The document discusses best practices for incorporating a work breakdown structure (WBS) into the capital expenditure (capex) planning process in SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC). It presents two options - incorporating the WBS only for existing projects or for both new and existing projects. For the first option, the document outlines how to modify the PROJECT dimension to include the WBS. For the second option, it describes adding a new WBS dimension, which would require changes to input forms and reports. The document provides details on how each option could be implemented.

1. We are building a capex model at my client.
We have a few input forms for doing acquisitions of future asset and then use badi
calculations to post to APC accounts, Accumulated Depreciation accounts, and
Depreciation Expense accounts.
The accountant now said that we need an asset roll forward report to show
1) beginning balance of an asset
2) Acquisitons
3) transfer in/out of cost centers
4) disposals
5) end balance
Has anyone achieved this type of requirement? If so, how did you do this?
Did you use dimension FlOW?
If anyone can help guide me, I would really appreciate it.
Answer
Create new property in description dimension, flag with projects, then use dimension
override formula in your reports
CAPEX
I am building a prototype for Capex and depreciation planning and wondering if some one
can guide me with best practices for this and help me understanding following:
1. If I am doing the CAPEX planning on Asset class level, do organizations generally
go upto the asset level and if yes, how does the input schedules look like. and how
this is integrated with P&L and cash flows.
2. How the depreciation is calculated (and how the selection for depreciation method is
given) and how the accumulated depreciation is taken into account for Planning.
3. How the model in BPC is built to integrate the depreciation with Balance sheet and
P&L.
4. How the actual data is taken into the ECC/BI (I mean, which standard data sources
etc are used).
5. There are some starters kit available, how do we make use of them in BPC 10 (I
have read that generally one has to do many changes to that to be usable on
projects, so I just want to have a reference point from that).
The as-delivered capital expenditure planning process in the Extended Financial
Planning RDS does not utilize the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). WBS data is
neither imported into the system from source systems nor generated during the project

2. planning process. As developers of the RDS, this article will discuss our thoughts on
potential methods for modifying the RDS to incorporate WBS.
[Note: If you want to learn more about the Extended Financial Planning RDS, please visit SAP Service
Marketplace – SAP Extended Financial Planning or register for the EPM RDS Academy 2015
athttps://www.surveymonkey.com/s/878J92K]
The current CAPEX planning process in the Extended Financial Planning RDS has two
main elements:
1. Planning new capital projects. This is a two-step process. First, the project
spending is proposed and approved at a highlevel. Second, one or more CARs
(capital asset requests) attached to the project are proposed and
approved. Each CAR contains budget data for up to 10 asset types. This is the
lowest level of granularity used in the planning process.
2. Updating existing capital projects. Based on the current integration process,
limited data about current projects (original budget, spend-to-date and
commitments) is imported into the system. All imported data from the source
system is at the project level (i.e. no asset level details). Using the delivered input
form, the RDS user then can assign the remaining project budget to the 10 asset
types over the forecast horizon.
If the customer desires to incorporate WBS and the source system integration is
expanded to comprehend WBS, first a design decision must be made:
Option 1 – Incorporate WBS only into the existing project aspect of the process (i.e.
utilize WBS data for reporting
on actuals and in the update process for existing projects). However, new projects
would continue to be planned at the Project and CAR level.
Option 2 – Incorporate WBS in both aspects of the CAPEX process (new and existing
projects).
The first option can be accomplished with modification of the structure of the PROJECT
dimension with limited impact on the delivered input forms and reports. The second
option will require the addition of a new dimension (WBS) which will require material
modification to the delivered input forms and reports. A clear understanding of the
customer needs should be obtained before proceeding with option 2.
Implementation of Option 1
In this option, WBS data is being imported from source system(s) for existing projects
(note: the expansion of the current delivered integration capabilities is beyond the scope
of this article). This data will be used for any desired reporting based on actuals and
within the reforecasting process for these existing projects.
The delivered design of the PROJECT dimension is as follows:
The blue-shaded elements indicate the generic sequentially numbered projects used for
planning new projects. The green-shaded elements indicate the project IDs and
descriptions of existing projects imported into the CAPEX model. (Note: The Test Script
EG1_BPC101_BPD_EN_XX.doc provides further details the design of the PROJECT
dimension). The blue-shaded elements are used exclusively in input forms and reports

3. related to planning of new projects, whereas the green-shaded elements are used
exclusively in input forms and reports related to reforecasting of existing projects.
The updated design would not require a change to the blue-shaded elements but for
existing projects, a concatenation of the project ID and WBS element would be used.
For example:
By concatenating Project and WBS, we avoid the addition of an another dimension
which would require material modification to the delivered input forms and
reports. Those input forms and reports related to actuals/existing projects will use the
concatenated
Project/WBS as the “Project” which may be somewhat cumbersome. However, we
propose the addition of two property columns which can be used by the implementer to
improve the usability of the input forms / reports by displaying the Project and WBS in a
familiar format to the customer.
As noted before, the enhancement of the integration capabilities to import the source
data in a suitable manner is beyond the scope of this article.
Implementation of Option 2
In this option, WBS data is being imported from source system(s) for existing projects
and WBS data will be generated for new
projects. In other words, new projects will be planned not at the PROJECT and CAR
level, but the PROJECT, WBS and CAR
level.
This requires the addition of a new dimension to the CAPEX model called WBS. This
dimension will have a structure similar to the PROJECT dimension:
The blue-shaded elements represent generic WBS elements to be used with the
generic project numbers for planning new projects and WBS’s. The green-shaded
elements represent the IDs and descriptions resulting from the importing of WBS data
from the source system(s). These elements are used for reporting of actuals and for
updating existing projects and WBS’s. Note that unlike in Option 1, no changes are
required to the PROJECT or other dimensions.
The main impact of this change is that the delivered input forms and reports need to be
modified to accommodate the addition of the WBS dimension to the CAPEX
model. For example, the input form 20 CAPITAL (ASSIGNED)
REQUEST.XLTX has a user selection area that is arranged as follows:
The design would need to be modified similar to the example below:
Similar changes are required for the other input forms and reports and the customer
may desire additional reports focused on WBS analysis.
It must be mentioned that the addition of the WBS to the selection area further
increases the complexity of the user’s task. The
additional dimension may have a negative effect on system performance (send data

4. and refresh data times). The need for WBS when planning new projects should
carefully be considered with the customer before following the option 2 path.
One final thought – the current design incudes approval cycles first at the Project level,
then at the CAR level. Would addition of the WBS dimension made a third approval
level necessary or desirable? Sounds like a topic for a future article.
We welcome all feedback and suggestions on this article as well as the Extended
Financial Planning RDS.
Capex Planning Overview
Capex (or Capital Expenditure) Planning is a process of planning for the money that should
be invested in fixed assets – tangible (e.g. computers, machinery, buildings) or intangible
(e.g. brand, goodwill, contractual rights).
Every organization dedicates a good portion of their time to decide on where, what and how
much they want to spend on capex. This is because of the huge financial implication as well
as the benefit that would be derived is over a longer period range. Organizations spend
today to realize the benefit of the same over the next 5-10 years. Offcourse this varies
across different fixed assets – such as computers, machinery or a building.
SAP Business Planning comes with a prebuilt functionality to handle capital expenditure
planning. This includes a data model that can be customized to include project based
scenarios.
”
Process of capital expenditure planning
The process of capital expenditure varies between a scenario where the expenses are
planned in a Project based scenario or the one without a project based scenario.
Usually in a project based scenario, capital expenditure are planned more holistically not
just focusing on the individual asset that are to be purchased. So the decisions are taken
based on the total cost benefit of the entire project, offcourse the major portion of it may be
on investment towards capex. So in terms of the approval for the budget, the entire project
benefits are scrutinized and then the project gets approved. With that all the capex going
into the project gets approved as well. However in a non project based scenario, the
process goes to upto each cost center or sometimes to the individual assets for certain high
value assets. So if particular machinery needs to be replaced, then the budget proposal is
submitted for that particular machinery and gets approved based on the cost benefits the
replacement would allow.
In both the scenarios, since the amount involved is normally very high, very effective
process to submit a proposal and approval of those budgets becomes very important in
capital expenditure planning. Normally this is a very iterative process, with comments
coming from the stakeholders back and forth.
So it is very essential to have a product that supports process management with inbuilt
workflows to successfully run capital expenditure planning process.

5. SAP Business Planning product comes with inbuilt business process to support capital
expenditure planning. The workflow is inbuilt into the business process flows. The process
management has the flexibility to configure for both project based and non project based
scenarios. The product also allows extensive support for entering comments for
justification.
”
Driver based model
When creating capital expenditure planning, it is important to create a driver based model.
The drivers would be asset rates, useful life, depreciation methods etc. In a planning
situation building a driver based model will help doing multiple what if analysis to see the
impact of capital expenditure. For example if the plan is to replace laptops from version 1 to
version 2, the rates could vary based on different purchase quantities. If a driver based
model is setup, different planning scenarios can be created for each of the rate and see the
impact of the same on total capex spends. Also differing useful life or method of
amortization could impact the profitability significantly.
SAP Business Planning provides for a driver based model where assumptions can be
entered by the user and the results are derived based on the drivers. Example of the asset
rate is shown below:
”
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation or amortization is the method by which the capital expenditure gets allocated
over the useful life of the asset. This allocation impacts the profits and loss position over the
useful life of the asset. There are multiple methods of depreciations that can be applied to
different types of assets. The most popular being the Straight Line method of depreciation,
where the amount is allocated evenly across the estimated useful life of the asset. Different
Asset class can depreciate differently and the tool should allow for this flexibility. The
allocations of intangibles are known as amortization.
SAP Business Planning supports depreciation calculations.
”
To summarize, capex planning is a very important element of planning process, and the
same is built in the SAP Business Planning product
Linking Two Dimension in BPC for CAPEX Planning
we have two different dimension one is C_PROJECT (stores the project codes) and
C_DESCRIPTION (used for Capex Description).

6. C_Description is multi-selection for each and every project and there is no fixed count on
the list in template for C_Description for the projects. Now the requirement is whenever I
select any particular project from the context then the relevant Capex description which are
created during planning for that particular project should only appear in report/template and
all other C_Description should not be displayed.
Eg: Below are the list for dimension members for the respective dimensions
C_PROJECT C_DESCRIPTION
PROJ1 DESC1
PROJ2 DESC2
PROJ3 DESC3
DESC4
DESC5
DESC6
For proj1 Desc1=100
Desc2 =200
Proj2 Desc3=1000
Desc4 =1200
Proj3 Desc1 =100
Desc2=300
Desc4=100
Desc5=1000
Now in the above example when I select Proj1 then I should only see Desc1, Desc2 and
provision for new descriptions as well.
For Proj2 it should display Desc3 and Desc4.
For Proj3 then I should be able to see Desc1, Desc2, Desc4, Desc5 only and provision for
new descriptions.
Annual Operating Planning ( AOP) – SAP BPC 10.0 NW
The Revenue planning, CAPEX planning, OPEX Planning, Manpower
Planning, Financial statement planning ( Balance sheet and Cash Flow )
will form the basis for the Annual Operating Plan (AOP) in SAP
BusinessObjects Planningand Consolidation (BPC).
The key planning requirements underthe followingmajorheadings:

7.  Initiate Planning
 Revenue Planning
 CAPEX Planning
 OPEX Planning
 Manpower Cost Planning
 Financial Statement Planning ( BS & CF Items)
The process:
1. Initiate the Planning: – Load the previous yeardata & copy the current
yeardata:AOP Process in SAP BPC will begin by loading previous year’s actual data from SAP
BW . SAP BW will extract data from SAP ECC (HCM,CAPEX and Cost center data) and SAP APO
DP (Sales volume data) applications. All the relevant data will be loaded in SAP BPC via SAP BI.
2. Revenue planning- will begin with various clusters/sub clusters of Sales volume
data available from SAP APO DP module in SAP BPC. Sales price will be planned by the
Planners in the Sales Planning on the sales volume data. This will be an input to P&L
Planning. ( SAP APO DP –>BW –> BPC)
3. CAPEX planning will be done on WBS (Work Break down Structure) elements level in
Capex planning template. Master Data will be loaded from (ECC).
4. CAPEX Planning will be done at the asset class level in the CAPEX Planning
template which is available in SAP BPC. Planning Data will be submitted though
the input form template and will be stored in BI Info Cubes followed by Actual
CAPEX Data to be loaded is the BW Data Store to accommodate Actual Vs Plan.
5. OPEX Planning will be done at the cost Center level. Cost CenterPlanning will begin
once the cost center data is available in SAP BPC. The cost center manager/planner will
plan for individual cost centers in Cost Center Planning template. This will be an input to
P&L Planning (CCA–>BW–>BPC)
6. MANPOWER (Headcount) planning will begin once the HR related data is
available in SAP BPC. The Headcount Data Planning and Payroll Rate Planning will be
available for each department to plan their respective headcount data at position/job and
cost center level. This planned data will be an input to P&L Planning.
7. Financial Statement planning: P&L planning will be performed in P&L Planning
template.
8. Balance sheet planning will be performed in Balance sheet planning template.
Both Cashflow and P&L Planning will provide input to Balance sheet Planning
SAP data source bpc opex planning BW datasources (Extractors)
2LIS_03_BF - Goods Movements From Inventory Management MM - Materials Management
2LIS_11_VAITM - Sales Document Item data SD - Sales and Distribution
2LIS_02_ITM - Purchasing data (Item Level) MM - Materials Management
2LIS_13_VDITM - Billing Document Item data SD - Sales and Distribution
0FI_GL_4 - General Ledger: Line Items with Delta Extraction FI - General Ledger Accounting

8. 2LIS_02_SCL - Purchasing data (Schedule Line Level) MM - Materials Management
2LIS_03_BX - Stock Initialization for Inventory Management MM - Materials Management
2LIS_11_VAHDR - Sales Document Header data SD - Sales and Distribution
0MATERIAL_ATTR - Material Number Logistics - Logistics - General
0FI_GL_10 - General Ledger: Leading Ledger Balances FI - General Ledger Accounting
2LIS_03_UM - Revaluations MM - Materials Management
0FI_AR_4 - Customers: Line Items with Delta Extraction FI - Accounts Receivable
0FI_AP_4 - Vendors: Line Items with Delta Extrcation FI - Accounts Payable
2LIS_12_VCITM - Delivery Item data SD - Sales and Distribution
0CUSTOMER_ATTR - Customer Number Logistics - Logistics - General
2LIS_02_HDR - Purchasing data (Header Level) MM - Materials Management
0CO_OM_CCA_9 - Cost Centers: Actual Costs Using Delta Extraction CO - Cost Center
Accounting
2LIS_13_VDKON - Billing Document Condition SD - Sales and Distribution
2LIS_04_P_MATNR - Material View from PP/PP-PI PP - Production Planning and Control
0CO_OM_CCA_1 - Cost centers: Costs and allocations CO - Cost Center Accounting
2LIS_13_VDHDR - Billing Doc. Header data SD - Sales and Distribution
0EC_PCA_1 - Profit Center: Transaction data on Accounts Enterprice Controlling - Profit
Center Accounting
2LIS_01_S001 - Customer SD - Sales and Distribution
0HR_PA_0 - Employee Personnel Mgmt - Personnel Administration
0VENDOR_ATTR - Vendor Number MM - Materials Management