Employee, org and cost center flows

Three flows interlock: cost centers go from S/4HANA to EC, org objects go from EC to S/4HANA, and employees with their org assignments follow. Order matters. An employee assigned in EC to a cost center that never reached EC cannot be saved there; an employee assigned to a position that has not yet replicated to S/4HANA lands in the staging area until the org object arrives. Contoso schedules the flows in a fixed sequence.

Cost center replication

Cost center replication sends S/4HANA cost centers (with company code, validity and description) to EC as foundation objects. Contoso uses IDocs: report ODTF_REPL_CC creates them, scheduled together with RBDMIDOC for change pointers so only changes go, and Cloud Integration transforms and posts them to EC. Configuration sits in the IMG under Controlling for integration of CO master data with EC. Test points: a new cost center, a changed description, a cost center with an end date (locked or expired), and one for company code 1810 if Contoso Parts Distribution employees are in scope.

Org object replication

Org object replication reads EC departments, positions and their relationships through the OData API and writes them into OM infotypes in S/4HANA. Manager relationships, which flexible workflow uses to find approvers, depend on these objects and on the employee's position assignment. If a position replicates without its reporting line, approvals go to the wrong person or to nobody.

Employee and business partner

After an employee record is updated, S/4HANA synchronizes it to a business partner with report /SHCM/RH_SYNC_BUPA_FROM_EMPL (or /SHCM/RH_SYNC_BUPA_EMPL_SINGLE for one employee). The business partner gets the Employee role (BUP003) and, in the newer model with business function /SHCM/EE_BP_1, an Employment role as well; SAP documents that this business function cannot be deactivated once switched on. Where employees are reimbursed for travel, a supplier role is needed for payment; SAP knowledge base articles note that the sync report itself does not add the supplier role, so Contoso adds it in a separate step. The application log (SLG1) shows sync errors.

Step by step: testing cost center replication

1. Dan's team creates a test cost center in CMQ for company code 1710 in controlling area A000, valid from the first of next month.
2. Run the cost center replication (report ODTF_REPL_CC, or the scheduled job with change pointers) and check the outbound IDoc status.
3. In Cloud Integration, find the message and confirm success.
4. In the EC test instance, confirm the cost center exists with the right description, company and validity.
5. Change the description in CMQ and replicate again; confirm the change in EC.
6. Set an end date or lock the cost center in CMQ; confirm HR can no longer assign new employees to it after that date.

The last step matters most for finance. If an expired cost center stays selectable in EC, HR keeps assigning people to it, and their time and expenses then post to a cost center Dan has closed, which either fails the posting or lands cost where nobody reports it.