IS-U/FERC -- Without a trace!

If you're like many utilities running the SAP IS-U/FERC solution, you may be able to turn it off. Say what? That's right, turn it off and get even better data than you're getting now.

When you change the FERC setting in FERC_C8, you'll see options to treat secondary costs as primary. Changing CO activity types (normally secondary cost elements) to primary for FERC reporting allows you to support FERC account balances with labor documents from CO — where often the employee name, hours worked, and PM order number are found. Imagine that; for the first time, a financial analyst will see each utility employee charge to an actual FERC account.

HPC uses this design for customers very successfully. In concert with our SAP-certified solution HPC Utility Financials Accelerator, we update V_FERC_C8 in transaction SM31. Make all the secondary cost transactions primary (ECC 6.0 has radio buttons for this) except for settlement, which stays as a secondary cost. Then assign each cost center to a regulatory indicator. Finally, update the trace translation (FERC_C3) to include secondary cost elements converted to FERC accounts.

Depending on how you have configured FI, CO, and FERC, the FERC trace will run faster, provide more accurate labor costs and assessment detail, and provide enhanced drill-down using FERD or FEOD transactions. If you have SAP HR/Payroll and PM installed, you may see the work center of the employee, the time confirmation, and the notification in PM. You can't do that by using the FERC module with the traditional trace of FI documents only.

So why didn't we think of this 20 years ago? Well, for one thing, CO is not the general ledger. It was thought that FERC balances have to be supported by FI documents only. In reality, provided the FERC balances equal the natural accounts, it really doesn't matter whether FI or CO documents are used to support FERC. So, free yourself from the limitation of FI only, and unleash a new era of improved FERC reporting in SAP.

It's time to turn off the trace! If you do, users can enjoy one version of the truth whether running order reports in CO or looking at the final objects in FERC_D1 (the FERC module drill-down tool.)