EXA Service Cross Charging (EXA SCC)
EXA SCC (Service Cross Charging) is a specialized financial and tax technology software for automating intercompany service charging used by multinational enterprises (MNEs) to streamline the calculation, allocation, and recharging of costs related to intercompany services across legal entities in different jurisdictions.
EXA Service Cross Charging (EXA SCC)
Benefits of EXA Service Cross Charging Software
EXA SCC automates intercompany and intracompany service charging, reducing manual efforts, errors, and compliance risks. Fully integrated with SAP ERP/S/4HANA, it delivers timely data for defendable transfer pricing documentation while enhancing financial transparency and cost control for both service providers and receivers.
End-to-End Data Transparency
- Offers a single source of truth for managing intercompany and intracompany service transactions
- Ensuring transparency and consistency across the service charging process in SAP
Covering Intercompany and Intracompany Services
- Supports both scenrios, intercompany service rendered between legal entities and intracompany services rendered with the same legal entity
Flexible Cost Base and Mark-Up Management
- Supports calculation of service cost bases and application of mark-ups for pass-through and value-add costs
- It helps ensuring compliance with transfer pricing standards
Automated Data Extraction and Maintenance
- Automatically extracts data from SAP ERP systems
- Supports data uploads from non-SAP sources via intiuitive interfaces and templates – reducing manual work and errors
Workflow and Benefit Test Support
- Integrates with workflows
- Includes tools like benefit tests, ensuring that only appropriate, value-adding services are charged intercompany
SAP-Native Integration and Modern Interface
- Built as an SAP-certified add-on, EXA SCC is fully integrated with SAP ERP and S/4HANA
- EXA SCC is designed using a clean-core approach – available on premise or as a SaaS on SAP BTP
Reduced Costs, Effort and Risk
- EXA SCC automates intercompany and intracompany service charging, reducing manual efforts, errors, and compliance risks.
- Fully integrated with SAP ERP/S/4HANA, it delivers timely data for defendable transfer pricing documentation while enhancing financial transparency and cost control for both service providers and receivers.
EXA and SCC Lifecycle
Monthly Intercompany Service Charging Process – 5 Key Stages:
Data Collection from Source Systems (ERP Integration)
- Import budget data for planning vs. actual comparisons (if relevant)
- Collect service usage or consumption metrics (e.g., headcount, tickets logged, hours used)
- Pull or import allocation drivers (e.g., revenue split, FTEs, capacity utilization)
Cost Pooling and Service Product Mapping
- Map raw costs to predefined service products (e.g., IT, HR, legal, finance support)
- Tag services as value-added or pass-through
- Determine provider and recipient entities for each service
- Apply allocation logic for indirect services (based on allocation keys)
Charge-Out Calculation
- Calculate based on actual quantity × transfer price (TP)
- e.g., 100 service hours × $50/hr = $5,000
- Allocate total pooled costs using pre-defined allocation keys (e.g., headcount split)
- Apply mark-ups if required (e.g., 5% on value-added services and related cost)
Simulation and Validation
- Generate simulation reports showing charge-out results
- Allow users to validate cost allocations, TP logic, profit mark-ups
- Identify and address exceptions or errors (e.g., missing cost objects, wrong allocations)
- Optionally run benefit tests or logic-based validations
Finalization and Posting
- Approve charge-outs via workflow (optional)
- Finalize monthly charge-out cycle
- Generate intercompany invoices or journal entries as required
- Export computed charges to ERP (e.g., SAP FI/CO, S/4HANA)
Features of EXA Service Cross Charging Software
Key features of EXA SCC when automating Service Charges in SAP:
- Covering Intercompany and Intracompany Services: Supports both scenarios – intercompany services rendered between legal entities and intracompany services rendered with the same legal entity.
- Definition of Service Catalogues with Service Types and Service Products: Allows computation of direct service charges and indirect cost allocations using allocation keys, giving full coverage over varied service types.
- Support for Both Direct and Indirect Costing: Allows computation of direct service charges and indirect cost allocations using allocation keys, giving full coverage over varied service types.
- Deal with Various Data Set Versions: Provides the opportunity to operate with various data version e.g. budget, estimates or actual data for costs, allocation keys, capacities or service consumption data.
- True-up Computation: Automated calculation of any required True-ups with traceability of any changes in the cost base, allocation keys, service consumptions etc.
- Rule-based Computation of Charges: Comes with the option to define standard and true-up computation rules on how services should be charged during the year and how a true-up should calculated
- Automated Data Extraction & Maintenance: Automatically extracts data from SAP ERP systems and supports data uploads from non-SAP sources via intuitive interfaces and templates, reducing manual work and errors.
- Flexible Cost Base and Mark-Up Management:: Supports calculation of service cost bases and application of mark‑ups for pass-through and value-add costs, helping ensure compliance with transfer pricing standards.
- Workflow & Benefit Test Support: Integrates with workflows and includes tools like benefit tests, ensuring that only appropriate, value-adding services are charged intercompany.
- SAP-Native Integration & Modern Interface: Features a modern, user-friendly interface via SAP Fiori, facilitating ease of use and adoption.
Intercompany Management Use Cases
Deep dive into Intercompany Management Use Cases
Implementation Approach
Download the implementation approach for EXA Service Cross Charging
Technical Details
EXA Service Cross Charging (SCC) is a cutting-edge SAP add-on solution, meticulously designed using SAP's native technology architecture and adhering to clean core guidelines. IT is SAP infrastructure agnostic, offering the flexibility to install on your existing SAP on-premises S/4HANA system or on your own SAP BTP platform. Additionally, the solution is available as a SaaS subscription hosted on the SAP BTP platform. The software is available in the SAP store.
FAQs
What is Intercompany Service Cross Charging in a Multinational Enterprise?
In multinational enterprises (MNEs), different entities within the group often provide services to each other such as IT support, legal advice, HR, R&D, or centralized management services. For tax and transfer pricing purposes, these intercompany services must be properly identified, allocated, and charged at an arm’s length price, to ensure compliance with local tax laws and OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. EXA SCC (Service Cross Charging) is a specialized financial and tax technology software for automating intercompany service charging used by multinational enterprises (MNEs) to streamline the calculation, allocation, and recharging of costs related to intercompany services across legal entities in different jurisdictions.
EXA SCC is built with latest SAP technology and helps to ensure that service transactions are accurately tracked, fairly priced, and compliant with international transfer pricing rules and local tax regulations.
What does EXA Service Cross Charging offer?
- Source Cost Objects: Define relevant cost centers, internal orders, WBS elements etc
- Cost Elements: Include/exclude rules, value-add or pass-through treatment.
- Billing Frequency: Setup for recurring or periodic recharges.
- Stewardship Shares: Define % shares for stewardship.
- Recurring/Sequence Chains: Handle recharge processes via hubs.
- Automated ERP Data Extraction: Pulls raw cost data from ERP systems.
- Budget vs. Actual Costing: Supports planning and actuals and more.
- Service Products: Defined with service types and transaction groups.
- Receivers: Define which group entities receive each service.
- Intercompany vs. Intracompany: Differentiation for compliance.
- Mark-ups: Based on value-add or pass-through classification.
- Allocation Keys: Set for indirect costs using budget or actual data or estimates.
- Capacity for Direct Charging: Set capacity limits or usage for direct services.
- Consumption for Direct Charging: Based on actual/planned estimated usage.
- Rules for Standard Charge-out and True-up computation.
- Simulation & Reporting: For previewing and validating results.
- Self-Service Reporting Tools: For audit trail, transparency, and data analytics.
- Automatic Export: Computed values sent to ERP system (customer-specific).
- Optional Integration with EXA OTP: For P&L segmentation reporting.SAP-Native Integration & Modern Interface.
- End-to-End Data Transparency
Flexible Workflow Configuration using SAP Fiori Standard
What are the EXA SCC deployment options?
EXA SCC is available on premise or as public cloud version.
What AI capabilities does EXA SCC have?
EXA has recently launched the Intercompany Management AI Assistant – called exa nexus. Exa nexus transforms how your teams handle intercompany processes – from routine inquiries to complex compliance assessments and system configurations.
Key capabilities:
- Instant connectivity – links transfer pricing products, services, and entities with cross-reference capabilities
- Smart recommendations – delivers contextual guidance based on inquiry patterns and compliance scenarios
- Comprehensive knowledge access – provides complete answers spanning all transfer pricing domains
Does EXA AG work with implementation partners?
EXA AG works with implementation partners to deliver and support the deployment of its Service cross Charging (SCC( solution and other SAP-based software. This is a key part of its delivery model especially for global rollouts or large-scale SAP environments.
EXA AG often collaborates with SAP consulting firms, Big Four tax advisors, and specialist transfer pricing boutiques or IT integrators.
These partners typically deliver as part of the implementation of EXA SCC:
- Leading or supporting the technical implementation (e.g. system setup, interfaces)
- Assist with service definitions, charging process design and rule-based computation model
- Provide post-go-live support and customizations
EXA provides the software, core documentation, and technical enablement (training, configuration guides and other support.
How will non-SAP data integrated in EXA SCC?
Even if a legal entity of the group does not use SAP ERP (ECC or S/4HANA), it can still be fully included in the EXA SCC solution. EXA SCC is designed to be ERP-agnostic at the data integration layer, meaning it can collect, standardize, and process data from non-SAP systems as well.
1 Flat File Uploads
Non-SAP entities can export their financial and transaction data into CSV, Excel, or XML files. These files are then uploaded manually or via automated scripts to EXA SCC. File templates are predefined by EXA, covering e.g. cost line items on document level posted e.g. on cost center levels.
2 ETL Integration (Custom/Individual Connectors)
For larger non-SAP ERPs (e.g., Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor, JD Edwards), EXA can use:
- ETL tools (e.g., SAP Data Services)
- Middleware / integration platforms (e.g., SAP BTP)
- APIs or database connectors (direct read access)
3 Data Warehouses or Data Lakes
If a group uses a central data warehouse (e.g., SAP BW), EXA SCC can extract data directly from that source. This is a common model in large enterprises where multiple ERP systems (SAP and non-SAP) feed into a consolidated data layer. Data is already cleaned, harmonized, and ready for service allocations and cross charges, no matter if intra- or intercompany.
Does EXA AG have a global service and support structure?
EXA AG offers a global service and support structure for its Operational Transfer Pricing (OTP) software designed to support multinational clients across regions, time zones, and deployment models (on-premise or cloud). EXA provides multi-time zone support for clients in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. Support is typically offered during core business hours, but extended support is available via specific support contracts or SLAs. A dedicated support ticketing system (used for logging incidents, tracking issues, and accessing documentation is in place. In addition, Email-based support for direct queries and escalation.
Which licence models does EXA SCC offer?
EXA AG offers flexible licensing models for its EXA Operational Transfer Pricing (OTP) software to accommodate different customer needs, IT strategies, and deployment preferences. The main models typically reflect whether the software is cloud-based or on-premise, and whether it’s delivered as a subscription or perpetual license with annual maintenance.
In special cases, EXA OTP may be licensed as part of a package deal through SAP,
in collaboration with tax technology partners or with co-selling models where EXA and a system integrator offer a joint proposal for a large finance transformation program.
How can large multinationals manage Service Cross Charging effectively?
Large multinational enterprises (MNEs) face significant complexity when managing service cross charging across their global operations. With dozens or even hundreds of legal entities operating in multiple tax jurisdictions, ensuring that intercompany service charges are accurate, timely, and compliant with local and international tax regulations is no small task. This complexity is compounded by diverse service types, different cost structures, varying levels of benefit received across entities, and the need to apply arm’s length pricing in line with transfer pricing rules such as those set out by the OECD.
To manage service cross charging effectively, MNEs must move beyond manual spreadsheets, isolated systems, and ad hoc processes. These outdated methods are prone to errors, lack transparency, and cannot scale with the business. They also expose companies to serious risks, such as under- or overcharging, lack of documentation, and potential challenges during tax audits.
The key to solving these challenges lies in the use of purpose-built technology like EXA SCC. A robust enterprise grade software solution can automate the end-to-end process of intercompany service charging from collecting cost and usage data, allocating service charges, applying mark-ups, to generating audit-ready documentation and integrating with ERP systems. With automation, companies can ensure consistency in cost allocation methods, traceability of data, and real-time visibility into cross-border service flows.
Technology enables centralized control while still allowing local customization, which is critical for aligning global policies with country-specific requirements. It also supports simulation capabilities, allowing finance and tax teams to anticipate financial impacts. Moreover, it ensures that the entire process is transparent and defensible, reducing the risk of double taxation or disputes with tax authorities.
In short, for large multinationals, effective service cross charging is no longer achievable without dedicated technology. Automation not only improves accuracy and compliance but also supports better and efficient decision-making, resource allocation, and global tax governance.
Are there regularly new releases of EXA SCC?
EXA AG regularly delivers new releases and updates for its EXA Service Cross Charging (SCC) software. The release cadence and delivery method depend on the deployment model.
Is there any need for changes in the SAP ERP system when implementation of EXA SCC is planned?
No. EXA will devliver complementary source data extractors data from source SAP. The subsequent data enrichment of cost postings in SAP documents with e.g. cost element characteristics will take place within EXA SCC in its own tables in its own namespace. There is no need for any preparatory work or data structure on the ERP system before EXA SCC can be installed.
What is the infrastructure requirement to deploy EXA SCC?
The EXA SCC solution will have to be hosted on a SAP HANA database with a netweaver stack. The database can be used from e.g. SAP S/4HANA, BW on on HANA or ERP on HANA. Further information on minimum release versions etc are available upon request.
