Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management in SAP...
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This blog provides you with the latest and greatest innovations that our SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2005 release has in store for you in the area of Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management. As in our last update in 2002, 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). On top, we’re adding a new scope item, Sales Order Processing with Project Account Assignment (4I9) which addresses the integration of sales orders with enterprise projects.
Watch my video and get a quick overview of our 2005 highlights:
Integration of Enterprise Projects with Sales Orders
The integration of enterprise projects with sales orders enables you to account assign sales order items to billing elements within enterprise projects for selected use cases. In doing so, profitability characteristics can be derived directly from the sales order. The sales order billing processes will post actual revenues directly to the project, providing you the possibility to get real time insights & analyze your revenue recognition data and profitability.
This automation can save an enormous amount of time as you neither have to maintain profitability characteristics manually, nor is there a need for manual revenue as well as revenue recognition postings anymore.
With this release we support fixed priced billing, down payment and free of charge processes. Therefore, as part of the Best Practices Explorer you will also find a new SAP Best Practices process “Sales Order Processing with Project Account Assignment” (scope item 4I9). This process will help you to implement and test the new integration capabilities.
Fig. 1: The integration of enterprise projects with sales orders in Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management enables you to account assign sales order items to billing elements within enterprise projects for selected use cases.
Enablement of Multiple Billing Elements
With this integration scenario, we not only help you to reduce your manual efforts and at the same time help you to easier analyze your margin, but we also enable multiple billing elements in projects.
Before, only the project header was the billing element per project for projects with revenue. But now we have enhanced this feature along with the sales order integration so that you can have multiple billing elements in projects with revenue. In order to create multiple billing elements, there are some prerequisites you’ll need to follow:
Multiple billing elements only works of course this only applies to projects with revenue
The project header cannot be a billing element if you want to select multiple billing elements
A billing element cannot have other billing elements in its hierarchy., regardless whether it’s a parent or child node
As long as all these prerequisites are fulfilled, you can have multiple billing elements on different hierarchy levels
With the support of more complex hierarchical project revenue accounting scenarios we allow for more flexibility in defining project accounting structures. You can even assign multiple work packages against multiple sales order items. All in all, you will gain a better overview of costs vs. revenue per billing work package.
The changes are adopted in Project Control, Project Planning and Project Builder application, API and migration reports.
Fig. 2: The Enablement of Multiple Billing Elements in Projects with Revenue allows for more flexibility and a better overview of costs vs. revenue
Basic Project Structure Maintenance Operations in Project Planning Application
The second highlight for EPPM is around our Project Planning application, the replacement of the Project Builder application. In the past, we have already developed SAP Fiori application that you can use to create or copy enterprise projects. However, the maintenance of project structures had to be done in the Project Builder application.
With the SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2005 release, we have taken the next step to replace the Project Builder application. We’re enabling basic project structure maintenance operations in the Project Planning application so that you can create and delete work packages and do changes to the hierarchy. As a result, you don’t have to switch between the Project Builder and the Project Planning application anymore, but you can maintain both project structure and detailed work package information within the Project Planning app. This easy to use feature can save an enormous amount of time during project maintenance.
For future releases, we have planned further editing functions in the Project Planning app.
Fig. 3: Basic Project Structure Maintenance Operations as part of the Project Planning application helps you to reate & delete work packages, and to do hierarchy changes.
Block Account Assignment of Purchasing Documents to Enterprise Projects
The next innovation I’d like to introduce is the blocking functionality for purchasing documents. Already with our last release in February, we have introduced the concept of blocked functions which help you to better control cost postings on WBS elements. Back then we enabled blocking functionalities for time recording, activity allocation, concur expense postings and other expense postings. With the new release we also allow for you to block purchasing documents. You can block this ‘Purchasing’ business transaction at the project header and at each work package level via the Project Control and Project Planning applications.
For more information, you can also check my update blog on the SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2002 release here.
Fig. 4: Being able to block purchasing documents helps to better control cost postings on WBS elements.
Creation of Sub-Assets from Work Packages in Public Sector Management Active Projects
As of our SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2005 release, Public Sector Management (short: PSM) attributes such as the fund, grant and functional area values, must be updated into asset master data from the work package while creating any sub-asset through investment projects. In other words: PSM attributes are mandatory for the PSM active investment project while releasing the project.
As the current solution is designed to support only a single funded scenario, the check boxes for „Fixed Assignment“ get selected automatically once you release a work package.
This feature is now available in Project Control, Project Planning and Project Builder applications.
Fig. 5: Public Sector Management attributes must be updated into asset master data from the work package while creating any sub-asset through investment projects.
Project Type as Filter Criteria in Reports
For project managers it’s crucial to have the right insights into all ongoing projects. Therefore, we’re releasing additional filter functionalities which you can use in reports. With 2005 you can use the “project type” as a new filter criterion which helps you to distinguish the different types of projects. This feature is enabled across all kinds of enterprise projects, and can be used in diverse EPPM reports, such as the Project Cost Report, Project Budget Report, Manage Project Procurement, Monitor Projects and Project Financial Controller Overview.
This allows project managers to get a better overview of the details when it comes to the different types of projects.
Fig. 6: The new filter field “Project Type” is available across all kinds of enterprise projects and helps you to enhance your EPPM reports.
Functional Location on Project Level
Back in the last release of 2019, we introduced functional location on work package level. Functional Location represents a location where maintenance tasks are to be performed. This field is available across all kinds of enterprise projects.
From this release onwards, this field is also available on project level for both the Project Control and Project Planning applications. When creating a new work package, these functional location values would be inherited to the newly created work packages from the project header. We have also enhanced the API and migration reports to control these fields, too.
For more information, you can also check my update blog on the SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1911 release here.
Fig. 7: Functional Location assignment can be done at project header level.
Extension Fields in Validation/Determination Cloud BAdI
Already in the last quarter I described some enhancements to the Validation/Determination Cloud BAdIs. With Cloud BAdis in place, the system will run a validation in the background and check whether the changes you’d like to execute on a particular work package are valid or not. This leads to more accurate project data with less manual efforts.
On top of the standard field determinations, we’re adding with 2005 determinations of extension fields. That means that you can run validations and determinations in Cloud BAdI against the extension fields which are added as part of enterprise projects.
This feature is planned to be active in the Project Control, Project Planning and Project Brief applications.
For more information on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, check out the following links:
