Closing Cockpit

Presented by
Ganesh Shankar, MBA,CPA
Agenda
• Over view of Closing cockpit
• Comparison of closing cockpit with
Schedule manager
• Configuration of closing cockpit
• Execution of closing cockpit ( Demo)
• Q&A
Closing Cockpit
• One common status tracking mechanism
• Common templates and guidelines that
every one can use
• Ability to assign roles and responsibilities
for each task
• Dependency information related to closing
process
Availability of Closing Cockpit
• ECC 5.0
• ECC 6.0
• Not available in earlier versions of R/3
• Migration from Schedule Manager to Closing
Cockpit possible, although there is no SAP
standard available for such migration
• SAP supports both Schedule Manager and
Closing Cockpit as of now. Future direction
towards Closing Cockpit.
Schedule Manager Vs Closing
Cockpit
• Schedule Manager is also available in R/3, while Closing
Cockpit is available in ERP 2005 and Net Weaver 7.1
onwards.
• Closing Cockpit is more attuned to the present day ERP
closing process per se and is an extension of the
schedule manager
• Closing Cockpit is based on the concept of Central
Process Scheduler (CPS)
• Closing Cockpit is the latest functionality introduced in
SAP ERP 2005 and similar to Process Chain in Net
weaver.
• Schedule Manager is client based, while Closing Cockpit
can be used across multiple instances.
• Closing Cockpit can also be used for Planning, while
such facility is not available in SM.
Month-End Closing Processes
• Opening of new posting period by vendor, customer,
assets and GL.
• Final goods issue
• Final invoice posting
• Depreciation run
• Settlement of assets under construction (AuC) to assets
• Cost assessments and distributions
• Accruals and provisions.
• Salary journals
• Currency Revaluation
• Reconcile ledgers
• Consolidation activities
• Budgetary cycle administration.
Configuring Closing Cockpit:
Process Flow
Components of Closing Cockpit
• Organizational Hierarchies (Company Codes,
Controlling Area, Operating Concern, etc)
• Task List template (Preconfigured templates
available)
• Task Lists: Derived from template and extremely
crucial for successful definition of the month-end
close.
• Dependencies between the tasks
• Monitor
• Detailed information
5 steps for setting-up Closing
Cockpit
• Conduct Planning and Research
• Create the basic template data
• Build the closing template hierarchy
structure
• Configure individual tasks
• Change the template to an executable
task list
Step 1: Conduct Planning and
Research
• Understanding the existing closing process from
start to end
– Tasks to be performed
– The order of performing the tasks
– Who owns the task
– Who executes the task
– Who reviews and approves the results after the task
is completed
– How long the task takes to complete (run time)
– The post-close audit requirements
Step 2: Create a basic template
data
• Provides formal structure for the organizational
hierarchy, closing tasks in the form of lists, and
ownership of the task by identifying the
individual task owners.
• Controlling the order of precedence or sequence
of the individual task execution.
• By configuring the Closing Cockpit template, you
set up the basic closing model that the system
copies to a date-specific task list during the
closing process.
• Configuration T.code: CLOCOC
Step 3. Build the closing template
hierarchy structure
• Starts with the construction of a hierarchy
of task folders
• Then assign organizational structures to
the created task folders.
Step 4. Configure individual tasks
• Initial decisions to consider the nature of tasks, who is responsible,
and what organizational structures the task affects.
• If a task is required that affects all organizational structures within a
client, you should configure it and attach it to a folder in which
you’ve assigned all controlling areas.
• Finally, consider those tasks that are relevant only for the individual
company codes. Configure and assign tasks to the individual folders
in which you have formally assigned individual company codes.
• The first section of the task configuration screen requires the names
of the task (text entry), task owner (responsible block), and
responsible party who executes the actual task.
• Identify the actual type of task. Within this option, you need to set
individual tasks as actual programs with no variant assigned,
programs with job variants assigned, transaction codes, memo
entries, flow definitions, or remote tasks using CPS.
Differences between various task
types
• Program without variant
• Program plus a job variant assigned
• Transaction
• Remote task using CPS
Step 5. Change the template to an
executable task list
• Now that you have completed the template you can copy the
template into an executable form or a date-specific task list.
• You also need to identify the Closing Type (in this example
monthly [M]), Posting Period (11), Fiscal Year (2008), task list
Status (Released), and the person responsible for the task list.
• After you copy the template to a date-specific task list and set the
status to Released, it becomes executable and the system
schedules the individual task to exact calendar days and day-
specific time frames.
Note
• Although it is possible to set up multiple task lists
tied to different dates, the status setting controls
when the task list becomes executable. You can
only execute the task list after the task list owner
changes the status to Released. If you choose
to set up multiple task lists for an entire year,
you would only set the single task list that you
would use for a particular month to Released.
You could review all other date-specific task
lists, but could not execute them. Other task list
status settings are: Not Released, Released,
Active, and Closed.
Differences Between Templates
and Task Lists
• Templates allow for configuration of various tasks but
cannot execute any task. The task list is not configurable
but allows for the execution of the various tasks.
• Task lists are copies of single cockpit templates. You
should configure cockpit templates to allow for repeated
use, with little or no changes from period to period.
• You configure tasks within the template and cannot
change them within the task list
• You initially schedule tasks within the template, but you
can reschedule them within the task list if required
• It is possible to create sequences of date-specific task
lists by selecting the menu option Create Task Lists.
This is useful if you wish to create an entire year’s worth
of task lists at one time.
Notes
• For delivering the Closing Cockpit
successfully, you need to have a clear
understanding of the current closing
routines, the required tasks, who is
responsible for each task, which tasks
when executed should affect which level
of the organization, and finally a clear
process for review and documentation.