Understand The Advantages of Valuated Sales Order Stock
This article analyzes the difference between the make-to-order scenarios, and details the benefits of valuated sales order stock.
Valuated sales order stock enables automatic accounting entries to occur as product quantities move into and/or out of sales order stock. Follow example G/L account postings to help you understand the difference between scenarios with and without valuated sales order stock.
Make Cost Components Available in Cost Estimate List Reports in Product Costing
This 6-page document explains in detail a technique involving a small amount of configuration to make cost components available in standard cost estimate list reports. Cost components as columns in cost estimate list reports are very useful when analyzing production or purchasing performance across a range of products.
Viewing a list of cost estimates with cost components as columns assists your cost component analysis. However, cost components are not available as columns in standard cost estimate list reports. Learn a little-known technique involving a small amount of configuration to make cost components available as columns in these standard reports.
Reduce the Number of Costing Run Messages with Material Status
A six-month or yearly cost rollup is a task most accountants usually don’t look forward to. R/3 removes a lot of the routine, manual work, typically reducing the time taken from a month to just several days. However, there’s more to the task than just executing the costing run. The cost accountant’s role becomes one of analyzing costing run messages and taking action on any highlighted problems.
These problems usually include logistics master data issues that need correction, such as a missing bill of materials (BOM) or routing (task list) for an in-house-produced assembly. However, as you will see, the system can also generate unnecessary error messages. This article describes one source of such error messages and presents a little-known technique – the use of the material status field in the material master -- to reduce the volume of messages to be analyzed. This allows cost accountants to spend more time addressing the issues arising from relevant messages. First, I'll give some background on system messages.
Streamline Period-End Closing with Authorization Groups
When you need to permit a select group of users the right to post to a previous period, you can use authorization groups to automate access. This prevents unauthorized users from posting to the previous period without requiring you to manually adjust the posting settings after a period has closed.
Authorization fields store permissions for system access. The system checks these values before granting users access to protected areas. Authorization objects enable you to permit select users access to restricted transactions by grouping up to 10 authorization fields together. The authorization object F_BKPF_BUP consists of just one field, authorization group. This works similarly to the authorization object for cost center accounting (CO_CCA), which is used to determine which cost elements and cost centers a user can access, and activities, which can be performed such as create, change or display.
Improve Your Analysis Capabilities with Product Cost Collectors
If you’re presently using costing based on production or process orders, consider implementing product cost collectors with these guidelines. This article details the many advantages of using product cost collectors.
Use of product cost collectors and associated work in process (WIP) at target has several advantages over costing based on production orders. The system calculates what the value of WIP should be based on the preliminary cost estimate, and the calculated value is posted as WIP at period end. Any difference between calculated and actual WIP is posted as production variance. Advantages include easier reconciliation with financial accounting and more useful variance analysis based on product instead of production order. Product cost collectors are relatively easy to implement, even if you are currently using production/process orders. Advantages in valuing WIP at target based on preliminary cost estimates using the WIP valuation variant include a reduction in WIP messages and production variance.