Functional Area

A functional area groups departments the way a business area groups business units. It lets a group see Finance, Procurement and Administration added together as Support Functions, without merging the departments themselves.

Where

Organization & Setup › Organization Structure › Functional Area

Who uses it

The implementation consultant, once per reporting area

When

Before Functional Area Dimension

Needs first

Nothing

What it is for

Departments are functions, and a company usually has more of them than a report wants rows. The functional area is the layer above, built for reporting rather than for the organisation chart.

It is a code and a name here. The mapping is done on Functional Area Dimension, which says which department in which legal entity belongs to which functional area.

A client often wants the split between people who make the product and people who support the business. Two functional areas, DIR Direct and IND Indirect, answer that in one line of a report.

Every field, in plain words

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Functional Area	The short code.	IND	Required.
Name	What the area is called.	Support Functions	Required.
Block	Stops the functional area being picked on any new record. What is already using it keeps it.	Leave clear

How to configure it

1. Open Functional Area and enter a code and a name, for example DIR and Direct Production.
2. Save, and repeat - for example IND and Support Functions.
3. Then go to Functional Area Dimension and map each legal entity's departments onto these areas.

Scenarios

We want direct and indirect headcount on one page

Two functional areas, DIR and IND. On Functional Area Dimension, map Production and Quality to DIR and Finance, HR, Procurement and Administration to IND. Headcount then reports in two lines without anybody reorganising a department.

What it is connected to

• Department is what a functional area groups.
• Functional Area Dimension is where the grouping is made, per legal entity.

If something looks wrong

• "The functional area groups nothing" - no Functional Area Dimension line points a department at it.
• "It does not appear in the dimension screen" - it is blocked. Clear the Block tick.