Profit Center Accounting and New General Ledger in SAP ERP

You want to know

• How the Profit Center Accounting (PCA) is mapped within the new General Ledger (G/L) Accounting

• To what extent you can continue to use the classic Profit Center Accounting when you use the new G/L accounting in parallel

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For release SAP ERP, the Profit Center Accounting was integrated into the new G/L accounting. The solution is as follows:

SAP delivers the 'Profit Center' and the 'Partner Profit Center' as fixed characteristics that are posted on the original FI postings. The data is not updated in another ledger as in the classic Profit Center Accounting.
As a result of integration of the Profit Center Accounting into the new G/L accounting, new functions such as 'Document Splitting' are available. Using the function 'Document Splitting' (online document split), you can create balance sheets for company codes as well as for other entities such as the profit center. The balance is then set to 0 for each document for the profit center.
Integrating the G/L accounting and the Profit Center Accounting into the one application also removes the time and effort needed to reconcile G/L accounting and PCA.

When implementing the new G/L accounting in Release SAP ERP, we recommend that all new customers map the Profit Center within the new G/L accounting by activating the scenario FIN_PCA (profit center update). It is not advisable to activate the classic Profit Center Accounting in parallel and consequently update parallel data volumes.

Detailed information about setting Profit Center Accounting in the New General Ledger:

Define the update of the characteristics 'Profit Center' and 'Partner Profit Center' in the ledger by selecting the scenario 'Profit center update' (Customizing: Financial Accounting (New) -> Financial Accounting Basic Settings (New) -> Ledgers -> Ledger -> Assign Scenarios and Customer-Defined Fields to Ledgers).
If you want to use the document splitting, you can define the field 'Profit center' as a splitting characteristic in the document splitting (Customizing: Financial Accounting (New) -> General Ledger Accounting (New) -> Business Transactions -> Document Splitting -> Define Document Splitting Characteristics for General Ledger Accounting). Set the 'Zero balance' indicator again for the added field 'Profit Center'. You can now create balance sheets on the profit center. You must also activate the Mandatory Field check to ensure that the profit center is set in all postings. If you want to display balance sheet items at profit center level (for example, receivables and payables) but you do not require complete balance sheets, we recommend that you do not set the indicator 'Zero balance' and 'Mandatory Field check'.

If you already used classic Profit Center Accounting as an SAP R/3 customer but you now want to use Profit Center Accounting in the new general ledger, you can continue to use classic Profit Center Accounting in parallel to the profit center update scenario in the new G/L accounting in the interim. However, we do not recommend you do this on a long-term basis due to the increased data volume and the increased time and effort required.
However, if the classic Profit Center Accounting continues to play a leading role for you, we recommend that you do not activate the document splitting in the new G/L accounting, and not for other entities such as the segment either. This is because the classic Profit Center Accounting uses certain functions of the classic general ledger that are no longer available with active document splitting (for example, transaction F.5D, Calculate Balance Sheet Adjustment).

See the following information for details about the differences between the function of PCA in new G/L accounting and in classic PCA and for details about the effects of new G/L accounting on the posting behavior in classic PCA. Even if mapped into new G/L accounting, PCA always occurs within a controlling area. SAP does not support cross-controlling area PCA. The derivation of profit center and partner profit center with the different business processes when you use the new G/L Accounting is identical to the classic Profit Center Accounting. Details about the differences are available in the following.

1. Set the proposal profit center for additional balance sheet and P&L accounts.
Release SAP ERP 2004:
Profit center scenario in the new G/L accounting is active, classic Profit Center Accounting is not active: If you have to set a profit center on balance sheet and P&L accounts, make entries manually, use FI substitution or implement the BADI AC_DOCUMENT. Note that the system calls the BADI AC_DOCUMENT only for postings using the accounting interface (for example, MM and SD postings), but it is not called for FI postings.

Profit center scenario in new G/L accounting and classic PCA is active: Transactions 3KEH and 3KEI are available in the classic Profit Center Accounting for maintaining a proposal profit center for balance sheet accounts and P&L accounts. Transactions 3KEH and 3KEI also exist in SAP ERP2004 and function in the same way as in R/3: In other words, you can use the settings in transaction 3KEH to control the update in classic Profit Center Accounting, and the transactions set a proposal profit center where necessary. Keep in mind that the profit center information is therefore affected in new G/L accounting by settings in classic Profit Center Accounting.

Release SAP ERP 2005:
Transactions 3KEH and 3KEI (from classic Profit Center Accounting) for maintaining proposal profit centers for balance sheet and P&L accounts are no longer used to set the profit center.

Profit center scenario in the new G/L accounting is active, classic Profit Center Accounting is not active: If you have to set a profit center on balance sheet and P&L accounts, make entries manually, use FI substitution or implement the BADI AC_DOCUMENT. Note that the system calls the BADI AC_DOCUMENT only for postings using the accounting interface (for example, MM and SD postings), but it is not called for FI postings. In addition, the new transaction FAGL3KEH and the BAdI FAGL_3KEH_DEFPRCTR are available for maintaining proposal profit centers. You can use these new functions to determine a proposal profit center depending on the company code and the account. Note that this proposal profit center does not appear on the input screen; it is derived only when you post the document. The proposal profit center is used if the line item does not contain a CO account assignment and if the profit center was not already determined elsewhere.

Profit center scenario in new G/L accounting and classic Profit Center Accounting are active: The entries of transaction 3KEH control ONLY the transfer of line items to classic Profit Center Accounting. Transaction 3KEI is no longer relevant. To set the profit center, use the options which are available in the new G/L accounting (make entries manually, use FI substitution, or implement the BADI AC_DOCUMENT).

2. Derivation of the partner profit center
Release SAP ERP 2004:
Profit center scenario in the new G/L accounting is active, classic Profit Center Accounting is not active: Transactions 8KER/8KES are no longer available. Notes 997925 and 1087350 provide the functions from transaction OCCL. Alternatively, you can use the BAdI AC_DOCUMENT to set the partner profit center.

Profit center scenario in new G/L accounting and classic PCA is active: Transactions 8KER/8KES and OCCL (reading purchase order/sales order for affiliated companies) are active. However, we recommend that you no longer use transaction 8KER or 8KES. Partner profit centers derived using these transactions are available in both classic Profit Center Accounting and in New General Ledger Accounting only if the line is relevant in classic Profit Center Accounting.

Release SAP ERP 2005:
Profit center scenario in the new G/L accounting is active, classic Profit Center Accounting is not active: Transactions 8KER/8KES are no longer available. Notes 997925 and 1087350 provide the functions from transaction OCCL. Alternatively, you can use the BAdI AC_DOCUMENT or the new BAdI FAGL_DEFPPRCTR (enhancement spot FAGL_LEDGER_CUST_DEFPRCTR) with the method SET_DEFAULT_PART_PRCTR to set the partner profit center.

Profit center scenario in new G/L accounting and classic PCA is active: Transactions 8KER/8KES and OCCL are active. However, we recommend that you no longer use transaction 8KER or 8KES because partner profit centers derived using these transactions are available in both classic Profit Center Accounting and in New General Ledger Accounting only if the line is relevant in classic Profit Center Accounting. Instead, if required, you should use the BAdI FAGL_DEFPPRCTR to set the partner profit center. A partner profit center determined in this way is always updated both in new G/L accounting and in classic Profit Center Accounting.

3. Displaying receivables and payables for each profit center
Document splitting is active
The detailed information from the general ledger view about receivables and payables split online from the document splitting is NOT available for classic Profit Center Accounting. In this case, you CANNOT split receivables/payables nor follow-up costs subsequently (Transaction F.5D - report SAPF180A, Transaction F.50 - report SAPF181, Transaction F.05 - report SAPF100). This means that you CANNOT use transaction 1KEK to transfer receivables and payables to classic Profit Center Accounting. Follow-up costs split according to source can be transferred online to the classic Profit Center Accounting because these are already available in the data entry view.

Read the documentation of the document splitting carefully. Analyze in which cases you have to set default account assignments because the document splitting is sometimes prevented by default account assignments.

Document splitting is not active
In this case, you CANNOT display the receivables and payables according to source at profit center level within the new G/L accounting. However, you can use the old split of the receivables and payables within the classic Profit Center Accounting (transaction F.5D) as well as of the follow-up costs (transaction F.50), and you can use the periodic transfer of receivables and payables using transaction 1KEK. However, you can execute the new report for the foreign currency valuation of the open items (report FAGL_FC_VALUATION) with depreciation areas only, which means that the documents are no longer updated (valuation difference not updated in BSEG-BDIFF). As a result, transaction 1KEK copies only the original receivables/payables, independently of transaction 2KEM 'Account Valuation Differences'; in other words, the original data is not corrected by the valuation differences.

You can use the standard report groups 8A98 and 8A99 to display the open receivables and payables in classic Profit Center Accounting.

4. Periodic transfers of asset portfolios to classic Profit Center Accounting
As of Release 4. 7, it is possible to map a parallel reporting mapped in FI (for example, parallel accounts) for parallel depreciation areas in Asset Accounting by using particular settings (defining an accounting principle). You must stop the execution of transaction 1KEI because it would result in duplicated data in PCA because of postings to the same accounts. You must also stop transaction 1KEI with a 'different company code' or a 'different depreciation area in the different company code' because the data cannot be transferred correctly. Transaction 1KEI terminates with the error message KM 764. As of Release SAP ERP, if the new general ledger accounting is active, the system issues the message FAGL_LEDGER_CUST 076.

5. Dummy profit center on P&L accounts
You use transactions 3KEH and 3KEI to firstly try to determine a proposal profit center in classic Profit Center Accounting for document line items with a P&L account (no cost element) and without a profit center account assignment. If the system does not find a proposal profit center, the dummy profit center is set for some activities (primarily from Logistics). If the new G/L accounting is active AND if at least one of the two characteristics 'Profit Center' and 'Segment' is used in the document splitting, the routine for setting the dummy profit center will no longer run (see Note 820121 and 832776). Otherwise the document splitting would not split a document, or not split it correctly. The system must then find the profit center that is valid for the process using the document splitting or another derivation. If this is not the case, the document line item will not be updated in the classic Profit Center (document line items with Profit Center initial are not allowed in the classic Profit Center Accounting).

6. PCA additional rows
If you map Profit Center Accounting in new General Ledger Accounting in SAP ERP, you can use consulting note 937872 to update PCA additional lines recognized from classic Profit Center Accounting in new General Ledger Accounting.

If you use the transfer price functions, you do not require Note 937872 because the structure of the PCA additional lines are technically "true" and are automatically posted in new General Ledger Accounting when maintained in transaction 0KEK.

7. Substitution of profit centers in sales orders
Transactions 0KEL and 0KEM are available both in the classic Profit Center Accounting and in the new G/L accounting (Customizing: Financial Accounting (New) -> General Ledger Accounting (New) -> Tools -> Validation/Substitution)

8. Reporting
Line item reporting within the new G/L accounting
Release SAP ERP 2004: Even if document splitting is set with the characteristic Profit Center, only one restricted line item reporting to profit centers is available in this release at present. When you use the G/L account line item list of FI, you can limit profit centers for line item settlement G/L accounts that are not relevant for the document splitting. As of Support Package 10, line item reporting to profit centers and segments is available.

Release SAP ERP 2005: Line item reporting according to profit centers and segments is available.

Ledger reporting within the new G/L accounting
Release SAP ERP 2004: Even if the document splitting is set with the characteristic profit center or segment, no current account reporting to profit centers and segments is available up to Support Package 10. With Support Package 10, current account reporting according to profit centers and segments is available. Also see the detailed explanations for Release SAP ERP 2005.

Release SAP ERP 2005: Current account reporting according to profit centers and segments is available. It replaces the standard report groups 8A98/8A99 in earlier releases. However, the difference is that the foreign currency valuation correction is no longer displayed for each item because no update of the valuation in items occurs through the foreign currency valuation in the new general ledger (no BDIFF/BDIFF2 update). It is a key date-related valuation (mostly for the period end).

9. Transfer prices
The transfer price functions (multiple valuations) are available for new General Ledger Accounting as of SAP ERP 2005. For SAP ERP 2004, see the release restrictions in Note 741821. In SAP ERP 2004, you can use the transfer price functions or multiple valuation functions only if you have activated the classic General Ledger and classic Profit Center Accounting.

10. Creating the profit center standard hierarchy
Release SAP ERP 2004: You must create the highest node of the standard hierarchy in the Customizing of the classic Profit Center Accounting (transaction 0KE5), even if you are not using classic Profit Center Accounting.
Release SAP ERP 2005: To create the highest node of the standard hierarchy, use transaction SM30 with the maintenance view V_FAGL_PC_STHR.

11. Creating the dummy profit center
Classic Profit Center Accounting is active (regardless of whether classic G/L accounting or new G/L accounting is active):
If the classic Profit Center Accounting is active, you must create a dummy profit center to avoid postings with an initial profit center in the database tables of the classic PCA.

If the new G/L accounting is also active AND if you are using at least one of the two characteristics 'Profit Center' and 'Segment' in the document splitting, you have to ensure in Release SAP ERP 2004 that Notes 820121 and 832776 are included. In Release SAP ERP 2005, the changed posting logic is included from the beginning. Note that the update of document line items in classic Profit Center Accounting is omitted because of this.

Classic Profit Center Accounting is not active, New G/L Accounting is active and you are using at least one of the two characteristics 'Profit Center' and 'Segment' in the document splitting:
You do not have to create and use a dummy profit center. Using the dummy profit center can cause situations you want to avoid: For example, the system splits receivables/payables to the dummy profit center because of the document splitting (you cannot transfer them manually), or a document line item with dummy profit center account assignment is not split by the document splitting. To ensure that a profit center is assigned in all rows, set the profit center as mandatory field in the Customizing of the document splitting. However, note that this can also lead to terminations while posting, if a profit center assignment is missing.

12. Compare G/L Accounts in FI with Profit Center Accounting (Transaction KE5T)
In classic Profit Center Accounting, transaction KE5T is used to compare account balances. In this transaction, the ledgers to be compare are fixed. If you use Profit Center Accounting in new General Ledger Accounting, use the general transaction GCAC. You can enter any base ledger and any comparison ledger.