Costing variant in sap determines how product expenses are to be calculated in sap. We have two types of costing variant in sap;
- Planned costing variant
- Actual Costing variant
Planned Costing Variant
You configure it to determine the preliminary cost estimate where as actual expenses are determined by the actual costing variant.
Planned expenses and actual expenses are then compared to find out the difference.
To define it we need to use transaction code OKKN or following path;
SPRO > IMG > Controlling > Cost Object Controlling > PC by period > PC collectors > Check Costingvariants for product cost collectors > Costing variants to determine activity quantities
Sap by default will deliver some of the costing variants for your use. You can use those or create your own in accordance to this reference one.
Actual CV
It is used to calculate actual expenses with the help of activity prices and costing sheet. You can define it by using transaction code OPL1 or using path;
SPRO > Controlling > Product Cost Controlling > Cost Object Controlling > Product Cost by periods > Product Cost Collectors > Check CVs for PC collectors > costing variants of internal activities
You can see the list of default actual CVs. As discussed above you can use these variants or modify to create your own.
By using these variants you can set the valuations price for material, activity type and subcontracting etc. You can also set priority of picking up the prices and the strategy of it.
It is stored as a default value per order type and plant so that it will be picked up at every transaction in product costing. You can set CV as a default value per plant and order type by using transaction code OKZ3 or using following path;
SPRO > IMG > Controlling > PC controlling > Cost Object controlling > Product cost by periods > Product cost collectors > define Cost-accounting relevant default values for order types and plants