizing those of Candy's especially in the formulas normalizing, pricing and printing functionalities. Generally, it's unfair to compare a specialized software in one area such as Candy or Primavera with a holistic ERP system. So, the solution design would be either combining Candy and SAP while using Candy for Project Estimation and SAP to be used during the Project Execution phase, or we may make a heavy ABAP intervention by which such functionalities would be possible. A third possible solution would be exporting the Project Estimation from Candy and upload it into SAP. The reason for this direction is because we are dealing with hundreds of pages with detailed lines of project BOQs that need to be created as Bill of Services classified properly exactly as per the tender documents. Bear in mind that the contractor is required to respond to the tender with the exact format or layout. Perhaps, a better decision would be either SAP acquiring Candy and, in this case, SAP would include this product as an add-on to its EC&O portfolio or SAP partners up with the software manufacturer to build an interface between both products such as the SAP Project Connector for Primavera.

The reader should be aware that there are recent SAP products such as Commercial Project Management that give more extra features and functionalities than those of the ERP that would  cover most of the business requirements to a great extent. Yet, my focus is on the SAP ERP specifically since the tendering process becomes the phase that determine all the coming phases.

TYPES OF PROJECT CONTRACTS

1- Unit Re-measurable | Service Entry Sheets > Debit Memos > T&M Billing

2- Milestone | Billing Plan > Progressive  Invoice

To be continued in Part 2. I will be waiting for your feedback on Part 1 and how far you are finding this article useful before publishing Part 2. Thanks.

Greetings everyone. Thanks for your comments on part 1 of this article. I know you've been waiting for Part 2, so let's get cracking. I also appreciate if we have more interactive discussions that can involve your notes, comments, concerns, and inquiries since this will definitely enrich the content for the reader. Now, once the project tendering phase has ended by submitting the proposal or quotation with all the Tendering documents stipulated earlier and the project gets awarded to a Contracting Company, two areas come into action simultaneously: SD and PS modules.

Lump Sum Contracts Vs. Unit Re-measurable Contracts in SD

In the SD Module, the Quotation evolves to become a Sales Order or a Sales Contract with preference to the latter since a contract in reality is formulated between the Customer and the Contractor by which they specify the conditions, contract start and end dates, billing plan or payment terms. From here we continue where we have stopped in Part 1, where we mentioned that Construction Contracts are either Lump Sum Contracts with Milestone billing or Unit Price Re-measurable. For lump sum milestone-based agreements, we normally use Billing Plans in Sales Documents by which we specify percentages or values to be billed. For example, we can a billing plan involving 30% down payment, 60% based on progress/milestones, 15% upon project  completion and 5% after project completion by 400 days. It's worth mentioning that this payment would be applied per bill or billing document. Percentages differs between projects and it all depends on agreements between parties. Payment terms are arranged in accordance with desirable cash flows that would allow smooth operations. You should be aware that a lot of materials are being procured in bulk quantities. Labor are being mobilized and perhaps outsourced if needed. Heavy equipment are either mobilized, purchased, or leased. So, many commitments are being undertaken requiring availability of financing. This is why it's common among this industry that contractors seek bank facilities and arrangements to provide a financial supply chain for the process. I am going to demonstrate how Cash Management and Treasury & Risk Management modules are deployed to manage Cash flows. That's beside the fact that SAP has launched recently the EXIM_MENA package that gets implemented bringing extra functionalities to manage Letters of Credit and Bank Guarantees properly via the NWBC Client and away from using the complex and unnecessary module of the GTS (Global Trade Services) module. The GTS is relevant for trading companies operating in Europe and the US where heavy controls are needed for taxes, customs, sanctions...etc.

The other type of construction contracts is known as Units Re-measurable. In this type of projects, there is no billing plan. Instead, a totally different process applies that is heavily dependent on the Bill of Services and its functionalities. When the project becomes in the Execution phase upon Project Awarding, a Sales Order or Contract is created or copied from the Quotation, that become the basis for the Service Entry Sheets. As I have illustrated in part 1, the Quantities or the BOQs are outlined in the Bill of Services with each BOQ having its required quantity in KG, Square meters, Cubic Meters, Square Feet...etc. to be delivered. With the progress in completion of these BOQs/Construction works, the contractor issues from the Sales Document known as the Service Entry Sheet (SES). The SES here is the one in the SD module not the MM module so that readers don't get confused. The SD SES is issued by the project manager or assistant by which they physically measure and record actual findings of work completed as quantities performed.

Once the SES has been recorded and approved, the system transform the quantities performed into amounts. These amounts arrive based on the pricing made earlier on the BOS of the SD document. For example, one of the BOQs or Construction works is to deliver the Superstructure under Concrete Works in Columns, beams, upstands, and suspended slabs measured in cubic meter such as 400 m3. Assuming the contractor delivered 100 m3, he gets this actually surveyed and recorded in a Service Entry Sheet. This SES then becomes a Debit Memo. This Debit Memo sales document in SAP falls under the Sales Order category and it opens from the same tcode: VA01, VA02, or VA03. So, it's a like a Sales Order but it's named as Debit Memo. This document then evolves to become a Billing Document to be processed by finance as an Invoice arriving from SD. Now, it's time for some visuals!

Simultaneously on the other side, since the project has been awarded, it's show time for Project Management where PS module comes into the picture. The project manager in the construction company is requested to start building the project plan for the project. A project definition with WBS Element at the root level should be created in the Project Builder in the PS module. The root WBS Element is assigned to Sales Order/Sales Contract on the SD Line Item level > Assignment tab or at the header level of the Sales Document. Two things that you should know in this stage:

1. The BOQs or the Bills of Services and its structure in the tendering documents are NOT RELEVANT to the Project Plan and the way it is designed. Construction Projects are organized in different manner. In the PS Module, in the famous Project Builder, the Project Structure is broken down into phases, buildings and floors. Each is broken down into a sequence of organized activities in a logical form such as Superstructure and Substructure should be built first before the MEP works (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) take place. In brief, BOQs does not represent WBS Elements because they are not aligned with each other. For instance, Concrete works will be needed in all buildings and floors. The BOQs involves delivering materials, labor and machinary in quantities serving the Project's different phases.
2. The Project Estimation/Planning process done during the Tendering Phase is NOT the Project Planning process done at the beginning of the execution phase. One reason for this is the same idea of point 1. Another compelling reason is that the Estimation and Pricing team are different from the Project Management team. As a matter of fact, the Pricing team will not disclose or share with the Project Management team the detailed Costing Analysis with the Project Management team and the PM team will be asked to develop its own project plan and cost analysis. In some instances, the management will normally give a direction to the PM on a specific cost budget for the project by which the PM has to match so that they maintain an acceptable profit margin adopted by the management. The project planned costs developed by the PM team might show shortages of surpluses but should not exceed the budget.   

BOQs are not WBSs. They are structured differently.

Project Planning and Estimation for Tendering is NOT the same Project Planning for Execution

Despite the fact that the above mostly applies in the EC&O industry, there are always exceptions. In occasions where internal projects are being executed between divisions operating under the same company, it's possible to have the Bill of Services aligned with WBS Structure. This may also apply for other industries such as complex manufacturing where SD and PS are aligned to a great extent. Having that said, SAP has provided a superb functionality that allows merging the ECP (Easy Cost Planning) done on the Sales Document earlier during estimation with the ECP done later on the Project WBS Costing. It's called SD BOS Transfer to PS. It's one of those beauties in SAP. I fell in love with that program and its capabilities. Let me show you some screenshots to get what I mean.

As mentioned before in Part 1, the Easy Cost Planning tool allows the estimator or the planner to detail all the planned costs in terms of materials, labor, machinery and overheads needed to deliver the project. We have the same ECP tool in Project WBS Costing same as the one in SD BOS. Given that we have two types of contracts, each one has its own sequence of processes. These processes are given below:

Costing Models, Templates, Base Planning Objects & SD Copying Function

Now, since planning is happening during both tendering and project planning phase or in different stages and for similar projects, it's highly advisable to use Costing Models and Base Planning Objects for Construction Works that act as templates to be reused for any future project or phase with similar activities. These templates become real catalysts in speeding up the cost planning for projects. You may retrieve these models or templates during planning and the planner may change quantities and/or prices or add additional cost items based on the project's requirements. In addition, the copying function in Sales Documents allow the user to copy Bill of Services and East Cost Planning from previous Sales Orders and Contracts. This will significantly reduce the time and efforts needed to create the BOQs in SAP along with their Costing even though projects Bill of Quantities are not exactly the same. After all, deleting or modifying lines are way easier than creating new ones. I will give an example below using a tool known as Ad Hoc Cost Estimate which is a template of costs related any specific project works such as MEP, Excavation and Concrete Works. Once we have an Ad Hoc Cost Estimate, you can  use it for Costing purposes for any similar project while you have the ability to modify it.

TCODE: CKECP

If we are dealing with Internal Order, Project, Sales Order Costing via Easy Cost Planning, we can create a cost estimate that can be copied from an existing template of an Ad Hoc Cost Estimate. Easy Cost Planning also can be used later during Execution Phase by using the same costing sheet with an Execution Profile as per the configuration that can Issue Purchase Requisitions, Purchase Orders, Goods Issue, and Activity Confirmation from the same sheet.

Project System (PS) Module in Action

Simultaneously, in the Project System, the project planner creates his/her detailed project plan. Some would be confused between the classical detailed planning done on directly on the Project Structure in the Project Builder with the other tool of the Easy Cost Planning. These are certainly different planning tools and we usually prefer the ECP during the Estimation or tendering phase for pricing and budgeting purposes. But, we may use the classical Detailed Planning during project execution. The system allows the use of both types on different versions. I will outline the difference between both ways of Cost Planning as well as their PROS and CONS. After planning, the plan can be transferred on the system to become the budget. There's a special program that carries the plan to become the budget. I will discuss this topic further on Part 3 InshaAllah.

Hi All,

Here i am trying to write a document which will be helpful to identify Tables/BAPI/BAdi to process custom developments/enhancements when Business require something which is not SAP Standard Functionality, then information like SAP tables, BAPI's & BAdIs becomes vital.

Sometimes we get stuck in finding right table/bapi which needs to implemented to complete Business requirements.

Table:

I have Posted one document related to some table and there links with other tables, so i am also giving the same as Reference as below:

SAP PS- Useful Tables Linkage to fetch data from various tables

This document contain mostly tables related to Project Systems.

Usually we find tables using word/characters such as PR*, AU* etc in SE11/SE16/SE16N which might leads to miss out table. So now we can see method to see complete list of tables in a structured manner.

go to tcode-SE16N and use F4 option to get the below:

then click on 'SAP Applications' to view all the standards SAP components.

Now let's search tables within SAP Project Systems than drill down to PS Component:

you can see basic table of Project (PROJ) and WBS (PRPS) etc.

BAPI:-

BAPI's list are also available similar to tables. Just you need to go to tcode-SE37 and use F4 option

if you know name of BAPI then enter name or search criteria in Function Module other wise you can again click in application Component and F4 to see all BAPIs.

Now Browse for respective Module like PS-> PS-ST,

Click Ok

These all are available in Standard SAP.

BAdi:

I am referring a document available with SAP as below

Implementing a Business Add In (BAdI) in an Enhancement

For BAdI's, we may need to refer different SAP Notes.

User Exit within Tcode: finding User Exit which are used in different TCODE than Follow below link for Explanation:

How to find User Exit for any T. Code

Thank you for reading and hope you liked it. I will be regularly updating this Document for rest of important formula/links.

Thank you for your time and feedback!

Suggestions would be appreciated and always welcome to improve Quality of this document.

Warm Regards

Sunil Yadav

this document will teach how to create work center for project management which category type we would use and what formula we will use to calculate the cost with the combination of costcenter and activity type. you suggestion to improve this doc are welcome

When you are working in the Project Systems (PS) module, the identification and numbering of the PS master data is important.  Unlike virtually all other modules in ERP, the master data in PS can be flexibly defined and structured.  This also means that more thought must be put into the design of the coding mask used for this data.

As you probably know, the WBS ID from the system perspective is the object number (technical: OBJNR).  That is a purely technical system coding with a prefix and some internal numbering but is used in all of the PS master data tables.  For the business users the WBS ID is a different field that has a logical structure where each segment reflects specific meaning.  This structure is often (if not always) one of the most important elements to ensure accurate cost account assignment because it translates quite a lot of information about the WBS element.  While the object number is a unique ID that users have no access to, the WBS ID is a label that can be changed in the standard system on different phases of WBS lifecycle.  Sometime that creates undesired situations when many people are working in the system at the same time.

Here is an example.  One business user can create a PR or a PO and assign it to a particular WBS.  Another user, maybe someone who created this WBS, will realize that the coding of the WBS ID is incorrect and will change it to correct value.  Physically, it is the same object number (OBJNR has not changed), but from the reporting perspective (business logic) it will be a completely new and different WBS element.  Looking back at the PR/PO, the commitment will remain on the previous WBS element and therefore show up on the wrong WBS from a reporting perspective.  Similar situations can happen with the actual cost account assignment.  This situation should be avoided.

It is possible to limit changing of the WBS number but a key consideration is the timing of this restriction.  Disallowing the change from happening completely is probably not practical.  After all, the business user might have made a typo and should be able to get it corrected.  An appropriate time to limit the change is based on the status of WBS; Released status is a good turning point.  Please note that WBS elements in Created status also can be used as account assignments in PR/PO, so that risk still remains.  It can be addressed using the same approach if needed.

If you take a look in the system and pick up any WBS in the Released (REL) status, browse to the Business Processes (also called transactions) overview screen as shown below.  There is a business transaction called [Change WBS number] that should be permitted while the WBS is in status REL (Released).

It is important to note that this specific business transaction concerns only WBS elements.  Whenever you are in doubt please take additional time to investigate.

The ultimate goal is to transform it into the situation where the same business transaction (we do not know its code yet) will show up as not available as shown in the sample below:

The standard solution that I recommend is by using a user status within a User Status Profile.

For the illustration purpose I have created a sample profile called ZPSWBS02:

This profile has a single user status REL that is not initial.  Double-click on the status line to set up dependencies on business transactions:

As you can see on the above picture the first line makes sure the WBS number cannot be changed.

The second line makes sure the status is set automatically once respective WBS-element is Released.

You can run a simple test in the system for the proof of concept:

You can see that my user status mirror the system status REL.

A second method that SAP does not recommend, but can be used in exceptional cases (taking all the associated risks) is the change of the System status.

To find the business transaction code ID you can browse a table TJ01T and, for example, use *WBS* as a text search criteria:

From the matching results I can find that the code is PSNC as shown below:

I will use transaction code BS22 to maintain System Status.  Note that only the first column is the key field in this table view, while the Status like REL (for example) is not the unique match.  Pay attention to the package as well as double check the status you are after only through the technical ID like I0002 for example.

NOTE:  You need to be careful with this transaction and have complete confidence of what are doing and what are possible impacts.  Making widespread changes to system statuses can have far reaching affects since Status Management is a cross application tool used by many different modules in SAP.  Also, SAP AG will most likely not support any technical issues that you have if they trace it back to a change in this transaction.

Double-click on the status line to browse into business transactions:

They are sorted by the technical ID in alphabetical order but it is possible to navigate directly to the target line using the search field at the bottom of the screen along with the code we found earlier (PSNC).  Next, change the transaction control for PSNC from Allowed to Forbidden:

After this change you can note that the WBS element code in the Released status gets "greyed out" which means that it is now processed as read only.

Implementing the change using the user status in the user status profile is the better solution.  Sometime it can be challenging when you deal with a Live system that already actively use a user status management.   If you realize and have under control risks you are taking by changing the standard system it is acceptable, but still not recommended.  You might require a special care during system upgrades to reproduce all such changes (as well as keeping a documented history of all such changes to be able to roll-back).

Thank you for reading.

Sub-contracting in SAP PS

Subcontracting is a process where we send raw material/semi-finished material to vendor to have finished. Few time there also possibility that few service need to be opted outside organization where we send the material to vendor example Pole and wires are sent to vendor for erection at site.

In SAP PS, it is not possible to use 541+Q (Q refers to Project Stock) to transfer Project stock to subcontracting vendor as Simple Subcontracting. So, it is recommended to create new storage location to each subcontracting vendor & use 311+Q movement type, based on this it is possible to monitor stock at subcontracting vendor. The cost of subcontracting is then debited to the Project.

Steps to be followed are as below:

Create vendor storage location in t-code OX09:

Go to OMJJ, select the field "movement type" and enter movement type "311" and double click on "Field selection (Enjoy)" under Dialog Structure on left side.

Create a PS Project as shown below in CJ20N:

Run MD51 for the project:

Procure material CONTRACT SUB1 and CONTRACT SUB2 my running MRP.

MD04 (Planned Order->PR->PO->MIGO)

Material will be available in WBS stock

CJI3:

Carry MIGO with transfer posting – Others as shown below to bring the stock vendor stock as shown below:

With partner update as shown below:

MMBE: Now transfer Child component material from project Stock to project stock but different Storage Location. This enables you to obtain an overview of those stocks that are physically located at the subcontractor. This information is particularly important when you carry out a physical inventory of the Project stocks available to vendor from project stock.

In subcontracting say Purchase order are account-assigned to object with in Project. The components are not transferred (using a transfer posting) to the "stock of material provided to vendor" but are directly withdrawn from the Project stock the time of the goods receipt. Final material manufactured is also posted to the Project stock.

Created a PO for main contract material:

With component:

Create a PR for main materials by converting planned order to PR:

Assign Material component:

Convert PR to PO and carry MIGO as shown below:

For component:

After Check:

Then click on Post.

Can’t find sub material(Component) in stock:

CJI3 report:

Hello All

This is a brief document on SAP S/4 HANA offerings in SAP PS module.

Let us first walk through the "Enterprise Portfolio & Project Management"

• Portfolio Management

        Managing & Monitoring the programs & portfolios at Strategic Level

• Project management

        This is the Tactical Level involving - Project Planning & Execution , Monitoring , Progress Tracking , Financial Planning , Workspace ,Issues & Change          management.

There is an integration with other tools like MSP ,Prima Vera (Non SAP) thru integration solutions like Primavera P6 ,OpenPS4MSP.

• Operational Level

         This includes  :Sales & Logistics (SD/CRM ,PP /SCM ,MM/SRM) ; R&D (PLM ,EHS) ; Resources (HR ,MRS ,CATS) ; Finance (PS ,FI ,CO)

Next is to get a detailed Overview of HANA offering.

1. Transactional SAP Fiori Apps : ERP Accelerators  (New Line Item Reports CJI3N ,CJI4N) ,Overhead Calculation
2. SAP EHP 6 version for HANA : HANA Search & SAP Fiori fact sheets
3. SAP Smart Business for Project Execution 1.0 : Project builder ,  Selected PS report ,RRB ,Progress versions
4. SAP HANA live for ERP 1.0

OLAP /OLTP in SAP HANA

Traditional approach was Transact ->Analyze->Accelerate                                HANA Approach

• Multiple copies of data                                                                                 -  In memory ,Mobile ,Cloud ,Social                                                         
• Data Storage in different data models                                                         - The Real time enterprise
• High Latency

New class of real-time businesses and analytical apps - Role based ,Context based , Consume level experience

Improved Engineering to Production Cycles

1. Quickly create and calculate product cost calculation structures and impact of changes.
2. Analyze high level project KPIs and drill down to details to take decisions
3. Analyze missing parts

Improved Project Management of Complex projects

1. Optimization of T codes & reports along the end to end process
2. Improved transparency and reduced risks
3. Smart cross business entity with contextual navigation

SAP Fiori - Simplification & User experience

• Responsive design providing user experience on desktop ,mobile, tablet
• Intuitive user experience focusing on single role & single business scenario
• Consistent & coherent design
• Extensibility
• SAP Fiori search & factsheets
• Transactional Apps

SAP Smart Business for Project Execution

• Turning information into knowledge
• Leveraging tiles from operational KPIs that can be configured and personalized
• Launchpad reflects real time data
• Potential drill down
• Virtual data models (VDM)
  Facet Filter capabilities
• Enhanced VDM

Regards

Shubham

HI Team,

Several time we will have budget issues in project system.  I am giving some examples how the Project System availability control behaves & its consequences.

Note :  In this case I am taking example of direct FI Posting to the WBS Elements

Step 1 ) Creation of 4 WBS elements for Testing

Step 2) Assigning & releasing budget for the specific Budget H-0021-4

Here I enter Rs.1000/- as a Budget & released Rs.800/- only. The same you can get it in the PS Budget Report CJ32

Note the Budget is allocated only in the higher WBS Element i.e., H-021 only

Step 3 ) Booking the expenses using FB50 for the 4th level WBS element H-0021-04, even though the budget allocated at Higher WBS Element.  Here system will allow to post expenses or not..? let see..!

Its saving with out giving any error message & it consider the Budget from the top level WBS Element.  isn't it..?

Step 4 ) Check the Budget Report :

You can observe in the 4th line item, availability as 100 -ve value & the actual and assigned value as 100/-. It is because we have done some postings to the 4th level WBS Element.

In the top level WBS Element,  Current budget is 1000/-,  Released is 800/-,  Actual cost is 100/- (This is 4th Level WBS Element Actual amount), Finally it is showing that Available Budget as 900.

Step 5) Now, I  distributed budget amount 200/- to the 4th level WBS Element

Here it shows that available or remaining 200/- at 4th WBS  Element.  If you are trying to post 100 then, will the system allow you to post ..?  Lets see...! A document has posted with 100/- INR.  Now the Available balance is 100/- INR.

Step 6)  If the Available balance is 100/- INR, then trying to post 250/- to the 4th level WBS.  As per the standard report it should allow up to 200 since its showing for 200/-, but here the life has changed to error message...!

As expected system should through an error message stating that "150/- Budget exceed.   (Since Available Balance = 100 & Posted amount 250 = -150)

its giving the error message for 150/- even through 200/- available in the specific WBS Element budget.

Reason :  System behavior is, after distribution to the 4th WBS system will consider 100/- already consumed with -ve value.  After assigning that it will consume the first & remain value would be 100/- & the invoicing amount would 250/- that is the reason, error triggered for 150.

But the budget report it shows availability for 200/-.  max time business have a confusing since it showing in budget available, even though system will not allow you to process further due to the above error.

Regards

Raj

:

The purpose of this document to set deactivate (Availability Control) AVAC for WBS element using User Status.

Step 1: Create User Status (BS02)

Create User Status and setup deactivate AVAC business transaction

Double click on DEAV status to set the Business transaction

Save the User Status

Step 2: Assign User Status to Project Profile (OPSA)

SPRO - Project System - Structures - Operative Structures - Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) - Create Project Profile

Assign the User Status Profile to Project Profile in the Control Tab

Step 3: Maintain Budget Profile (OPS9)

SPRO - Project System - Costs - Budget - Maintain Budget Profiles

This is a sample Budget Profile setup, our scenario should work for all combinations

Step 4: Assign Budget Profile to Project Profile

SPRO - Project System - Costs - Budget - Stipulate Default Budget Profile for Project Definition

Step 5: Project Creation

Project is Created, AVAC is activated for WBS element C-000034-01-01 and deactivated for WBS element C-000034-01-02

AVAC was not activated yet.

Step 6 : Budgeting

On allocating the Budget (1000 USD), AVAC status got activated automatically for all WBS element, irrespective of User status.

User status for C-000034-01-02 is set as DEAV

To deactivate AVAC functionality, you need to have some budget in the WBS element.

Step 7: Validating AVAC Setup

Case 1: Adding commitment to WBS element with AVAC activated

On saving the Project

Checking the detailed information by Extras - Logs - Cost Calculation

Case 2: Adding commitment to WBS element with AVAC deactivated

On Save, Project will be saved successfully.

1. The Problem.

The problem was mentioned by SAP long time ago in the note 41712.  At the moment it does not look relevant for CN22, but the described system behavior matches to CJ20N.  Please have a look at the Closing note at the end of this article if you are not familiar with this "issue". 

Besides I just like a Project Builder transaction, because it gives a powerful centric view with one place access to many functions.  Using it in the read-only mode and doing networks maintenance in CN22 will take you very much back in time in terms of usability.

Depending on the process design it can be quite inconvenient that NWA are automatically released once the Network Header is released.

Network header does Release automatically when all child NWA are Released.

This means if later in time you need to add a new NWA to the Network it will force the automatic Release for new child.  Now, no need to explain why it might be a problem.  It can generate PR automatically, it cannot be deleted completely and so on...

2. The Solution.

Proposed solution is using a User Status Profile defaulted from the Network Settings.

I will maintain only one Initial status without a sequence number:

The system will ask you to identify object types that can be used with the user status profile before you can maintain influences on business transactions.  That is because the set of transactions is dependent on the object type.

Even though I need this status profile just for NWA it is better to enable it for both Activity and Header, because if you want to default it through settings system will complain it cannot be assigned to the Network header.

Save your data and continue to the list of business transactions:

Next I will default the User Status Profile into the Network Type:

3. Testing.

Now before Releasing the NWA you will need to remove a flag (or "untick") the INIT user status:

During solution test when I try to add a new NWA to the Released Network system prompts me an error message that NWA cannot be Released.  That is a bit annoying information, since nobody asked the system to force the Release, but next it can be saved as normal in the CRTD status.  The system will also change the status of the Network header from REL to PREL, to reflect the fact that not all NWA are now Released.

4. Closing note.

The above system behavior is observed in CJ20N (Project Builder transaction).  It is different from CN22.  Some companies through authorisations design the process to be used with one or another transaction, but not with both.

Thank you,

Paulo

Background:

As a process of Budget availability control, system issues warnings and mail notifications based on tolerance limits set up. The notifications displayed in standard system seldom understood by users owing to the fact that the content of message is not clear and straight forward as shown below.

The challenges in understanding the standard notification messages can be summarized as below:

• The budget amount displayed is at times very confusing
• No direct indication of available budget
• The standard text does not provide the name of WBS element which is most prominently used for tracking by business

Hence very often there are demands from clients for customized messages (in a form that can be easily understood by users) to be displayed in the process of availability control. The fact that the standard message text is unclear and not straight forward, the requirement seems quite reasonable.

As such there is no standard way provided by SAP for getting the customized message, I am going to explain how this can be achieved indirectly through  development.

The Solution:

To explain the solution in a simpler way, I am taking an example of custom message requirement as below where the required message text is like this:

WBS Element xxxxxxxxx (name of WBS) budget threshold of 75% has been crossed.

Message No:BPxxx

Details:

For WBS Element xxxxxxxxx(name of WBS),  xx% of the released budget for fiscal year YYYY has been reached.

Available budget for future spend is XXXX (currency).

Creating Custom Message:

The standard messages related to Availability control are defined in message class "BP" and message numbers ranging from 601 to 614. To get the custom message displayed, all these messages need to be replaced by a custom message created in the same class “BP”.

Replacing these messages can be easily handled by maintaining a set for the message numbers to be replaced. Advantage with set is that any changes can be easily done as part of ongoing maintenance.

Steps in creating custom message:

1. A set is created using tcode GS01 as shown below:

2. Create a custom message number 890 in same message class “BP” using transaction SE91.

3. Format Long text of message as required

4. Define the variables as required in the message display. In the above example, V1 is used for WBS code concatenated with description, V3 is for % of budget spent, V2 is for Fiscal Year and V4 is for available budget. Out of these only V2 is the standard variable and all others are custom defined.

Functional design for getting different variables in the messages:

WBS element details and description of WBS are ascertained from standard Function Module and table PRPS.

For getting the % of spent budget, below logic will be used:

Table BPJA- OBJNR= PRPS-OBJNR

BPJA-WRTTP=42, BPJA-GJAHR= FY in question

Assigned Budget = (BPJA-WLJHR + TBPJA-WLJHR)

Release Budget = BPJA-WLJHV

Currency=BPJA-TWAER

% Budget Spent = (Assigned Budget/ Release Budget) * 100

Available Budget = Release Budget – Assigned Budget

For Overall budget values: refer table BPGE with same logic

The % of spent and remaining budget are dynamically calculated each time the message is hit.

            Embed the calculations in the code to display dynamic values based on real time data

5. The budget availability control is managed in the standard program and the required custom message is achieved through implementation of Implicit Enhancements.

Create implicit enhancements in Include: LBPFCM1 as shown below

These custom enhancements are meant to fulfill the below tasks in the same order:

1. Replacing standard message numbers maintained in set with the custom message BP 890
2. Concatenating WBS text to WBS number
3. Storing the dynamic variables such as % of budget spent and available budget in message
4. Customizing message text being sent to external mail as part of FM: BP_CREATE_MAIL

6. Activate the enhancements and after activating the implementation, the custom message (BP 890) will be displayed as on-screen notification and also as external mail text.

Customized message as on-screen notification:

Message sent to external mail Id:

Sample Code for implicit enhancements for both LBPFCM1 and FM: BP_CREATE_MAIL for the above custom message is provided below

Background:

The standard system provide an option to exclude specific cost elements and Recovery indicators from budget availability control. But if you try to exclude specific Recovery indicators in combination with wild card “*” in cost elements, system issues a warning on system performance and will not allow to save your settings. Similarly if you want to exclude multiple accounts, it is not possible to do it directly and you need to enter the accounts one by one only and it is quite laborious process in case you are dealing with huge amount of data.

These scenarios are more prominent in Oil & Gas industry where Joint Venture Accounting is used and there is a necessity to exclude cutback postings from Budget control. If the cutbacks are not excluded from budget control, they would raise the available budget for spending again which is not correct in real life.

Solution:

As a work around, the above scenarios can be handled by leveraging Origin Groups functionality, but it is tedious and standard system does not support substitution of origin groups.

Recently SAP had issued OSS note 2249375 to address the exclusion of Recovery Indicators in particular to support cutback process.

Step 1: As a first step, we should implement the  SAP notes 2213185 and 2238793 as mentioned in above note to get BADI:  BADI_AVC_EXCL and this is used to exclude accounts and Recovery Indicators as required.

Step 2: Create Sets in GS01 for both accounts and Recovery Indicators to be excluded from AVAC. The advantage of sets is easy maintenance and data change is possible as and when required

Step 3: Make a reference of sets created above in the Check method of BADI and you are done. Sample code attached at the end of the document

Pls note this BADI does not support excluding document types from AVAC. If you need to exclude only document types, then leveraging origin groups is the best option.

Testing:

Created Project, Budgeted the project and Posted actual cost to Project and ran cutback, there is no increase in budget even after posting of cutback documents, hence the requirement is fulfilled.

Report CN41N before posting actuals and commitments:

CJI3 report for Actual cost posted Before Posting Cutback:

Actual Cost after posting Cutback in CJI3 report:

CN41N report after cutback postings, note there is no difference in budget before and after cutback postings

Milestone Billing : Document explain how to configure milestone billing scenario in sap system what was the Configuration at SD module side and what else at PS side. why we need to milestone billing? in which Industry milestone billing perform

SD Side configuration:

• Create Sales Order Type by VOV8

• Assign New Sales Document Type to Sales Area by OVAZ

• Create Item Category, Copy of TAN (standard item For delivery Related) / Copy of TAD (services For Order related) and TAS according to organization requirement by VOV7

• Assign item category to Sales order type by VOV4 as per following format

Sales Document Type | Item Category Group | Default Item Category

Here is two scenarios to performing billing

1. Periodic billing == Billing type  (F2)  == service contract, Rental income service industry where Periodic Billing
2. Milestone billing == Billing type  (F1) == Supply of heavy machinery, Equipment, product, material for customer project.

Note : All Configuration steps are same for periodic billing except 02 billing type rest In Sales order, at item level, we require to maintain the billing plan.

How to execute milestone billing:

1.Create project with hierarchy objects as PD WBS NETWORK and ACTIVITIES.

2.Create milestone with appropriate date. & mark box as per following screenshot)

3.Create sale order with wbs as account assignment by VA01

4.Create outbound delivery by VL01n

5.Remove billing block If any. by VA02

6.Create invoice wrt outbound delivery VF01