SAP Project Progress calculations

SAP Project Progress Calculations

Introduction

Effective project progress measurement is essential for successful project delivery. SAP Project System (SAP PS) provides powerful standard functionality to measure project performance through Project Progress Calculations and Earned Value Analysis (EVA). These features enable project managers to compare planned work with actual progress, identify schedule or cost variances, and make informed decisions throughout the project lifecycle.

This blog explains the concepts behind SAP Project Progress Calculations, the implementation prerequisites, required master data, configuration activities, and the overall review process. It is particularly useful for organisations currently using SAP PS for project management but not yet taking advantage of SAP’s built-in progress calculation capabilities.

Although the functionality is part of the SAP standard solution, proper implementation requires careful configuration and business alignment. We strongly recommend engaging an experienced SAP Project System (SAP PS) consultant to perform the necessary configuration and ensure the solution is implemented according to SAP best practices.

Current State

Your organisation is using SAP Project System to manage projects, including:

Planned Costs
Actual Costs
Commitments
Project Budgets
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Network Activities

However, project progress itself is not being measured within SAP PS. Instead, project teams rely on external spreadsheets or third-party applications to monitor project completion and report progress. As a result:

Earned Value Analysis is not available.
Schedule and cost performance cannot be measured within SAP.
Project reporting is fragmented across multiple systems.
Manual effort is required to consolidate project status information.

Future State

The objective is to fully utilise SAP Project System’s standard Project Progress Calculation and Earned Value Analysis (EVA) functionality for all applicable projects.

To achieve this, the implementation will include:

Configuration of Project Progress Calculation.
Configuration of Earned Value Analysis.
Creation of required Progress Versions.
Setup of Progress Analysis methods.
Configuration of calculation parameters.
Master data preparation.
Validation and testing of progress calculations.
User training and reporting.

These configuration activities should be completed by an experienced SAP Project System consultant.

Prerequisites

Before Project Progress Calculation can be used, several SAP configuration and master data prerequisites must be completed.

1. Progress Versions

The primary prerequisite is the configuration of Progress Versions.

Progress Versions determine:

How project progress is calculated.
Which planning version is referenced.
Which actual values are considered.
Which progress methods are applied.
The basis for Earned Value Analysis.

Maintain the required Progress Versions in SAP before activating Project Progress Calculations.

Fig 1: Maintain Progress Version

• Define Statistical Key Figure for Percentage of Completion

Fig: 2 Maintain statistical key figure

Fig 3: Maintain statistical key figure

Underthe “Define Statistical Key Figure for Percentage of Completion” configuration, assign the Statistical Key Figures and check the assignment.

Fig 4: Check SKF assignment

Note: Please ensure you create vital statistical for other controlling areas.

• Define Measurement Methods as the default value

Fig 5: Define Default methods

• Maintain Assignment of Cost Element Group

Fig 6: Maintain Assignment of Cost Element Group

You will create the cost element with category 61 in SAP Easy access.

Fig 7: Cost Element creation

Master Data Setup 1. Progress methods assignment in the project objects

Fig 8: Project methods assignment in the project

2.Plan Project Costs

Planning project costs (either annual or overall costs) is essential for performing Project Progress Calculations. Planned costs provide the baseline against which actual costs are compared to determine project progress and performance.

3. Post Actual Costs

Posting actual costs to project activities is a fundamental part of project execution. When using the Cost Proportional progress calculation method, SAP determines project progress by comparing the actual costs incurred against the planned costs.

4. Progress Estimation

The Estimation method requires a project team member or project manager to manually enter the progress percentage for each project object.

When using this method, progress should be recorded at the individual object level (for example, a WBS element, activity, or milestone, depending on the project structure). In addition, the object should have actual dates recorded. These dates are typically captured through activity confirmations during project execution, ensuring that progress calculations accurately reflect the work completed.

Fig 9: Estimation method progress % entry

Fig 10: Estimation method progress % entry

5. Project Scheduling and Activity Confirmation

Proper project scheduling and activity confirmations are essential for accurate Project Progress Calculations. They ensure that both the planned and actual Percentage of Completion (POC) can be recorded and evaluated correctly.

Project team members should complete the project scheduling process so that the relevant project objects contain valid scheduling information. Both Primary Dates and Scheduled Dates should be available and maintained for the applicable WBS elements, network activities, or other project objects.

SAP Transaction Codes for Project Progress Calculation

SAP provides the following transaction codes for calculating project progress:

CNE1 – Individual Progress Calculation
CNE2 – Collective Progress Calculation

This blog focuses exclusively on Individual Progress Calculation (Transaction CNE1).

Fig 11: Progress calculation

Reports to Verify the Project Progress 1. CNE5 – Structure Overview

Fig 12: CNE5 Report execution

Fig 13: CNE5 Report output

2. S_ALR_87015124 – Project Hierarchy

Fig 14: Hierarchy report output

3. S_ALR_87015125 – Details

Fig 15: Project progress details report output

Fig 16: Progress details report output

Progress Analysis : We will analyse the following key figures for the project objects:

Planned POC in per cent

The planned POC is the value of the Work planned. This POC value is a percentage (%) of all the Work required.

Fig 17 Planned POC %

Actual POC in per cent

The % of Work up to a certain point (current period) is the actual

POC. In the estimation method, it is a value entered against the individual activity and aggregated to the level 1 WBS element. The Cost proportional method is calculated automatically by comparing the plan and actual costs.

Fig 18 Actual POC %

BCWS

The Budgeted Cost of the Work scheduled is the value that represents the value of the planned activity. The system multiplies the planned POC and the overall costs to get this BCWS in the reports.The value in this example is 1500.

Fig 19: BCWS

BCWP

The Budgeted Cost of the Work performed is the value that represents the value of the actual activity. The system multiplies the primary POC and the overall costs to get this BCWP in the reports.The value in this example is 1440.

Fig 20: BCWP

ACWP

The actual cost of Work performed is the project’s actual cost up to the current period. In this example, the actual price is 1440( ACWP)

Fig 21: ACWP

Cost Variance (CV)

Fig 22: Cost Variance

Cost variance is the difference between the BCWP and the ACWP.

CV = BCWP – ACWP (1440-1440=0)

Schedule Variance (SV)

You calculate the Schedule Variance (or Work Variance) as the difference between

BCWP and BCWS (1440- 1500 =-60)

Fig 23: Schedule variance

Value Index (CPI)

You calculate theValue Index as the ratio of BCWP and ACWP; in our example, the value index is 1500/1440=1.041

Fig 24: Value Index

Estimated costs at completion (EAC)

Fig 25: EAC

You estimate the EAC as the final cost after the project

Estimate to Complete (ETC)

Fig 26: ETC

Estimate to Complete is the second forecasting technique used along with the Estimate at Completion. It is the amount of money to complete the remaining Work (the Work left after a particular period).

Mobile Application for Project Progress calculation:The progress calculation and the progress view are available on the move, and the SAP Mobile Application for the Project progress calculation is available from KSA Tech Consulting Pty Limited, Sydney (onebusinesserp.in)