Maximize Your CO-PA Implementation with Better/Worse and Billing, Booking, and Backlog Reports

by Pinckney Ma, Independent Consultant, and Peter Jones, Platinum Consultant, SAP (July 2010)

Learn tricks and tips for profitability analysis (CO-PA) implementations. First, see how to implement the better/worse (B/W) % module with a percentage of cost or profit. Then follow some tricks and tips for the design of the billings, booking, and backlogs (BBB) module. It is difficult when the BBB module involves multiple currencies and an exchange rate adjustment for the last period’s closing. Step through an example of the BBB module with specific examples of the queries needed.

Categories: CO-PA, Controlling, Financials, Reporting, SAP NetWeaver BW

Key Concept

Better/worse reports generally show the variance between the planned results of a given product or segment and its actual results. It gives you a quick way of determining whether the company is meeting its goals.

Many companies use profitability analysis (CO-PA) to manage and report on their billing, booking, and backlogs (BBB). However, depending on the reporting and uploading process there may be issues with the analysis based on whether the results are positive or negative as well as which types of accounts you are reviewing. We’ll review a solution to this issue and allow business users to see the variances in a BBB report based on the calculation of a better/worse (B/W) report. We’ll start with an explanation of the problems you can encounter with the +/- signs and then get into the following step-by-step procedure:

Step 1. Create hidden columns and formulas of B/W and cell editors to present the right +/- signs
Step 2. Use reversed signs for fewer cell editors to be created
Step 3. Create hidden columns and formulas of B/W % and cell editors to present the right +/- signs
Step 4. Check and adjust the layout of the columns based on the business scenarios of BBB with multiple currencies
Step 5. Create InfoObject TYPE CODE to control BBB DSO for period-end closing
Step 6. Use the timestamp to prevent duplication
Step 7. Implement the BBB calculation logic
Step 8. Verify data loading for period-end closing and new-period opening with sample data
Step 9. Review the sample BBB queries

For this article, we used SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) 6.0 and SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (SAP NetWeaver BW) 7.0 systems, though it works for earlier systems. This information is particularly helpful to share with your SAP NetWeaver BW developers.

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