- SAP Managed Tags
Hi SAP Consultants,
As companies are moving from ECC to S/4 HANA and Account based COPA is mandatory in S/4 HANA. There is confusion on how to go ahead on migration from Costing based COPA to Account based COPA and what are the steps. This blog walks you through the step-by-step guidance to successfully migrate from Costing based COPA to Account based COPA with real time business process examples.
1) Pre-Migration Checklist
Before you begin the actual migration, make sure the following are in place:
- SAP S/4HANA System - Ensure your system is running on SAP S/4HANA (on-premise or cloud).
- Operating Concern Setup - Define or reuse an operating concern that supports Account-Based COPA in KEA0.
- G/L Accounts and Cost Elements - All value fields from costing-based COPA should have corresponding primary/secondary cost elements (G/L accounts).
- Characteristic Mapping - Identify and plan for characteristics like product, customer, sales org, etc.
- Check Business Processes - Document how COPA is currently used in SD, MM, FI, and CO modules.
2) Understand the Business Requirements
- Identify how profitability is currently reported using Costing-Based COPA.
- Understand what characteristics (e.g. product, customer, region) and value fields (e.g. revenue, discount, cost) are important.
- Review existing COPA reports (KE30/KE24).
- Identify which reports will be replaced or redesigned.
3) Assess Current System Setup
- Document the current configuration of Costing-Based COPA.
- Run transaction KEKE to check current settings.
- Operating Concern
- Number of Value Fields
- Number of Characteristics
- Use of user exits
- Identify any custom enhancements, derivations, or transfer rules.
4) Design Account-Based COPA Model
- Map required profitability fields to Account-Based COPA structure.
- Define the characteristics to be derived (customer, product, profit center, etc.).
- Define any additional Custom Characteristics using the Fiori "Custom Fields & Logic" app.
- Enable Account-Based COPA in the Operating Concern (t-code: KEA0).
- You don’t define value fields manually in Account-Based COPA, GL accounts (from ACDOCA) represent the value fields.
5) Check SD and FI Integration
- Ensure correct flow of profitability data from SD and FI into COPA.
- Check pricing procedure (transaction V/08) to verify that:
- Revenue
- Discounts
- Freight
- Cost conditions are correctly linked to GL accounts.
- Ensure condition types are mapped to COPA-relevant GL accounts.
- COGS Split Activation: Activate it to capture material/labor/overhead in separate lines in ACDOCA.
SD Business Case: COPA Migration in S/4HANA
A company sells finished goods to a customer through SAP SD. The product goes through a full sales order → delivery → billing cycle.
Pre-Migration (Costing-Based COPA)
In the ECC or pre-S/4 system with Costing-Based COPA:
- Revenue, discounts, freight, and COGS were posted into COPA value fields via condition types in the SD pricing procedure (e.g., VPRS, K007).
- These postings were stored in separate COPA tables like CE1xxxx (actuals).
- Reporting required COPA-specific tools (KE30).
- Reconciliation with FI/CO was manual and error-prone.
Post-Migration (Account-Based COPA in S/4HANA)
In SAP S/4HANA using Account-Based COPA:
- The same sales billing document now posts revenue, discounts, and COGS to G/L accounts.
- These G/L lines are enriched at the time of posting with profitability segments (e.g., product, customer, sales org).
- All this is stored in ACDOCA (Universal Journal) — a single source of truth.
6) Derive Profitability Segments
- Set up segment derivation rules so Account-Based COPA knows what characteristics to store.
- Use transaction KEDR to configure characteristic derivation (e.g., derive customer group from customer number).
- Test derivation logic with PAOBJNR in ACDOCA.
7) Simulate and Test Postings
- Run simulation to check that the data flows correctly into Account-Based COPA.
- Use SD billing documents to test end-to-end:
- Create sales order → delivery → billing → accounting entry
- Check table ACDOCA and transaction FAGLL03 for profitability segment assignment
- Run KE24 (Account-Based COPA view) or use Fiori apps for profitability reports
PA Transfer Structure
- PA Transfer Structure defines how cost elements (or G/L accounts) are mapped to value fields in Costing-Based COPA — and to accounts (with profitability segments) in Account-Based COPA.
- PA Transfer Structure is still needed for certain transactions (e.g., settlements from production orders, internal orders, projects, etc.) to determine the proper profitability segment during the transfer of costs.
- Instead of value fields, you now map cost elements to G/L accounts tagged with profitability segments.
- Use KEI3 to assign your PA Transfer Structure to source structures, which are used during settlement or allocations.
In S/4HANA, while the role of PA Transfer Structures is reduced (because of real-time ACDOCA postings), they are still critical for:
- Order and project settlements
- Allocations
- Manual CO postings
Example Use Case
Let’s say you're settling a production order. Here's how the flow works:
- System uses PA Transfer Structure to determine which cost element (e.g., 520000 for labor) maps to which G/L account.
- The posting is made to ACDOCA with that G/L account and the correct profitability segment (e.g., Product, Customer).
So, during migration, make sure your PA Transfer Structures are updated, consistent, and aligned with the G/L and COPA setup in the Universal Journal.
Scenario: Procure-to-Pay Process with Internal Order Settlement
A manufacturing company purchases raw materials using MM-PUR, and later settles costs to COPA via an internal order (IO).
Pre-Migration (Costing-Based COPA)
In ECC with Costing-Based COPA:
- Purchase order is created in MM and goods receipt is posted.
- FI captures the GR/IR account and vendor liability.
- An internal order is used to accumulate costs (materials, freight, labor, etc.).
- At period-end, the internal order is settled to COPA using a PA Transfer Structure.
- Data goes into COPA value fields in CE1xxxx.
Post-Migration (Account-Based COPA in S/4HANA)
In SAP S/4HANA with Account-Based COPA:
- Goods receipt, invoice receipt, and freight postings are captured in real-time in ACDOCA.
- The internal order still collects costs, but during settlement, costs are posted to G/L accounts enriched with profitability segments.
- PA Transfer Structure now maps cost elements to G/L accounts, not value fields.
- COPA receives direct line items with cost origin + dimensions like product, region, customer (if applicable).
9) Update Reporting Tools
- Migrate reporting from KE30 to Fiori Apps or Embedded Analytics.
- Use standard Fiori apps like:
- Profit Overview
- Market Segment Actuals
- Create CDS views for custom reports.
10) Data migration
There is no standard SAP tool to migrate historical data from Costing-Based to Account-Based COPA.
Account-Based COPA uses actual line items in the Universal Journal (table ACDOCA).
In contrast, Costing-Based COPA uses separate tables (CE1, CE2, CE3).
Option 1: No Migration – Start Fresh
Best for: Companies with short or low dependency on historical profitability data.
Only migrate configuration and master data (not transactional data).
Option 2: Partial Migration (Summarized History)
- Manually or via custom programs, summarize historical profitability data and post it to ACDOCA as adjustment journal entries.
- For example:
- Use secondary cost elements to post COGS, revenue, discounts by customer/product/period
- Assign profitability segments via manual derivation or upload
Option 3: Full History Migration (Custom Development)
- Build a custom migration program to:
- Extract line-item data from CE1nnn tables
- Map to profitability segments
- Post to ACDOCA as journal entries using custom transaction types
I hope you will like the content and it will help you in SAP Projects. I tried to put examples for each scenario so it would be easy to understand. Would be interested in your comments and suggestions.
Thank you
Vijaykumar V
