KP26 — Activity Type and Price Planning

Activity types such as machine hours or labour hours are how cost centers charge their costs to orders and other receivers. To charge them, the system needs a price. KP26 is where the planned activity quantity and capacity are entered per cost center, and where a price can be maintained directly or left to be calculated. Without realistic activity plans, activity prices are either missing or meaningless.

It is used during annual budgeting and whenever plans are revised, typically by cost center managers and controllers. Product costing depends on it, because standard cost estimates value routings and recipes with these activity prices. It is also checked when a confirmation or cost estimate fails because no price exists for an activity type.

Choose version, fiscal year range, cost center and activity type, then enter planned activity, capacity and optionally a fixed and variable price. The price indicator decides whether the price is entered manually or calculated from planned costs by price calculation (KSPI). Use the overview layout for many cost centers, save, and check the results in planning reports before running cost estimates.

For a cost center and activity type, compare planned costs from KP06 with planned activity in KP26. If prices are calculated, the price after KSPI should equal planned costs divided by planned activity, split into fixed and variable parts. A cost estimate in CK11N for a product using that activity should show the same rate in its itemization.

KP26 remains available in S/4HANA. Many companies also plan in SAP Analytics Cloud or other planning tools and load results, but activity prices for costing still need to exist in the system.

Activity plans are often entered once and forgotten until a costing run fails.

Controlling owns activity planning and prices. Cost center managers provide realistic quantities and capacities, and product costing depends on the result, so planning deadlines are usually tied to the start of the costing run.