Direct internal activity allocation is a fundamental process in SAP S/4HANA Controlling used to assign costs from a sender cost center to a receiving controlling object based on the activity quantity consumed. The receivers of such allocations must be true cost objects capable of collecting costs for analysis and settlement. A sales order item (for sales order controlling), an internal order (for overhead cost management), and a WBS element (for project cost management) are all valid true cost objects that can directly receive activity allocations.

C. Profit center: A profit center is not a true cost object for direct allocations. It is an organizational unit for profitability analysis, and its value is derived from the master data of the actual receiver object (e.g., the internal order or WBS element).

D. General ledger account: A general ledger account records the financial value of the transaction but is not the controlling object itself. The G/L account (a secondary cost element type) is determined by the activity type master data, not selected as the receiver.

1. SAP Help Portal for SAP S/4HANA: "Internal Activity Allocation". The documentation specifies the valid receiver objects for activity allocations

which include orders (sales orders

internal orders)

WBS elements

and cost objects

among others. It does not list profit centers or G/L accounts as primary receiver objects.

2. SAP S/4HANA Education - Course TS4F04 (Controlling in SAP S/4HANA): Unit 3

"Cost Center Accounting

" details the process of direct activity allocation. The course materials explicitly list internal orders

sales order items

and WBS elements as valid receiver cost objects for transactions like KB21N.

3. Salmon

J.

& Walz

S. (2021). Controlling with SAP S/4HANA. SAP Press. In Chapter 5

"Cost Center Accounting

" Section 5.5

"Actual Postings

" the authors describe the process of activity allocation and illustrate how costs are posted from sender cost centers to receiver objects such as internal orders and WBS elements.