Customers moving to the Intelligent Enterprise come from a variety of backgrounds and have different end goals. RISE with SAP is designed to address unique customer scenarios. RISE is a Business Transformation as a Service. RISE with SAP supports customers in Modernizing - on the best cloud infrastructure to achieve the lowest possible TCO, Standardizing - on the best intelligent suite to drive process efficiency and scale, Digitizing - on the best transformation platform to innovate faster than your competition
SAP General Ledger Considerations in Central Finance Implementations
SAP offers multiple pathways to implement SAP S/4HANA latest release. One pathway is Central Finance. A typical use case is customers with different release of SAP systems or non-SAP system can leverage SAP S/4HANA features by implementing Central Finance. SAP offers SAP Central finance solution. a deployment option, to leverage latest innovations of S/4HANA by replication of posting data from different ERP systems to central finance system without disturbing the existing ERP systems. The source system can be SAP, non-SAP systems or customized home-grown systems. There are several advantages with this approach such as shared services, advanced segment/group reporting, and transform business processes to SAP S/4HANA quickly. In addition, Central Finance provides companies with an opportunity to harmonize master data on the fly and enable fast closing.
In this recorded session, you will learn key considerations of General ledger in central finance with FI/CO expert Anand Seetharaju:
- Introduction to Central Finance
- What do you need to know about parallel ledgers when implementing central finance?
- What document splitting features available with Central Finance?
- Key currency considerations you must know.
- Chart of accounts considerations
- Key takeaways
- References
Tips to Master SAP Controlling Design in Readiness for S/4HANA
Are you aware of the changes to the Controlling module with S/4HANA? Is your SAP Controlling implementation optimized to make the most of the available functionality? Are you taking advantage of the integrated nature of the SAP system and making the most out of this module?
Watch this recorded session with ERPfixers and SAP Controlling Consultant Ashish Sampat where you can find answers to questions such as below:
- What are the important changes in Controlling under S/4HANA that I should be aware of?
- Which cost allocation method is better - Distribution or Assessment, when should I use one versus another?
- What are the different standard costing methods that are available for use, and under what circumstances should they be used?
- How does one go about correcting various error / warning messages encountered during costing?
- What are the different cost objects that are available for use in SAP Controlling?
- Under what circumstances should I go about automating WIP, Variance and Settlement jobs?
- What various design options can we use to add freight and other incidental costs on procured materials?
- How can we link and analyze Movement Types (in Materials Management) to GL Account (in Financial Accounting)?
- How to separate GR/IR for Intercompany transactions?
New SAP Press Book: Production Variance Analysis in SAP S/4HANA
John and Janet’s new book, on publication Jan 26, 2023, immediately entered the SAP Press Bestsellers top ten. The first edition in 2007 was the first-ever book on SAP Controlling (CO), which explains SAP CO in an easy-to-understand way and has continued to attract positive feedback from our SAP Controlling community.
The 2nd edition was released in 2011 with a revised and improved layout and new content based on SAP ERP 6.0, continued as a bestseller, and remained in the SAP Press catalog.
To completely transform the book to the latest SAP S/4HANA version, John asked Janet Salmon, Chief Product Owner of Management Accounting at SAP SE, to co-author with him. They have included S/4HANA version 2021 screenshots and content throughout the book and S/4HANA version 2022 in the new chapter 7 on event-based processing, SAP Fiori Apps, and the future direction of SAP S/4HANA.
Chapter 7 discusses new options for variance analysis delivered with SAP S/4HANA Cloud when you use scope item 3F0 (Event-Based Production Cost Posting) and SAP S/4HANA 2022, with the business function for universal parallel accounting.
In this webinar, John and Janet present a chapter-by-chapter review of the updated contents and structure and, in the process, you'll gain an overview of SAP Product Costing.
Analytics-Based Enterprise Performance Management
Enterprise performance management (EPM) is now viewed as the seamless integration of managerial methods such as strategy execution with a strategy map and its companion balanced scorecard (KPIs) and operational dashboards (OPIs); enterprise risk management (ERM); capacity-sensitive driver-based budgets and rolling financial forecasts; product / service / channel / customer profitability analysis (using activity-based costing [ABC] principles); supply chain management; lean and Six Sigma quality management for operational improvement; and resource capacity spending planning. Each method should be embedded with business analytics of all flavors, such as correlation, segmentation, and regression, and analysis; and especially predictive analytics as a bridge to prescriptive analytics to yield the best (ideally optimal) decisions. This presentation will describe how to complete the full vision of analytics-based enterprise performance management.
Enabling Cost Components for Detailed Analysis of Inventory-Related G/L Accounts
Cost components break down the costs of a material across the entire production structure into material costs, production costs, material overhead, production overhead, and other costs. However, this breakdown has not been available in the General Ledger before SAP S/4HANA. By utilizing a Custom Enhancement, the Cost Component Split by G/L Account can be available in the ECC system as well. This will provide suitable transparency about cost drivers in the General Ledger, particularly for companies that do not plan an S/4 conversion for a few years, and also positions them with a Splitting Structure that is compatible for an eventual S/4 Conversion. This functionality can be used to split cost components for COGS accounts as well as Inventory accounts and Production Variances, among others. Also, this functionality can be used whether a company uses Material Ledger or not.
Watch this recorded webcast with Controlling expert Rogerio Faleiros to learn:
- Splitting of COGS Accounts based on cost component split.
- Splitting of Ending Inventory based on cost component split.
- Customizing of accounts and posting scenarios.
- Enhancement of program to include Cost Component split for other accounts, such as Scrap, Consumption, Production Variance, etc.
- Viewing Enhanced Drilldown Reports for Product Costing and Material Ledger
Setting Up Transfer Pricing between Company Codes
Transfer pricing is a widely used functionality which sets a price between affiliated entities. It is typically setup for cross border transactions and need to conform with the tax laws in the respective countries. In SAP, Material Ledger can be used to enable multiple Valuation Views that can include or exclude the impact of transfer pricing and intercompany profit. In this regard it is used as an internal mechanism that treats every transfer between different company codes as is they occurred within the same entity, by eliminating intercompany profit and reporting in a common currency.
Watch this recorded webcast with FI/CO expert Paul Ovigele, to learn the following:
- What needs to be set up for Transfer Pricing between Company Codes?
- How is standard cost calculated for Profit center Transfer Pricing?
- How does a Transfer Pricing Posting look in the Group Valuation View?
- How is profit in Inventory identified in an Intercompany Posting?
- What changes have been made to the Transfer Pricing process in S/4HANA?
Simplify Your Journey to S/4HANA Finance
As SAP ECC customers are planning to move to SAP S/4HANA they want to know how to get started.
Join ERPfixers and Dr. Ravi Surya Subrahmanyam in this recorded webcast to learn more about:
- An overview on SAP S/4HANA & SAP S/4HANA Finance
- SAP S/4HANA transition options
- Tools that support SAP S/4HANA transition
- SAP S/4HANA readiness check for SAP ERP usage and data profiling
- Process discovery for SAP S/4HANA Transformation (evolution of SAP Business Scenario Recommendations)
- Building a business case for SAP S/4HANA transition
Production Variance Analysis in S/4HANA
Variance analysis begins much earlier than month end. It begins the previous fiscal year when sales, production, and cost center plans are created. You then create cost estimates for the following fiscal year which provide plan costs for the manufacture of products, and when compared with actual costs, allow variance analysis.
With the introduction of SAP S/4HANA there have been many improvements in SAP Controlling which we'll cover in this Webcast, including new Fiori apps which access the universal journal for improved views of variance analysis.
Fixed Asset Depreciation - A Taxing Situation for ERPs
Is your company's tax asset depreciation managed within SAP ERP or in a separate tax-specific system? Over the past 30+ years, Kent has encountered many tax managers and some finance managers, with a risk-aversion or reluctance to connect the tax asset depreciation process to SAP.
Join ERPfixers and Kent Bettisworth for this recorded session to discuss:
- SAP fixed asset designs that work for both, finance and tax departments.
- The ERP process and system challenges and suggested mitigation actions.
- Two specific SAP fixed asset designs with choices for finance and tax integration
- The impact of design choice , Tax tight integration or relaxed-integration on the risks.
Cost Flows in SAP Controlling
One of the most misunderstood aspects in all of SAP is how to analyze production variances. This is partly because SAP’s method of Product Cost Controlling is different from other accounting software systems, in that production costs are passed through the P&L as well as the Balance Sheet. And also, because production activity (Labor, Machine Time, Overhead) is tracked using Secondary Cost Elements, which are not part of your typical Financial Statements. Even some of the most seasoned cost accountants are flummoxed with how the manufacturing information is represented in Financial and Management Accounting, and how to measure price and efficiency variances. To put it simply, Production Variance Analysis involves three steps:
Creating a standard cost estimate, which calculates the expected cost to manufacture an assembly.
Collecting the Actual manufacturing costs on a manufacturing order (production order/process order /product cost collector).
Calculating the Variance, which is the difference between:
actual costs: components, labor, overhead
actual credits: value of finished goods manufactured.
SAP Product Costing Controlling Configuration and Beyond
- Look into the design aspects that are jointly owned by CO, MM and PP teams. (e.g. Resource / Work Center and their Standard Value Keys, Formulae for Activity Types).
- Review options to add freight, other incidental costs in the standard cost estimates and track actuals (e.g. Costing Sheet, Additive Costs, User exit for material valuation, Accrual pricing conditions in Purchase Order, etc.)
- Understand how to investigate and rectify messages encountered during product costing
- Deep dive into movement types and account determination, analyze MM-FI accounting flow
Variance Analysis in SAP Controlling
One of the most misunderstood aspects in all of SAP is how to analyze production variances. This is partly because SAP’s method of Product Cost Controlling is different from other accounting software systems, in that production costs are passed through the P&L as well as the Balance Sheet. And also, because production activity (Labor, Machine Time, Overhead) is tracked using Secondary Cost Elements, which are not part of your typical Financial Statements. Even some of the most seasoned cost accountants are flummoxed with how the manufacturing information is represented in Financial and Management Accounting, and how to measure price and efficiency variances. To put it simply, Production Variance Analysis involves three steps:
Creating a standard cost estimate, which calculates the expected cost to manufacture an assembly.
Collecting the Actual manufacturing costs on a manufacturing order (production order/process order /product cost collector).
Calculating the Variance, which is the difference between:
actual costs: components, labor, overhead
actual credits: value of finished goods manufactured.
Gain better Visibility of Inventory Costs within your ERP System
In the standard ERP system (and even S/4HANA) it is difficult to find reports that give you a multidimensional view of your inventory costs. Many customers download the information to Microsoft Excel or use external reporting tools such as BI to do the analysis. There is nothing wrong with these options, but sometimes they lead to reconciliation errors (in the case of Excel) or realtime update issues (in the case of BI). With the Material Ledger Activated and by utilizing an enhanced report, there are several reporting options that will give you a more granular view of your inventory values.
Recording Stock-in-Transit in Accounting and Logistics Transactions
Stock-in-Transit can occur when goods transferred between two entities have left the sending entity, but ownership has not yet been transferred to the receiving entity. In traditional SAP the Stock-in-Transit of Inventory can be identified in Inventory Management reports, but this is not reflected in Accounting. With the Business Function LOG_MM_SIT, which is available in ECC (from Enhancement Pack 5) and also in S/4HANA (switched on by default), you can reflect the Stock-in-Transit in dedicated G/L Accounts.
Reorganizing Profit Centers in SAP
As of ECC 6 EHP 5, SAP rolled out a functionality which allows for reorganization of the profit center on the core SAP objects in the Logistics and Accounting functions.
This includes changing profit centers on Materials, Sales Orders, Cost Centers, Orders, Projects, AR, AP, and GL Open Items. With this functionality companies can update the core data in their SAP ERP systems to enable financial reporting which better aligns with how they manage their business today versus 10-15 years ago when they first implemented SAP. Learn how SPX Flow used this functionality to transform their financial reporting and enable full financial statements which align with a new management structure.
Universal Allocations in S/4HANA
Cost Allocation within the Overhead Cost Controlling module enables business users to periodically allocate posted amounts and quantities from sender cost objects to receiver cost objects based on a Cycle Structure. Some challenges exist with the current ECC functionality such as the ability of users to easily understand their allocation processes and the ability to simulate the results from allocations. Also, several other modules such as General Ledger, Profit Center Account, and Profitability Analysis also contain allocation functionality, but it is difficult to keep track of all the allocations, as they are not stored in the same area of the system. In S/4HANA 1809, Universal Allocations were introduced to handle most of these issues as well as provide new functionality.
SAP's RE-FX Contract Lease Management Solution
WALK AWAY FROM THIS SESSION WITH AN UNDERSTANDING OF SAP's RE-FX Contract Lease Management Solution
The FASB released new lease accounting standards taking effect:
- After December 15, 2018 for US public companies and
- Delayed to December 15, 2021 for US private and nonprofit companies*
- Lease contracts move from a footnote in financial statements to the balance sheet as right-to-use (ROU) assets
- SAP's existing Real Estate module (RE-FX) incorporates the new process and reporting requirements
- This webinar informs you of 5 things you may not know, but should, about implementing the new lease accounting standard and SAP's RE-FX solution:
- Things to do before your implementation
- Things to avoid that complicated public company
implementations
- S/4HANA versus ECC6 and on- premise versus
cloud
- Things to remember about SAP's RE-FX
configuration
S/4 HANA: Costing for Manufacturing Orders
WALK AWAY FROM THIS SESSION WITH AN UNDERSTANDING OF DISTRIBUTING COSTS DURING PERIODS OF IRREGULAR PRODUCTION ACTIVITY
There are certain scenarios where the activities of a business are not aligned with the period when the costs for those activities are incurred. This occurrence is typical with companies with seasonal production cycles, such as those in the Agribusiness industry, whose investments in land or other resources, do not always coincide with when the utilization of those resources occurs. In those cases, a cost model is set up so that the original cost is spread through the periods of the production cycle, when the actual cultivation of the land takes place.
In these times, where disruption due to COVID 19 has impacted many industries and hence production activities, the model described above could also be useful. During periods of Production Downturn which leads to minimal or no activity, how do you reflect that in a cost structure that had assumed that production will take place? Hear from Rogerio Faleiros, SAP Controlling Expert and Author, who will take you through the following:
- Using Assessments between Cost Centers and Internal
- Orders for Operational Expenses
- Using Internal Order Settlement to transfer Costs to AUCs
- Setting up Depreciation Rules to reflect periods of Uneven
Production
- Using the Allocation Structure to Distinguish Between
- Different Types of Costs
How to Distribute Costs During Periods of Irregular Production Activity
WALK AWAY FROM THIS SESSION WITH AN UNDERSTANDING OF DISTRIBUTING COSTS DURING PERIODS OF IRREGULAR PRODUCTION ACTIVITY
There are certain scenarios where the activities of a business are not aligned with the period when the costs for those activities are incurred. This occurrence is typical with companies with seasonal production cycles, such as those in the Agribusiness industry, whose investments in land or other resources, do not always coincide with when the utilization of those resources occurs. In those cases, a cost model is set up so that the original cost is spread through the periods of the production cycle, when the actual cultivation of the land takes place.
In these times, where disruption due to COVID 19 has impacted many industries and hence production activities, the model described above could also be useful. During periods of Production Downturn which leads to minimal or no activity, how do you reflect that in a cost structure that had assumed that production will take place? Hear from Rogerio Faleiros, SAP Controlling Expert and Author, who will take you through the following:
- Using Assessments between Cost Centers and Internal
- Orders for Operational Expenses
- Using Internal Order Settlement to transfer Costs to AUCs
- Setting up Depreciation Rules to reflect periods of Uneven
Production
- Using the Allocation Structure to Distinguish Between
- Different Types of Costs