SAP Project System A ready Reference

Being a beginner in SAP PS is a challenge. As a techie, When I started my ABAP Program in PS

Module, I found a lot of scattered information but there is no article or blog with consolidated
information even on basic terminologies of
SAP PS. This blog is my attempt to provide an insight of basic techno functional aspects and
terminologies of SAP PS to a novice.
In my first blog you will find the important terms of the PS module. I have tried to explain them
with the help of an example. Following this is the next blog SAP Project System A ready
Reference (Part 2) where the technicalities of the same are covered.
The Project System (PS) module of SAP is specifically designed to provide comprehensive and
fully integrated project management functionality for SAP customers. A Project is a complex
undertaking, bringing with it huge data of different type. At the beginning of each project,
whether it involves developing a new product, make-to-order engineering or internal
organization, you need to define and set up the structures necessary to manage your project
and incorporate them into your existing organizations and processes. Before you can run a
project in its entirety, you must first describe the project goals precisely and create a structure
for the project activities to be carried out. A
clear project structure provides a basis for successful project planning, monitoring and control.
Organizational Structures in Project System:
You create and manage your project structure in SAP R/3 Project System, by means of work
breakdown structures and networks. The WBS describes individual phases and functions of a
project. Network contains the individual
project tasks and the dependencies between them in the form of activities and relationships
Some important terms:
Project Definition
Project Definition is general description of the project that you want to manage. It is a
framework laid down for all the objects created within a project. It contains organizational data
that is binding for the entire project.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
WBS is a hierarchical model of the tasks to be performed in the project. It provides overview of
the project and forms basis for the project organization and co-ordination. It shows work, time
and money spent on the project. You can use it to plan dates & costs and allocate budget. The
Work Breakdown Structure can be displayed according to:
 o Phase
o Function
o Object
Individual tasks required to carry out the project is called WBS elements.

Network
The network describes project processing. Thus the Network contains instructions on how to
carry out activities in a specific way, in a specific order and in a specific time period. Main
elements of network are activities and relationships. It forms the basis for planning, analyzing
and monitoring time schedules, costs, & resources.
Activities
Activities are used to plan project staffing, capacity, material, PRTs, and service requirements.
When activities are assigned to WBS elements, detailed view of costs, dates, and capacities at
WBS element could be obtained. Its a
task in a network which has a defined start and finish. An activity can be broken down into
activity elements.Three categories of activities in the Project System:
o Internal Activities
o External Activities
o General Cost Activities
Activity element
Activity element is an activity which is subordinate to another activity. Activity elements
contain the same information as activities.Three categories of activity elements in the Project
System:
o Work elements
o External Elements
o General Cost Elements
Activity Type
Its a physical measure of activity output of a cost center .e.g. hours, number of units produced,
machine times, production times.
Milestones
Milestones are the events in the project to which particular importance is attached Or which
trigger predefined functions. In general they indicate transition between different departments
or phases. Milestones are assigned
to activities and WBS elements: In PS milestones are used to:
Trigger predefined functions in network activities.
Carry out earned value analysis.
Determine dates in billing plan for sales orders.
Relationships
You use relationships to depict chronological and technical dependencies between activities.
The relationship determines the nature of the link between the individual activities:
FS Relationship : An activity does not start until the preceding activity is completed.
SS Relationship : An activity cannot start unless another activity has started.
FF Relationship : An activity cannot be completed until another activity has been completed.
SF Relationship : An activity cannot be completed until another succeeding activity has stared.
Confirmations
It is a part of network control. It documents the state of processing for the network activities
and activity elements. There are two types of confirmations Partial & Final. Confirmations are
used to record:
The work center where the activity was carried out.
The person who carried out this activity.
The yield and scrap produced in an activity.
The actual values for the duration and dates.
Settlement
As a rule, projects are used to collect and monitor costs, but are not usually the final cost
object. For this reason the costs in atypical project will be settled at the end of the period. To
this end, you store settlement rules in the activity / WBS element requiring settlement. They
contain information on settlement receivers, cost apportionment and control data. Settlement
receivers could be cost centers, G/L accounts. Etc.
Budget
The budget is the approved cost structure for an action or project in a particular period.
Budgeting differs from cost plan in that it is binding. In the approval phase you prescribe your
project funds in the form of budget. It is possible to allocate overall and annual budget in
parallel.
Work Centers
Work center represents the resources responsible for executing an activity. In a work center,
you can enter the available capacity and an operating time. You can arrange the work centers in
a hierarchy for capacity evaluation purposes. Internal activities are assigned to work centers
(resources) to be completed. A work center is a physical unit within a company where an
activity is performed.
Profit Center
It is subdivision of business organization which is set up for internal management control
purposes. Profit centers divide business up on a management basis. The basic aim of profit
center accounting is to present areas of the business as entities operating independently in the
market.
Lots of jargons .let me site an instance of the construction project of a building..
Let say there is a construction company that is going to construct a Multi-Storey building.
The first thing that needs to be created in the system is Project Definition. The entire activity
plan for this project will come under this project definition. Overall budget needs to be
estimated, assigned and get approved for the project. Project timeline needs to be decided.
Project could be then subdivided into separate parts which are actually WBS elements lets say
in this e.g. we have 4 main WBS elements:
1. Land Acquisition
2. Procurement
3. Construction
4. General
To every above WBS, budget and time line need to estimated.
Now to take an example we will drill down two WBS elements namely Land Acquisition and
Construction.
Land Acquisition could be sub divided into activities as in
o Generation of request document for the land.
o Soil testing
o Approval for construction
o Preparation of purchase order of the land
Above 4 activities should be done in sequence. As in second activity will start only after request
document for the and s completed and so on. Hence these activities have FS Relationship
between them.
Now take WBS element Construction.
It could be sub divided in to floor wise tasks. Let say, we have four story building and each floor
has 4 flats. So under WBS element Construction we may create separate sub WBS element for
each floor. Each sub WBS element of floor may be divided further into last level of WBS
elements one for each flat on the floor. This way we will have hierarchy of the WBS elements.
Finally last level of WBS elements i.e. WBS elements of the flats will have activities like
1. Plumbing
2. Electrical work
3. Flooring
4. Painting
5. Furniture
These activities form the Network.
Let say Plumbing and Electricity work are the external activities as they are given to a outside
contractor. While the other activities are done by company labor so they are internal activities.
Plumbing and Electrical work could be started simultaneously. While flooring needs be done
once the plumbing and Electrical work is complete. Hence they have FS relationship and so
on. Now if we talk about milestones:
- First milestone could be purchasing the land
- Second could construct the base of the building.
 - Third could be construct the floors
- Fourth could be completion of plumbing and electrical work for all the flats. And so on.
As I have said that Work center represents the resources responsible for executing an activity
For the above activities, work centers could be the company labor required for the
construction, labor provided by the external service center for plumbing and Electricity work.
while Profit Centers could be the finally constructed flats.
Sr Project Examples
NO
Elements

1 Project Def Constructing the Buiding

2 WBS Generation of request document for

the land
Soil testing
Approval for construction
Preparation of purchase order of the
land

3 Activities Plumbing( external Activities)

Electricity work( external Activities)
(Under 3rd Flooring (internal activities)
Painting (internal activities)
WBS) Furniture

4 Relationship Flooring needs be done after the plumbing and

Electricity work. Hence they have FS

relationship

5 Milestones First milestone could be purchasing the

land
Second could construct the base of the
building.T
hird could be construct the floors
Fourth could be completion of
plumbing and electricity work for all the
flats

6 Network Plumbing and Electricity installation are to be

one contractor each. Therefore, there exist a

network within on the activities of it under

different WBSs.
Now let me go to some technicalities of the same.
If some body asks me to develop report in PS module what basic information do I need?
Mainly I need to find out three things :

Master tables and there relationship with each other.

Standard transactions in PS module and
BAPIs used to deal with PS data.

Lets start with the master table

PS Master Tables and their relationship:

Object Master Table

Project Definition PROJ
WBS element PRPS
Network AFKO ,AUFK
Activity AFVV , AFVC
Activity Element AFVV , AFVC
Activity Type CEPC
Milestone MLST
Budget BPGE , BPJA

Following diagram depicts the linkage between various master tables in PS module.
Frequently used PS Transactions
Object Transaction Description
CJ06 Create Project Definition
CJ07 Change Project Definition
Project Definition
CJ08 Display Project Definition
CJ20N Project Builder
CJ01 Create Work Breakdown Structure
CJ02 Change Work Breakdown Structure
CJ03 Display Work Breakdown Structure
WSB Element
CJ11 Create WBS Element
CJ12 Change WBS Element
Cj13 Delete WBS Element
CN21 Create Network
CN22 Change Network
CN23 Display Network
Network
CN24 Overall Network Scheduling
CN24N Overall Network Scheduling
CJ20N Project Builder
Activity CJ20n Project Builder
CN53N Overview: Milestones
Milestone
CJ20N Project Builder
CN49 Overview: Relationships
Relationship CN49N Overview: Relationships
CNS49 Overview: Relationships
CN25 Confirm Completions in Network
CN27 Collective confirmation
Confirmations CN28 Display Network Confirmations
CN29 Cancel Network Confirmation
CN2X Confirm Completions in Network
CJ02 Create Settlement Rule
CJ88 Settle Projects and Networks
Settlement
CJ8A Act.-setlmt: Proj. retirmt. from IM
CJ8G Actual Settlement: Projects/Networks
CJ30 Change Project Original Budget
CJ31 Display Project Original Budget
CJ35 Budget Return from Project
Budget CJ36 Budget Supplement to Project
CJ37 Budget Supplement in Project
CJ38 Budget Return in Project
CJ3A Change Budget Document
CJ3B Display Budget Document
BAPIs used in PS Transactions
Project Definition:
BAPI to extract details of Project Definition:
BAPI Name
BAPI_PROJECTDEF_EXISTENCECHECK
BAPI_BUS2001_GETDATA
BAPI_PROJECT_GETINFO
BAPI_PROJECTDEF_GETDETAIL
BAPI_BUS2001_GET_STATUS
BAPI_PROJECTDEF_GETLIST
BAPI_GET_PROJECT_STATISTICS
BAPI to create/update Project Definition data:
BAPI Name
BAPI_BUS2001_CREATE
BAPI_PROJECTDEF_CREATE
BAPI_BUS2001_CHANGE
BAPI_PROJECTDEF_UPDATE
BAPI_BUS2001_DELETE
BAPI_BUS2001_SET_STATUS
BAPI Description
To check whether a project definition exists
To get detailed information about a project definiti
on. To do this, you must transfer the external ID of
the project definition in the parameter I_PROJECT_
DEFINITION. If required, you can also specify in whi
ch language the language-dependent fields, such a
s time units, system status, and so on, are to be ret
urned. If you do not specify a language, the system
language is used
To read detailed information about project definiti
ons and the WBS elements of projects from the sys
tem.
To read detail information about the project definit
ion
To get both the active system statuses and the user
statuses for a project definition
Provides a list of project definitions
Display project statistics
BAPI Description
Create a project definition
Create a project definition
Change Project Definition
Change Project Definition
Delete Project Definition
one system status and one user status can be rev
oked each time, and one system status and one u
ser status can be set each time for a project defin
ition
WBS Work Breakdown Structure:
BAPI to extract details of WBS element:

BAPI Name BAPI Description

BAPI_BUS2054_GETDATA
BAPI_BUS2054_GET_GUID_FROM_KEY the
BAPI_BUS2054_GET_STATUS
BAPI_BUS2054_GET_KEY_FROM_GUID
To get detailed information about WBS eleme
nts.
Read the GUID (Global Unique Identifier) using
external object key.
To read the active system statuses and user st
atuses for
a list of PSP elements
Read the externalobject key (WBS Key)
using the GUID (Global Unique Identifier).

BAPI create/update WBS element data:

BAPI Name BAPI Description

BAPI_BUS2054_CREATE_MULTI Create WBS Element
BAPI_BUS2054_CHANGE_MULTI Change WBS Element
BAPI_BUS2054_DELETE_MULTI Delete WBS Element

Network:
BAPI to extract details of Network:

BAPI Name BAPI Description

BAPI_NETWORK_EXISTENCECHECK
BAPI_NETWORK_GETDETAIL
BAPI_NETWORK_GETINFO
BAPI_NETWORK_GETLIST
BAPI_BUS2002_GETDATA
BAPI_BUS2002_GET_GUID_FROM_KEY
BAPI_BUS2002_GET_KEY_FROM_GUID
BAPI_BUS2002_GET_STATUS
Check whether network exists
Read detailed information about a network inclu
ding all objects from the system.
Read detailed information about a network inclu
ding all objects from the system
Produces a list of networks with descriptions. Ret
urns a container of network numbers
Returns Detail Data for Network Header.
Read GUIDS Using the Network Keys
Read Network Key Using the GUIDs
Get network Status
BAPI create/update Network data:
BAPI Name
BAPI_NETWORK_MAINTAIN
BAPI_BUS2002_CREATE
BAPI_BUS2002_CHANGE
BAPI_BUS2002_DELETE
BAPI_BUS2002_SET_STATUS
Activity:
BAPI to extract details of Activity:
BAPI Name
BAPI_BUS2002_ACT_GETDATA
BAPI_BUS2002_GET_ACTGUID_4_KEY
BAPI_BUS2002_GET_ACTKEY_4_GUID
BAPI_BUS2002_GET_STATUS
BAPI create/update Activity data:
BAPI Name
BAPI_BUS2002_ACT_CHANGE_MULTI
BAPI_BUS2002_ACT_CREATE_MULTI
BAPI Description
To edit network headers, activities and relationsh
ips
Create Network Header. Only one network can be
created each time this BAPI is called.
Change Network Header. Only one network head
er can be changed each time this BAPI is called.
Delete Network Header. Only one network can be
processed each time the BAPI is called.
Set/Reset Network Status. At the same time, you
can revoke one system status and one user status
, or set one system status and one user status in a
list of activities for the network.
BAPI Description
Detail Data for Activities
Read the GUIDs Using the Network Activity Key. R
ead the GUID (Global Unique Identifier) using the
external object key.
Read the Network Activity Key Using the GUIDs. R
ead the external object key using the GUID (Globa
l Unique Identifier).
Read active system statuses and user statuses for
a network header (NUMBER) as well as its activiti
es
BAPI Description
Change one or more activities. Activities of one n
etwork only can be changed each time this BAPI i
s called.
Create one or more activities. Activities of one ne
twork only can be changed each time this BAPI is
called.

BAPI_BUS2002_ACT_DELETE_MULTI
Activity Element:
BAPI to extract details of Activity Element:
BAPI Name
BAPI_BUS2002_ACTELEM_GETDATA
BAPI_BUS2002_GET_ELEGUID_4_KEY
BAPI create/update Activity Element data:
BAPI Name
BAPI_BUS2002_ACTELEM_CHANGE_M
BAPI_BUS2002_ACTELEM_CREATE_M
BAPI_BUS2002_ACTELEM_DELETE_M
Delete one or more activities. Activities of one ne
twork only can be changed each time this BAPI is
called.
BAPI Description
Get detailed information about activity elements.
Read the GUIDs Using the Activity Element IDs
BAPI Description
Change one or more activity elements. Each time
this BAPI is called, only the activity elements for o
ne network can be changed
Create one or more activity elements. Each time t
his BAPI is called, only the activity elements for o
ne network can be changed
Delete one or more activity elements. Each time t
his BAPI is called, only the activity elements for o
ne network can be changed
Confirmation:
BAPI to extract details of Confirmations
BAPI Name
BAPI_NETWORK_CONF_GETDETAIL
BAPI_NETWORK_CONF_GETLIST
BAPI_NETWORK_CONF_GETPROP
BAPI create/update Confirmation data:
BAPI Name
BAPI_NETWORK_CONF_ADD
BAPI_NETWORK_CONF_CANCEL
BAPI Description
Using this method you can make the detail data o
f a confirmation for a network available for the tr
ansferred object. You can also make goods move
ment posted together with the confirmation avail
able.
All confirmations are determined for the specified
network activity or activity element. The transferr
ed capacity category and split are interpreted as a
dditional constraints
To make default data available for confirming net
work activities
BAPI Description
To enter confirmations for network activities/ acti
vity elements and splits.
To cancel a network confirmation that has alread
y been booked.