Derivation of CO-PA fields

Question

hi,
can anybody suggest the easiest way to derive the CO-PA values  for user defined characteristics.
anand

Answer 1

Hi Anand,
Characteristics in Profitability Analysis represent those criteria according to which the operating results shall be analyzed.
A transaction posted to PA may not supply values for all the characteristics.However, many characteristics are dependent on others, which makes it possible to derive the missing ones from the information provided.
Derivation involves a number of different steps, which are processed in the following order:
User Exit : You can only change the user-defined characteristics.
(ii) Derivation of Fixed Characteristics (e.g. Co Area from Co Code)
(iii)Derivation tables : For Characteristics chosen from SAP tables, as well as certain Fixed Characteristics
(iv) Derivation of quantity fields: If you assigned the sales quantity (FKIMG) or storage quantity (FKLMG) from SD to value fields in CO-PA when you set up the SD interface, the system can derive the corresponding quantity units automatically.
(v) Derivation Strategy (e.g. Derivation Rules, Move etc.): For user defined Characteristics.
(vi) Derivation using the dummy profit center: If Profit Center Accounting is active and the characteristic Profit center is not known, the system automatically derives the dummy profit center for the current controlling area.
Values are derived for certain characteristics only if the values are not yet known and all the values of the characteristics required for that derivation are known. If characteristic values are supplied by the source document, these are not overwritten by derivation, even if derivation would normally lead to other values.
The exception to this is derivation via user exits, which lets you overwrite existing characteristic values. The exceptions to this are the fixed characteristics Profit center (PRCTR) and Business area (GSBER), which can be changed using a user exit.
There are 5 different Derivation strategy which can be adopted in various scenarios:
Derivation Rule: A derivation rule is an "if  then" rule that determines which actual characteristic values or combinations of source characteristic values result in which target characteristic values.
(ii) Table lookups: Table lookups let you read individual records of any table to determine characteristic values. Here the source fields must make up the key of a specific table, from which the system can copy certain contents to the target fields.
(iii) Moves: Moves let you copy a constant or the content of any source field to a target field. For example, you can copy the value of a characteristic to another field if certain conditions are fulfilled.
(iv) Clear: Clears let you delete the value of a characteristic, setting that field back to its initial value (blank for CHAR fields, "0" for NUMC fields).
The easiest way could be either of these. Hope I had made clear to you. Please award points.
Rgds
Manish