CKM3N — Material Price Analysis
CKM3N shows the Material Ledger view of one material in one period: beginning inventory, receipts, consumption and ending inventory with quantities, values and the price differences attached to each. It is the main tool for explaining why a material's actual price changed and where its differences came from or went to.
Displays a material's Material Ledger values for a period: receipts, consumption, price differences and the resulting periodic price.
Published 31 Oct 2026· 509 words
What CKM3N is for
When a finished product's cost moves unexpectedly, controllers need to see the material's movements and differences in one place. CKM3N presents the period in a structured view by category and process, so you can trace a difference back to an invoice, a production order or a consumed component. It is a display transaction and does not change data.
When it is used
It is used during and after the actual costing run to review materials with unusual results, by controllers explaining margin changes, and by support teams investigating Material Ledger errors. Auditors also use it to understand how inventory values were derived. In product costing reviews it answers the practical question of whether a cost increase came from purchase prices, production efficiency or components.
How it is used in practice
Enter material, plant and period, choose the currency and valuation view, and expand the categories for receipts and consumption. The view separates what the material received from what it passed on, which is exactly the question behind most cost escalations. Drill down from a line to the source documents. Compare the price before and after the costing run, and look at not-distributed differences, which indicate that differences could not be passed on.
Fields and objects that matter
- Material, plant, period and currency or valuation view
- Categories such as beginning inventory, receipts, consumption and ending inventory
- Price and exchange rate differences per line
- Periodic unit price and status of the material in the costing run
How to prove it in the data
Pick one receipt line and drill down to its source document, for example an invoice with a price difference. The difference shown in CKM3N should match the price difference posted by that document. For consumption lines, follow the drill-down to the production order or goods issue and confirm that the differences passed on equal what the multi-level run reported.
ECC vs S/4HANA
CKM3N remains central in S/4HANA, where the Material Ledger is mandatory for inventory valuation and its data is integrated with the Universal Journal. Actual costing and periodic prices remain optional on top of that.
Common pitfalls and how they show up
Reading the wrong view is the usual reason for confusion.
- Analysing the wrong currency or valuation view
- Ignoring not-distributed differences, which signal stock coverage problems
- Looking before the costing run has finished, when prices are still preliminary
- Expecting CKM3N to correct data; corrections happen at source and in a rerun
- Comparing periods without noticing that a standard price change at period start shifted the baseline
Whose problem this is
Used mainly by controlling and Material Ledger support teams. Purchasing and production teams are involved when the drill-down shows that a difference comes from their documents, such as an invoice price or an order variance.
Related SAP objects
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Lessons and topics
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