Commitment carry forward in BCS

[Former Member]

Hello

We are putting in a fairly simple installation of BCS, with the only requirement being availability control against PR's and PO's at cost center/cost element level. We have set up funds centers with a one to one mapping with cost centers, and commitment items with a one to one mapping with cost elements. I have set up a warning for when 50% of the budget is exhausted.

I have selected an update profile so PO/PR are checked based on due date. There are a couple of things I am confused about.

We are only interested in POs and PRs raised against cost centers or WBS elements, so not POs and PRs into stock. In this case, what is the due date? Is it the baseline date for payment or the expected delivery date?

Do I need to carryforward commitment items? In the case say of a PO posted in December 2015, but a due date of 2016, this will go against the 2016 budget anyway right? We do not want to carryforward budget ever, a new budget will always be uploaded as part of the year-end.

Thanks in advance

Herb

[iklovski · Accepted solution]

Hi,

In order to exclude PR/PO from availability checks, you would just have to define a rule, deriving dummy commitment item from the relevant G/L of the stock registry. This commitment item could be defined with financial transaction 50.

Regarding due date of these documents, it's quite irrelevant unless you base some logistic or other processes on this.

Regarding carry-forward of commitments: if your update profile is not PBET, but annual-based, then it is not mandatory, though recommended for better tracking of your data. Otherwise, it is mandatory, as you won't be able to register GR/IR to these POs, if they are not carried-forward.

Regards,

Eli

[Former Member]

Thanks Eli for the fast reply. Sorry, perhaps my original post wasnt clear enough.

We do want AVAC on PR/PO, but only for expenses, not for PR/PO to stock. I have put in a similar solution as what you mention above, all balance sheet line items are mapped to a dummy commitment item.

I am not sure which update profile I should be selecting, whether it should be based on posting date or due date. I am assuming it should be due date. So that, in the example I mentioned above, if I create a PO in Dec 15 that has a due date of Jan 16, this will get AVAC'd against the '16 budget rather than the '15 budget? Is that correct?

We are not using PBET, we are using annual-based.

[iklovski]

Hi,

Assigning stock G/L to dummy commitment will skip AVC, indeed.

Due date of '16 will be checked against the budget of '16, if due date profile is selected.

There is no 'golden' rule for selecting update profile; it all depends on your requirements and how you would manage your budget. It could be posting date, due date, delivery date, etc. Just be careful, when selecting an update profile, as changing it afterwards could become mission impossible.

Since you don't use PBET, CF is not mandatory, as I mentioned already. However, I see no reason why not executing it for better transparency of the data.

Regards,

Eli

[Former Member]

Thanks again for the reply.

I am just trying to keep the configuration as simple as possible, as well as the tasks the users need to perform. The only reason we are implementing FM is to get AVAC against cost center and cost element, because the workaround of using statistical internal orders was not suitable for them as they would have only been able to have AVAC at cost center level, rather than cost center and cost element.

. As I understand it, there are a couple of extra config steps required for commitment carryforward. So I am just trying to understand what we get/dont get if we use it or not?

So in the first example, PO created in Dec '15, due date of Jan '16. This will get checked against '16 budget when posted. If I run a budget report in '16, will I see the PO value against the funds center/commitment item? Or will I only see it if I have carried forward the commitments? Presumably when the actuals are posted, I will see those in FM regardless.

And another example, say a PO created in Dec '15, due date of Dec '15. But actually we dont get the GR or invoice until late Jan '16. So the commitment has already been used from the '15 budget, will I not see these in FM in '16 unless I carryforward?

Cheers

Herb

[iklovski]

Hi,

Carry-forward always refers to the actual FM year of the document. If it is defined in 2016 by due date, then posting date plays no role. If this PO is still open in 2016, then you might want to carry-forward it to 2017. As I said, technically it is not mandatory when no PBET involved.

Regards,

Eli

[Former Member]

OK I think I have it now. I am going to leave the carryforward, as I do not think it will be necessary.

Many thanks

Herb