Finance & Controlling
What is Controlling (CO)?
The SAP module for management accounting, covering cost centers, internal orders, product costing, and profitability analysis.
CO tracks costs and revenues for internal decision-making rather than statutory reporting. In S/4HANA, cost elements are GL accounts and CO postings share the Universal Journal with FI. Period-end CO steps such as allocations and settlement are frequent test areas.
Related terms
Cost Center
A CO object representing an organizational area where costs are incurred, such as a department.
Internal Order
A CO object for collecting costs of a specific job or event, such as a marketing campaign, for monitoring and settlement.
Product Costing
Controlling functions that calculate the cost of goods manufactured and sold for products, including standard cost estimates.
Profitability Analysis
CO functionality that reports profitability by market segments such as customer, product, or region.
Controlling Area
The CO organizational unit within which cost accounting is performed; one or more company codes are assigned to it.
Financial Accounting
The SAP module for external accounting, covering general ledger, payables, receivables, assets, and banking.
More in Finance & Controlling
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