Lesson 3 of 5
Costing runs, marking and release
10 min
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Once a year, and whenever prices change significantly, controlling recalculates the standards for all manufactured materials. Doing that one estimate at a time is impossible for a plant with thousands of materials. A costing run does it in steps for a selection of materials, with logs at each step. In SAP GUI the classic transaction is CK40N; in SAP Fiori the Manage Costing Runs – Estimated Costs app (F1865) adds filtering by status, costing variant or valuation variant and lets you schedule steps for several runs at once.
- SelectionMaterials chosen by plant, material type or a selection list
- Structure explosionBOMs exploded so lower-level materials are costed too
- CostingEstimates created with the costing variant; error and warning log
- AnalysisResults compared with current standards or a previous run
- MarkingResults written as future standard price
- ReleaseFuture price becomes the current standard price
Each step can be repeated until it is clean. If you repeat selection, the later steps must be repeated too. Materials costed with errors are fixed at the source (BOM, routing, prices) and costed again before anything is marked.
Marking: the future price
Marking writes the result into the material master as the future standard price and links the material to its estimate. Nothing is revalued yet. SAP's course describes marking as allowed per company code, plant and material range for a fiscal year and period, and repeatable within the period. Marking moves the estimate status from KA to VO.
Release: the current price
Release makes the future price the current standard price; the old current price becomes the previous price. If there is stock, release revalues it and creates an accounting document. SAP's course gives the logic with simple numbers: a price change from 10 to 15 on 10 units in stock raises the inventory value from 100 to 150, and the 50 difference posts as a revaluation gain. The accounts come from the material's valuation class and account determination (transaction key UMB for the revaluation gain or loss). Because the material ledger is always active in SAP S/4HANA, every release also leaves a price change document in the material ledger, which you can see in the material's price history (CKM3). That is useful test evidence: one price change document per released material, with the old price, the new price and the revaluation amount.
- Day 1Costing and analysisRun the costing steps, fix errors, review the analysis
- Day 2MarkingFuture standard price written to the material master; no revaluation
- Day 3 or 4Review and approvalDan approves the price changes and their revaluation impact
- First day of new periodReleaseCurrent standard price updated; stock revalued; accounting documents created
Rules that trip people up
- A standard cost estimate can be released only once per period for a material. SAP's course notes that after release you cannot create another estimate for the same period, costing variant and version.
- Release is only possible in the current or a future period, and the period must be open in materials management (opened with
MMPV). - The release date cannot be earlier than the estimate's valid-from date.
- An erroneous release cannot simply be undone; correcting it is a project in its own right. That is why the review sits between marking and release.
- Is the costing log free of errors for all selected materials?Yes → next question · No → fix master data and cost again
- Does the analysis show changes above the agreed threshold?Yes → explain each one before marking · No → next question
- Has the revaluation impact been reviewed and approved?Yes → release on the first day of the period · No → hold release
What would you do?
On the 28th, a controller wants to release new standards for July immediately after costing so that June's closing reports already use them. What is the issue?
- A costing run selects, explodes, costs, analyzes, marks and releases many materials.
- Marking sets the future standard price; release makes it current and revalues stock.
- Release happens once per period, in an open current or future period.
- Review the analysis and revaluation impact between marking and release.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What does marking do?
2. What happens at release for a material with stock?
3. How often can a standard cost estimate be released for a material in one period?
4. Which step lets you compare results with current prices before marking?