ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
Get Ready: Key Updates in SAP Analytics Cloud ...

SAP Analytics Cloud is leveling up in Q2 2025 — and finance teams are set to benefit the most. From tighter integration with SAP PaPM in Multi Actions to live connectivity with Google BigQuery, this release focuses on automation, insight, and speed.

This blog covers the top updates finance professionals need to know — including Smart Insights in optimized stories, Joule-powered natural language queries, and new ways to pin insights in Data Analyzer — all designed to supercharge planning, analysis, and decision-making.

Get Ready: Key Updates in SAP Analytics Cloud Q2 2025 for Finance Teams
ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
Mastering ACDOCA: 7 Essential Universal Journal ...

In SAP S/4HANA Finance, the Universal Journal (ACDOCA) forms the core of financial and controlling data. This blog breaks down the key things every consultant needs to know — from Margin Analysis and document splitting to embedded analytics and custom field extensions.

Whether you're implementing, migrating, or optimizing, this guide covers the essentials of ACDOCA and how to use it effectively in 2025.

Mastering ACDOCA: 7 Essential Universal Journal Insights for SAP S/4HANA Consultants (2025 Edition)
ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
AI-Driven Automation in Accounting and Finance ...

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023 FPS03 introduces powerful AI-driven capabilities that streamline core finance and operations processes. With innovations like Joule AI agents and Insight Apps—built on SAP Business Data Cloud—organizations can automate journal entries, predict labor demand, optimize sales fulfillment, and generate intelligent financial reports with minimal manual effort.

This blog explores the key AI features embedded in the FPS03 release and how they help finance teams shift from transactional processing to strategic analysis. By adopting these tools, businesses can reduce costs, enhance accuracy, and lay the foundation for a more agile, data-driven future in financial management.

AI-Driven Automation in Accounting and Finance with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023 FPS03
ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
Revolutionizing ABAP Development with Joule’s ...

Earlier this year, SAP announced the availability of Joule for ABAP developers, bringing AI-powered assistance directly into ADT. This transforms SAP FI customization with smart code completion, real-time error detection, and automated compliance checks—streamlining ABAP development for S/4HANA.

In this blog we will see how AI is changing SAP development.

Revolutionizing ABAP Development with Joule’s ABAP Developer in ABAP Cloud: Enhancing SAP FI Customization within ADT
ERPfixers Blog Series
ERPfixers
SAP Business Data Cloud: Key Questions from the ...

At the SAP Business Unleashed event, key insights were shared about how SAP BDC supports AI applications, real-time analytics, and advanced planning across business functions like finance, HR, and enterprise analytics. But with existing solutions like SAP Datasphere and SAP Business Suite already in play, many users have questions on how to integrate these tools effectively.

In this blog, we’ve compiled the top 18 frequently asked questions from SAP users, addressing strategic, technical, and adoption-related concerns around SAP BDC. Whether you’re a consultant, customer, or SAP enthusiast, this blog will help clarify how SAP BDC works and fits into the broader enterprise data ecosystem.

SAP Business Data Cloud: Key Questions from the Launch
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Using the Prediction and Commitment Extension Ledger for Sales and Purchase Orders

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WALK AWAY FROM THIS SESSION WITH AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PREDICTION AND COMMITMENT EXTENSION LEDGER FOR SALES AND PURCHASE ORDERS PAGE.

Watch this pre-recorded webcast with FI/CO expert Paul Ovigele to learn:

· The different types of Extension Ledger and what they can be used for

· The difference between Predictive Analytics and predictive accounting

· How to Set up the Extension Ledger for Prediction and Commitments

· How the Extension Ledger works with Sales Order postings

· How the Extension Ledger works with Purchase Order postings

The Ropes to a Successful Data Migration

The Ropes to a Successful Data Migration

SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit https://help.sap.com/viewer/29193bf0ebdd4583930b2176cb993268/1709%20002/en-US Steps to create a simple LSMW using batch input recording https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/ABAP/Steps+to+create+a+simple+LSMW+using+batch+input+recording Types of Enterprise Data (Transactional, Analytical, Master) http://bi-insider.com/posts/types-of-enterprise-data-transactional-analytical-master/

Optimization of Cash Operations using SAP Cash Management Powered by SAP HANA.

Optimization of Cash Operations using SAP Cash Management Powered by SAP HANA.

About the Author:

Dr. Ravi Surya Subrahmanyam   is a technical and Financials writer with a background in SAP Financial Accounting, Funds Management, Financial Supply Chain Management, Cash Management & in-house cash, SAP S/4 HANA Finance, RAR etc.   He has been working as a Director for the SAP Practice for The Hackett group India Ltd, GDC- India. He completed his Master’s degree in Finance from Central University, Master of Commerce from Osmania University, Master of Commerce from Andhra University, and Ph.D.in Finance from one of the best universities in India. His research Papers have been published in National and International magazines. He has been a Visiting Instructor for SAP India Education and SAP Indonesia – Education. He has been working on Conversion and Upgradation projects. He is a Certified Solution Architect for SAP S/4 HANA and an SAP S/4 HANA Certified Professional. He can be reached at sravi@answerthink.com  or fico_rss@yahoo.com.

Migration to SAP S/4HANA: What it means to SAP Customers

Globally, the technology space is changing fast and as such, the business enterprise systems are under immense pressure not only to keep up with these advances in technology but also the agile needs of business organizations and their desire to improve efficiency while simplifying business processes. It is with this regard that SAP embarked on a journey in 2015 to offer its customers new improved best practices, a simple and intuitive user interface coupled with faster processing speeds and embedded analytics powered by SAP S/4HANA. SAP, therefore, announced in 2015 that all its customers that the support for the SAP ERP will be ending by the close of 2025. According to a survey carried out by a market research firm IDC, 73 percent of surveyed businesses were planning to migrate into SAP S/4HANA, 18 percent currently deploying and 54 percent of SAP customers were planning to migrate in the next 3 years. Whether this is a sale strategy by SAP or not, we seek to evaluate what this migration means to the existing SAP customers and the expected changes.

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Planning Your Finance Migration From SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA

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To help organizations through the SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA journey, ERPFIXERS and Winshuttle have joined forces for a webinar to discuss our views on the tools, tricks, and processes that can help companies.

Watch this webinar to understand the complex challenges and choices involved in making the finance transition from ECC to S/4HANA as smooth as possible.

Journal Entry Fiori Upload

The purpose of JE posting is to take a batch, validate it for consistency, and create FI documents and post those entries in various line item accounts needed for subsequent business processing.

JE Posting is a process that with a few exceptions runs "behind the scenes" (without user dialog) and is the heart of Journal Entry. It receives journal entry data (representing financial transactions) from the PRA modules (Valuation, Revenue Distribution, etc.), and summarizes them in batches and posts them to the PRA JE line item tables and to SAP FI. JE Posting is the link between the journal entries coming from PRA applications and the FI documents and JE line item table items that are created.

The JE Posting Module is automatically called by the various PRA application areas. For example, whenever you create a Valuation, Revenue Distribution, Checkwrite, Check Input, Tax and Royalty, Owner Suspense, or Accounts Receivable document, the JE Posting Process is automatically triggered, but the standard postings limited in such a way that it can’t handle mass upload of the JE records for various business needs like periodically post entire leasing documents and costs associated to it into SAP FI . Also, the standard SAP JE backend upload program provides the ability to rejected / errored out entries corrected online and it is a manual and tedious effort. This can be simplified by using this JE Fiori upload application by mass upload of the rejected records by downloading, correcting and uploading again

The need is to have an JE Fiori upload application so that the end users can validate, park / post the various financial records into SAP FI with ease , simplified and with great user experience.

Accelerated Accounting Close Can Fix So Many Problems!

The year-end close process is one of the important activities of companies. End users spend most of the time on reconciliations, collecting and validating the data from different components of the same company code or multiple company codes reconciling intercompany activities, reconciling accounts, and making necessary adjustments, finally producing the financial statements. Even today many companies are following outdated & poor closing processes using excel sheets. This paper is aimed to provide an overview on closing processes in SAP S/4 HANA, so companies can shorten the Accounting close and helps faster decision making

Fiori Advancements in Financial Closing Cockpit in S/4HANA

Period end closing is always a critical and high visibility item in any ERP. The timely and effective monitoring and control of period end closing is top most need for the finance department. For this purpose, you must process a sequence of interdependent steps diligently in a specific and well-defined order. Entities use various tools for this, ranging from excel to more sophisticated tools like SAP Financial Closing Cockpit, Blackline’s Runbook etc.

Q&A: Enable Cost Component Split in G/L Accounts – Before SAP S/4HANA!

The Cost Component Split allows for granularity of the cost drivers in your inventory and cost of goods sold. The cost components can be seen in various reports in Product Cost Planning and Material Ledger. 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. 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 (which means that you can get transparency into how much material stock or Fixed costs are sitting in inventory). Also, this functionality can be used whether a company uses Material Ledger or not (i.e. it can be used for Standard and/or Actual cost components). Watch this pre-recorded live Q&A with FI/CO expert Rogerio Faleiros to learn:

  • The things to consider when deciding whether to split COGS in the G/L Accounts.

  • How to map the original COGS account to the Cost Component Split Accounts.

  • A demo of the Cost Component G/L Split program and how to view the General Ledger postings.

  • The Reports that can be used to display the COGS documents that have been split.

Ask A Fixer: Enable Cost Component Split in G/L Accounts – Before SAP S/4HANA!

Attend this live Q&A with FI/CO expert Rogerio Faleiros to learn:

  • The things to consider when deciding whether to split COGS in the G/L Accounts.

  • How to map the original COGS account to the Cost Component Split Accounts.

  • A demo of the Cost Component G/L Split program and how to view the General Ledger postings.

  • The Reports that can be used to display the COGS documents that have been split.

Introducing the Material Ledger in SAP S/4HANA: Functionality and Configuration

Introducing the Material Ledger in SAP S/4HANA: Functionality and Configuration

Learn the basics of the Material Ledger in SAP S/4HANA! Explore processes such as actual costing, balance sheet valuation, and COGS valuation—and how they’ve changed since SAP ERP.

Q&A: Setting Up Transfer Pricing Between Plants

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. However, in SAP Transfer Pricing can also be set up between profit centers (and plants). In this regard it is used as an internal mechanism that treats every transfer between profit centers as a sale and helps facilitate full management reporting by a plant, or group of plants.

Attend this live Q&A with FI/CO expert Paul Ovigele, to learn the following:

  • What needs to be set up for Transfer Pricing between Profit Centers?

  • How is standard cost calculated for Profit center Transfer Pricing?

  • How does a Transfer Pricing Posting look in the profit center View?

  • What are the options to convert to Profit Center Transfer Pricing in S/4 HANA?

S/4HANA Cloud (S4HC) Implementation: Key Watch-Outs For a Seasoned On-Premise Consultant

With SAP being a 46+ year old company, most of the SAP consultants are seasoned in on-premise world having deep knowledge and expertise in configuring systems, designing SAP according to business needs and following various implementation approaches. Now S/4HANA cloud version is gaining popularity and very useful in various scenarios, like professional services, affiliates of larger enterprises as two-tier implementation etc., so learning how it is different from on-premise world is useful. (Also refer blog “Critical insight into S/4HANA Cloud compared to S/4HANA On Premise” showing some differences in S/4HANA cloud vs S/4HANA on-premise.)

Let’s observe some key watch-outs in a S4HC implementation:

Ask A Fixer: Setting Up Transfer Pricing Between Plants

Ask a Fixer

EXCLUSIVELY FOR ASUG MEMBERS!

Start: Wednesday, February 20th, 2018 12:00 PM (CT), 1:00 PM (ET), 11:00 AM (MT), 10:00 AM (PT)

End: Wednesday, February 20th, 2018 1:00 PM (CT), 2:00 PM (ET), 12:00 PM (MT), 11:00 AM (PT)

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. However, in SAP Transfer Pricing can also be set up between profit centers (and plants). In this regard it is used as an internal mechanism that treats every transfer between profit centers as a sale and helps facilitate full management reporting by a plant, or group of plants.

Attend this live Q&A with FI/CO expert Paul Ovigele, to learn the following:

  • What needs to be set up for Transfer Pricing between Profit Centers?

  • How is standard cost calculated for Profit center Transfer Pricing?

  • How does a Transfer Pricing Posting look in the profit center View?

  • What are the options to convert to Profit Center Transfer Pricing in S/4 HANA?

Speaker:

Paul Ovigele, FI/CO Expert, ERPfixers

WHAT IS "ASK A FIXER" WEBCAST SERIES?

Ask a Fixer is a live ASUG-hosted Q&A session with one of ERPfixers’ top-rated SAP experts (“Fixers”) in a specific module or topic. In this real-time discussion session, you have the opportunity to pose your specific questions to a Fixer, who will provide an immediate answer during the forum. This is a great way to get quick answers to your pressing issues, as well as learn from questions posted by other users during the forum.

If you cannot attend: The webcast will be recorded. The link to the recording will be posted here and emailed to all registrants.

Q&A: Deep Dive into the Universal Journal

By now, everyone has heard about the Universal Journal. It is a revolutionary change of the table structures in the Financials modules. Although the conceptual understanding is widely spread, how about the practical aspects of it? How can you get better, more integrated Realtime reports across the various modules such as Financial Accounting, Controlling, Material ledger and Profitability Analysis among others? 

Watch this prerecorded Webcast Q&A with FI/CO expert Paul Ovigele, to learn the following:

  • How does the Universal Journal replace previous FI/CO reporting?

  • What reporting options do you have with the Universal Journal Table ACDOCA ?

  • What are the new functionalities of S/4 HANA that can be viewed in the Universal Journal?

  • What are the Multidimensional Capabilities of the Universal Journal?

Ask A Fixer: Deep Dive into the Universal Journal

Ask a Fixer

EXCLUSIVELY FOR ASUG MEMBERS!

Start: Thursday, January 31st, 2018 12:00 PM (CT), 1:00 PM (ET), 11:00 AM (MT), 10:00 AM (PT)

End: Thursday, January 31st, 2018 1:00 PM (CT), 2:00 PM (ET), 12:00 PM (MT), 11:00 AM (PT)

By now, everyone has heard about the Universal Journal. It is a revolutionary change of the table structures in the Financials modules. Although the conceptual understanding is widely spread, how about the practical aspects of it? How can you get better, more integrated Realtime reports across the various modules such as Financial Accounting, Controlling, Material ledger and Profitability Analysis among others? 

Attend this live Q&A with FI/CO expert Paul Ovigele, to learn the following:

  • How does the Universal Journal replace previous FI/CO reporting?

  • What reporting options do you have with the Universal Journal Table ACDOCA ?

  • What are the new functionalities of S/4 HANA that can be viewed in the Universal Journal?

  • What are the Multidimensional Capabilities of the Universal Journal?

Speaker:

Paul Ovigele, FI/CO Expert, ERPfixers

WHAT IS "ASK A FIXER" WEBCAST SERIES?

Ask a Fixer is a live ASUG-hosted Q&A session with one of ERPfixers’ top-rated SAP experts (“Fixers”) in a specific module or topic. In this real-time discussion session, you have the opportunity to pose your specific questions to a Fixer, who will provide an immediate answer during the forum. This is a great way to get quick answers to your pressing issues, as well as learn from questions posted by other users during the forum.

If you cannot attend: The webcast will be recorded. The link to the recording will be posted here and emailed to all registrants.

Securing SAP Fiori

SAP Fiori Help
 

This article is an excerpt from Securing SAP S/4HANA, courtesy of Espresso Tutorials.

Securing Fiori

SAP Fiori is a new user experience (UX) for SAP software and applications. It provides a set of applications that are used in regular business functions such as work approvals, financial apps, calculation apps, and various self-service apps. The SAP user interface, or SAP GUI as we know it today, was first introduced in 1992 together with the official release of SAP R/3. SAP R/3, the client server edition, was the successor to the SAP R/2 release, the mainframe edition. Although SAP has made several attempts to modernize SAP GUI, an end user from the time it was introduced would still find their way around today. Many transactions and screens have remained the same or changed very little. Since the initial release of SAP GUI, SAP has released several alternative user interfaces such as the SAP Workplace (which was part of the mySAP.com offering), the SAP Enterprise Portal, and the NetWeaver Business Client or NWBC. None were as successful as SAP GUI except, perhaps, for the NetWeaver Business Client. The NetWeaver Business Client is, however, an extension to the SAP GUI. The conclusion of all this is that although many people complained about the old-fashioned look of SAP GUI, they kept using it and will probably continue to do so in the future. But there is no denying the fact that the user community is changing fast. The SAP users of tomorrow are the youngsters of today, who are used to accessing data from their mobile devices. To them, SAP GUI is a relic from the dark ages. This shift is not limited to youngsters—many end users want data access from any device, from any place, at any time. SAP released SAP Fiori to respond to this demand. SAP Fiori is built using modern design principles you might expect from applications designed for smartphones and tablets. There are already more than 500 role-based Fiori applications such as for HR, Finance, and Business Intelligence. An SAP Fiori application is always limited to a specific task or activity. The design is responsive and deployable on multiple platforms. There are three types of SAP Fiori applications: transactional apps, fact sheets, and analytical apps. SECURING FIORI 46

Transactional or task-based applications

The transactional SAP Fiori applications are limited to specific tasks such as entering a holiday request or expense note. They give end users fast access to data and represent a simplified view of an existing business process or workflow.

Fact sheets

Fact sheets have far more capabilities than transactional applications. From a fact sheet, you can drill down into the details. You can even navigate from one fact sheet to another or jump to the related transactional applications. For fact sheets, the underlying database must be SAP HANA. An example of a fact sheet is an application that shows the overview and details of a piece of equipment and its maintenance schedule.

Analytical applications

Analytical applications build on business intelligence using the capabilities of SAP HANA. They allow you to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) of your business operations and to react immediately as changes occur. An example is the sales orders application, which immediately shows your sales representative the sales history from his customer, allowing him to take discount decisions immediately.

Deployment options

SAP Fiori apps consist of front-end components, which provide the user interface and the connection to the back end, and back-end components, which provide the data. The front-end components and the back-end components are delivered in separate products and must be installed in a system landscape that is enabled for SAP Fiori. There are multiple deployment options for the SAP Fiori components, each with their respective advantages and disadvantages. SAP Fiori applications are accessed through the SAP NetWeaver Gateway. The gateway consists of two components: SAP Gateway Foundation (SAP_GWFND) and User Interface Technology (SAP_UI). Both components are add-ons, which from NetWeaver version 7.4, are part of the SAP NetWeaver ABAP Stack. With NetWeaver 7.31, the components had to be deployed separately. This means that any system built on SAP NetWeaver, such as SAP ERP or SAP CRM, can be used to deploy SAP Fiori applications. SECURING FIORI 47 The following deployment options exist: central hub deployment, the embedded scenario and the cloud edition (see Figure 2.1). Figure 2.1: SAP Fiori deployment options

Figure 2.1: SAP Fiori deployment options

Figure 2.1: SAP Fiori deployment options

Central hub deployment

The central hub deployment is the preferred option. Here, SAP NetWeaver Gateway is installed as a separate system. The Fiori applications are deployed here and access the data on the back-end business systems, such as SAP ERP or SAP CRM. Although this option implies an extra system, thus a higher total cost of ownership (TCO), it enables a multi-back-end system scenario while ensuring a consistent look and feel for the different applications. The central hub can be considered a single point of access for all mobile applications. In addition, installing SAP NetWeaver Gateway on a separate system allows you to move the system behind or in front of the firewall depending on your current network topology and security requirements. SECURING FIORI 48

Embedded scenario

SAP NetWeaver is the basis of all ABAP-based SAP applications, regardless of whether you are talking about SAP ERP, SAP BW, or any of the others. As the gateway is an add-on for SAP NetWeaver, it is available on every ABAP-based business application. This means that it can be activated and that Fiori applications can be deployed on any system. This makes an extra system unnecessary. However, we do not recommend the embedded scenario as, in contrast to the central hub deployment, it results in Fiori applications being installed all over the place— negating the advantage of the single point of access for all mobile applications. The embedded scenario should only be considered during a proof of concept or when the deployment of mobile applications is going to be limited to a single SAP application such as SAP ERP. 2.1.3

Cloud edition

The SAP Fiori cloud edition is a ready-to-use infrastructure which can serve as a front end while leaving the back-end systems on premise. The connection to the SAP Fiori Cloud is realized via SAP Cloud Connector, which must be installed on premise. The back-end components still have to be installed on the back-end systems.

Comparison of the deployment options

Table 2.1 compares the different deployment options. Every deployment option has its respective advantages and disadvantages. The importance of the pros and cons differ in every customer situation. We strongly recommend the central hub deployment option as it enables a single point of access to your mobile applications for SAP ERP, SAP BW, and many others, while at the same time ensuring the same look and feel. Due to its limitations and dependencies, the embedded scenario should only be considered in a proof-of-concept scenario.

Table 2.1: Comparison of the deployment options

Table 2.1: Comparison of the deployment options

Q&A: Transitioning from Costing to Account Based CO-PA

SAP Help

THIS PRESENTATION WITH Paul Ovigele WILL COVER:

  • What is the difference between Costing and Account Based CO-PA?

  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of Costing vs. Account Based CO-PA?

  • What are the implications of activating both types of CO-PA?

  • What are the steps to transition from one type of CO-PA to the other?

Speaker:

Paul Ovigele, FI/CO Expert

Watch the prerecorded webcast by pressing play:

Get answers to the following questions asked in our Q&A:

Q: If you have BW based on Costing Based CO-PA, will this work for Account Based CO-PA?

Q: Can you still use Costing Based COPA in S/4 HANA?

Q: Is there an advantage of going to Account Based COPA before S/4?

Q: Comment on the 1809 release and the sort of merge of account based and cost based COPA

Q: Why activation of actual costing is optional in S4 HANA and can you provide a specific example?

Q: Did I hear you say there is no quantity from SD billing in universal journal in account based PA? 

Q: Costing based COPA allows for than one UoM per transaction.  (e.g.  25 bottles or 2500ml)  In ECC6 it seems account based Copa allows only one UoM per transaction.     How about S4Hana?

Q: If we currently have Costing Based COPA, and if we will shift to dual Costing+Account Based, how will historical data be migrated?

 

WHAT IS "ASK A FIXER" WEBCAST SERIES?

Ask a Fixer is a live ASUG-hosted Q&A session with one of ERPfixers’ top-rated SAP experts (“Fixers”) in a specific module or topic. In this real-time discussion session, you have the opportunity to pose your specific questions to a Fixer, who will provide an immediate answer during the forum. This is a great way to get quick answers to your pressing issues, as well as learn from questions posted by other users during the forum.