Lesson 5 of 6
Consumables with account assignment
7 min
Consumables are physical goods that Contoso does not keep in valuated stock: safety gloves, cleaning supplies, printer toner, small tools. They are delivered and received like materials, but their cost goes straight to a cost object, like a service. Getting the account assignment right is what decides whether the cost lands on the right cost center and G/L account.
Ordering consumables
Most consumables reach purchasing through self-service requisitions (course sap-mm-202): an employee picks a catalog item or describes a free-text item, and the app proposes the account assignment, usually the requester's cost center. The PO item gets an account assignment category: K for cost center, F for order, P for project, A for asset. The material group drives the G/L account in many designs, so a wrong material group means a wrong expense account.
| Account assignment category | Cost goes to | Contoso example |
|---|---|---|
| K | Cost center | Safety gloves for the Detroit assembly cost center, $1,500 |
| F | Internal or maintenance order | Replacement bearings for a conveyor maintenance order |
| P | WBS element (project) | Cabling for the Chicago warehouse expansion project |
| A | Asset | A new torque test bench capitalized as an asset |
Common account assignment categories for consumables.
Valuated or non-valuated receipt
The account assignment category controls whether the goods receipt is valuated. With a valuated receipt, the receipt posts the cost: expense debit on the cost center, GR/IR credit. With a non-valuated receipt, the receipt only records the quantity, and the cost is posted at invoice. Contoso uses valuated receipts for all account-assigned items so that cost hits the cost center when the goods arrive, not when the invoice gets processed.
| Step | Valuated GR (Contoso) | Non-valuated GR |
|---|---|---|
| Goods receipt of gloves | Office and shop supplies expense, cost center Detroit assembly debit $1,500; GR/IR credit $1,500 | Quantity only; no journal entry |
| Invoice from Northpoint Office Supply | GR/IR debit $1,500; supplier credit $1,500 | Expense on cost center debit $1,500; supplier credit $1,500 |
| Cost appears on cost center | At goods receipt | At invoice |
| Stock | No valuated stock | No valuated stock |
- RequisitionEmployee orders 300 pairs of gloves from the catalog; cost center Detroit assembly proposed
- ApprovalManager approves in My Inbox
- PONorthpoint Office Supply; account assignment K; material group safety supplies
- ReceiptMIGO 101: no stock change; expense posted to the cost center
- InvoiceMatches the receipt; GR/IR cleared
- EvidenceCost center line items show $1,500 on the right G/L account
Consumable materials with a material master
Some consumables have a material master because they are bought often or must be tracked. Such materials may be non-stock types (no inventory management), or stock types that are sometimes ordered with account assignment for a specific use. If a stock material is ordered with account assignment K, it is still expensed at receipt, not stocked. That can be right (a one-off for a project) or a mistake (production rotors expensed to a cost center), so many companies restrict which account assignment categories each role and material group may use.
Consumables can also be bought from catalogs. When a requester picks an item from a supplier catalog, the catalog supplies the supplier, price and description, so the requisition can be converted to a PO without a buyer touching it. That is efficient for gloves and toner, and it moves the control to the catalog content and the approval: if the catalog price is wrong or the approver signs everything, no buyer will catch it. Review catalog prices and the approval rules together.
What would you do?
A tester posts the goods receipt for the gloves and sees no change in MMBE. She raises a defect "stock not updated." What is the best response?
- Consumables are expensed to a cost object through the account assignment category (K, F, P, A).
- Material group often drives the G/L account; a wrong group means a wrong expense account.
- Valuated receipts post cost at receipt; non-valuated receipts post cost at invoice.
- Evidence is on the cost object (cost center line items), not in stock reports.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which account assignment category charges a cost center?
2. With a valuated receipt for a cost center item, what does the receipt post?
3. Where is the evidence that a consumable receipt worked?
4. What often drives the expense G/L account for a consumable item?