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Summarization Levels - Profitability Analysis (COPA) - SAP Library

Summarization Levels
Use
The data in Profitability Analysis is stored at the individual document level. This means, for example, that every item of a sales order is sent to the CO-PA database as a line item. This can lead to a huge amount of data being created. If a report has to read the entire dataset to display data summarized to a high degree, you may experience runtimes of several hours. To improve runtimes, you can reduce the volume of data that has to be read online. You can achieve this via Summarization Levels, which allow you to create summarized versions of the dataset. The following graphic shows how the data volume gradually reduces over different levels of summarization. The system can then read the data efficiently at the higher levels online.

Structure
The structure of the summarization types "segment table and segment level" and "summarization levels" are briefly described below: For more information on the terms "segment table" and "segment level", see also the section Database Tables for CO-PA Transaction Data.

Segment Table and Segment Level

The lowest level from which the application can read data is the combined level for the segment table and the segment level. The data from the line items are stored at this level in a primary summarized form (for example, using the sales order number). The segment table contains the profitability segments and their characteristic values. The segment level contains the value fields for the profitability segments and the characteristics of time. The segment level always contains the most up-to-date data since it is updated simultaneously with each transaction instead of periodically.

The division of this information into two tables according to characteristics (segment table) and value fields (segment level) reduces data volume by eliminating redundancy. This method has two other important advantages: Storing historic data If you no longer need the origin information for data from previous periods, you can archive the line items and retain only the segment level. Realigning posted data For example, you can retroactively assign a customer to a different sales representative. This only changes the segment table, while the line items retain

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Summarization Levels - Profitability Analysis (COPA) - SAP Library

For example, you can retroactively assign a customer to a different sales representative. This only changes the segment table, while the line items retain the assignment they had when you originally posted the documents. No change is necessary in the segment level since the change in the segment table implicitly affects the data for the periods in the segment level.

Summarization Levels
A summarization level stores an original dataset in a reduced form. This original dataset describes the individual profitability segments in terms of the amount of characteristics each has. Summarization means that selected characteristics are left out. Any segments in the original dataset that are now identical through having had characteristics removed are combined into a single pseudo-segment in the summarization level. From the technical point of view, a summarization consists of two tables that have just been generated, the k ey table and the totals table. Key table corresponds to the segment table and contains the pseudo-segments produced from the reduced characteristics. The totals table corresponds to the segment level and contains the associated value fields. The summarization levels can be used in a number of different areas in Profitability Analysis: The information system Drilldown Reporting To find the tracing factor for cost center assessment Manual planning Automatic planning Transfer to Sales and Operations Planning (SOP) The following transactions are available for maintaining summarization levels: Defining Summarization Levels Filling the summarization levels with new data from the segment level Updating the summarization levels with the new line items See also: Defining Summarization Levels and Building Summarization Levels in the SAP Library Defining Summarization Levels in the Implementation Guide (IMG) In practice, however, companies primarily use just a few of the possible analysis paths. Consequently, it is only necessary to summarize data for a few of the possible combinations. Each time the system has to select data, it automatically determines which summarization level to collect the data from based on the combination of characteristics specified. If no ideal summarization level exists for the combination of characteristics specified, the system reads from the level that will give you the best response time. In some cases, this may be the segment level.

The following two business transactions are transferred to Profitability Analysis: Customer 1 buys 10 units of product 1 at 1.00 USD. Customer 1 buys 40 units of product 2 at 3.00 USD. This gives you the following profitability segments, segment level entries and line items in Profitability Analysis: Segment table Profitability segment 1 2 Characteristic "Customer" 1 1 Characteristic "Product" 1 2

Segment level Profitability segment 1 2 Value field "Quantity" 10 40 Value field "Revenue" 10.00 120.00

Line items Customer 1 1 Product 1 2 Profitability segment 1 2 Quantity 10 40 Revenue 10.00 120.00

If this data is to be summarized at the customer level, the characteristic "Product" has to be hidden (that is, the data for this characteristic is summarized). When we do this, operating concerns 1 and 2 are collapsed into one, and we get the following summarization structure: Key table (corresponds to the segment table):
Pseudo object A Customer 1

Summarization table (corresponds to segment level): Pseudo object A Quantity 50 Revenue 130.00

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Summarization Levels - Profitability Analysis (COPA) - SAP Library

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