This blog provides you with the latest and greatest innovations that our SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1911 release has in store for you in the area of Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management. As in our last update in 1908, we’re releasing innovations for Project Financial Control (1NT) which is one of our foundation processes and also applicable to R&D Project Management (35E) and Capital Investment Project Management (35F). Additionally, we’re releasing a process (4AU) for intercompany processes for enterprise projects.
Watch my video and get a quick overview of our 1911 highlights:
Before diving into the innovations as part of our 1911 release, I’d like to bring to your attention that our process 1YF does not require an additional license anymore. Key features which have been released as part of our process ‘Project Review’ such as Project Ranking in combination with the Project Brief can be used with the license of 1NT. This means that next to project financial controllers, now also project managers and steering committee members can get direct access to project financial information.
Besides our four already existing processes which we leverage in EPPM, 1NT (Project Financial Control), 1YF (for Project Review), 35E (Research and Development Project Management) and 35F (Capital Investment Project Management), we now also have 4AU, our 5th process.
This process targets time and expense bookings and does not cover all kinds of cross company postings. In general, we talk about intercompany business processes whenever there are business transactions which take place between two companies which belong to one organization. As a result, we would have an internal billing transaction which is carried out by means of an intercompany billing document: The delivering company bills the ordering company for the services that they have rendered. As a delivering company you should aim to reach a certain margin. As a consequence, the delivering company bills the ordering company at a price that allows the delivering company to not only cover its costs but also at a price which allows them to generate a certain margin.
In our scenario with the time and expense type of cross company postings as part of our SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1911 release, the ordering company executes an enterprise project which orders services from an employee who is assigned to another company code. In a next step, the employee from the delivering company performs a time or expense booking against the project. The intercompany billing process automatically generates the intercompany invoice from the delivering company and then it is posted to the accounts payable of the ordering company.
On top, we also provide the possibility to schedule the generation of intercompany debit memo requests on a periodic basis. The system will then inform you about the outstanding debit requests.
With our new process you can not only balance your accounts independently post the intercompany process, but as an overhead accountant of the delivering company you can get insights into the margin earned for intercompany projects.
Fig. 1: Manage time and expense type of cross company postings with the new process 4AU “Intercompany processes for enterprise projects” (note: no audio voice available)
As a second innovation I’d like to allude on the more detailed definition of project budget availability control scope. Project budgeting and budget availability control can be used to monitor consumption of budgets assigned to projects which helps prohibit budget overruns in time.
As of 1911 you can configure whether all commitments and actual costs should be checked against the available budget or only a selected list of G/L accounts. This enables you to exclude certain G/L accounts from budget availability control, or, the other way around to specify in detail which costs should be considered (e.g. travel costs).
As a result, you can now also analyze all costs and those which are relevant for budget checks separately in the “Project Budget Report” application. With 1911 we’re enabling tighter control over budgets by ensuring semantic tags which show budget relevant information. This allows you to compare the actual costs and commitments that have a direct impact on the budget of a project, and to keep track of the available budget. As part of the Project Budget Report app the available budget and assigned values are displayed and budget relevant costs are displayed in both global and project currencies.
You can find more information on Project Budget Availability Control Profile by reading these blogs:
Fig. 2: With the more detailed definition of project budget availability you can have a tighter control over costs that have a direct impact on project budgets. (note: no audio voice available)
The tax jurisdiction code is a key which together with the tax code and other parameters, determines the tax amount. The code also determines the way in which the payment of the entire tax amount is divided between different tax authorities.
With SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1911 we release tax jurisdiction codes for both the project header and the work packages. Additionally, we also support Functional Location for work packages.
The tax jurisdiction field can be used to determine the tax rates for the country and its states. The Functional Location represents a location where maintenance tasks are to be performed. These fields are available across all kinds of enterprise projects as optional fields. Once they are filled out, a validation will be executed based on the values of those fields. In this case, the system would check whether, e.g. a tax jurisdiction code is existing for the respective company code of the project definition or work package.
When projects are executed, the appropriate tax liabilities can be calculated with the help of tax jurisdiction codes. When assigning the functional location to work packages, projects can easily find the exact location of the assets.
Fig. 3: Use tax jurisdiction codes to calculate appropriate tax liabilities, and assign functional location to work packages, so that projects can easily find the exact location of the assets. (note: no audio voice available)
Up until our November release, the responsible cost center value could not be changed after the project was released. With 1911, though, you can still change the responsible cost center value even after releasing the project. The newly assigned responsible cost center needs to belong to the same company code. You can maintain different responsible cost centers at each work package level. When creating new work packages, the responsible cost center is inherited to the lower level work packages from the project header.
These changes are adopted and reflected in several applications: Project Control, Project Planning, Mass change and Project Builder. This flexibility holds true for all kinds of project profiles: be it overhead projects, statistical projects, investment projects or projects with revenue.
Moreover, an asset under construction ID can now be created by releasing an investment profile project via an OData API.
Fig. 4: By sticking to the same company code, you can change the responsible cost center value even after releasing a project. (note: no audio voice available)
As of our SAP S/HANA Cloud 1911 we also support public sector fields in enterprise projects: you can now allocate funds and grants in enterprise projects. The changes are adopted in the Project Control and the Project Planning applications as well as in API and migration reports.
The new fields are optional. If you fill out the fields, the system will only allow for company codes which support public sector. When the system executes a validation based on the values of those fields, it will, for instance, check the validity of the fund and grant against work package start or end date.
Fig. 5: Allocate funds and grants in enterprise projects. (note: no audio voice available)
Last but not least, I’d like to mention new extensibility options in selected project report filters. Extensibility enables you to extend an application according to your business needs. Simply create, maintain and publish custom fields.
With our 1911 release we allow for the creation of new custom fields using the Custom Fields and Logic application. With this innovation, project financial controllers can add or edit these newly created custom fields for the following apps:
Fig. 6: Create new custom fields using the Custom Fields and Logic application.
Follow us via @Sap and #S4HANA, or myself via @CorinaReise and LinkedIn
Watch my video and get a quick overview of our 1911 highlights:
*Important Information Upfront*
Before diving into the innovations as part of our 1911 release, I’d like to bring to your attention that our process 1YF does not require an additional license anymore. Key features which have been released as part of our process ‘Project Review’ such as Project Ranking in combination with the Project Brief can be used with the license of 1NT. This means that next to project financial controllers, now also project managers and steering committee members can get direct access to project financial information.
Intercompany Processes for Enterprise Projects
Besides our four already existing processes which we leverage in EPPM, 1NT (Project Financial Control), 1YF (for Project Review), 35E (Research and Development Project Management) and 35F (Capital Investment Project Management), we now also have 4AU, our 5th process.
This process targets time and expense bookings and does not cover all kinds of cross company postings. In general, we talk about intercompany business processes whenever there are business transactions which take place between two companies which belong to one organization. As a result, we would have an internal billing transaction which is carried out by means of an intercompany billing document: The delivering company bills the ordering company for the services that they have rendered. As a delivering company you should aim to reach a certain margin. As a consequence, the delivering company bills the ordering company at a price that allows the delivering company to not only cover its costs but also at a price which allows them to generate a certain margin.
In our scenario with the time and expense type of cross company postings as part of our SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1911 release, the ordering company executes an enterprise project which orders services from an employee who is assigned to another company code. In a next step, the employee from the delivering company performs a time or expense booking against the project. The intercompany billing process automatically generates the intercompany invoice from the delivering company and then it is posted to the accounts payable of the ordering company.
On top, we also provide the possibility to schedule the generation of intercompany debit memo requests on a periodic basis. The system will then inform you about the outstanding debit requests.
With our new process you can not only balance your accounts independently post the intercompany process, but as an overhead accountant of the delivering company you can get insights into the margin earned for intercompany projects.
Fig. 1: Manage time and expense type of cross company postings with the new process 4AU “Intercompany processes for enterprise projects” (note: no audio voice available)
More Detailed Definition of Project Budget Availability Control Scope
As a second innovation I’d like to allude on the more detailed definition of project budget availability control scope. Project budgeting and budget availability control can be used to monitor consumption of budgets assigned to projects which helps prohibit budget overruns in time.
As of 1911 you can configure whether all commitments and actual costs should be checked against the available budget or only a selected list of G/L accounts. This enables you to exclude certain G/L accounts from budget availability control, or, the other way around to specify in detail which costs should be considered (e.g. travel costs).
As a result, you can now also analyze all costs and those which are relevant for budget checks separately in the “Project Budget Report” application. With 1911 we’re enabling tighter control over budgets by ensuring semantic tags which show budget relevant information. This allows you to compare the actual costs and commitments that have a direct impact on the budget of a project, and to keep track of the available budget. As part of the Project Budget Report app the available budget and assigned values are displayed and budget relevant costs are displayed in both global and project currencies.
You can find more information on Project Budget Availability Control Profile by reading these blogs:
Fig. 2: With the more detailed definition of project budget availability you can have a tighter control over costs that have a direct impact on project budgets. (note: no audio voice available)
Enablement of Tax Jurisdiction Codes for Enterprise Projects
The tax jurisdiction code is a key which together with the tax code and other parameters, determines the tax amount. The code also determines the way in which the payment of the entire tax amount is divided between different tax authorities.
With SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1911 we release tax jurisdiction codes for both the project header and the work packages. Additionally, we also support Functional Location for work packages.
The tax jurisdiction field can be used to determine the tax rates for the country and its states. The Functional Location represents a location where maintenance tasks are to be performed. These fields are available across all kinds of enterprise projects as optional fields. Once they are filled out, a validation will be executed based on the values of those fields. In this case, the system would check whether, e.g. a tax jurisdiction code is existing for the respective company code of the project definition or work package.
When projects are executed, the appropriate tax liabilities can be calculated with the help of tax jurisdiction codes. When assigning the functional location to work packages, projects can easily find the exact location of the assets.
Fig. 3: Use tax jurisdiction codes to calculate appropriate tax liabilities, and assign functional location to work packages, so that projects can easily find the exact location of the assets. (note: no audio voice available)
More Flexible Control Parameter Handling Options
Up until our November release, the responsible cost center value could not be changed after the project was released. With 1911, though, you can still change the responsible cost center value even after releasing the project. The newly assigned responsible cost center needs to belong to the same company code. You can maintain different responsible cost centers at each work package level. When creating new work packages, the responsible cost center is inherited to the lower level work packages from the project header.
These changes are adopted and reflected in several applications: Project Control, Project Planning, Mass change and Project Builder. This flexibility holds true for all kinds of project profiles: be it overhead projects, statistical projects, investment projects or projects with revenue.
Moreover, an asset under construction ID can now be created by releasing an investment profile project via an OData API.
Fig. 4: By sticking to the same company code, you can change the responsible cost center value even after releasing a project. (note: no audio voice available)
Public Sector Fields in Enterprise Projects
As of our SAP S/HANA Cloud 1911 we also support public sector fields in enterprise projects: you can now allocate funds and grants in enterprise projects. The changes are adopted in the Project Control and the Project Planning applications as well as in API and migration reports.
The new fields are optional. If you fill out the fields, the system will only allow for company codes which support public sector. When the system executes a validation based on the values of those fields, it will, for instance, check the validity of the fund and grant against work package start or end date.
Fig. 5: Allocate funds and grants in enterprise projects. (note: no audio voice available)
Extensibility in Selected Project Report Filters
Last but not least, I’d like to mention new extensibility options in selected project report filters. Extensibility enables you to extend an application according to your business needs. Simply create, maintain and publish custom fields.
With our 1911 release we allow for the creation of new custom fields using the Custom Fields and Logic application. With this innovation, project financial controllers can add or edit these newly created custom fields for the following apps:
- Project Financial Controller Overview
- Project Budget Report – Line Items
- Monitor Projects
Fig. 6: Create new custom fields using the Custom Fields and Logic application.
For more information on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, check out the following links:
- SAP S/4HANA Cloud release info: http://www.sap.com/s4-cloudrelease
- Sven Denecken’s SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1911 Release Blog
- The Link Collection for Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management here
- Early Release Webinar Series here
- Best practices for SAP S/4HANA Cloud here
- SAP S/4HANA Cloud User Community: register here
- Feature Scope Description here
- What’s New here
- Help Portal Product Page here
- Implementation Portal here
Follow us via @Sap and #S4HANA, or myself via @CorinaReise and LinkedIn
- SAP Managed Tags:
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