SAP Book Reviews

January 20, 2008

These are some SAP R/3 books that SapLinks staff have found useful.

1.
FI/CO:Highly regarded by most consultants, this book covers FI/CO essentials well, but leaves out some important topics including assets accounting, consolidations, product and activity based costing.
2.
ABAP: Offers a good overview of the SAP ABAP language. Supplemented with the online help at help.sap.com, it will help you get up to speed with ABAP programming faster.
3.
FI/CO:Targetted at the novice FI user. Would otherwise recommend the other FI/CO book listed.
4.
SD: Good SD implementation guide, but may be in need of an update.
5.
ABAP: Excellent intro to object-oriented ABAP, as well as the ABAP language itself. Good book to own just for reference purposes.
6.
BW: Good conceptual introduction to SAP BW. For practical configuration training, take a SAP course or try the Biao Fu BW book.
7.
BASICS: Only recommended if you need to buy a book that explains the SAP basics. Otherwise, explore the many helpful SAP infosites on the WWW.
8.
PS: Still the best intro to SAP project systems, but in desperate need of an update.
9.
SCM: As the title implies, this book is a good read on SAP’s view of the SCM world, but not as a primer on SCM concepts.
10.
IS: Have not read this personally, but to quote a reviewer "An acceptable introduction to mySAP.com, but light on detail".
11.
CAREER: A good book on embarking on careers in SAP consulting, written by respected authors in this field.

SAP Links

October 20, 2007







Top: Computers: Software: ERP: SAP  (143)





Description
FAQ










See also:









This category in other languages:
   




German  (37)   Spanish  (5)  



  • SAP AG, Germany – Market and technology leader in client/server enterprise application software, providing comprehensive solutions for companies of all sizes and all industry sectors.


  • Corporate Directory Services – Nakisa – Integrated software solution for the Human resources department to view departmental and personnel information with org charts through the internet and company intranets
  • Easy Software – Easy Link for SAP R/3 supports electronic archiving and document management.
  • International Systems Solutions – Provides a range of SAP-related professional services.
  • IT-Factories – Sino-Germany Joint venture SAP consulting company in China. Provider SAP implementation and consulting service.
  • Moskowitz and Company – Expertise in SAP for the banking industry and bank automation.
  • OptiSystems – Application performance management software for SAP R/3 systems. Using patented Energizer technology, system throughput is increased and response time improved.
  • Paymetric – SAP payment card solutions
  • Resources for EDI/ALE users – EDI/ALE answers in plain English.
  • Rivermead ERP Ltd – Expertise in all aspects of BPR, IT, software implementation
  • SAP Design Guild – Stage for UI people: exchange information and opinions on visual and user interface design issues regarding SAP.
  • SAP Labs – R/3 Tech Tips
  • SAP Portals – Software company, provides companies of all sizes with business solutions that deliver a better return on information.
  • SAP Resources – SAP jobs database
  • SAP Scene – A detailed guide to configuration of FI, CO and TY modules of SAP R/3.
  • SAP UK – Leading provider of inter-enterprise software solutions. SAP’s mySAP.com Internet offerings provide an open collaborative business environment of personalized solutions on demand.
  • Seventh Wave Technology, Inc. – SAP Basis technical support delivered online. WaveOnline?.Net provides 24×7 availability, proactive monitoring and maintenance, high priority support response, task scheduling, monthly performance status reports, web-based delivery, and subscription-based pricing.
  • Siemens Business Services – A Global SAP Logo Partner as well as a National Logo Partner of SAP America, and has had a relationship with SAP for more than 20 years.
  • Workflowing – Resource centre for SAP WebFlow? and SAP Business Workflow
  • Xi Technologies Corporation – Specializes in providing internet solutions to SAP R/3 systems owners.











  • SAP“ search on:  
All the Web - AltaVista - Google USENET - Google - HotBot - Lycos - Northern Light - Yahoo


Automatic Account Detemination in SAP

July 20, 2007

Automatic Account Determination

This is perhaps the part that causes the most heartache for the FI Configurer.  
For some reason, although it is an integration area, the FI team always ends up with
responsibility for it.  To do a good job you need a reasonable understanding of :

  1. the business processes in the source modules
  2. the FI account postings that they should be generating (what sort of account should be
    debited or credited etc)
  3. the organisation structure and its relationships between the source modules
  4. the reporting requirements that are expected from the General Ledger or Profit Centre
    Accounting
  5. your chart of accounts

Sounds daunting doesn’t it ?  Here is a suggested approach …

The IMG section under GL / business transactions / integration will
take you through all the necessary account determination for the automatic postings that
the system may need to post.  You may not need all of these.You could maintain on an as
needed
basis.  As the project teams test or prototype their expanding
functionality, the SAP system will look for the accounts to which it should post. 
The error message and the SAP documentation and configuration does not always explain
clearly which piece of account determination is used for which type of functionality, so
it is sometimes difficult to be pro-active. 

Being reactive has the benefit that hopefully each side (eg: MM and FI) can develop an
understanding of what the business transaction is and therefore where it should be
posting. Otherwise the MM person may not even be aware that he has generated a certain
type of posting ! (You’d be amazed at some of the lack of ownership from a logistics
consultant for the financial postings that they generate).

I will be explaining each account determination area simply and clearly with posting
examples

In the meantime, some general
warnings:

  • Whenever you change the field status settings for an account, ensure that you have
    verified that any automatic postings will be able to meet the requirements. EG: do not
    make business area mandatory if your system may make a posting which cannot determine and
    post the business area.
  • Consider specifying that accounts that are posted to automatically can only
    be posted to automatically.  This will simplify reconciliation between the source
    module and the GL account should you need to do this.

SD-FI Account Determination and Postings

This is known in the IMG as "revenue account determination", but it covers a
lot more than that (discounts, taxes etc).  This is what determines how the financial
impact of your SD Billing document is posted into the FI General Ledger.

The integration is controlled both in SD and in FI.

In SD there is a awesome area of configuration called the pricing procedures.  
The pricing procedure determines the final price quoted to the customer for a particular
product.  This could be a complicated calculation taking into account the base price,
any special prices or discounts that may apply to that scenario, taxes, freight charges
etc.  These prices or charges are called ‘condition types’.  This condition technique is used in
a number of areas of SAP.

For now all we need to know is that each condition type is assigned to an account key
(or in the case of rebates two account keys).  You can assign multiple condition
types to the same account key. There are a number of account keys that are pre-defined in
the system. For example:

  • ERF freight revenues
  • ERL revenues
  • ERS sales deductions
  • EVV cash settlement
  • MWS sales tax

Now we start getting to the integration by mapping the account keys to GL
accounts.  But it is not as simple as that. It can be as flexible (ie: as complex) as
you want. Start off with the most simple approach.  Generally if one is using a good
sales / revenue reporting tool (eg: CO-PA) then one does not need a lot of flexibility and
variety in the GL accounts that are posted to.  The level of detail that you need in
GL should be determined by your financial statement reporting requirements – you may end
up with only one Revenue account – it is a good bet!

So, taking the simple approach we would ignore most of the configuration possibilities
: procedures, access sequences, condition tables etc  (Yes it is that ‘condition
technique’ kicking in again.  Once you have worked through it once in one area and
encounter it in another then hopefully you will be comfortable in knowing that most of the
standard configuration can be left as is. ) 
 

We have to decide which access sequences we want to use (Five access sequences are
defined in the standard SAP R/3 System). To keep it simple, let us assume we just use one
- for example: the access sequence "chart of accounts/sales org./account keys".

The chart of accounts part is standard in all account determinations, so let us look at
the rest.  This access sequence allows us to specify different GL accounts for
different Sales Organisations. 

So if we had a billing document line item where the customer had some special
deductions for one of the products he purchased, we could map accounts by Sales
Organisation.  To make it even simpler a document is within one Sales Organisation so
we have an overall mapping as follows:

SD Line Item Condition type SD Amount Account Key Sales Organisation GL Account
1 Sales deduction for being such a nice guy $10 ERS 1000 800010 – Sales deductions for 1000
Sales deduction for special promotion on particular product $15 ERS
Base Revenue $200 ERL 800000 – Revenue for Sales Org 1000
  Total for item 1 $175  
2 Base Revenue $100 ERL 1000 800000 – Revenue for Sales Org 1000
  Total for item 2 $ 100  
Document Total $ 275  

So the invoice that the customer gets (and that you can view in SD) will look something
like:

Item (Note this is the SD Invoice line item) Amount
Item 1: $175
Item 2: $100
Total owing , 30 days terms etc: $275

The GL document posting that the system will make to FI will look something like this
though:

FI Line Item Debit / Credit Account Amount
1 Debit (PK=01) Customer (AR Account) $ 275
2 Credit (PK=50) Revenue (GL Account) -$ 300
3 Debit (PK=40) Sales Deduction (GL Account) $25

Balancing to 0 as all GL
documents must….

$0

Note : There is no direct relation between an SD Line item and an FI Line Item
- they are different things.

Other considerations:
  • Remember that if you are using business areas, then depending on your configuration
    there, the system may create additional FI line items if it needs to post to different
    business areas.  This may be even more of a reason why you do not need additional GL
    accounts.  If your Sales Organisations already map to different business areas, you
    could use the GL accounts for all Sales Organisations.
  • Different access sequences will allow a broader variety of GL accounts (for example: by
    customer account) group. I strongly suggest having a good understanding of the reporting
    requirements expected to be supported from the General Ledger vs the SIS (Sales
    Information System)  or CO-PA (Profitability Analysis) or (CO-PCA) Profit Centre
    modules before you create too many GL accounts.  At the risk of repeating myself, the
    SD to FI account determination should only be as detailed as your statutory reporting
    requirements.   The reporting from other tools like Profitability Analysis are
    so much more flexible and powerful, you may never look at the General Ledger for internal
    profit reporting again except to do a reconciliation check.

– Main.IvanWong – 23 Jan 2002

Links To Other SAP Related Websites

April 20, 2007






Current SAP News
- href="http://www.sap.com/press/" target=_top>SAP Press Announcements
-
href="http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NewsNow/ASearchW.htm?Topic=*.Tech&ASearch=SAP&Search=SAP"
target=_top>SAP@Newsnow
- target=_top>SAP@YahooNews
- href="http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=sap&d=t" target=_top>SAP Stock
Performance
 ::Top::





FAQ
- target=_top>Step 1 — when you don’t know what on earth SAP is
- href="http://www.saplinks.net/" target=_top>Step 2 — SapLinks, SAP Starting
Points
- Step 3
SapFans, a famous SAP site
- target=_top>Step 4 — Sap.Ittoolbox, another SAP portal site
- href="http://searchsap.com/?Offer=sasaplinks" target=_top>Step 5 —
SearchSap, YASPS
 ::Top::







SAP Sites
href="#SapFin">SAP Financials ::
SAP Logistics
:: SAP HR :: href="#SapBasis">SAP Basis &
Infrastructure :: href="#SapOthers">Other SAP Sites
Finance & Controlling
- href="http://www.sapscene.com/" target=_top>SapScene — My favorite site on SAP
FI

Logistics
- target=_top>SAP R/3-Tripod contains some useful SAP logistic information

Human Resource Management
- href="http://help.sap.com/saphelp_46c/helpdata/en/b7/c447ed9d5411d189b60000e829fbbd/content.htm">SAP
HR help
- MySAP Human
Resources

- href="http://academic.uofs.edu/faculty/gramborw/sap/sapguide.htm">KANIA SAP
study guides and lessons
- href="http://www.doi.gov/hrm/fhris/stakeend.htm">Stakeholders and end-user
information on SAP HR
- href="http://www.searchsap.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid21_gci755004,00.html">Starwood
Hotels beds down with mySAP HR
- href="http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000911S0024">Article: Self-service
HR popular among tech companies
- href="http://wwwext03.sap.com/solutions/technology/workflow.asp">SAP workflow
overview
- href="http://www.solutions-gmbh.de/hr/saptrick/search/st_1__ef.idc">SAP HR Tips
& Tricks
- href="http://www.softwaremag.com/archive/2000aug/TransCanada.html">TransCanada
phases out SAP, goes for best of breed
- href="http://www.atomhr.com/">Atom HR web site
- href="http://www.planetsap.com/hr_hrtrans.htm">HR transaction codes
- href="http://www.mwr.navy.mil/mwrprgms/hrtraindoc.htm">SAP HR training
documentation end user guides
- href="http://www.olemiss.edu/projects/sap/training.html">SAP training
documents
- href="http://www.planetsap.com/Implementing_HR_mgmt.htm">Implementing human
resource management with SAP R/3
- href="http://www.doi.gov/hrm/fhris/page2.htm">SAP HR FAQ
- href="http://www.sapfans.com/sapfans/forum/hr/">SAPfans HR discussion
forum
- href="http://www.siemens.com/page/1,3771,7621-1-2_0_0-0,00.html">SAP HR Travel –
Siemens success story
- SAP HR
FAQ


Basis & Infrastructure
- href="http://www.sapbasisadministration.com/" target=_top>SAP Basis
Administration … the site for Basis Admins
- href="http://www.giovannidavila.com/sapbasis/default.htm" target=_top>Basis Tips
from Giovanni Davila
- target=_top>BasisConsultant.com
- href="http://www.karkhanisgroup.com/" target=_top>SAP Basis Utilities from
Karkhanis
- target=_top>System administration ABAPs from Kabai
- href="http://www.basisguru.com/" target=_top>BasisGuru

Other SAP Sites

href="http://www.sy-datum.com"
target=_top>Siamese, SAP Data Migration
Intelligens IT Solutions
- href="http://www.business.uts.edu.au/accounting/courses/sap/links.html"
target=_top>SAP Links from UTS
:new: – href="http://www.surrex.com/sap/" target=_top>Surrex Solutions SAP Resources
:new:
- SAPiT Consultants
:new:
- Antarcon SAP
Community

- target=_top>SFX Uni. SAP Site
- href="http://business.fullerton.edu/sap/links.html" target=_top>CSUF SAP
Links
- SAPFaq
- href="http://localhost/twiki/bin/view/Sapwiki/DmozLinks" target=_top>DMOZ Style
Links
- SAP’s online help
site

- href="http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/ERP/SAP/"
target=_top>Google directory of SAP sites
- href="http://www.sapgenie.com/" target=_top>SapGenie
- href="http://www.planetsap.com/" target=_top>PlanetSap
- href="http://www.ciobriefcase.com/" target=_top>CIO Briefcase
- href="http://websites.ic.uva.nl/sap/misc/saplinks/lk_frameset.htm"
target=_top>SAP@UvA
- href="http://unebapps.uneb.edu/slugo/slugohome.nsf" target=_top>SAP@UoN

 ::Top::





ABAP Resource Sites
- href="http://abap.mirrorz.com/" target=_top>ABAP Hints n Tips
- href="http://www.abap-cafe.de/" target=_top>ABAP Cafe De
- href="http://freebooks.by.ru/view/Abap4in21day/index.htm" target=_top>Learn ABAP
in 21 days
- target=_top>SAPLink.NET/SAPLink.ocx/ASPSaplink.dll
- href="http://localhost/twiki/bin/view/Sapwiki/AbapIntro" target=_top>Links to
ABAP Resources
 ::Top::





SAP Careers & Consulting
- href="http://www.futurestep.com/" target=_top>Free career management
services
- target=_top>SAP Resources

 ::Top::





Personal SAP Sites
- href="http://www.mindspring.com/~dennis.barrett/links.html" target=_top>Dennis
Barret’s SAP Links
- target=_top>Robert Parkinson’s SAP Links
- href="http://www.hernangn.com.ar/sap.htm" target=_top>Hernán González’s SAP
Links
- target=_top>Giovanni Davila’s SAP Links
- href="http://www.marco-burmeister.de/sap/index.html" target=_top>Marco
Burmeister’s SAP Links

 ::Top::





SAP’s Competitor Sites
- href="http://www.oracle.com/" target=_top>Oracle Corporation
- href="http://www.siebel.com/" target=_top>Siebel Systems
- href="http://www.jdedwards.com/" target=_top>JD Edwards
- href="http://www.baan.com/" target=_top>Baan
- href="http://www.bea.com/" target=_top>BEA Systems
- href="http://www.i2.com/" target=_top>i2
- target=_top>EDS
 ::Top::

New site suggestions welcome! Submit them to href="mailto:service@startlearningnow.com">service@startlearningnow.com


Starting A Career In SAP

January 20, 2007


[Updated Jun 2003]

Solution, Process and Role-Oriented Education
The new look of SAP Consulting Education incorporates the concept of PACE for developing the educational curriculum. The improved curriculum are based on the Generic Profile Maps, just as the SAP Solution Maps, it indicates what consulting knowledge is needed for implementation of SAP solutions. Instead of modules, consultants should apply their know-how in the form of business processes. This means that consultants must be able to carry out cross-module implementation. Check out http://www.sap.com/asia/education/ for more information.


SAP currently structures it’s training packages on three broad levels:
saptraininglevels.gif

SAP provide an Application/Technical Academy, which they claim is the best route for those who do not have any SAP System know-how, who wish to gain knowledge and become a Certified Consultant for the SAP R/3 System.

Experienced, Non-Certified Consultants may take the exams directly, or supplement their knowledge with some alternative courses before taking the exams.

Other applicants can choose to do a standard course in one of the following areas:
Financial Accounting
Controlling
Sales and Distribution
Materials Management
Human Resource
Production Planning
ABAP Workbench

Many people have got their SAP careers kickstarted by obtaining certification beforehand. However, to quote Jon Reed, ‘the key to long-term success in SAP is to develop a career strategy that parallels SAP’s own evolution from “back-end” solution to “outward-facing” e-business architecture.’

From an article in SearchSap, he further comments on the merits of certification:

‘First of all, you don’t need to work for SAP directly in order to become an independent consultant. And if you’ve read my previous columns, you know that I think SAP certification is overrated. You need two things to succeed as an independent SAP consultant: You need a hot, niche skill, backed up by years of relevant, focused experience, and you need client references from multiple SAP projects. Judging from your background, it doesn’t seem like you have either one of those things. The good news is that it’s still possible, in some instances, to break into SAP consulting even if you’ve only worked on one SAP engagement. However, you do need a deep, focused niche. You must address this issue if you want to “go independent.” My suggestion would be to forget about certification and training, and start applying for SAP contracts right now. At this point, if you actually land a contract, that’s a bonus. What you’re really trying to do is get some feedback from hiring managers and find out where your skills fall short. It can be hard to get this kind of specific feedback – too often, the only reply you get is “no thanks,” but be persistent and try to get some feedback that helps you to identify the gaps in your background and figure out which of your skills are the most marketable. Once you determine that, you want to enhance/focus on the hottest skills you have. You might be able to do that within your current project, but if you hit a wall there, consider applying for a perm job at another SAP end client. Those kinds of jobs are out there right now – not in abundance, but they’re there. They aren’t lucrative, but your main goal is not money at this point anyway. Getting an additional project under your belt will give you more credibility and better prospects for future contract positions. Just do your best to choose a perm position that will build on your best skills.’

I believe he offers solid, proven advice. At the end of the day, what employers want is proven SAP experience, and that cannot be obtained solely by attending all the relavant SAP courses.



Further Reading

Advice from Jon Reed from SearchSap

> I’m planning to take a SAP course and came across a lot being offered. I would like to get your expert advice on which course to select. My background is that I have a college degree with double majors in Accounting and Management Information Systems. My knowledge of accounting is very solid. However, I’ve ended up working as a programmer in Cobol and Mainframe environment for 6 years. The SAP FI functional module seems to be very attractive to me but I really don’t know what to choose. I hope you will be able to help me out after knowing my background specifically. Your advice/input is most appreciated. Thank you and hope to hear from you!

This question posed on 25 July 2002

We’ve gotten several questions recently from folks with a combination of financial and IT experience who are trying to break into SAP. At first glance, that would seem like the perfect background for SAP, since successful SAP implementations require both heavy technical skills and strong business process knowledge. However, there are very few successful consultants out there who are 50% functional and 50% technical. We have seen that type of hybrid consultant succeed on smaller SAP projects, where everyone on the project wears many hats, but the bottom line is that there’s just too much ground to cover to stay current in both technical and functional areas at the same time. The ideal mix is something like 80/20 on either side, giving you just enough exposure to be able to interface with the other project teams. Your question seems to indicate that you are aware of this, and you’re trying to choose between functional and technical SAP work. Specifically, you want to either break into technical SAP work or the FI module.

It seems like you’re drawn to the FI work, but you’re not sure if you can pull off the transition from legacy programmer to FI specialist. In fact, this would have been a challenging transition even in the heyday of the SAP market. Right now, in such tight market conditions, that’s not going to easy to pull off. If you decide to try, you shouldn’t think of it as “breaking into FI,” you should think of it as “making a career transition from IT programmer to financial software specialist.” You should look at it as a five to ten year plan, and approach your transition as a long-term strategy with short-term benchmarks. If you look at it this way, you’ll see that SAP FI is only one way forward. There may be other ways of moving towards that same long term goal – for example, perhaps Microsoft’s Great Plains financial software acquisition is opening up new consulting opportunities you hadn’t considered.

But if we assume that you have your sights set on breaking into SAP, your best bet might be to stay technical, and get a perm mainframe programming job working for a major SAP client that is running a hybrid legacy/client-server/web-based IT infrastructure. In that case, you might be able to leverage your legacy expertise and get experience with real-time data integration over the web. This might lead you into Java and XML-related skills, and even if you never got specific SAP exposure, your new “hybrid” IT skills would position you better for the future. Over time, if you win the trust of your employer and make a major contribution to the project on the technical side, you might be able to get them to support a major career transition into the financials side of SAP. Just keep in mind, however, that as I’ve noted in another question this week, core SAP FI experience is also becoming less marketable, as FI becomes more of a back office commodity and less of an innovation. SAP is a moving target – often the best way to get involved is to anticipate where SAP is going next and meet it there. Don’t assume that what used to be hot will continue to be so.

Of course, I am not trying to imply that your previous accounting knowledge and degree is irrelevant. In the long run, it will give you an edge. I am only saying that in a tight market, hands-on project experience is the key to moving ahead. When the economy moves into more of a growth cycle, then more opportunities will open up and there will be more ways forward. Based on this outlook, before you make any serious moves you might want to have a talk with your current employer about your long term skills and career aspirations. It’s always good to try to get help from a company that already appreciates your contributions to date. Good luck!

Further resources
SAP Careers & Certification section at SearchSap.com
Futurestep
Other HR Links
Monster
JobsDB


Industry Solutions – SAP

October 20, 2006


Industry solutions are basically SAP’s approach to ‘tailor-making’ the basic ERP package to include best-of-breed solutions from specific industries.

Examples of industries with SAP industry solutions are the automotive, health, insurance, public sector, telecommunications, power, aerospace and defense etc.

See also SAP Industry Solutions Home


Validations And Substitutions in SAP

July 20, 2006


This article outlines some salient points in SAP’s implementation of validations and substitutions from a FICO perspective.

Indirect Assignment of Relationships


In addition to the organisation structure relationships that are directly defined in the Enterprise Structure / Assignment section of the IMG, there are further ways that one may need to define these relationships.  These definitions are still donein the IMG, but are buried in a module somewhere.  These are module specific: ie only required if one is using that module.



Is there anything I have forgotten ? Note that pure master data relationships and account determination configuration is covered in other chapters.



Profit Centre Relationships


When one is using profit centre module and the various logistics modules, then one has to define the relationships in IMG / Enterprise Controlling / Profit Centre Accounting / Assignments to Profit Centres. However before we get too deep into that…



  • If you are using SD and not using CO-PA (Profitability Analysis) either instead of or in addition to Profit Centres you should have a good business reason.  Please see my chapter on Profit Centres vs CO-PA for more information.
  • If you are not using SD and using EC-PCA (Profit Centres) for Profit Reporting only, then I suggest you read my chapter on Profit Reporting

































































Table Describing how transactions and balances are assigned to profit centres
Module Element / Item Comment
Default any unassigned item One of your first steps in PCA configuration is to define the dummy profit centre.  If the system at any stage cannot identify a profit centre from your configuration, then it will post to the dummy profit centre instead.
CO Controlling Area    The first time you do anything in CO (IMG or user menu), the system will prompt you to choose a controlling area.  This defines the environment for all further CO work. All profit centres will therefore be created relative to one and only one controlling area.
MM Plant / Material (see Sales Order substitutions too) The profit centre is defined on the material master record in the Sales: General/Plant Data or Storage views.  Don’t panic – there are tools to do ‘fast assignment’ of material masters by plant and then by material type, a material group or a product hierarchy. See IMG.

These assignments are used :



  • to propose a default profit centre when you create a sales order item or a production order (to eventually post the revenue or costs); or
  • to derive the profit center from the material master for internal goods movements (such as stock transfers or goods issues) and profit-related postings in Materials Management (such as inventory differences) if no other assignment is available; or
  • when material stocks (raw material, finished and semi-finished goods) are transferred to Profit Center Accounting (PCA can do some balance sheet item reporting at period end).
SD Sales Order substitutions The sales order default is taken from the profit centre on the delivering plant / material master combination.  If you do not want this, you can define substitutions to override this. A substitution is basically where the system allows you to specify your own piece of conditional logic to determine which profit centre to post to.  You can base your conditions on a variety of fields available on the Sales Order.  Usually used if you want to base your mapping on Sales elements rather than on products.
  Business Transactions – ignore !! The next 4 menu options in the IMG are to do with assigning an individual business transaction to the profit centre.  This is something that should happen at the time of entering the business transaction if it cannot be determined from the default.  Therefore for configuration purposes, I suggest you ignore the “assign to sales orders, production orders, process orders, CO Production orders”.
Master data assignments: The next 6 menu options in the IMG relate to master data assignment to a Profit centre.  Basically the profit centre should be assigned when you create the master data record.  Some special comments :
  Cost Centre If not done manually, there is a ‘create profit centres’ from cost centres program which will create an equivalent hierarchy for you – only really possible at start up of the system – thereafter manually maintained.  I suggest that if you do have such a one to one mapping then the following is probable:

  • you have too many profit centres or not enough cost centres – their business definition should be different
  • if you are not using SD, then maybe you don’t need profit centres?
  Fixed Assets Implicitly assigned by assigning every asset to a cost centre.
Assignments needed for Balance Sheet Items in Profit centres
FI AR Debt System will determine from the assignments made on the Sales Order – similar to business area processing.
FI AP Payables are assigned to the profit center of the material ordered for purchase orders to warehouse and to the profit center of the posting for orders which receive direct postings.
FI Other Balance Sheet Items not in a submodule The profit centre is actually specified by individual GL journal line item (like the business area).  It is not possible (other than by substitution) to assign a GL account to a profit centre.
CO Work in process Assigned via the relevant project or order.
AM/IM Assets Implicitly assigned by assigning every asset to a cost centre.
MM Material stocks Assigned to profit centers via their master records (see above)

 


Relationships created in CO-PA (Profitability Analysis):


In CO-PA it is possible to ‘derive’ relationships for use in CO-PA.  This could be useful for groupings that are only required for CO-PA reporting. 


The derivation could be of entirely new elements or fields that are not being used elsewhere, or perhaps using an existing SAP field that is not being used by other modules.  The derivation can be based on any or a combination of fields in the data that is being passed to CO-PA.   A sophisticated example might be a derivation based on the SD Customer hierarchy.


It is not a good idea to try ‘overwriting’ values assigned in other modules as this would be confusing and complicate any reconciliation attempts.


See the configuration documentation on CO-PA for more information.  Note that there are ’standard derivations’ that the system does too.  We were talking here about creating new derivations.

– Main.IvanWong – 23 Jan 2002

Basic Asset Accounting Configuration

April 20, 2006


*Caution: article based on SAP ver. 4.0 is and to be used as guide only.

This article presents a very basic bare-bones asset accounting setup. It assumes familiarity with SAP configuration terms and concepts.

Setup company codes to be used for asset accounting.

1. Copy chart of depreciation. [Transaction EC08]

2. Set default tax codes for non-taxable transactions which require tax code. (Impt., errors often rise because this step is omitted)

3. Setup asset classes.

4. Set no posting to G/L for all classes except book depreciation (this is the typical setting)

5. Enable posting of unplanned depreciation and any other special postings (e.g. revaluation)

6. De-activate depreciation areas not required

7. Setup account assignments for all the asset classes. Note that the minimum accounts required are a balance sheet account for asset cost, for accumulated depreciation, and a P&L account for asset depreciation expense. [Transaction AO90]. Additional accounts that will be required are the gain/loss on sale and asset scrapping accounts. Note that more than 1 asset class can share the same account assignment.

8. Assign how depreciation posts to cost centers [Transaction OAYR]

9. Assign asset balance sheet A/Cs to profit centers if required [Transaction 3KEH]

10. Allow revaluation postings for selected company codes with revaluation [Transaction OAYR]

11. Run program RACHECK1 to eliminate inconsistencies between company code and asset management account data

12. Set document types for postings: (setting for transaction types). Suggested document types below:

AA Asset acquisition AS Asset disposal AT Asset transfer AX Asset reversal AF Asset depreciation [Transactions A071, OBA7]

13. Specify transfer of APC values [Transaction OABC]

14. Specify rounding of figures for net book value to nearest whole dollar [OAYO], table T093B

15. Setup depreciation keys as necessary: [Transactions AFAMA]

0000 No depreciation and no interest SLFD Str.line frm acq.value to 0 w/o int. frm start day

-Base method 11: Ordinary straight line using % from life to end of life

SLFM Str.line frm acq.value to 0 w/o int. frm start mth

-Base method 11: Ordinary straight line using % from life to end of life

16. Switch on only the required depreciation areas [Transaction OAYZ]

- Enter default depreciation keys for these 2 asset classes

17. Setup asset number ranges in production client [Transaction AS08]

Additionally, specify company independent number ranges that refer to a base company if necessary [Transaction AO11]

18. Check FI document number ranges for asset postings

19. Check that all asset G/L accounts have tax code and account groups correctly setup

20. Define screen layouts for each asset class as per user requirements

21. Set inter-co transfer methods (Maintain view [V_T093A_05])

Indicator: Transfer with historical values This indicator controls how the system treats transfers between affiliated companies. If this indicator is set, transfers in this depreciation area are not identified as acquisitions or retirements. Instead they are identified as transfers (particularly in the asset history sheet). In addition, posting of the transfer is gross (that is, with historical acquisition costs and depreciation).

Note:
This indicator has the affect described above only if it is used in combination with these two indicators in the definition of the transaction type: ‘post to affiliated company’ ‘gross’ Maintain view [V_T082I_01] for inter-company transfer settings

Optional-Revaluation Setup (Under special valuation section os AA IMG)

22. Set revaluation of cost and accumulated depn for all areas [OABW]

23. Define revaluation measures. (key, description, depreciation areas and posting data).

24. Specify G/L accounts for revaluation of asset acquisiton cost

25. Maintain transaction types for asset revaluation postings if necessary


The Best SAP Books Reviewed

January 20, 2006


If you found this website useful, please help support this site by purchasing your next SAP book through the Amazon links on this page.



Accounting Resources for FICO Professionals

October 20, 2005

The Big Five l
href="#associations">Associations
l Magazines and
Journals
l href="#resource">Resource
Centre

href="#careers">Careers and Job
Search l href="#investments">Investments and
Personal Finance

The Big Five

The famous ‘Big Six’ became the big five with the merger of Coopers and Lybrand
and Price Waterhouse to form PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Andersen
target=_blank>http://www.arthurandersen.com/

Deloitte and Touche
target=_blank>http://www.deloitte.co.uk/

Ernst and Young
target=_blank>http://www.eyuk.com/

KPMG
target=_blank>http://www.kpmg.co.uk/

PricewaterhouseCoopers
target=_blank>http://www.pwcglobal.com/uk

top



Associations

American Accounting Association
Promotes ‘worldwide excellence in accounting education, research and practice’.
Site includes information on membership, annual meeting dates, call for papers.
href="http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/"
target=_blank>http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/

Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)
Professional body for accounting technicians. Site includes information on
membership, education and training scheme etc.
target=_blank>http://www.aat.co.uk

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
Leading professional accountancy body.
target=_blank>http://www.acca.co.uk/

British Association of Accounting (BAA)
Includes the latest on BAA conferences and meetings.
target=_blank>http://www.bham.ac.uk/baa/

Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
One of the oldest of the professional accounting bodies in the country.
Site includes information on membership, conferences and meetings
and studying with CIPFA. You can also subscribe to the free CIPFA newsletter.
href="http://www.cipfa.org.uk/" target=_blank>http://www.cipfa.org.uk

Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) – now The Institute of Financial Services
(IFS)
Its aim is “to be the leading educational body in the financial services sector,
providing both vocational and professional qualifications, training and continuing
professional development (CPD) both in the UK and worldwide.”
target=_blank>http://www.cib.org.uk/index.html

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
Newspaper style layout providing practical information on exams, publications
and CIMA activities worldwide.
target=_blank>http://www.cima.org.uk/

Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT)
Leading body in the UK concerned solely with tax.
Site is split into 2 parts: Tax for the Beginner and Tax for the Expert.
target=_blank>http://www.tax.org.uk/

European Accounting Association (EAA)
Information relating to the association, its publications and its conferences.
href="http://www.eaa-online.org/"
target=_blank>http://www.eaa-online.org

Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW)
href="http://www.icaew.co.uk/" target=_blank>http://www.icaew.co.uk/
The largest professional accountancy body in Europe. Its qualification,
which allows its members to call themselves Chartered Accountants and
to use the designatory letters ACA or FCA, is recognised around the world
as a prestigious business qualification. Site includes details about the institute,
membership and useful advance information about the technical content of
forthcoming exams.

Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI)
href="http://www.icai.ie/" target=_blank>http://www.icai.ie/

Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS)
href="http://www.icas.org.uk/" target=_blank>http://www.icas.org.uk/

Institute of Internal Auditors
” The primary body in the UK and Ireland representing, promoting and
developing the professional practice of internal auditing”.
target=_blank>http://www.iia.org.uk/

International Accounting Network
Provides a digital forum for the discussion of accounting, auditing and
related disciplines. href="http://www.csu.edu.au/anet/"
target=_blank>http://www.csu.edu.au/anet/

International Accounting Standards Board
The objective of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC)
is to achieve uniformity in the accounting principles that are used by businesses
and other organisations for financial reporting around the world.
href="http://www.iasc.org.uk/" target=_blank>http://www.iasc.org.uk/

top


  

Magazines and Journals

A   B  href="#c">C  E  F   href="#i">I  J  M   href="#p">P  R

ABACUS (Blackwell)
Pacioli Society Journal
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0001-3072"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0001-3072

Accountancy
Monthly magazine on all the industry news for finance and accountancy professionals.
target=_blank>http://www.accountancymag.co.uk/

Accountancy Age
Online information resources for business and finance professionals.
target=_blank>http://www.accountancyage.com/

Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal
href="http://www.mcb.co.uk/cgi-bin/journal1/aaaj"
target=_blank>http://www.mcb.co.uk/cgi-bin/journal1/aaaj

Accounting & Finance (Blackwell)
Accounting Association of Australia & New Zealand
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0810-5391&src=soc"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0810-5391&src=soc

Accounting Forum (Blackwell)
All aspects of accounting theory and practice
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0155-9982&src=aim"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0155-9982&src=aim

Accounting Horizons (AAA)
Less rigourous than the Accounting Review with shorter articles and book reviews
href="http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/pubs/horizons.htm"
target=_blank>http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/pubs/horizons.htm

Accounting Review (AAA)
The major AAA house journal
href="http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/pubs/review.htm"
target=_blank>http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/pubs/review.htm

Behavioral Research in Accounting
href="http://hsb.baylor.edu/html/davisc/abo/bria/briahome.htm"
target=_blank>http://hsb.baylor.edu/html/davisc/abo/bria/briahome.htm

British Accounting Review (AP)
Journal of the British Accounting Association
target=_blank>http://www.academicpress.com/bar

The Company Accountant
A general accounting magazine including extensive texbook reviews
[no web page available]

Critical Perspectives on Accounting (AP)
Examines the critical, sociological and behavioural aspects of accounting
href="http://www.academicpress.com/cpa"
target=_blank>http://www.academicpress.com/cpa

European Financial Management (Blackwell)
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=1354-7798"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=1354-7798

European Finance Review (Kluwer)
European Finance Association Journal
[no web page available]

Finance Journals
Directory of finance journals with links to home pages.
href="http://www.cob.ohio-state.edu/~fin/resources_research/rsjnl.htm"
target=_blank>http://www.cob.ohio-state.edu/~fin/resources_research/rsjnl.htm

Financial Accountability & Management (Blackwell)
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0267-4424"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0267-4424

International Finance (Blackwell)
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=1367-0271"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=1367-0271

International Journal of Accounting (JAI)
International Accounting
href="http://www.elsevier.nl/inca/publications/store/6/2/0/1/7/9/index.htt"
target=_blank>http://www.elsevier.nl/inca/publications/store/6/2/0/1/7/9/index.htt

International Journal of Auditing (Wiley)
href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jtoc?ID=6204"
target=_blank>http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jtoc?ID=6204

International Review of Finance (Blackwell)
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=1369-412X"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=1369-412X

International Journal of Finance & Economics (Wiley)
href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/browsepjsu?SUBJECT=Business,%20Finance%20%26amp;%20Management#A"
target=_blank>www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/browsepjsu?SUBJECT
=Business,%20Finance%20%26amp;%20Management#A

International Journal of Intelligent Systems in Accounting,
Finance & Management (Wiley)
href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/browsepjsu?SUBJECT=Business,%20Finance%20%26amp;%20Management#A"
target=_blank>www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/browsepjsu?SUBJECT
=Business,%20Finance%20%26amp;%20Management#A

Issues in Accounting Education (AAA)
href="http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/pubs/issues.htm"
target=_blank>http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/pubs/issues.htm

Journal of Accounting Abstracts
Electronic compendium of abstracts of working papers and
accepted papers being published by the Accounting Research Network (ARN).
href="http://hsb.baylor.edu/html/davisc/abo/reporter/summer96/abstract.htm"
target=_blank>http://hsb.baylor.edu/html/davisc/abo/reporter/summer96/abstract.htm

Journal of Accounting and Computers
Provides a forum for the exchange of ideas concerning the use of
computers in accounting education.
href="http://www.swcollege.com/acct/jac/jac.html"
target=_blank>http://www.swcollege.com/acct/jac/jac.html

Journal of Accounting Education (Elsevier)
href="http://www.elsevier.nl/inca/publications/store/8/4/0/index.htt"
target=_blank>http://www.elsevier.nl/inca/publications/store/8/4/0/index.htt

Journal of Accounting & Public Policy (Elsevier)
href="http://www.elsevier.nl/inca/publications/store/5/0/5/7/2/1/index.htt">http://www.elsevier.nl/inca/publications/store/5/0/5/7/2/1/index.htt

Journal of Business Finance & Accounting (Blackwell)
A major British journal
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0306-686X"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0306-686X

Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance (Wiley)
href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/browsepjsu?SUBJECT=Business,%20Finance%20%26amp;%20Management#A"
target=_blank>www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/browsepjsu?SUBJECT
=Business,%20Finance%20%26amp;%20Management#A

Journal of Finance (Blackwell)
Journal of the American Finance Association
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0022-1082"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0022-1082

Journal of Futures Market (Wiley)
href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/browsepjsu?SUBJECT=Business,%20Finance%20%26amp;%20Management#A"
target=_blank>www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/browsepjsu?
SUBJECT=Business,%20Finance%20%26amp;%20Management#A

Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting (Blackwell)
International aspects of Financial Management & Accounting
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0954-1314"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0954-1314

Management Accounting Research (AP)
CIMA Journal (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)
href="http://www.academicpress.com/mar"
target=_blank>http://www.academicpress.com/mar

Public Money & Management (Blackwell)
Public sector accounting & finance
href="http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0954-0962"
target=_blank>www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=0954-0962

Review of Quantitative Finance & Accounting (Kluwer)
[no web page available]

top



Resource Centres

Accounting Professionals Resource Centre
The first directory for accounting professionals on the web, including links
to associations, firms, publishers and courses.
target=_blank>http://www.kentis.com/

Accounting WEB
The award winning internet community for accountancy professionals, includes
discussion, news and searchable directory of over 2,000 accountancy firms
in the UK.
href="HTTP://www.AccountingWEB.co.uk:80/cgi-win/runwin.exe?SIFT.906625658:HOME_TOP:218630551:"
target=_blank>HTTP://www.AccountingWEB.co.uk:80/cgiwin/runwin.exe?SIFT.906625658:HOME_TOP:218630551:
Site also allows you to search for a job.
href="http://www.arthurandersen.com/website.nsf/content/Careers?OpenDocument"
target=_blank>http://www.arthurandersen.com/website.nsf/content/Careers?OpenDocument

RAW

Next Page »