SAP R/3 Enterprise has a standard functionality, BATCHMAN, that allows you to automate some of your data loads to CO using Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI) technology. BATCHMAN is a front-end transaction to a BAPI that makes the BAPI easier to configure and use for CO data loads. You use the R/3-delivered BAPIs in combination with Business Add-Ins (BAdIs), which take care of the user interface and message handling. BATCHMAN eliminates the need to write custom ABAP code or to use the Legacy System Migration Workbench (LSMW) to load monthly data. I'll show you how easy it is to set up BATCHMAN, including undocumented tips, using the example of loading statistical key figure values to cost centers, which can then be used for the reporting and allocation purposes. Let me first explain the relationship among BAPIs, BadIs, and BATCHMAN. BAPIs are a standard R/3 interface designed to perform specific business tasks. They are stored as function modules in the Function Builder of ABAP Workbench. BAdIs enable you to distinguish between enhancements that can have no more than one implementation and those that can be actively used by any number of customers at the same time. BATCHMAN is a standard R/3 transaction that depicts a front-end screen for data transfer to CO. The BAdI EXT_CO_ACTUAL_DATA must be implemented to use BATCHMAN. If it is not implemented, data is not transferred. Depending on the CO transaction, the BAdI implementation transfers the uploaded data to the output tables of a BAPI. In turn, the relevant BAPI posts the data to CO tables. BATCHMAN supports the following CO functions:

• Activity allocation
• Primary cost reposting
• Revenue reposting
• Manual cost allocation
• Non-allocatable activities
• Statistical key figures
• Reversal

For BATCHMAN to load the data for a particular CO transaction, a corresponding BAPI must be available. Table 1 shows which CO transactions have a BAPI.

CO transaction	Description
CPH4N	Standard hierarchy for business processes – change
CPH5N	Standard hierarchy for business processes – display
OKEON	Standard hierarchy for cost centers - change
OKENN	Standard hierarchy for cost centers – display
KCH5N	Standard hierarchy for profit centers - change
KCH6N	Standard hierarchy for profit centers – display
KB11N (not for CO-PA)	Enter manual reposting of primary costs
KB21N	Enter direct activity allocation
KB31N	Enter statistical key figures
KB41N	Enter manual reposting of revenue

Table 1

BATCHMAN Setup

To load the statistical key figures to Cost Center Accounting (CO-OM-CCA), first create an implementation using transaction SE18 for the BAdI used by the BATCHMAN function in the background. The BAdI is EXT_CO_ACTUAL_DATA. Then implement the IMPORT method, which is already done in most R/3 Enterprise installations. You can easily confirm this by looking at the Interface tab for the definition, as shown in Figure 1. You may need the help of a technical resource to activate the definition if it is not already activated. This is the only technical step in the entire process, and it's a one-time step.  

Transaction	Header BAPI	Line-item BAPI	Header output table	Line-item output table
Activity allocation	BAPIAAHDR	BAPIAAITM	AA_HEADERS	AA_ITEMS
Primary cost repostings	BAPIRCHDR	BAPIRCITM	RC_HEADERS	RC_ITEMS
Revenue repostings	BAPIRRHDR	BAPIRRITM	RR_HEADERS	RR_ITEMS
Manual cost allocations	BAPIMAHDR	BAPIMAITM	MA_HEADERS	MA_ITEMS
Non-allocable activities	BAPIIAHDR	BAPIIAITM	IA_HEADERS	IA_ITEMS
Statistical key figures	BAPISKFHDR	BAPISKFITM	SKF_HEADERS	SKF_ITEMS
Reversals	BAPIDOCHDRR		REV_HEADERS

Table 2 List of header and line-item BAPIs for transactions in CO   As you can see in Figure 2, the layout has header and line-item sections. This layout was created using the table structures BAPISKFHDR and BAPISKFITM. The table structures (transaction SE11) are shown in Figures 3 and 4.    

Data Load Process: Managed by Controlling Department

The statistical key figure values are used for the assessment/distribution function and reporting in Cost Center Accounting. Many companies load the statistical key figure values periodically in CO. I have used the example of two statistical key figures (EMP = number of employees and CONS = number of consultants) values to be loaded to two cost centers (3030 and 3040). You can use transaction KB31N to manually load these values. The goal is to replace the manual transaction with BATCHMAN. First, using the layout created in Figure 1, enter the values for statistical key figures EMP and CONS for cost centers 3030 and 3040. Then save the file as a .txt (tab delimited) file. Now start the transaction BATCHMAN via menu path Accounting>Controlling>Cost Center Accounting>Actual Postings>BATCHMAN — Transfer of External Data or transaction BATCHMAN. You will see the screen shown in Figure 5.   When you click on the Execute button, it takes you to the main screen for the data load, which is shown in Figure 6.   I recommend that you run the transaction in test mode by selecting the Test button. Make sure the Ignore warnings field is not selected, as it provides useful information if the layout is wrong or if you are loading the same file again. In the File Name of Posting Data field, map the path of the .txt data file you stored with values earlier. Now you are ready to execute the data load by using the execute icon shown in Figure 6. Next you get a list of messages, as shown in Figure 7.   The messages screen informs you of any data error or master data error. For example, if you enter statistical key figure Cons instead of CONS (all caps) in the data sheet, you get the following message: Stat. Key figure Cons does not exist in controlling area 3000. If all the messages are in green status, go back one screen to Figure 6. Now activate the Post button and run the transaction again. You get the actual CO document numbers (400000000 and 400000001) assigned to this posting, as seen in Figure 8. External documents entered in the data sheet are displayed only for reference purposes at this point.   You can display the actual CO document shown in Figure 9 to see the CO posting done by BATCHMAN.

Reversal Functionality

If you need to reverse a posting to fix the data errors, such as a duplicate posting, you can go back to the main screen (Figure 5) of BATCHMAN and select the Reverse button. Once you get to the screen shown in Figure 10, the next step would be to find the batch you want to reverse. For that, use the search (F4) functionality in the field Data Transfer to be Reversed and locate the batch you want to reverse.   In certain cases the reversal is not possible if the CO transaction does not support reversal. For example, if the statistical key figure is set as Fixed values, reversal is not possible and you will get the message Only line items containing key ratios of type 1 (fixed value) exist. BATCHMAN does not yet support the uploading of statistical key figures to Profit Center Accounting.

Additional Tips

• Keep a different file name each month for upload of similar data. This way you can keep track of what was loaded using the BATCHMAN functionality. R/3 gives you a warning message if you try to use the same file name for upload again.
• Pay attention to the number of characters. For example, if you have four-digit cost centers, you have to provide six leading zeroes as padding to the cost center field in the file. The internal length of the cost center field is 10, and BATCHMAN expects 10 characters, as seen in Figure 3.
• Pay attention to date formatting: YYYYMMDD vs. MMDDYY.
• The user name should be a valid user name in R/3.
• Standardize the header and line-item text on the layout for auditing purposes and retrieval for reversals.
• In the Microsoft Excel file (layout you created earlier as a part of setup), once the values are entered, left-align the columns. Then save the file as a .txt (tab delimited) file.