SAP CO

SAP CO Certification is designed to assess knowledge of people in SAP CO module. SAP CO stands for SAP Controlling and is one of the primary modules in any SAP ERP configuration. Another name for Controlling is Management Accounting, so SAP CO is also often referred to SAP Management Accounting module.

What is SAP CO?

Let’s start with a brief overview of SAP CO module. SAP CO works very close with all other SAP modules mainly through profit centers, cost centers, as well as cost orders. The main function of SAP CO module is planning and helping with the decision making within the company. Just as cost accounting inside an organization helps the managers of this company make right decisions about future of the company, SAP CO helps doing the same gathering information about expenses and revenues from other SAP modules. The relationship between SAP CO and SAP FI is automatic and in order for avoid double accounting the vast majority of SAP FI General Ledger accounts are transformed into cost centers for expense accounts and into profit centers for profit accounts. In this way, SAP integrates CO with FI. Nowadays, it is not common to find SAP consultants that specialise exclusively in SAP CO. It is more likely that you are going to find FICO consultants that know both Financials and Controlling SAP modules. However, being a specialist only in SAP CO means that you have a really high level of knowledge in this module, and therefore, you are more capable of solving complex situations that involve controlling areas in the company.

Below are the main areas of SAP CO module (you can also call them “sub-modules” of SAP CO):

Cost Element Accounting (CEL)

Here you are going to deal with cost and revenues of a company.

Cost Center Accounting (CCA)

Assigns an allocation to every overhead cost within a company.

Activity-Based-Accounting (ABC)

Activity-Based Costing analyses the business processes between departments. The objectives of the company and the improvement of business flows are prioritised.

Internal Orders (OPA)

Used to control budgets for some extra small projects expenses carried out inside a company.

Product Cost Controlling (PC)

Used to calculate the cost of goods manufactured within a company.

Profitability Analysis (PA)

Analyses the loss or profit within a company through market segments.

Profit Center Accounting (PCA)

Analyses the behaviour of loss and profit of every area of the company.

What is SAP CO Certification?

SAP CO certification is the test for those who want to have a successful career as a SAP CO consultant. Having SAP CO certification means, well you know what it means, most of the companies are going to be more interested in your resume and most likely get in touch with you rather than with others who are not certified.

There are two main paths that you can chose in SAP CO:

• Management Accounting
• Consultant of Management Accounting

And there are two certification courses that you can chose:

• C_TFIN22_66 SAP Certified Application Associate – Management Accounting (CO) with SAP ERP 6.0 EhP6: Entry Level certification into SAP CO.
  • Exam: 80 questions
  • Cut Score: 60%
  • Duration: 180 mins
• P_FINMGT_65 SAP Certified Application Professional – Management Accounting (CO) with SAP ERP 6.0 EHP5: Advance consultancy skills into SAP
  • Exam: 80 questions
  • Cut Score: 57%
  • Duration: 180 mins

How to Prepare for SAP CO Certification?

In order for you to be prepared to take SAP CO certification test it is recommended that you acquire knowledge from the following sources.

SAP CO Training

The most straightforward approach in preparation for SAP CO certification is to simply choose a training course and let experienced instructors to teach you SAP CO. You can compare different SAP CO Training courses in our training directory.

SAP CO Books

Here are the suggested books that are usually used in the official SAP CO training courses.

• TERP01 SAP ERP Business Process and Basic Navigation
• TERP20 SAP ERP Financial and Management Accounting Basics
• SM001E Introduction to SAP Solution Manager
• TFIN20 Management Accounting (CO) I
• TFIN22 Management Accounting II

Alternatively, you can consider the following books (they cover more or less the same topics):

• AC410 Cost Center Accounting
• AC612 Profit Center Accounting in New General legder Accounting
• ACO40E Business Processes in Management  Accounting
• AC415 Internal Orders
• AC605 Profitability Analysis
• AC410E Cost Center Accounting
• AC506 Basics of Product Cost Planning
• CA705 Report Painter
• AC522 Cost Object Controlling for Make – to – Order Production Industries.
• AC405 AC405_95 Cost Center & Internal Order Accounting
• AC505 AC505_95 Product Cost Planning
• AC520 AC520_95 Cost Object Controlling
• CA705 Report Painter

It looks like a lot of books but in fact most of their content is covered in TFIN20 and TFIN22 books together. You can get these books by attending the official SAP training courses (Online or Classroom) or by borrowing them from your friends or colleagues who attended SAP training before.  Once acquired all or at least most of the knowledge of SAP CO, there are two possible certifications to apply to (see previous section).

Whether you choose to be a consultant of SAP CO or simply if you are a financial controller who currently works in an company that runs SAP ERP, you have two main certifications to go for. One of them is mainly for highly skilled SAP CO consultants, P_FINMGT_65 SAP Certified Application Professional. This means that the candidate must have project experience before, and be aware of real life scenarios. There is no a minimum or maximum of years of experience as it depends on the kind of project that the candidate has been involved with. There would be long projects and short projects, so the main focus here is to have solid SAP CO work experience. Meanwhile, I would recommend for fresher CO consultants or for financial controllers to go for C_TFIN22_66 SAP Certified Application Associate certification.

It is also necessary to have the practice with SAP and not only the theoretical knowledge. You can practise SAP in sandbox environments of you company (if it has SAP) or in a training environment, as well as your daily duties. Another option is to download a demo version of SAP ERP from SAP Service Marketplace. There are also companies that provide paid access to ready sandbox SAP ERP systems. You can see our review of these companies here: SAP IDES Access. In order for you to pass the test, is recommended that you learn as much as you can through the reading of the books mentioned above and the real practice with a sandbox of SAP CO.

Good luck with your SAP CO Certification!

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This article was written and contributed to our website by Paulin Medrano. Would you also like to contribute an article to our website? Get in touch with us to discuss potential opportunities.