Lesson 4 of 5
Analysis
9 min
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When a controller asks "why is the value of this material what it is?", the answer lives in material price analysis (transaction CKM3, also reachable from the material master's accounting view). It shows, for one material in one plant and one period, the quantities and values that went in and out, the prices, and the differences attached to each line, in each ledger currency. If you can read this screen, you can explain an inventory value, a price difference or an actual costing result to an auditor.
How the screen is organized
The S/4HANA version was redesigned. The cost component split is now part of the main screen rather than a separate view, single-level and multilevel differences are shown in the same column but still identifiable, and the number of views was reduced while new ones were added, such as a view of closing documents and source documents. Older periods from before the conversion may only be visible through a separate legacy display; ask your costing team which one to use for historical periods. The categories you will see are broadly:
| Category | What it holds | Contoso rotor, September |
|---|---|---|
| Beginning inventory | Quantity and value carried in from the prior period | 0 pieces |
| Receipts | Purchases, production receipts, transfers in; with their price differences | 1,000 pieces, $40,000 + $2,000 |
| Cumulative inventory | Beginning plus receipts: the basis for the periodic unit price | 1,000 pieces, $42,000 |
| Consumption | Issues to production orders, sales, scrap; with their share of differences after the run | 800 pieces, $32,000 + $1,600 |
| Ending inventory | What is left, with its share of differences after the run | 200 pieces, $8,000 + $400 |
The shape of material price analysis, filled in for CMC-RTR-200 in plant 1710.
Tracing a difference to its source
The skill to practise is tracing. Start from the total price difference on the receipts line. Expand it by process to see whether it came from purchasing, production or a transfer. Expand again to see the individual documents. In the rotor example, the $2,000 sits on one purchase-order invoice from Lakeside Components. Open that document and you can tell whether the price on the purchase order was $42 (a sourcing decision) or $40 with a $42 invoice (an invoice-matching question for accounts payable, where Ana would check the tolerance). Those are different conversations with different owners, and analysis is what tells you which one to have.
- Start at the totalPrice differences on receipts: $2,000
- Split by processPurchase orders: $2,000; production: $0; transfers: $0
- Open the documentInvoice for purchase order line from Lakeside Components at $42
- Compare with the POPO price $42 → sourcing; PO price $40 → invoice variance accepted within tolerance
- Assign an ownerPurchasing for a price change; AP for an invoice variance
Beyond the single-material view, you will want an overview of many materials at once, for example all materials in plant 1710 with differences above a threshold. Your system offers Fiori analytics for inventory values (such as the material inventory value apps) and classic lists of stock values by G/L account. App names and availability vary by release and role, so confirm with your Fiori launchpad designer which apps are in the controlling key user's catalog before writing them into a test script.
Reading before and after the run
If actual costing is active, read material price analysis twice: once before the costing run and once after post closing. Before the run, the differences sit on the receipts line as "not distributed"; consumption and ending inventory still show standard values only. After the run, the receipts differences have been allocated to consumption and ending inventory, and the closing documents appear in their own view. Comparing the two states is the quickest way to see what the run did to one material. A common surprise is a difference that stays "not distributed" after the run. That usually points to a rule rather than a bug, for example a price limiter that caps how much difference can be put into a small ending stock, or a consumption that went to an object the run does not revalue. The run log and the material's own lines will say which.
What would you do?
In CMR, Priya's tester sees that CMC-ALT-100 in Detroit has an ending inventory difference of $400 after the pilot actual costing run, but no purchase price differences on the alternator itself. The tester logs a defect: "difference with no source." What is the best response?
- Material price analysis (CKM3) shows quantities, values, prices and differences per material, plant, period and currency.
- Read it as categories: beginning inventory, receipts, cumulative inventory, consumption, ending inventory.
- Trace a difference from the total to the process to the document, then to the business owner.
- Finished goods can carry differences rolled up from components in multilevel actual costing.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which transaction shows material price analysis for one material and period?
2. In material price analysis, what is "cumulative inventory"?
3. A $2,000 difference traces to a $42 invoice against a $40 purchase order line. Who owns the explanation?