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SAP PS: from the first WBS element to the final asset
Project System, explained for users and for consultants from other modules.
CJ20NP-27001 New canning line.1 Engineering.2 Equipment.3 Installation · network 4000123.4 Operator trainingRELBUDGAVACAUCP-27001.2 EquipmentAVCBudget1,000,000Actual610,000Commitments310,000Assigned920,000 · 92%BP613 · Budget almost exhaustedOverview
What PS is, if you have never worked with it
SAP PS, the Project System, is the part of SAP that runs work with a start and an end: building a production line, rolling out a system, developing a product, delivering a plant to a customer. SAP’s own description covers anything from building a factory to organizing a trade fair. PS breaks the work into a work breakdown structure (WBS) that carries the money and, where the work must be scheduled, staffed or bought, a network of activities. Because it is integrated with the rest of SAP, the project is planned, executed and accounted for inside the normal business processes.
This page is for the people who work around PS without being PS consultants: project managers, controllers and key users, and FI, CO, MM or SD consultants who keep meeting WBS elements. It follows one capital project from the first structure to the final fixed asset, lets you test the budget check and the settlement yourself, and lists the transactions worth knowing.
- SAP ECC 6
- SAP S/4HANA
- SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition
CJ20NCJI3CJ88Use the User | Consultant switch at the top of the page to show or hide the technical layer: Customizing transactions, tables and the settings behind each step.
What and when: two structures
The WBS says what is done and who is responsible, and it carries plans, budgets and actual costs. The network says how and when: activities with durations and relationships that schedule the work, plan internal hours and, for external activities, create purchase requisitions on their own.
Source: SAP Learning, creating a WBSPlan, budget, check
The plan is an estimate; the budget is the money that was approved. Once a WBS element has a budget, availability control checks every business transaction that assigns cost to it, such as a purchase order, and warns or blocks before the money is gone.
Source: SAP Learning, budgeting functionsEvery project is settled
A WBS element only collects. At period end, settlement moves its costs to the real receiver: an asset under construction and then fixed assets for a capital project, cost centers for an internal one, profitability for a customer project. That is why FI and CO meet PS every close.
Source: SAP Learning, period-end closing for projects
Three kinds of project
| Capital project | Overhead project | Customer project | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example | A new canning line | A system rollout, an R&D study | A line built for a customer |
| Revenue | None | None | On the billing element, from the sales order |
| Settled to | Asset under construction, then fixed assets | Cost centers | Profitability (Margin Analysis) |
| Key setting | Investment profile | Settlement rule to cost centers | Results analysis key or revenue recognition key |
| Period-end extra | Interest, if capitalized | Overhead | Results analysis or event-based revenue recognition |
Sources: SAP Learning, executing a settlement and performing results analysis; SAP blog, results analysis concept; SAP Community, settlement of capital and cost projects.
This page uses one example
P-27001, a new canning line in a brewery
A capital project with four WBS elements, engineering, equipment, installation and operator training, and a network that schedules the installation. It appears in the process, in the budget check you can try and in the settlement to fixed assets. Numbers are examples only.
Who PS talks to
A project touches almost every module, which is why a “project problem” so often ends up on a CO, FI-AA or MM desk.
- COPrices, overhead, settlementActivity prices value confirmed hours; overhead, interest and settlement run in Controlling at period end.
- FI-AAAssets under constructionCapital projects build an AuC, created at release by the investment profile, and capitalize it into fixed assets at the end.
- IMInvestment programsInvestment Management plans capital budgets above the projects and distributes them down to their WBS elements.
- MMPurchasing and project stockRequisitions from activities and components, orders with account assignment P, Q or N, goods issues 221 and 281.
- SDCustomer projectsSales orders assigned to billing elements, billing plans and resource-related billing.
- CATSTime sheetsHours entered in CAT2 reach the network after the CAT5 transfer and post as activity allocations.
Building blocks
What a project is made of
Most “I can’t post to the project” calls start with one of these objects. Pick one to see what it holds, why Controlling cares and where it is maintained.
The frame
Project definition
The frame around everything: number, description, dates and the project profile that sets the rules. The organization it carries, controlling area, company code and plant, is defaulted to the WBS elements below. You cannot post costs to it.
Example: P-27001 New canning line, with the project profile for capital projects
Why CO cares
It is not an account assignment object, so it never appears on a journal entry; reports add up the WBS elements below it.
Maintain inCJ20NCJ06
Consultant toolsOPSAOPSJ
Customizing for each object is in the Consultant view.
Sources: SAP Learning, creating operative WBS and customizing WBS.
The cost object
WBS element
A piece of the work in a hierarchy. Three operative indicators decide what it can do: planning element, so costs can be planned on it; account assignment element, so actual costs and commitments can post and orders, networks and purchase orders can be assigned; billing element, so revenues can be planned and billed.
Example: P-27001.2 Equipment: planning element and account assignment element
Why CO cares
Each WBS element is a CO object with its own plan, budget, actuals, commitments and settlement rule. Company code, profit center and the responsible cost center sit in its master data.
Maintain inCJ20NCJ12
Consultant toolsOPSACNMASS
Customizing for each object is in the Consultant view.
Sources: SAP Help, operative indicators; SAP Learning, creating a WBS; SAPSTACK, table PRPS.
How and when
Network
The schedule of the work: a network header with activities linked by relationships, scheduled forward or backward, much like a project plan. Technically it is an order: its header sits in the same tables as production orders, with its own network type.
Example: Network 4000123, assigned to P-27001.3 Installation
Why CO cares
Costs sit on the network header or, more often, on each activity, and are settled to the WBS element the network belongs to.
Maintain inCJ20NCN22
Consultant toolsOPSCOPUU
Customizing for each object is in the Consultant view.
Sources: SAP Learning, scheduling networks; SAP KBA 2483450; Tutorialspoint, network type; SAP Community, network settlement.
Checkpoints
Milestone
A point that matters: an approval, a delivery, the end of a phase. Milestones can set the dates of a milestone billing plan, measure progress with the milestone technique and feed milestone trend analysis, which shows whether the project is slipping.
Example: M-03 Line accepted by the brewery
Why CO cares
In customer projects a milestone can release the next invoice of the billing plan, which moves revenue on the billing element.
Maintain inCJ20NCNMT
Consultant toolsCN11
Customizing for each object is in the Consultant view.
Sources: SAP Learning, progress analysis and milestone trend analysis; SAP Help, standard structures.
Revenue
Billing plan
On a billing element or on the sales order assigned to it: the dates and amounts to invoice, by milestone or by period. Resource-related billing, DP91, instead builds the invoice from the costs actually incurred.
Example: 30% at order, 50% at delivery, 20% at acceptance
Why CO cares
Billing posts revenue to the billing element; results analysis or event-based revenue recognition then matches revenue and cost by period.
Maintain inVA02DP91
Sources: SAP Help, billing plan and resource-related billing; SAP Learning, revenue planning.
The work itself
Activity
A task in the network. Internal activities plan work on a work center with an activity type; external ones buy the task from a vendor; general cost activities plan any other cost, such as travel; service activities buy services. The control key decides which, and whether the activity is costed, scheduled and confirmed.
Example: 0010 Remove old filler, internal, 120 h; 0020 Install new filler, external
Why CO cares
Internal activities are valued with the cost center’s activity price: planned cost is hours times rate, and each confirmation posts an activity allocation from the cost center.
Maintain inCN22CN25
Consultant toolsOPSUKP26
Customizing for each object is in the Consultant view.
Sources: SAP Help, control keys; SAP Learning, cost planning of internal and external activities.
Materials
Material component
Materials planned on an activity. Stock items create reservations and are issued from stock; non-stock items create purchase requisitions. With project stock, quantities and values are kept per WBS element until they are used.
Example: Conveyor belt kit, non-stock, bought for activity 0020
Why CO cares
The account assignment category and whether project stock is valuated decide when the cost hits the project: at the goods receipt or at the goods issue.
Maintain inCJ20NMIGO
Consultant toolsOPTT
Customizing for each object is in the Consultant view.
Sources: SAP Learning, processing material requirements; SAP Community, account assignment Q and P.
Where the money goes
Settlement rule
Distribution rules on the WBS element or network that say where its costs go: a cost center, an asset under construction, a fixed asset, a profitability segment, another WBS element. Capital projects get the AuC rule automatically at the first settlement; the rule to the final assets is entered when they exist.
Example: P-27001.2 to AuC 4000-0012, later to the Filler (60%) and the Conveyor (40%)
Why CO cares
Settlement credits the project and debits the receiver, so it is the posting that finally turns project cost into an asset, an expense or a margin.
Maintain inCJ20NCJ88
Consultant toolsOITA
Customizing for each object is in the Consultant view.
Sources: SAP Learning, executing a settlement; SAP Community, settlement to AuC and final asset.
The PS process
Follow one project from the structure to the fixed asset
Nine steps of a project in SAP PS. The first five only plan and approve; from the first purchase on, steps post. Step 8 is for customer projects only. Pick a step to see what happens, where you see it, what it posts in the books and, in the Consultant view, what sits under the hood.
Step 1 of 9 · What happens
The project is structured
The project starts as a structure: a project definition, WBS elements in a hierarchy and, where the work must be scheduled, staffed or bought, networks with activities. Most companies copy a template, a standard WBS or a standard network, rather than starting from zero. Everything starts in status CRTD, created.
Who: Project manager, PS key user
Where you see it
The Project Builder, CJ20N, for everything; templates in CJ91 and CN01; the Project Planning Board, CJ2B, as a Gantt chart.
CJ20NCJ91CN01
Under the hood
The project profile (OPSA) defaults the organization, the profiles and the WBS behavior. The coding mask (OPSJ) formats the numbers and can derive the hierarchy from them; you can add to a mask later but not take anything away. Networks get a network type (OPSC) and a network profile (OPUU).
OPSAOPSJOPSCOPUU
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
No postingIn the books: Nothing posts. A structure is master data.
Sources: SAP Learning, customizing WBS and creating operative WBS; SAP Help, maintaining standard structures.
Step 2 of 9 · What happens
The dates are scheduled
WBS elements get basic dates, and networks schedule their activities from durations and relationships, forward from a start date or backward from a finish date. Several networks linked to each other can be scheduled together.
Who: Project planner
Where you see it
Scheduling in the Project Builder or the Project Planning Board (CJ2B); overall network scheduling in CN24N; in SAP S/4HANA, the Project Schedule app shows the same as a modern Gantt chart.
CJ2BCN24N
Under the hood
The project profile carries the WBS scheduling settings and the planning board profile. In SAP S/4HANA the planning board is modernized by the Project Schedule app (2021) and the network graphic by the Project Network Graph app (2020 FPS1).
OPSACJ2B
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
No postingIn the books: Nothing posts. Dates drive capacity and purchasing later, not the books.
Sources: SAP Learning, scheduling networks and checking the project schedule; SAP PRESS, project planning with SAP S/4HANA; SAP blog, compatibility scope for EPPM.
Step 3 of 9 · What happens
The costs are planned
Costs are planned top-down on the WBS as overall values, in detail by cost element, with Easy Cost Planning, or bottom-up from the network: internal activities as hours times the activity price, external activities from the purchasing price, general cost activities as an amount. A plan is an estimate; nothing is approved yet.
Who: Project controller, planner
Where you see it
Overall planning in CJ40, detail planning in CJR2, Easy Cost Planning in CJ9ECP or from the Project Builder; network costs appear on the activities.
CJ40CJR2CJ9ECP
Under the hood
The planning profile (OPSB) controls manual planning on WBS elements; the network profile defaults cost elements and control keys. In SAP S/4HANA, CJ40 and CJR2 still work but write the classic tables, not ACDOCP; Easy Cost Planning and network costing write to ACDOCP from release 2022, and SAP Analytics Cloud is the strategic planning tool.
OPSBOPUUACDOCP
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
No postingIn the books: No journal entry. Plans are CO plan values, the yardstick for every plan-versus-actual report.
Sources: SAP Learning, configuration for cost planning and cost planning of internal and external activities; SAP blog, controlling in SAP S/4HANA part 2; SAP blog, compatibility scope for EPPM.
Step 4 of 9 · What happens
The budget is approved
The budget is the money that was approved, often proposed from the plan. It is entered as an original budget, overall or by year, and then changed with supplements, returns and transfers rather than by overwriting. The WBS element gets status BUDG and, if the budget profile says so, availability control switches on.
Who: Project controller, management
Where you see it
Original budget in CJ30, display in CJ31; supplements in CJ36 and CJ37, returns in CJ35 and CJ38, transfers in CJ34; budget line items in CJI8.
CJ30CJ37CJ34
Under the hood
The budget profile (OPS9) sets overall or annual budgeting and availability control: its activation type, for example automatic when the budget is allocated, and the tolerance limits per activity group. Status AVAC shows availability control is active; CJBV activates it for existing projects and CJBW deactivates it.
OPS9CJBVCJBW
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
No postingIn the books: Nothing posts in the ledger. Budget lives in CO tables, BPGE for overall values and BPJA for annual ones, and is checked, not booked.
Sources: SAP Learning, budgeting functions; SAP Community, SAP PS budget management; SAP blog, configuring budget availability control; SAP Help, the budgeted status.
Step 5 of 9 · What happens
The project is released
Release, status REL, says the work can start: actual costs can now post. With an investment profile on the WBS element, Asset Accounting gets an asset under construction automatically at release. Some companies also release the budget in steps with CJ32, so not all approved money can be spent at once.
Who: Project manager
Where you see it
Release in the Project Builder; budget release in CJ32; the AuC can be reached from the WBS element and seen in the Asset Explorer, AW01N.
CJ20NCJ32AW01N
Under the hood
System statuses decide what is allowed: in CRTD you can plan, budget and even create purchase requisitions and orders, which are commitments, but not post actual costs. The investment profile (OITA) controls the automatic AuC and its asset class.
OITABS23
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
No postingIn the books: No journal entry yet, but the project is open for actual costs, and the AuC exists in Asset Accounting with no value.
Sources: SAP Learning, the status of a project and executing a settlement; SAP blog, release and budgeting; SAP Community, SAP PS budget management.
Step 6 of 9 · What happens
Materials and services are bought
External activities and non-stock components create purchase requisitions on their own; buyers turn them into purchase orders assigned to the WBS element (account assignment P) or to the network (N). Each one becomes a commitment and is checked against the budget the moment it is saved. Stock materials go out with goods issue 221 to a WBS element or 281 to a network.
Who: Buyer, warehouse
Where you see it
Purchase orders in ME21N; goods receipt and goods issue in MIGO; open commitments in CJI5.
ME21NMIGOCJI5
Under the hood
Account assignment Q works with project stock: quantities and values are kept per WBS element until the goods issue. Whether the cost lands at the goods receipt (P, like a non-stock item) or at the goods issue (Q, from valuated project stock) changes when it shows on the project.
PQN221281
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
FI postingIn the books: The goods receipt of a non-stock item, or the goods issue from stock, debits the WBS element or network; the invoice then clears the GR/IR account.
Sources: SAP Learning, processing material requirements; SAP Help, external processing data and movement types; SAP Community, account assignment categories.
Step 7 of 9 · What happens
People confirm their time
Internal work is confirmed against network activities: hours worked, remaining work and whether the activity is finished. Many companies collect the hours in the Cross-Application Time Sheet (CATS) and transfer them to the network in a batch.
Who: Project team, supervisor
Where you see it
Individual confirmation in CN25, collective in CN27, cancellation in CN29; time sheet in CAT2, transfer to PS with CAT5.
CN25CN27CAT2CAT5
Under the hood
The activity’s work center, activity type and control key decide the valuation; the price comes from the cost center’s activity price. Records that CAT5 cannot post go to an error pool for post-processing, so a time sheet reaches the project only after the transfer.
CAT5KP26
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
FI postingIn the books: Confirmed hours times the activity price debit the network or WBS element and credit the cost center: an activity allocation, recorded in the universal journal in SAP S/4HANA.
Sources: SAP Learning, activity confirmation and CATS; SAP KBA 2665885; SAP Community, CATS transfer and the error pool.
Step 8 of 9 · What happens
Customer projects bill and recognize revenue
Only for customer projects. A sales order assigned to the billing element carries the billing plan, by milestone or by period, or resource-related billing builds the invoice from the costs actually incurred. Revenue lands on the billing element. Capital and internal projects skip this step.
Who: Billing clerk, project controller
Where you see it
Billing plan on the sales order, VA02; resource-related billing request in DP91; revenue and margin in the project reports.
VA02DP91
Under the hood
In SAP ECC, results analysis (KKA2 for one WBS element, KKAJ for many) calculates the revenue to recognize, work in process and reserves at period end. In SAP S/4HANA, event-based revenue recognition posts recognized revenue at each cost or billing event; results analysis is not supported with Universal Parallel Accounting.
KKA2KKAJEBRR
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
FI postingIn the books: The invoice posts revenue and a receivable with the billing element as account assignment; recognized revenue follows at period end with results analysis, or in real time with event-based revenue recognition.
Sources: SAP Help, billing plan and resource-related billing; SAP Learning, performing results analysis; SAPinsider, real-time revenue recognition; SAP blog, EBRR with Universal Parallel Accounting.
Step 9 of 9 · What happens
Period end, settlement and close
Every month overhead and, if configured, interest are calculated, then settlement empties the WBS elements: capital projects to the asset under construction, internal ones to cost centers, customer ones to profitability. When the work is done the project goes to TECO, a full settlement moves the AuC to the final fixed assets, and CLSD closes it.
Who: Project controller, asset accountant
Where you see it
Overhead in CJ44 or CJ45, interest in CJZ2 or CJZ1, settlement in CJ88 or CJ8G; asset values in AW01N.
CJ45CJ88CJ8G
Under the hood
Periodic settlement to the AuC uses the rule the investment profile generates. The final settlement needs the final assets created and entered in the settlement rule, and runs as a full settlement. CJIC settles single AuC line items to final assets.
OITACJICAW01N
Customizing, tables and the settings behind this step are in the Consultant view.
FI postingIn the books: Settlement credits the WBS element and debits the receiver: the AuC, a balance sheet account, or a cost center, or profitability. The full settlement credits the AuC and debits the fixed assets.
Sources: SAP Help, project period-end closing and final settlement for a project; SAP Learning, executing a settlement and full settlement of investment WBS elements; SAP Community, settlement to AuC and final asset.
The four statuses FI and CO watch
A WBS element carries many statuses, but month-end turns on four. They decide whether it can take actual costs, whether new purchasing is still possible and whether anything can post at all.
- CRTD · CreatedPlan, yes; post, noStructure, dates, costs and budget can be planned, and purchase requisitions and orders can already be created as commitments. Actual costs are refused with message BS013, system status CRTD is active.
- REL · ReleasedCosts can arriveActual costs and revenues post. With an investment profile, the asset under construction is created now. A WBS element added under a released one is released too.
- TECO · Technically completedDone, but invoices still comeThe work is finished but costs are still expected: goods receipts and invoices for existing orders post, new purchasing documents normally don’t. It can be revoked back to REL.
- CLSD · ClosedNothing more postsNo more actual costs, no changes to the hierarchy, and the asset under construction assigned to the element is deactivated. It can be revoked back to TECO if something was forgotten.
Sources: SAP Help, system statuses in work breakdown structures; SAP Learning, displaying the status of a project; SAP KBA 2877967; SAP Community, postings in CRTD, TECO and CLSD.
Try it: budget
Will my purchase order get through?
Availability control is the PS feature users meet without knowing its name, usually as an error when they save a purchase order. It does not compare the order with the invoices so far. It adds the order to everything already assigned to the WBS element, actual costs plus open commitments, and compares that with the budget. Change the inputs and watch the message change.
WBS P-27001.2, Equipment
Example: budget 1,000,000, 800,000 already assigned and a purchase order of 150,000, with 90% warning and 100% error limits.
USD, examples only. Tolerance limits are set per budget profile and activity group in Customizing, under Project System › Costs › Budget › Define tolerance limits.
What availability control sees
- Already assigned
- This document
- 90% warning
- 100% budget
- Error above 100%
- Budget
- 1,000,000
- Assigned before
- 800,000
- This document
- 150,000
- Assigned after
- 950,000
- Available after
- 50,000
- Usage
- 95.0%
BP613Warning
Item 010 WBS element P-27001.2 budget almost exhausted
A warning only: the purchase order can be saved. Usage is now 95.0%, past the 90% warning limit.
What you can do
Save, and tell the project controller: the next document may be blocked. Ask in time for a supplement or a transfer.
CJ37CJ34
Where you see the numbers
CJ31 shows the budget of each WBS element; report S_ALR_87013558 lists budget, actual, commitment, remaining plan and assigned side by side; CJI5 lists the open commitments that count as assigned.
CJ31S_ALR_87013558CJI5
The number in the message
BP613 says the budget is almost exhausted; BP603 says it is exceeded. Whether either one is a warning or an error that stops the document is decided by the tolerance limits, not by the message number.
Simplified: one WBS element, overall values, one activity group. A real budget profile can check annual values or the released budget instead of the overall budget, and can send a warning with a mail to the person responsible. Sources: SAP Help, availability control actions and tolerance limits; SAP blog, configuring budget availability control; SAP Community, BP613 and BP603 thresholds and postings without tolerance limits; SAP KBAs 3683535 and 3730654.
Try it: settlement
From the WBS element to the fixed asset
This is the part FI-AA and CO people ask about most: how money spent on a project ends up as fixed assets on the balance sheet. Pick how the investment profile settles and where the operator training goes, then walk the project month by month and watch the WBS elements, the asset under construction and the final assets fill and empty.
Example: periodic settlement to the AuC, operator training expensed to its cost center, month 1.
Month 1. The project is released, so the AuC exists. An engineering firm invoices the line design.
IFRS checkIAS 16 lists staff training among the costs that are not part of an asset’s cost. This settlement rule would capitalize 10,000 of training that belongs in profit or loss. SAP settles wherever the rule says; the accounting policy is yours. Source: ACCA, IAS 16
Posted to the WBS this month
120,000
All of it is settled at month end, so nothing stays on the WBS elements.
Asset under construction
120,000
AuC 4000-0012, created at release. Balance at month end.
Fixed assets
0
Nothing yet: the final assets are capitalized at the end.
Expense on cost center 4300
0
Operator training, when the rule sends it there.
MIRO
Engineering services
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering servicescost on P-27001.1 | 120,000 | |
| Vendoraccounts payable | 120,000 |
Account assignment P on the purchase order sends the invoice to the WBS element.
CJ88 · periodic settlement
Month-end settlement
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Asset under constructionAuC 4000-0012 | 120,000 | |
| Settlement creditWBS elements | 120,000 |
The first settlement creates the rule to the AuC from the investment profile. The WBS elements are emptied; Asset Accounting shows the amount as AuC acquisitions.
Simplified: one AuC for the whole project, no overhead, interest, down payments or taxes, hours at 100.00 per hour. Event-based settlement is the SAP S/4HANA option for small investment projects; periodic summary settlement is the classic one. Which G/L accounts the postings reach depends on your account determination. Sources: SAP Learning, executing a settlement, the asset under construction process, periodic and full settlement of investment WBS elements and small investment projects; SAP Help, periodic and final settlement for a project; SAP Community, creating the final asset before the full settlement.
Quick test
Why can’t I post to my WBS element?
Eight calls every PS support team knows by heart. Guess the cause first, then open the card to see it, the fix and who acts.
- Status
- Master data
- Budget
- Settlement
“System status CRTD is active”Show the answer
StatusThe WBS element is still created, not released. Plans, budgets and even purchase orders are allowed in CRTD, but actual postings are refused with message BS013. Release the element, or the project, in the Project Builder.
Who acts: Project manager
The WBS element is refused as account assignmentShow the answer
Master dataOnly WBS elements flagged as account assignment elements take actual costs, commitments and assigned orders. Post to an element below that has the indicator, or set it if the design allows.
Who acts: PS key user
“Budget exceeded” on a purchase orderShow the answer
BudgetAvailability control added the order to the actual costs and open commitments and went past the error limit (message BP603). Get a supplement or a transfer, reduce the order, or close old commitments.
Who acts: Project controller
The element is lockedShow the answer
StatusA lock status such as LKD or AALK (account assignment locked) is set, so FI postings and new purchasing are refused with BS013. Remove the lock in the Project Builder. LKD does not stop MRP from creating proposals.
Who acts: Project manager
TECO, and the new purchase order is refusedShow the answer
StatusTechnically completed means the work is done: invoices and goods receipts for existing orders still post, new purchasing documents normally don’t. Revoke TECO if the work really continues.
Who acts: Project manager
CLSD, and nothing posts at allShow the answer
StatusClosed blocks actual postings and deactivates the AuC. Revoke CLSD back to TECO, post what was forgotten, settle and close again.
Who acts: Project controller
Settlement says CRTD is active, but the screen shows PRELShow the answer
SettlementPREL, partially released, appears when an element below is released, but CRTD can still be active on the element itself. Release the elements that carry costs before running CJ88.
Who acts: Project controller
“Asset under construction not completely credited”Show the answer
SettlementA full settlement must move everything on the AuC to final assets. Create the final assets, enter them in the settlement rule so the shares add up to 100%, and run CJ88 as a full settlement.
Who acts: Asset accountant, project controller
Sources: SAP Help, system statuses and operative indicators; SAP KBAs 2877967, 3048425, 2797833 and 3420256; SAP Community, BP603, TECO, CLSD, PREL and AuC settlement threads.
Speak PS
The short codes PS people use
PS people talk in codes: “the element is REL with AVAC, it’s an Acct element, buy it with Q, issue with 221 and settle FUL to the asset”. These are the standard ones you will hear in meetings and see on every screen. Your company may add its own.
Read the status line left to right. CRTD, PREL, REL, TECO, CLSD is the life cycle; the others are flags beside it. The status button in the Project Builder shows which business transactions each one allows.
Three ticks decide what a WBS element can do. They sit on the basic data of every WBS element, as fields PLAKZ, BELKZ and FAKKZ in table PRPS. Whether they can still be changed depends on the status.
The control key tells an activity what it is. Standard network keys start with PS; your company may have its own. The control key cannot be changed for general cost activities or services, nor once the activity is released.
A budget is changed, not overwritten. After the original budget, changes go in as supplements, returns and transfers; a user status can even freeze the original budget while still allowing them, so the budget history stays readable.
How purchasing finds the project. The account assignment category on the requisition or order and the movement type on the goods issue tell SAP where the cost goes.
Who receives the money. The settlement profile limits which receivers and settlement types a WBS element may use; the investment profile adds the AuC.
CRTDCreatedPlan and budget, but no actual postings.PRELPartially releasedAn element below is released; the element itself may still be CRTD.RELReleasedActual costs and revenues can post.TECOTechnically completedWork done; costs from existing orders can still arrive.CLSDClosedNo more actual postings; the AuC is deactivated.BUDGBudgetedA budget was allocated; the status stays even if the budget is returned.AVACAvailability control activePostings and commitments are checked against the budget.AUCAsset under constructionAn AuC exists for the element, created by the investment profile.LKDLockedTransactions such as FI postings are refused; MRP still plans.AALKAccount assignment lockedThe element refuses new account assignments.FNBLFinal billingNo more billing; costs, such as warranty, can still post.DLFLDeletion flagAll business transactions are blocked.PEPlanning elementCosts can be planned on it.AcctAccount assignment elementActual costs, commitments and assigned orders, networks and purchase orders.BillBilling elementRevenues can be planned and billed; sales orders are assigned to it.SumProject summarizationThe element is included in project summarization reporting.PS01Internal processingWork on a work center, confirmed and costed with the activity price.PS02External processingBought from a vendor through a purchase requisition.PS03General costsAn amount on a cost element, such as travel or freight.SRVServiceServices bought with a service specification and entry sheet.ELEMActivity elementA part of an activity, of any of the same kinds.MSMilestoneA checkpoint on an activity or a WBS element.CJ30Original budgetThe first approved budget, overall or by year.CJ32ReleaseThe part of the budget that may be spent now.CJ36Supplement to projectMore money from outside, for one or more projects.CJ37Supplement in projectMore money inside one project.CJ35Return from projectMoney given back out of the project.CJ38Return in projectMoney given back inside one project.CJ34TransferFrom one WBS element or project to another.CJCOCarry forwardUnused annual budget moved to the next year.PProjectCost straight to the WBS element, like a non-stock item.QProject make-to-orderProject stock, quantities and values kept per WBS element.NNetworkCost to a network activity.221Goods issue for a projectStock consumed by a WBS element.281Goods issue for a networkStock consumed by a network activity.CJ88Periodic settlementEach month, from the WBS element to the AuC or to cost centers.FULFull settlementAt the end, everything on the AuC to the final assets.PREPreliminary settlementDistribution rules applied before the settlement to the AuC.AuCAsset under constructionThe receiver while a capital project runs.CJICLine-item settlementSingle AuC line items assigned to final assets.S/4Event-based settlementSmall investment projects post straight to the AuC.
Sources: SAP Help, system statuses in WBS and the budgeted status; SAP KBAs 3048425 and 2797833; SAP Community, PREL and CRTD.
Sources: SAP Help, operative indicators; SAP Learning, creating a WBS and customizing WBS; SAPSTACK, table PRPS.
Sources: SAP Help, control keys and external processing data; SAP Community, network activity categories; Tutorialspoint, activity control key.
Sources: SAP Help, budget updates; SAP Community, SAP PS budget management and CJ35 to CJ38; ERPlingo, CJ37.
Sources: SAP Help, movement types and account assignment; SAP Learning, processing material requirements; SAP Community, account assignment categories P, Q and N.
Sources: SAP Learning, executing a settlement and small investment projects; SAP Help, final settlement for a project; SAP Community, PRE and FUL settlement and CJIC.
Behind the Gantt chart, a network is an order from the same family as production and maintenance orders. Its header sits in AUFK and AFKO with order category 20, its activities in AFVC and AFVV, its components in RESB. PP consultants already know the tables; CO consultants already know how orders settle. Source: SAP KBA 2483450, order category 20
Reference
The PS transactions people actually use
PS transactions follow a pattern: CJ for projects, WBS elements, budgets and settlement, CN for networks, confirmations and the overviews, CJI for line items and OP for most PS Customizing. Start here shows the ones worth bookmarking; FI/CO bridge collects what controllers and asset accountants run; the last column says what changed in SAP S/4HANA. Type a code or a word to search all of them.
| Code or app | For | What it does | Who opens it | ECC / S/4HANA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CJ20N | User | Project Builder: create, change and display project definitions, WBS elements, networks, activities and milestones on one screen. | Project manager, everyone | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ2B | User | Project Planning Board: the project as an interactive Gantt chart; CJ27 creates a project there and CJ2C displays one. | Project planner | ECC + S/4HANA |
PSHLP20 | User | Project Editor, another way to maintain the structure and dates. | Project planner | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ06 | User | Create a project definition; CJ07 changes and CJ08 displays it. | Project manager | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ01 | User | Create a work breakdown structure; CJ02 changes and CJ03 displays it. | Project manager | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ11 | User | Create a single WBS element; CJ12 changes and CJ13 displays it. | Project manager | ECC + S/4HANA |
CN21 | User | Create a network; CN22 changes and CN23 displays it. | Project planner | ECC + S/4HANA |
CN24N | User | Overall network scheduling: several linked networks at once. | Project planner | ECC + S/4HANA |
CN41N | User | Project structure overview: definition, WBS, networks, activities, milestones, components and confirmations in one report. | Everyone | ECC + S/4HANA |
CN43N | User | Overview of WBS elements across projects; CN42N lists project definitions and CN53N milestones. | Project manager, controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ40 | User | Overall cost planning on the WBS; CJ41 displays it. | Project controller | S/4HANA: classic planning tables |
CJR2 | User | Cost element and activity input planning on the WBS; CJR3 displays it. | Project controller | S/4HANA: classic planning tables |
CJ9ECP | User | Easy Cost Planning for projects: quick cost estimates on WBS elements. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ42 | User | Revenue planning on billing elements; CJ43 displays it. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ30 | User | Original budget; CJ31 displays it. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ32 | User | Budget release; CJ33 displays it. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ34 | User | Budget transfer between WBS elements or projects. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ36 | User | Budget supplement to one or more projects; CJ37 supplements inside one project. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ35 | User | Budget return from a project; CJ38 returns inside one project. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ3A | User | Change a budget document; CJ3B displays it. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
ME21N | User | Purchase order with account assignment P (project), Q (project stock) or N (network). | Buyer | ECC + S/4HANA |
MIGO | User | Goods movements: goods issue 221 to a WBS element or 281 to a network, receipts for project orders. | Warehouse | ECC + S/4HANA |
CN25 | User | Confirm a network activity: hours, remaining work, completion. | Project team | ECC + S/4HANA |
CN27 | User | Collective confirmation of many activities; CN29 cancels confirmations. | Supervisor | ECC + S/4HANA |
CAT2 | User | Enter time in the Cross-Application Time Sheet. | Project team | ECC + S/4HANA |
CAT5 | User | Transfer time sheet data from CATS to PS. | Supervisor, background job | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJI3 | User | Actual cost line items for projects. | Everyone | S/4HANA: compatibility scope |
CJI3N | User | Actual cost line items, the newer version and the successor of CJI3. | Everyone | S/4HANA: successor of CJI3 |
CJI4 | User | Plan cost line items. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJI5 | User | Commitment line items: open purchase requisitions and orders. | Project manager, controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJI8 | User | Budget line items. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
S_ALR_87013558 | User | Budget, actual, commitment, remaining plan and assigned for each WBS element. | Project manager, controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJE0 | User | Run a hierarchy report: costs, revenues and budget along the project hierarchy. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CNE1 | User | Progress analysis: calculate percentage of completion and earned value for a project; CNE2 for many. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CNE5 | User | Progress analysis structure overview. | Project manager | ECC + S/4HANA |
CNMT | User | Milestone trend analysis. | Project manager | ECC + S/4HANA |
CN72 | User | Create a project version, a snapshot to compare with later. | Project manager | ECC + S/4HANA |
DP91 | User | Resource-related billing request for customer projects. | Billing clerk | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ91 | Consultant | Standard WBS, the template for new projects; CJ92 changes and CJ93 displays it. | PS key user | ECC + S/4HANA |
CN01 | Consultant | Standard network, the template for networks; CN02 changes and CN03 displays it. | PS key user | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPSA | Consultant | Project profile: organization, profiles and WBS settings for new projects. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPSJ | Consultant | Project coding mask: the format of project and WBS numbers. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPSC | Consultant | Network types. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPUU | Consultant | Network profile: defaults such as control keys and cost elements for activities. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPSU | Consultant | Control keys for network activities. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPSB | Consultant | Planning profile for cost planning on WBS elements. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPS9 | Consultant | Budget profile: overall or annual budget, availability control and its activation. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPI1 | Consultant | Value categories for the project information system; OPI2 assigns cost elements to them. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OITA | Consultant | Investment profile: automatic asset under construction and its asset class. | PS and FI-AA consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OPTT | Consultant | Account assignment category and document type for purchase requisitions from networks. | PS and MM consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
OKKP | Consultant | Controlling area settings, where the Projects component must be active. | CO consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJBV | Consultant | Activate availability control for existing projects; CJBW deactivates it. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJBN | Consultant | Reconstruct availability control, after CJBW when settings change. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJEN | Consultant | Reconstruct the summarized project data, the project information database. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
CNMASS | Consultant | Mass change of project objects, with a test run and a log. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
BS23 | Consultant | System statuses and the business transactions each one allows or forbids. | PS consultant | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ88 | FI/CO bridge | Settle one project: periodic, full or preliminary settlement. | Project controller, asset accountant | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ8G | FI/CO bridge | Collective settlement of projects and networks. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJ44 | FI/CO bridge | Actual overhead for one project; CJ45 for many. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJZ2 | FI/CO bridge | Actual interest calculation for one project; CJZ1 for many. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
KKA2 | FI/CO bridge | Results analysis for one WBS element; KKAJ for many. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA, not with UPA |
CJIC | FI/CO bridge | Line-item settlement: assign single AuC line items to final assets. | Asset accountant | ECC + S/4HANA |
AW01N | FI/CO bridge | Asset Explorer: the AuC and the final assets with their values. | Asset accountant | ECC + S/4HANA |
AIBU | FI/CO bridge | Settle a stand-alone AuC that no project manages. | Asset accountant | ECC + S/4HANA |
KP26 | FI/CO bridge | Activity prices: the rates confirmations charge to the project. | Cost accountant | S/4HANA: classic planning tables |
CJCF | FI/CO bridge | Carry forward project commitments to the new year. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
CJCO | FI/CO bridge | Carry forward unused project budget to the new year. | Project controller | ECC + S/4HANA |
| Project Cost Overview | Fiori app | Planned and actual costs of a project, its WBS elements, networks and maintenance orders (F6991). | Project controller | S/4HANA 2022 FPS1 |
| Project Cost Line Items | Fiori app | The line items behind the project costs, with navigation to journal entries (F6992). | Project controller | S/4HANA 2022 FPS1 |
| Project Schedule | Fiori app | Gantt chart of the project structure and dates, the modern planning board. | Project planner | S/4HANA 2021 |
| Project Network Graph | Fiori app | Network activities and relationships as an interactive graph; finds loops. | Project planner | S/4HANA 2020 FPS1 |
| Monitor Projects | Fiori app | Plan, actual, commitments and budget of projects in graphics, with variances (F3088). | Project controller | S/4HANA |
| Project Budget Report | Fiori app | Budget and commitments of projects. | Project controller | S/4HANA |
| Project Financial Controller Overview | Fiori app | Overview page with cards for project controllers. | Project controller | S/4HANA |
| Project Text | Fiori app | The renewed PS texts. | Project manager | S/4HANA 2021 FPS1 |
| Event-Based Revenue Recognition – Projects | Fiori app | Revenue situation of each billing element; adjust and revalue. | Project controller | S/4HANA |
| Project Control – Enterprise Projects | Fiori app | Create and control enterprise projects in the cloud editions. | Project controller | S/4HANA Cloud |
PROJ | Table | Project definitions. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
PRPS | Table | WBS element master data, with the indicators PLAKZ, BELKZ and FAKKZ. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
PRHI | Table | WBS hierarchy pointers. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
PRTE | Table | Scheduling data of WBS elements. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
AUFK / AFKO | Table | Network headers, as orders with order category 20. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
AFVC / AFVV | Table | Network activities and their dates and quantities. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
RESB | Table | Material components of networks (reservations). | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
MLST | Table | Milestones. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
AFRU | Table | Confirmations. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
JEST | Table | Statuses of every object; TJ02T holds the status texts. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
BPGE / BPJA | Table | Budget totals, overall and annual. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
RPSCO | Table | Project information database: costs, revenues and finances that hierarchy reports read. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
COOI | Table | Commitment line items. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
COBRA / COBRB | Table | Settlement rule and its distribution rules. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
EVPOC | Table | Percentage of completion from progress analysis. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
MSPR | Table | Project stock. | Consultants | ECC + S/4HANA |
ACDOCA / ACDOCP | Table | Universal journal actuals and plan data in SAP S/4HANA. | Consultants | S/4HANA |
Nothing matches. Try another word, or pick All.
Standard codes, cross-checked with SAP Help (project period-end closing and standard structures), SAP Learning, SAP KBAs, the SAPSTACK and ERPlingo lists and SAP Community; S/4HANA changes from the SAP blog on the EPPM compatibility scope and SAP Note 2270407 as described by SAP; Fiori app names from SAP Learning and SAP blogs. Projects can hide transactions or rename apps, so check your own system before you write them into a manual.
ECC to S/4HANA
What changed in PS with SAP S/4HANA
The project works the way it did in SAP ECC: same structures, same Project Builder, same settlement. What changed sits around it: planning moving to ACDOCP and SAP Analytics Cloud, reports and screens moving to Fiori, revenue recognized in real time, and a list of old functions that SAP either modernized or left without a successor.
The Project Builder
ECCCJ20N and the Project Planning Board in SAP GUI.
S/4HANAStill CJ20N on premise and in the private cloud, with the Project Schedule and Project Network Graph apps beside it.
In SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition the Project Builder app was deprecated with release 2202; enterprise projects there are maintained with the Project Control and Project Planning apps.
Source: SAP KBA 3130810, Project Builder in the public cloudCost planning
ECCCJ40, CJR2 and Easy Cost Planning write the CO totals tables.
S/4HANAThe classic transactions still work, per SAP Note 2270407, but write the classic tables, not ACDOCP.
Easy Cost Planning and network costing integrate with ACDOCP from release 2022, and SAP Analytics Cloud is the strategic planning tool. The program that moves classic plans to ACDOCP leaves CJ40 data behind.
Source: SAP blog, controlling in SAP S/4HANA, part 2 (2020)Project reports
ECCHierarchy reports such as CJE0 and S_ALR_87013558, line items in CJI3.
S/4HANAProject Cost Overview and Project Cost Line Items apps, from 2022 FPS1.
Cost element and summarization reports stay; CJI3 remains in compatibility scope, with CJI3N as its successor.
Source: SAP blog, compatibility scope for EPPM (2023)Revenue recognition
ECCResults analysis (KKA2, KKAJ) at period end, then settlement to profitability.
S/4HANAEvent-based revenue recognition: recognized revenue posted at each event, from release 1610.
Results analysis is still there but not supported with Universal Parallel Accounting. In the public cloud, customer projects need no settlement: the market segment is on every line item.
Source: SAPinsider, real-time revenue recognitionCapitalizing small projects
ECCPeriodic summary settlement from the WBS element to the AuC.
S/4HANAEvent-based settlement: costs of small investment projects post straight to the AuC.
Line items stay visible on the AuC; the full settlement to the final assets still uses settlement rules.
Source: SAP Learning, small investment projectsThe Gantt chart
ECCProject Planning Board (CJ2B) and network graphic.
S/4HANAProject Schedule app from 2021, Project Network Graph from 2020 FPS1.
The planning board itself is still there; the apps add a browser-based Gantt chart and an interactive network graph that finds loops.
Source: SAP Learning, checking the project scheduleWhat has no successor
ECCProduction resources and tools, hierarchy graphics, network progress, the Forecast Workbench, CJCD change documents.
S/4HANAKept in compatibility scope, most without a planned successor.
Change documents move to CN60, consistency checks to validations, PS archiving transactions to central archiving. SAP closed the modernization of the remaining PS items with release 2023.
Source: SAP blog, compatibility scope for EPPM (2023)PS texts and claims
ECCPS texts and Claim Management in SAP GUI.
S/4HANAThe Project Text app (2021 FPS1), and an API plus the Project Claim Overview app (2022).
Both had been compatibility scope items; SAP modernized them instead of dropping them.
Source: SAP blog, compatibility scope for EPPM (2023)PS Cash Management
ECCIts own data, filled by separate transfers.
S/4HANAReads from the universal journal, from release 2023.
One of the project financial planning and control functions SAP rebuilt on the universal journal.
Source: SAP blog, compatibility scope for EPPM (2023)Commercial Project Management
ECCAn add-on.
S/4HANAPart of the SAP S/4HANA core from release 1709.
CPM sits on top of PS projects: business function OPS_PS_CI_1 is a prerequisite for working with them.
Source: SAP blog, CPM in SAP S/4HANA (2018)Enterprise projects in the cloud
ECCClassic PS projects only.
S/4HANASAP S/4HANA Cloud runs enterprise projects with the Project Control, Project Planning and Project Brief apps.
From 1808 a budget availability control profile on the project checks postings against the budget and warns or blocks, as in classic PS.
Source: SAP blog, SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1808 for EPPMPlanned costs from portfolios
ECCPlanned costs of a portfolio item stayed in PPM.
S/4HANATransferred to the linked PS project into ACDOCP, from 2022 FPS1.
Plan-versus-actual for portfolio-driven projects can be reported from the same plan table as the rest of finance.
Source: SAP blog, compatibility scope for EPPM (2023)
Brazil
Capital projects in Brazil: three tax clocks
Elsewhere, the moment an asset under construction becomes a fixed asset is an accounting event. In Brazil it is also a tax moment: ICMS, PIS/COFINS and the new IBS and CBS on the same machine follow different clocks, and the AuC settlement is where tax and project teams meet.
- ICMS · CIAP
48 months, from when the asset works
ICMS on goods for the fixed assets is credited at 1/48 a month for 48 months, in proportion to taxed outputs, and controlled in the CIAP, Block G of the EFD ICMS/IPI. For assets that enter service later, São Paulo’s tax authority has answered that the first fraction starts when the asset goes into operation, so parts bought for an asset under construction wait.
Sources: SEFAZ-SP, Resposta à Consulta 9135/2016; Planning, CIAP - PIS/COFINS
On depreciation, as a rule
Under the non-cumulative regime, the general rule calculates the PIS and COFINS credit on the depreciation of the asset. The credit follows the final asset’s depreciation, which only starts once the project has capitalized it.
Source: Grupo CPCON, IBS and CBS credit on fixed assets - IBS · CBS
Full and immediate credit
Article 108 of Complementary Law 214/2025 grants full and immediate IBS and CBS credit on capital goods, subject to proof that the tax on the purchase was paid. ICMS ends on 31 December 2032; CIAP credits already running keep their 1/48 schedule until they finish.
Sources: LC 214/2025, art. 108; Reforma Tributária, CIAP and the reform
Documented, but little known
18 tips for users and consultants
Each tip comes from SAP Help, SAP Learning, an SAP knowledge base article, an SAP blog or SAP Community, linked under the tip.
- 01Users
Ask the status what it allows
In the Project Builder, the status button on a WBS element opens a Business processes tab: allowed transactions in green, forbidden ones in red. It answers most “why can’t I” questions in seconds.
CJ20N
- 02Users
Open the whole project in one report
CN41N shows project definition, WBS elements, networks, activities, milestones, components and confirmations in one tree, and from the structure information system you can confirm activities or start a mass change.
CN41N
- 03Users
Your purchase order already used the budget
Availability control counts open purchase requisitions and orders as assigned, not only invoices. CJI5 lists those commitments, and closing old ones frees budget.
CJI5CJ31
- 04Users
Hours in CATS are not on the project yet
Time sheet entries reach the network only after the CAT5 transfer; records that cannot post land in an error pool to be processed in PS.
CAT2CAT5
- 05Users
Cancel many confirmations at once
Collective confirmation is CN27, but wrong confirmations are cancelled with CN29, not inside CN27.
CN27CN29
- 06Users
Watch milestones drift
Milestone trend analysis compares milestone dates across project versions to show whether the project is on, ahead of or behind schedule; versions come from CN72 or are created by status.
CNMTCN72
- 07Consultants
BS23 shows every status rule
BS23 lists each system status and the business transactions it allows or forbids: the rules behind the Business processes tab.
BS23
- 08Consultants
Changed tolerance limits? Deactivate first
After changing availability control settings, deactivate it (CJBW) and then reconstruct it (CJBN). As quoted from SAP Note 922295, reconstructing alone is not enough.
CJBWCJBN
- 09Consultants
The coding mask is a one-way door
You can add to a project coding mask later, but you cannot take anything away once WBS elements use it. Design it before the first project goes live.
OPSJ
- 10Consultants
One AuC per project, not per element
An investment profile defaulted in the project profile lands on every WBS element and creates an AuC for each at release. Put it only on the element that should be the investment measure.
OITAOPSA
- 11Consultants
LKD does not stop MRP
A locked WBS element refuses a manual purchase requisition with BS013, but MRP still creates procurement proposals for it.
MD04ME51N
- 12Consultants
Test mass changes first
Mass changes across projects can run as a test with a log, and many cannot be undone. Run the test, read the log, then change.
CNMASS
- 13FI/CO
BP603 is not only for purchase orders
SAP has knowledge base articles for “budget exceeded” on service entry sheets (ML81N), on time sheet hours and even in the depreciation run (AFAB). Any transaction that assigns cost can hit availability control.
ML81NAFAB
- 14FI/CO
Budget transfers are checked line by line
In CJ34 availability control evaluates each transfer line on its own, not the sum, so one line can fail although the whole transfer fits.
CJ34
- 15FI/CO
Reports and availability control can disagree
The assigned value availability control works with is calculated differently from PS reporting, so S_ALR_87013558 and the availability control overview may not match. SAP’s central KBA lists the differences.
S_ALR_87013558CJBN
- 16FI/CO
CJ40 plans don’t move to ACDOCP
The program that transfers classic plan data to ACDOCP leaves CJ40 overall planning behind, so Fiori plan-versus-actual reports can show no plan for those projects.
CJ40
- 17FI/CO
Create the final assets before the full settlement
The AuC settles to final assets only after they exist and are entered in the settlement rule of the WBS element; otherwise CJ88 reports that the AuC is not completely credited.
CJ88AW01N
- 18FI/CO
Results analysis and UPA don’t mix
Universal Parallel Accounting does not support results analysis, so customer projects in a UPA system need event-based revenue recognition.
KKA2
Myths
Things people get wrong about PS
Myth
Costs are posted to the project.FactCosts are posted to WBS elements, networks and activities. The project definition is only the frame and is not an account assignment object.
Myth
In CRTD nothing can happen.FactIn CRTD you can plan, budget and even create purchase requisitions and orders. Only actual postings wait for REL.
Myth
Availability control checks the actual costs.FactIt checks the assigned value: actual costs plus open commitments such as purchase requisitions and orders. A purchase order can be blocked before a cent is spent.
Myth
The budget is the plan.FactThe plan is an estimate; the budget is approved money, entered in CJ30 and often proposed from the plan. Availability control checks the budget, never the plan.
Myth
TECO closes the project.FactTECO says the work is done but costs are still expected, so invoices for existing orders still post. Only CLSD blocks actual postings.
Myth
A network is just a Gantt chart.FactA network is an order, in the same tables as production orders, with order category 20. It carries costs, components, purchase requisitions and confirmations.
Myth
You can post straight to the AuC.FactThe AuC of an investment measure cannot be posted directly: costs go to the WBS element and reach the AuC by settlement, or with event-based settlement through the cost posting itself.
Myth
CJR2 plans show up in the new SAP S/4HANA reports.FactClassic planning transactions such as CJ40 and CJR2 still write the classic tables, not ACDOCP, which the newer Fiori reports read.
Evolution
From R/2’s project costing to Fiori apps
Projects were part of SAP’s cost accounting long before they had screens of their own, and their field names still carry the German of those years. Gold dots mark the SAP S/4HANA era.
- 1979SAP R/2SAP R/2 launches. Among its modules is RK-P, cost accounting for projects.
- 1992SAP R/3SAP R/3 launches, the line in which the Project System, PS, grows into its own component.
- 2003cProjectscProjects arrives beside PS for phase-and-gate project management; it later becomes SAP Portfolio and Project Management.
- 2015SAP S/4HANASAP S/4HANA launches. PS stays, with its structures and transactions.
- 2016Release 1610A time confirmation on a customer project can post revenue recognition at once: event-based revenue recognition.
- 2017Release 1709Commercial Project Management becomes part of the SAP S/4HANA core.
- 2020Release 2020 FPS1The Project Network Graph app.
- 2021Release 2021The Project Schedule app, a browser Gantt chart beside the planning board, and renewed PS texts.
- 2022Releases 2202 and 2022 FPS1The public cloud deprecates the Project Builder app (release 2202); on premise, 2022 FPS1 brings the Project Cost Overview and Line Items apps.
- 2023Release 2023SAP closes its modernization of the PS compatibility scope items.
The WBS fields behind the screens
| PRPS | Field |
|---|---|
| POSID | WBS element, as you type it |
| PSPNR | WBS element, internal number |
| POST1 | Short description |
| PLAKZ | Planning element |
| BELKZ | Account assignment element |
| FAKKZ | Billing element |
| PRCTR | Profit center |
| FKSTL | Responsible cost center |
| OBJNR | Object number: the key to statuses, budgets and settlement rules |
PSP is the German Projektstrukturplan, the WBS. Sources: SAPSTACK and sapdatasheet, table PRPS; SAP blog, PS tables and their links.
Where a project lives
| Table | Holds |
|---|---|
| PROJ | Project definitions |
| PRPS | WBS elements |
| PRHI | WBS hierarchy |
| AFKO | Network headers |
| AFVC | Network activities |
| MLST | Milestones |
| BPGE | Budget, overall values |
| RPSCO | Project information database |
| COBRB | Settlement distribution rules |
Sources: SAP Community, PS tables; SAP blog, PS tables and their links; SAPinsider, RPSCO.
Sources: Wikipedia (SAP R/2, SAP R/3); our SAP cProjects page and its sources; SAPinsider, real-time revenue recognition; SAP blogs on CPM in SAP S/4HANA, the EPPM compatibility scope and the Project Schedule app; SAP KBA 3130810.
The questions people ask most
What is the difference between a WBS element and a network?
The WBS element structures the work and the money: it carries plans, budgets, actual costs and the settlement rule. The network structures the time: activities with durations and relationships that schedule the work, plan internal hours, buy materials and services and collect confirmations. The network’s costs are settled to the WBS element it belongs to.
Why can’t I post to my WBS element?
Check four things. The system status: CRTD allows planning but no actual postings, CLSD blocks them, LKD or AALK lock them. The account assignment indicator: only account assignment elements take postings. Availability control: budget exceeded, message BP603. And the user status, which can forbid transactions on top of the system status. The status button in the Project Builder shows what is allowed.
What do CRTD, REL, TECO and CLSD mean?
Created: structure and planning, no actual postings. Released: actual costs and revenues post. Technically completed: the work is done but costs are still expected, so invoices for existing orders still post; it can be revoked. Closed: no more actual postings and the AuC is deactivated; it can be revoked back to TECO.
What is the difference between plan, budget and release?
The plan is the cost estimate, entered top-down or calculated from the network. The budget is the approved amount, entered as an original budget in CJ30 and changed by supplements, returns and transfers. A budget release, CJ32, makes part of the budget available to spend, when the budget profile asks for it.
What is availability control?
A check of the assigned value, actual costs plus open commitments, against the budget or the release of a WBS element. Tolerance limits per activity group decide when it warns, warns with a mail to the person responsible, or rejects the document with an error.
Why did my purchase order fail with “budget exceeded”?
Because the order, added to what was already assigned, went past the error limit: message BP603. Below the budget the message is BP613, budget almost exhausted. Ask for a supplement or a transfer, reduce the order, or close commitments that will never be invoiced.
Why does S_ALR_87013558 show a different available budget than availability control?
The assigned value availability control works with is calculated differently from PS reporting. SAP’s central KBA 3275655 explains the differences; reconstructing the project information database (CJEN) and availability control (CJBN) aligns old data.
How does a capital project become a fixed asset?
The investment profile on the WBS element creates an asset under construction when the element is released, and the first settlement creates the rule to it. Each month CJ88 settles the costs to the AuC. When the project is complete, you create the final assets, enter them in the settlement rule and run a full settlement, which credits the AuC and debits the assets.
What is the difference between results analysis and event-based revenue recognition?
Results analysis (KKA2, KKAJ) runs at period end and calculates the revenue to recognize, work in process and reserves into separate tables, which settlement then passes on. Event-based revenue recognition, in SAP S/4HANA, posts recognized revenue in the universal journal at each cost or billing event, so margins are visible in real time. Results analysis is not supported with Universal Parallel Accounting.
What is the difference between a supplement, a return and a transfer?
A supplement adds money (CJ36 to one or more projects from outside, CJ37 inside one project), a return gives money back (CJ35 out of the project, CJ38 inside it) and a transfer moves it from one WBS element or project to another (CJ34). The original budget stays visible, so the budget history can be traced.
Account assignment P, Q or N: which one?
P posts the cost to the WBS element directly, like a non-stock purchase. Q keeps the material in project stock, quantity and value per WBS element, and the cost reaches the project at the goods issue. N assigns the cost to a network activity.
Can I still use CJ40 and CJR2 in SAP S/4HANA?
Yes, on premise and in the private cloud, as SAP Note 2270407 describes. They write the classic tables, though, not ACDOCP, which the newer Fiori reports and SAP Analytics Cloud work with.
PS, PPM (cProjects) or CPM: which one does what?
PS is the execution and financial backbone: WBS elements, networks, costs, budgets and settlement. SAP Portfolio and Project Management, the former cProjects, manages phases, approvals and portfolios and can transfer its projects to PS for the accounting. Commercial Project Management adds commercial planning on top of PS projects, which it needs underneath.
What has to run at year end?
Besides the usual settlement and closing, open commitments are carried forward with CJCF and unused annual budget with CJCO, so purchase orders and budgets continue in the new fiscal year.
Related pages
References
Checked in November 2026. SAP knowledge base articles and SAP Notes need an SAP for Me login. Transaction lists from partner sites can lag behind your release; check names in your own system.
- Creating a work breakdown structurelearning.sap.com
- Creating operative work breakdown structureslearning.sap.com
- Customizing WBSlearning.sap.com
- Performing budgeting functionslearning.sap.com
- Displaying and explaining the status of a projectlearning.sap.com
- Executing a settlementlearning.sap.com
- Period-end closing for investment projectslearning.sap.com
- Full settlement of investment WBS elementslearning.sap.com
- Working with small investment projectslearning.sap.com
- The asset under construction processlearning.sap.com
- Cost planning of internal activitieslearning.sap.com
- Cost planning of external and general cost activitieslearning.sap.com
- Configuration settings for cost planninglearning.sap.com
- Processing material requirementslearning.sap.com
- Activity confirmation and CATSlearning.sap.com
- Performing results analysislearning.sap.com
- Progress analysislearning.sap.com
- Project versions and milestone trend analysislearning.sap.com
- Maintaining operative WBS: mass changeslearning.sap.com
- Scheduling networkslearning.sap.com
- Checking the project schedulelearning.sap.com
- Planning dates for WBS elementslearning.sap.com
- Using project controlling reportslearning.sap.com
- PPM cost planning and cost integrationlearning.sap.com
- Project System (PS)help.sap.com
- System statuses in work breakdown structureshelp.sap.com
- System status: budgetedhelp.sap.com
- Budget updateshelp.sap.com
- Availability control actionshelp.sap.com
- Specifying tolerance limitshelp.sap.com
- WBS basic data: operative indicatorshelp.sap.com
- Control keyshelp.sap.com
- Maintaining external processing datahelp.sap.com
- Maintaining standard structureshelp.sap.com
- Project period-end closinghelp.sap.com
- Periodic settlement for a projecthelp.sap.com
- Final settlement for a projecthelp.sap.com
- Control functions of the investment profilehelp.sap.com
- Movement types and account assignmenthelp.sap.com
- Billing plan and resource-related billinghelp.sap.com
- Progress analysis reportshelp.sap.com
- Budget and availability control: overview and FAQsupport.sap.com
- BP603 during budget transfer in CJ34support.sap.com
- BP603 when accepting a service entry sheetsupport.sap.com
- BP603 with CATS hour postingssupport.sap.com
- BP603 in the depreciation run AFABsupport.sap.com
- System status CRTD is active (BS013)support.sap.com
- BS013 with status LKD or AALKsupport.sap.com
- MRP does not consider status LKDsupport.sap.com
- BS013 in CJ88support.sap.com
- An AuC created for every WBS elementsupport.sap.com
- CJ40 plan data not transferred to ACDOCPsupport.sap.com
- Reversing CATS confirmations transferred with CAT5support.sap.com
- Cancelling collective confirmations from CN27support.sap.com
- Account assignment categories for order category 20support.sap.com
- Project Builder app in SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2202support.sap.com
- CN41N object typessupport.sap.com
- An update on the compatibility scope for EPPMblogs.sap.com
- Project Cost Overview and Project Cost Line Itemscommunity.sap.com
- Configuring budget availability controlblogs.sap.com
- SAP PS budget managementcommunity.sap.com
- Prevent release of a WBS element before budgetingblogs.sap.com
- What you should know about controlling in SAP S/4HANA, part 2blogs.sap.com
- Event-based revenue recognition for Universal Parallel Accountingblogs.sap.com
- Financial accounting for customer projects in SAP S/4HANA Cloudblogs.sap.com
- CPM in SAP S/4HANA: what’s in, what’s outblogs.sap.com
- SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1808 for EPPMblogs.sap.com
- SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2202 for EPPMblogs.sap.com
- EPPM enhancements: the Project Schedule appblogs.sap.com
- SAP results analysis conceptblogs.sap.com
- SAP PS useful tables and their linksblogs.sap.com
- Allowed business transactions per statusarchive.sap.com
- Postings in TECO and transaction BS23archive.sap.com
- Purchasing while the WBS element is CRTDarchive.sap.com
- What the closed status allows and prohibitsarchive.sap.com
- A WBS element added after releasearchive.sap.com
- Tolerance limits, BP613 and BP603archive.sap.com
- Assigned value above the released budgetanswers.sap.com
- Deactivate before reconstructing availability controlarchive.sap.com
- CJBV, CJBN and CJENarchive.sap.com
- IM52 and availability controlarchive.sap.com
- PREL and CRTD in settlementarchive.sap.com
- Settlement to the AuC and to the final assetarchive.sap.com
- Create the completed asset firstarchive.sap.com
- Asset under construction not completely creditedarchive.sap.com
- Investment profile on the top WBS elementarchive.sap.com
- Account assignment categories P, Q and Nanswers.sap.com
- Account assignment Q versus Parchive.sap.com
- Network activity categoriesarchive.sap.com
- CATS transfer and the error poolarchive.sap.com
- CNMASS mass changesarchive.sap.com
- Year-end activities in PS: CJCO and CJCFanswers.sap.com
- PS tablesarchive.sap.com
- SAP S/4HANA project planning: things to knowblog.sap-press.com
- Planning and budgeting for investment controllingblog.sap-press.com
- How has controlling changed with SAP S/4HANA?blog.sap-press.com
- Real-time revenue recognition for projectssapinsider.org
- AuC with investment measure using WBSsapinsider.org
- PS reporting and the RPSCO tablesapinsider.org
- Project line item transactionssapstack.com
- Table PRPSsapstack.com
- PRPS fieldssapdatasheet.org
- CJ37, budget supplement in projecterplingo.com
- SAP PS network typetutorialspoint.com
- Maintain activity control keytutorialspoint.com
- IAS 16: measurement and depreciationaccaglobal.com
- SAP R/2en.wikipedia.org
- SAP R/3en.wikipedia.org
- Resposta à Consulta 9135/2016: crédito do ativo imobilizadofazenda.sp.gov.br
- CIAP: o que é e como aproveitar o crédito de ICMSplanning.com.br
- Crédito de IBS e CBS no ativo imobilizadogrupocpcon.com
- LC 214/2025, desoneração da aquisição de bens de capitalvademecumprevidenciario.com.br
- Reforma tributária do consumo: LC 214abihv.org.br
- CIAP e as previsões da reforma tributáriareformatributaria.com