ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
The 2024 SAC Q3 Update: Transforming Financial ...

SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) propels into Q3 2024, leveraging new features that enhance financial planning and strategic decision-making. This quarter, SAP introduces deeper integrations with Microsoft PowerPoint and advanced forecasting tools, paralleling innovations seen in tech leaders like Google and Amazon.

The highlight is the integration with Microsoft PowerPoint, allowing for live data updates directly in presentations—vital for real-time business decision-making. Deeper integration with Microsoft PowerPoint now allows financial planners to present up-to-the-minute financial data directly in their strategic presentations, ensuring decisions are based on the latest insights.

The 2024 SAC Q3 Update: Transforming Financial Planning in SAP Analytics Cloud
ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
SAP Revamps Advanced Financial Closing Solution ...

SAP has introduced a transformative update to its Advanced Financial Closing (AFC) solution with the introduction of Company Code Groups, allowing finance teams to streamline and organize financial closing tasks more efficiently. For those new to this, AFC is a robust SAP solution designed to optimize the complex process of financial closing by automating tasks, enhancing reporting accuracy, and reducing closing times.

This update marks a significant milestone for global enterprises like Siemens and Nestlé, which now have enhanced capabilities to streamline their financial operations efficiently across various business dimensions.

The new Company Code Groups feature revolutionizes financial closing by allowing more dynamic, customizable groupings of company codes. This means finance teams can tailor their processes to fit distinct business units or geographic regions with unprecedented precision. This tool simplifies handling your finances, making sure everything's up to standard with rules like IFRS and SOX, and lets you check your financial status on the fly, all from one spot.

In this blog, you will discover how SAP’s latest innovation in AFC will significantly reduce the complexity and duration of financial closing processes. We’ll delve into the technical nuts and bolts of Company Code Groups, explore their impact on flexibility and efficiency, and look at real-world applications that demonstrate why this tool is essential for today’s multinational corporations.

SAP Revamps Advanced Financial Closing Solution with New Company Code Groups
ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
SAP Sets New Standards in Business AI ...

With the ongoing generative AI boom, businesses are seeing unprecedented scalability and accessibility in AI applications, making advanced AI tools available not just to large corporations but to startups and mid-sized businesses as well​. The blend of these advancements with SAP’s innovative approach paves the way for a transformative era in business technology.

SAP Sets New Standards in Business AI Implementation
ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
Real-Time Reporting in S/4HANA Finance: 5 Key ...

This article delves into the concept of real-time reporting, highlighting the fundamental differences between real-time and traditional reporting. We'll then explore five key advantages that real-time reporting in S/4HANA Finance offers, such as enhanced decision-making, improved operational efficiency, etc.
Additionally, we will discuss the key features of S/4HANA Finance that support real-time reporting, and how businesses can leverage embedded analytics within S/4HANA and SAC for practical real-time FI reporting use cases. 

Real-Time Reporting in S/4HANA Finance: 5 Key Advantages for Your Business
ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
Using Predictive Accounting in S/4HANA Finance

Predictive accounting enables you to take the most up-to-date data from areas in S/4HANA outside of Finance, such as Sales; other integrated products, such as SAP Concur; or external systems, and use it to predict future results at any time. You then have a better understanding of what your accounting results, at the end of the current period or quarter, might look like, and why. 

Using the postings in the prediction ledger, along with the actual data from the underlying ledger, you can predict future figures, such as the revenue forecast for one product. It is also possible for you to see a report of all line items for one product. You can display and analyze the data in detail but also at a higher level, for example, in a financial statement. Since all postings, such as expenses or revenues, both actual and predicted, are stored in one place, the universal journal, you can drill down from your profit and loss statement or your balance sheet to the individual journal entries in the general ledger and display the corresponding line items.

Using Predictive Accounting in S/4HANA Finance

ERPfixers Blog Series

The 2024 SAC Q3 Update: Transforming Financial Planning in SAP Analytics Cloud

The 2024 SAC Q3 Update: Transforming Financial Planning in SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) propels into Q3 2024, leveraging new features that enhance financial planning and strategic decision-making. This quarter, SAP introduces deeper integrations with Microsoft PowerPoint and advanced forecasting tools, paralleling innovations seen in tech leaders like Google and Amazon.

The highlight is the integration with Microsoft PowerPoint, allowing for live data updates directly in presentations—vital for real-time business decision-making. Deeper integration with Microsoft PowerPoint now allows financial planners to present up-to-the-minute financial data directly in their strategic presentations, ensuring decisions are based on the latest insights.

SAP Revamps Advanced Financial Closing Solution with New Company Code Groups

SAP Revamps Advanced Financial Closing Solution with New Company Code Groups

SAP has introduced a transformative update to its Advanced Financial Closing (AFC) solution with the introduction of Company Code Groups, allowing finance teams to streamline and organize financial closing tasks more efficiently. For those new to this, AFC is a robust SAP solution designed to optimize the complex process of financial closing by automating tasks, enhancing reporting accuracy, and reducing closing times.

This update marks a significant milestone for global enterprises like Siemens and Nestlé, which now have enhanced capabilities to streamline their financial operations efficiently across various business dimensions.

The new Company Code Groups feature revolutionizes financial closing by allowing more dynamic, customizable groupings of company codes. This means finance teams can tailor their processes to fit distinct business units or geographic regions with unprecedented precision. This tool simplifies handling your finances, making sure everything's up to standard with rules like IFRS and SOX, and lets you check your financial status on the fly, all from one spot.

In this blog, you will discover how SAP’s latest innovation in AFC will significantly reduce the complexity and duration of financial closing processes. We’ll delve into the technical nuts and bolts of Company Code Groups, explore their impact on flexibility and efficiency, and look at real-world applications that demonstrate why this tool is essential for today’s multinational corporations.

SAP Sets New Standards in Business AI Implementation

SAP Sets New Standards in Business AI Implementation

With the ongoing generative AI boom, businesses are seeing unprecedented scalability and accessibility in AI applications, making advanced AI tools available not just to large corporations but to startups and mid-sized businesses as well​. The blend of these advancements with SAP’s innovative approach paves the way for a transformative era in business technology.

Top 4 Tips and Tricks for Streamlining Financial Processes Using S/4HANA

Top 4 Tips and Tricks for Streamlining Financial Processes Using S/4HANA

You’ve probably heard about the cloud and big data, but today, we're focusing on something that's crucial yet often overlooked: streamlining financial processes.

Why does this matter? Well, as amazing as the S/4 suite is, without proper management and effective streamlining, your system can easily devolve into a basic document repository rather than a data-driven powerhouse for financial operations.

Take for an example, the ten fortune 500 which currently runs on SAP. To have all financial tasks—reporting, account payables, Treasury management, asset management running smoothly without any hiccups must have required and require deliberate streamlining efforts.

So, let’s get into this.

Real-Time Reporting in S/4HANA Finance: 5 Key Advantages for Your Business

Real-Time Reporting in S/4HANA Finance: 5 Key Advantages for Your Business

This article delves into the concept of real-time reporting, highlighting the fundamental differences between real-time and traditional reporting. We'll then explore five key advantages that real-time reporting in S/4HANA Finance offers, such as enhanced decision-making, improved operational efficiency, etc.
Additionally, we will discuss the key features of S/4HANA Finance that support real-time reporting, and how businesses can leverage embedded analytics within S/4HANA and SAC for practical real-time FI reporting use cases. 

Using Predictive Accounting in S/4HANA Finance

Using Predictive Accounting in S/4HANA Finance

Predictive accounting enables you to take the most up-to-date data from areas in S/4HANA outside of Finance, such as Sales; other integrated products, such as SAP Concur; or external systems, and use it to predict future results at any time. You then have a better understanding of what your accounting results, at the end of the current period or quarter, might look like, and why. 

Using the postings in the prediction ledger, along with the actual data from the underlying ledger, you can predict future figures, such as the revenue forecast for one product. It is also possible for you to see a report of all line items for one product. You can display and analyze the data in detail but also at a higher level, for example, in a financial statement. Since all postings, such as expenses or revenues, both actual and predicted, are stored in one place, the universal journal, you can drill down from your profit and loss statement or your balance sheet to the individual journal entries in the general ledger and display the corresponding line items.

The Impact of AI on SAP Analytics: Enhancing Insights and Decision-Making in SAP Analytics

The Impact of AI on SAP Analytics: Enhancing Insights and Decision-Making in SAP Analytics

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping how businesses operate and gain insights from their data. Within the world of SAP analytics, AI is a toolbox of technologies that enable faster, smarter, and more predictive decision-making. From streamlining operations to personalizing customer experiences, SAP Business AI unlocks the hidden potential within your organization's vast data stores.

Conducting Fit-to-Standard Workshop with Cloud Mindset – Mindset Shift to Cloud

Conducting Fit-to-Standard Workshop with Cloud Mindset – Mindset Shift to Cloud

To make an SAP S/4HANA Cloud implementation successful, we need to move away from the traditional "Fit-Gap" on-premise mindset to the Fit-to-Standard Cloud mindset. The purpose of the Fit-to-Standard Analysis workshops is to confirm the scope identified in the Digital Discovery Assessment and gather configuration and customization requirements. To do this, implementation consultants demonstrate the SAP S/4HANA Cloud business processes to customer experts from each line of business.

Configure SAP Public Cloud with Central Business Configuration

Configure SAP Public Cloud with Central Business Configuration

SAP Central Business Configuration (SAP CBC) is a new tool that is used to configure a business process spanning different SAP cloud solutions from one central place. SAP CBC allows you to manage your configurations for SAP cloud implementations and ongoing operations centrally through Project Experience. We  can initiate change anytime to make additions to your scope and organizational structure or make changes to existing  configuration settings. 

The Future OF SAP BOBJ

The Future OF SAP BOBJ

In a recent survey conducted by APOS, a prominent SAP partner, 80% of BusinessObjects (BOBJ) customers participating in a BOBJ regroup webinar indicated that they were in the process of migrating from their current BOBJ version or at least had migration plans within the next few months.

From trending YouTube videos discussing the future of SAP BOBJ developers to SAP's latest Business Intelligence (BI) statement of direction released in April, it's only natural to have concerns about the current state of SAP BOBJ.

SAP ECC Classic GL to SAP S/4HANA – Direct Conversion Without Requiring a New GL Migration First

SAP ECC Classic GL to SAP S/4HANA – Direct Conversion Without Requiring a New GL Migration First

The new General Ledger on SAP S/4HANA or ECC has certain advantages over Class GL. Examples: usage of parallel ledgers, Document splitting, Profit Center Financial statements, Segment' reporting that is required for segment reporting according to IAS and U.S. GAAP, etc. In addition, Customers can enhance the new General Ledger flexibly, that is, they can enter user-defined fields and update the relevant totals. Many standard reports can evaluate the information from the user-defined fields. Customers can use the 'Document Splitting' functionality to create financial statements at the company code level and, if required, for entities, such as the segment. As a result, we no longer have to carry out time-consuming reconciliation tasks between FI and CO for the end of the period since cross-entity processes are transferred in real-time to the new General Ledger in Controlling.

Starting from 1709, In new installations of SAP S/4HANA, the new General Ledger Accounting is activated by default. The existing ECC customers moving from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA will also get new GL automatically. As a result, ECC customers will also move to New GL on SAP S/4HANA Conversion. However, they cannot implement document splitting or a further accounting principle/ledger during the conversion project. The architecture of the accounting module in SAP S/4HANA from the 1709 version is based on the concept of the former "New GL". The concept of the Subsequent Implementation of Document Splitting in SAP S/4HANA differs from the Migration Scenario 6 of the "New GL".

How to Find the Best SAP Resources Online: A Beginner's Guide

How to Find the Best SAP Resources Online: A Beginner's Guide

If you are new to SAP, you might feel overwhelmed by the amount of information available online. How do you know which sites are reliable, up-to-date, and relevant to your needs? As an SAP Consultant myself, this is one issue, I myself have been plagued with. After years of skimming the web, I decided to compile a list of helpful sites I would recommend as go-to for SAP resources. Whether you are searching for tutorials, blogs, forums, podcasts, or courses, these sites will help you learn SAP faster and easier.

An Overview on Rise with SAP

An Overview on Rise with SAP

Customers moving to SAP S/4HANA come from different backgrounds and have different end goals.  RISE with SAP is designed to address unique customer scenarios. RISE is not a system upgrade, it's a redesigned method of working that allows customers to change not only once, but to continuously transform. Rise with SAP simplifies a customer's move to the cloud and helps throughout their business transformation journey. RISE with SAP delivers seamlessly with SAP partners, Hyperscaler partners, the Reseller community, and Software partners.  RISE with SAP is designed to help SAP customers.

10 Skills You Should Master as an SAP Consultant

In our last article, we defined SAP Consulting as the activities, processes, and tasks SAP consultants undertake to help SAP customers manage and optimize their business operations. While SAP consulting comes in various forms and flavors, a successful SAP consultant typically excels in certain aspects and qualities, irrespective of his or her domain. In this article, we will cover ten basic skills every SAP consultant needs to be successful and why.

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Basics of SAP for Young Professionals

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Written By: Ndz Anthony Business Intelligence Expert

SAP, commonly pronounced as 'sæp' or S-A-P (System, Application, and Products In Data Processing), is a software company that offers transformative enterprise management solutions to businesses around the globe. 

The SAP company is a leader in ERP technology and business solutions.

SAP ranks amongst the Fortune 500 as the third-largest publicly-traded company(by revenue) globally. 

One reason for these statistics is their top-tier customer base. SAP solutions are frequently expensive, closed source, and require professionals to implement.

Here at ERP Fixers, we know too well how challenging implementing SAP software can be, hence the need for trained SAP experts, typically known as SAP consultants in the SAP Ecosystem.

This article will discuss SAP Consulting, the types of SAP Consulting, how to become an SAP consultant, and finally, the prospects of SAP consulting.

What is SAP Consulting?

We can define SAP Consulting as the activities, processes, and tasks. SAP consultants undertake to help SAP customers manage and optimize their business operations.

Types of SAP Consulting

There are numerous SAP consultant types; as a matter of fact, there are as many SAP Consultants as SAP Products.

However, we can group sap consultants into two main categories, functional consultants and technical consultants.

Who is a Functional SAP Consultant? 

This category of SAP consultants works closely with the domain experts and developers to set up and enable the use of functional SAP modules deployed within user departments. 

The Key roles & Duties of a Functional SAP Consultant include:

  • Liaising with Heads of Departments during business process design and implementation phases.

  • Liaising extensively with heads of departments and "super users" to understand their SAP requirements and provide solutions to business needs. Enforcement of internal controls within SAP and other business systems.

  • Provide user manuals and training to users of enterprise systems.

  • Provide operational and periodic ad-hoc reports to administration to aid decision-making on SAP and SAP-related Systems.

Examples of functional SAP consultant roles are SAP MM Consultant, SAP PaPm Consultant, SAP HCM consultant, etc.

Technical Consultants:

These categories of SAP consultants are more tech-savvy and work closely with the functional consultants to implement, modify or enhance the existing SAP system.

Their Key roles & Responsibilities include:

  • Based on approval, work together with functional consultants to proactively implement new features, introduce new systems and modify existing business processes to improve efficiency.

  • Oversee and manage projects to modify, enhance, or implement new functionality on SAP and other related products.

  •  Support users on change control and management.

Examples of technical SAP consultant roles are SAP ABAP Developer, SAP BW Consultant, SAP Basis consultant, etc.

How to Become An SAP Consultant

We have found two significant routes to commence your career as an SAP Consultant.

1. The SAP YPP Program

The SAP Young Professional Program is an initiative by SAP Digital Skills Center created to bridge the digital gap existing in today's workforce.

The program is designed to:

  • Sieve top graduates and subsequently equip them with soft skills, accredited SAP certifications, and a sense of belonging within the SAP Community.

  • Set a stage for career growth within the SAP Ecosystem as potential SAP consultants.

  • Balance the demand for SAP consultants across the SAP Ecosystem.

If you are interested in an SAP career and a B.s.c in  Business Administration, Management Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field, you should consider applying.

2. SAP Certification and Training

Suppose you already have some experience working with SAP, maybe as a superuser in your company. In that case, you might want to consider this path.

  • Pick your preferred SAP module.

  • Invest in the training course for that module

  • Write certification exam

  • Intern or Volunteer to join up with an SAP Consulting firm to gain experience.

With this route, your credibility and experience will be evident to potential employers. You stand a higher chance of being considered for SAP Consultant roles.

Prospects of SAP Consulting

SAP is an in-demand profession, and there are many possibilities within the sap consulting space.

In this section, I will outline a few prospects for sap consulting.

1. High Earnings

SAP software is to the ERP ecosystem what Apple products are to the tech-gadget industry. SAP software is relatively expensive and usually deployed by enterprises with high budgets and large-scale businesses. Hence, the reason for top-notch earnings in the industry. The compensation for SAP consultants ranks among the highest, with opportunities for job growth prospects, salary, quality of life, and other benefits. PayScale estimates an average SAP Consultant salary at $89,129k per year.

2. In-demand Profession

According to most recent articles and employment agencies, jobs in SAP consulting are high in demand. Due to the increased demand for technology solutions, they will continually rise.

3. Top-Tier Firm

According to Glassdoor, SAP ranks as the "best places to work in 2022". Due to its success as an international brand, SAP consultants are highly regarded and respected in the corporate world.

An Overview on SAP Analytics Cloud Planning

An Overview on SAP Analytics Cloud Planning

Companies might experience challenges in Planning as the economy has been transitioning towards Digitalization. Enterprises face new challenges with the latest changes and developments. Top and middle-level management across organizations have questions about leveraging the ever-growing data available to enable quick and fast decision-making. Accounting and Finance officers have planning, budgeting & forecasting at the top of their priority list of initiatives for improving performance. Well-integrated financial planning is necessary for their initiatives. Companies with these capabilities grow faster and can better serve their customers to seize new opportunities than their competitors.