Unit 7: Special Features of Material Valuation

Lesson 1 · Posting Goods Movements for Material Types UNBW and NLAG

Key concepts

Whether a material keeps a stock quantity and a stock value is not a matter of the individual material record but of its material type, set per valuation area in Customizing (quantity updating and value updating). Two standard types illustrate the special cases:

Because a material without value updating has no price and no stock account, the system cannot debit an inventory account at goods receipt. Therefore the cost must go directly to an account assignment object (cost center, order, asset, WBS element …) – i.e. the PO item must carry an account assignment category such as K (cost center) or F (order).

Effect of a GR for a PO with account assignment

For UNBW the typical use case is material that should be tracked in quantity in the warehouse (e.g. spare parts or returnable packaging already expensed at receipt). After the account-assigned GR, any further movement – GR without PO, transfer posting, goods issue – produces only a material document, never an FI document, even if the movement type's field selection forces you to enter an account assignment. A goods issue for consumption does update the consumption statistics in the material master.

For NLAG nothing is ever on stock: the GR is immediately treated as consumption, which is the classic set-up for consumables bought directly for a cost center.

Process flow

System steps

1. Create a PO with ME21N for an UNBW material, entering account assignment category K and a cost center (the system will not accept the item without account assignment).
2. Post the GR with MIGO (101); in the FI document the GR/IR account (WRX) is credited and the consumption account debited.
3. Check MMBE: the quantity is in stock; no value is shown.
4. Post a goods issue (e.g. 201) with MIGO and verify that only a material document is created.

Configuration (IMG)

Lesson 2 · Configuring Split Valuation

Key concepts

Normally one material has exactly one valuation price per valuation area (plant). Split valuation breaks the stock of a material in a plant into partial stocks, each with its own price, price control and possibly valuation class. Typical reasons:

• In-house produced stock is worth something different from purchased stock (split by procurement type).
• Quality grades of the same material are valued differently.
• Origin (domestic vs. imported) or individual batches have different prices (batch-specific valuation).

Activation of split valuation does not force every material to be split; it only makes the function available for materials that are given a valuation category. In the SAP standard system split valuation is delivered as active.

Customizing settings (OMWC)

• Global valuation types – defined independently of the valuation area. Per type you control whether it may be used in external procurement and/or internal production (e.g. a PO may only use "External"), and you can assign an account category reference, i.e. a different set of allowed valuation classes and thus a different stock account (BSX) per partial stock.
• Global valuation categories – the criterion; controls defaults and whether the default type is mandatory for purchase orders and production orders, and whether valuation types are created automatically (useful for batch-specific valuation: a new type per batch at first receipt).
• Assignment of valuation types to categories – also global.
• Local definitions – per valuation area you activate which categories may be used there (the only valuation-area-specific step).

Material master settings

1. In the accounting view at valuation area level (the header) enter the valuation category; the price control must be V because the header only sums up the partial stocks (quantity and value) and therefore shows a resulting average.
2. Create an accounting view for every valuation type the material should use (valuation area + valuation type). Here you can freely choose price control S or V and the valuation class. If the category creates types automatically, these records are created at the first receipt.

Effects in daily operations

Every value-relevant transaction – GR, GI, transfer posting, invoice receipt, physical inventory – is performed for exactly one partial stock, so you must always specify the valuation type (in addition to plant and storage location). Only that partial stock's value changes; the others remain untouched. The header is updated simultaneously: header quantity = sum of partial quantities, header value = sum of partial values, header price = value / quantity. Physical inventory is likewise done per valuation type because it is part of the stock management unit.

Process flow

System steps

1. Check activation in OMW0 and the category/type set-up in OMWC.
2. Create or extend the material (MM01/MM02): accounting 1 view at plant level with valuation category and price control V; then the accounting view for each valuation type.
3. Post a GR for a PO with MIGO, specifying the valuation type (e.g. "External" for a purchased batch).
4. Display the stock values per valuation type in MMBE or the material master accounting view and verify that only the affected partial stock changed.

Configuration (IMG)

Unit summary & exam focus

T-codes in this unit

Self-check questions

1. Why must UNBW and NLAG materials be procured with account assignment?
   Answer

   They have no value updating and no accounting data, so a GR cannot debit a stock account; the cost must go to a consumption account and an account assignment object.
2. What is the key difference between an account-assigned GR for UNBW and for ROH?
   Answer

   For UNBW the quantity is posted to stock (value to consumption); for ROH both quantity and value go to consumption and stock stays unchanged.
3. When are consumption statistics updated for a UNBW material?
   Answer

   Not at the account-assigned GR but at the subsequent goods issue for consumption.
4. Which split-valuation setting is valuation-area specific?
   Answer

   Only the local definition (which categories are allowed in the valuation area); types, categories and their assignment are global.
5. Which price control is required in the valuation header of a split-valuated material?
   Answer

   V (moving average) – it aggregates the partial stocks.
6. How can partial stocks of one material be posted to different G/L stock accounts?
   Answer

   By giving each valuation type its own account category reference and hence a different valuation class, which leads to a different BSX account.