Lesson 3 of 5
Posting to orders
9 min
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An internal order is a cost collector. It receives costs from many directions: supplier invoices, purchase orders, goods issues from the warehouse, travel expenses, internal activity allocations and other allocations. Each of these reaches the order because someone, or some rule, put the order number into the account assignment of a line.
Commitments: spending before the invoice
The most useful thing an internal order shows a budget owner is money that is committed but not yet spent. When the Fleet Expo booth is ordered with a purchase order assigned to the order, the order immediately shows a commitment for the PO value. When the goods or services are received and the invoice posts, the commitment is reduced and actual cost takes its place. SAP's learning material describes exactly this: a commitment, such as a purchase order, is reduced by later goods and invoice receipts.
| Event | Commitment | Actual cost | Assigned value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase requisition for booth, USD 28,000 | USD 28,000 (requisition) | USD 0 | USD 28,000 |
| Purchase order created and approved | USD 28,000 (purchase order) | USD 0 | USD 28,000 |
| Service entry and supplier invoice | USD 0 | USD 28,000 | USD 28,000 |
| Travel expense posted directly | USD 0 | USD 32,600 | USD 32,600 |
Fleet Expo: how commitments turn into actual cost. The assigned value checked by availability control stays steady through the handover.
Note that the requisition and the PO each run through Contoso's purchasing approvals: requisitions over USD 10,000 need release, purchase orders over USD 25,000 need approval through flexible workflow. The booth PO at USD 28,000 therefore needs approval before it is sent to the exhibitor, Motor City Exhibits. Approval and availability control are separate controls: one checks who may commit the company, the other checks whether the order still has budget.
- RequisitionAccount assignment category order; commitment created
- PORequisition converted; commitment moves to the PO
- ApprovalPO over USD 25,000 approved in flexible workflow
- ReceiptService entry or goods receipt; commitment reduced
- InvoiceActual cost on the order; remaining commitment cleared
Direct and internal postings
Not everything goes through purchasing. A travel expense or a freight invoice can be posted straight to the order. Demo alternators (CMC-ALT-100) taken from stock at plant 1710 for the show are posted as a goods issue to the order and valued at the standard price, USD 150 each. Hours worked by Detroit maintenance staff on a roof repair order can reach the order by an activity allocation from the maintenance cost center. Each of these creates a journal entry in the Universal Journal with the order on the cost line.
Seeing what is on an order
Budget owners need two views: totals and line items. In SAP GUI, actual line items for orders are shown with KOB1 and commitment line items with KOB2. In Fiori, analytical apps and the journal entry apps let you filter the Universal Journal by order. Whatever tool you use, check that the report includes commitments: a report of actuals alone tells marketing it has USD 32,000 left when USD 28,000 is already promised to a supplier.
What would you do?
Marketing says the Fleet Expo order "has budget left" because the order report shows USD 32,600 actual against USD 65,000. You see a USD 30,000 open PO for transport on the order. What do you tell them?
- Orders receive costs from direct postings, procurement, goods issues and internal allocations.
- Purchase requisitions and POs assigned to an order create commitments that reduce the available budget.
- Goods or service receipt and invoice reduce the commitment and post actual cost.
- Always read actuals and commitments together when judging remaining budget.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. A PO assigned to an order is approved but not yet received. What does the order show?
2. What happens to the commitment when the supplier invoice for that PO posts?
3. How are demo alternators taken from stock posted to the order valued?
4. Which SAP GUI transaction shows the actual cost line items of an internal order?