Wiley Configuring SAP ERP Financials and Controlling
Contents
1. RequestTask Edit Goto Settings Environment System Help g a aace SHR S045 Transport Organizer DI fli Tle User B Request Type Customizing Requests v Workbench Requests S THEMES C Transport of Copies cca 15 2 Transports Relocations cca o 2 Repairs Global Information Request Status v Modifiable Released a Display mE Once you are ready to unit test your configuration the related transports must be released so that the changes can move from the configuration client to the devel opment testing client It is normally the responsibility of the consultant developer to release their own transports and let the Basis group know that they are ready to move via the procedures set forth in their project This is an implementation FIGURE 1 2 A NEW APPROACH TO SYSTEM CUSTOMIZATION 13 activity and this transport movement can happen once the system is in production Remember that it is only necessary to release and move client dependent trans ports to the development testing client Client independent transports are already reflected in all clients in the environment Client independent transports need to be released and moved only when sending changes from environment to environ ment Figure 1 2 shows the listing of transports created by an individual consultant or developer This screen is obtained by proceeding through the screen displayed by transaction code SE10 shown e2. Company code Selection using search help Search help ID Search string RFITEMGL S Search help RFITEMGL 1666 Line item selection Status Open items Open at key date 09 21 2008 O Cleared items Clearing date sei Open at key date BUKRS BUKRS Oall items 8 Posting date i ise BUK Type Field Description for Batch Input v Normal items Screen Field SD BUKRS LOW C Noted items Parked items vr Naate x List Output Layout Maximum number of items The Dictionary Display is an invaluable tool for viewing table structures as well as finding configuration tables and other pertinent system information You can use the Dictionary Display to return to the customizing configuration table Then use transaction code SE12 to display the table you found named in the help screen the data Dictionary Display After you click the Display button SE12 lists all fields that are included in the table Locate the field name found on the help screen BUKRS Figure 1 11 4 3 TIP You can also double click the field or table name on the Technical Information i screen and it will take you into the Dictionary Display transaction for the particular table 22 CHAPTER 1 FIGURE 1 11 CONFIGURATION TOOLS The table SKB1 is displayed using transaction code SE12 Em Edit Goto Utiiies M Exras En
3. explanation of how to display the Technical Information box is included in Finding the Table to Configure later in this chapter Batchinputsession A batch input session stores values to be entered duringa normal system transaction Some transactions automatically create batch input ses sions because of the heavy processing required To complete the transaction you must select the batch input session and then run the batch input session manager Most data transfer programs are executed via batch input sessions A good way to think of a batch input session is to think of itas a macro A macro uses standard functioning to input data that is stored to automate a repeated task You can use transaction code SM35 to run and manage batch input sessions Jobs A job is similar to a batch input session in that it executes a standard SAP transaction in the background usually at night Jobs are set up and scheduled for processor intensive transactions and reports If you do not correctly specify the print parameters on a print request your print request will be stored as a job This means that when you start a print transaction from within SAP and you do not check the Print Immediately box the print request is stored in the print spool asa job and has to be manually released through the job manager to print Your com pany s Basis group usually manages jobs User menus You can create your own user menu with your most commonly used transactions Then you ca
4. prise s stored information A common set of source code was needed for these pack ages so that changes in technology could be rapidly introduced via upgrades to the A NEW APPROACH TO SYSTEM CUSTOMIZATION programs To facilitate these requirements a new way of customizing systems was needed This new way of customizing systems is known as table driven customiza tion or configuration By configuring the system via tables rather than changing source code you now have a very clear logical approach to managing your system Table driven customization allows for rapid changes in business requirements with a common set of source code or programs The common programs are coded to focus on settings in specific tables to make the programs react in various ways to fit different business needs This is what makes ERP systems and SAP in particular so flexible there are more than 10 000 tables in the SAP database structure Because table settings instead of old fashioned hard coded program logic are what drive program functionality new and changed business requirements can be rapidly implemented and tested in the system Table driven configuration customization is at the heart of what the functional SAP consultant delivers So that you can benefit from the power of SAP a careful analysis of your company s current business processes is in order SAP has industry specific best business pro cesses to take full advantage of the most efficient busines
5. these are the same things but it is difficult to A NEW APPROACH TO SYSTEM CUSTOMIZATION understand the client concept in this light when you are just starting out in SAP In the standard project setting there will be three environments the development environment the quality assurance testing environment QA and the production environment Within each environment there are different clients that are used for specified purposes Development Q A Test Production e ES zm Transports gt 4 Transports Clients Clients Clients 110 Configuration 210 Q A Testing 410 Production 120 Sandbox 220 Training 1 130 Development Test 230 Training 2 The development environment is where the majority of implementation work takes place It should have a minimum of three clients sandbox configuration and development testing The sandbox client is used to test configuration ideas and theories at any time It is also where all system design work should take place Once you are comfortable with your configuration solution in the sandbox client you can re create your solution in the configuration client The configuration client is also called the transport client This is where all final configuration that needs to be moved through the testing cycle and finally in
6. It is important to note that unless you are at the main SAP menu or the main menu ofa submodule such as G L it is necessary to include N or O before the transac tion code in order to execute a transaction in a different module For example if you are currently in the Cost Center accounting module in the screen used to create cost centers and you want to enter a G L document transaction code FBOI you must enter NFBO1 or OFBOI to execute the transaction N takes you back to the root menu and then executes the transaction code O opens up a new session and then executes the transaction code Remember you can have only six open sessions of SAP at once TIP As stated earlier unless you are at the main SAP menu or a submodule main menu it is necessary to include N or O before a transaction code in order to execute a transaction in a different module INTRODUCTION TO SAP Parameter ID A parameter ID is a special identifier given to some fields in SAP It can be stored in your user profile with its default values For example the parameter ID for company code is BUK A user who is responsible only for entering docu ments in company code 1000 would set up the BUK parameter ID with a default of 1000 in their user profile By specifying this parameter ID the user will never have to enter the company code in a transaction the company code will automatically default to 1000 Parameter IDs are stored in the Technical Information field box An
7. SE16 Table Edit Goto Settings Utilites M System Help g 23 1868 CQeA CAR 200a ims Data Browser Initial Screen moma Table Name BSEG Choose Fields for Selection Too many table fields for selection max 40 Choose the table fields for the selection conditions Company Code Document Number Fiscal Year Line item Line item ID Clearing date Clearing Entry Date Clearing Document Posting Key Account Type Special G L ind Sp G L trans type Trgt special G L ind Debit Credit Ind Business Area xm vie E xc The fields that are automatically displayed for selection criteria aren t the only fields that can be used By following the menu path Settings gt Fields for Selection you can choose additional fields to select Remember that SAP will generally include the key fields as selection fields If you are adding in selection fields and you decide to use this new field you will be faced with some very noticeable increase in run times because tables are indexed by the key fields You can check to see whether a field is an indexed field by using SE12 They are usually the top 2 to 10 fields and have a check mark under the column key Be careful because SAP defaults so that only 500 entries are returned If you require more than 500 entries you can change this option via the field at the bottom of the selection screen Please remember that the fields being di
8. also be referenced in a table containing Social Security numbers but it would be a foreign key there used only to verify that two people with the same last name stay unique as enti ties in the various tables The Data Browser and Common Tables to Display The Data Browser is a useful tool for displaying data table contents Transaction SEI2 is used to display the structure of a table and the Data Browser which is run via transaction code SE16 displays the contents ofa table Figure 1 12 shows the configuration screen for creating a company code The same detail can be viewed through SEI6 by using table T001 The difference between these two options will be how SAP presents the data in a configuration screen often linking more than one table to the screen presented FIGURE 1 12 Creating anew company code configuration screen Table View Edit Goto Selection Utilities M System Help 2 18 C00 now soon E om Change View Company Code Details _New Entries E on ln fel 3 Company Code 3000 Company Name IDES US INC Additional data City New York Country US Currency USD Language EN Figure 1 13 shows the results of running transaction code SE16 and entering BSEG as the table name You can choose from the listing of options for narrowing the results that you would like returned to you 24 CHAPTER1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS FIGURE 1 13 The options for narrowing the results of transaction code
9. grouped by functional modules and the business processes that occur in each module as shown in Figure 1 4 It provides the front end to the customizing tables as well as explanations of the functionality affected by each table In the design and development phase of a project consultants and developers spend a majority of their time in the IMG The IMG can be displayed in three different views the SAP Reference IMG the Enterprise IMG and the Project IMG The SAP Reference IMG comes with your installation of SAP It contains all components for all modules of SAP The Enterprise IMG is generated from the SAP Reference IMG The Enterprise IMG normally contains all modules and their related business processes for your specific instance of SAP and the countries being implemented It is usually a safe bet that everything from the SAP Reference IMG has been copied to the Enterprise IMG THE IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE IMG FIGURE 1 4 The Implementation Guide IMG main screen E Implementation Guide Edit Goto Additional information Utilities M System Help i a40 600 S08 S855 FH OB Display IMG REE Existing BC Sets ty IE Release Notes Change Log Where Else Used Structure vE SAP Customizing Implementation Guide B Activate SAP ECC Extensions SAP NetWeaver Enterprise Structure Cross Application Components Financial Accounting Financial Accounting New Financial Supply Chain Management Strategic Enterpris
10. program maintenance screen of the program Using variants is a good way to save time because they allow you to execute a routine transaction with out having to enter all of the parameters needed by the program every time Menu pathSAP like most client server applications utilizes menus to allow a user to navigate through the system When we refer to or list menu paths in the book we are starting from the root menu and progressing down through each menu hierar chy to reach the needed transaction When we refer to only the menu path we are talking about the Implementation Guide IMG menu path SAP application menu paths are explicitly noted Transaction code A transaction code tcode is generally a four character code later versions of SAP have introduced longer tcodes that is entered in the com mand field on the toolbar Transaction codes are not case sensitive SAP provides two ways of executing a transaction via a menu path and a transaction code NOTE Although it may be tempting for you to use tcodes to get to a specific screen transaction it is useful to use the menu paths The benefit is that you can get a better grasp of how SAP has logically laid out the options in configuration and the functional ity in the functional menu paths SAP has developed a large array of options to cater to almost any imaginable business scenario and using the menu paths will allow you to see these options which results in a broader set of options
11. refer to the primary table that the field belongs in If there is no check table next to the field name you know that this instance of the field is the primary key and not included in the table via a foreign key relationship In relational database terms the field BUKRS in table T001 is the foreign key for table SKB1 Because it is the foreign key you know that table T001 is the table in which BUKRS a key field is created and maintained To find the configuration view you need to access use transac tion SM31 discussed in the preceding section Once you have entered T001 in the table name field and clicked the Find Maintenance Dialog button shown earlier in Figure 1 6 a list of configuration views is returned THE IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE IMG 23 TIP Inrelational databases a key field is a unique identifier for a table This field is used as a reference to the same data in other tables For example your employer uses your Social Security number as a unique identifier for information about you Rather than listing all the relevant statistics about you in every table a relational database con nects the various kinds of information through a single key field that represents you A foreign field is another sort of key field but it s the key field for a foreign table For example say your employer needs a table containing names and addresses In this table the key field might be the last name of the employee The last name would certainly
12. 1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS take you to your typical search parameters Just fill in the criteria you re looking for the release of SAP you are working with and the application area and the appli cable SAP Notes will be returned to your screen If you find a note that applies to the problem at hand download a copy to your hard drive for yourself then let one of your Basis teammates know which note you would like applied Unless you are very experienced don t try to apply SAP Notes yourself SAP Notes often deal with changing and adding to core SAP source code Changing SAP programs is strongly advised against and can impact the support SAP provides to you We will explore this in greater detail in the next section Modifications to SAP Source Code and User Exits In addition to SAP Notes bug fixes workarounds and minor functionality enhancements the Service Market Place has other purposes As mentioned you can log questions to SAP Other uses include checking SAP training class schedules reviewing new information and releases from SAP and looking up information about Hot Packs NOTE In simple terms Hot Packs are groups of SAP Notes that SAP recommends you should apply based on bugs in the system or on additional functionality provided by the notes Instead of applying individual notes one by one you can use Hot Packs to apply a group of SAP Notes Modifications to SAP Source Code and User Exits The golden rule of packaged softwa
13. 3 on May Ist on May 30th consultant Y makes a change to the same object key 123 When consultant X releases his task on June Ist it contains the changes that consultant Y made on May 30th not the changes that consultant X made on May Ist As you can see communication is a key success factor on any SAP project Transports are released using the same screen that is generated by following CHAPTER 1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS transaction code SE10 selecting the task and clicking the Release Directly button as seen Figure 1 3 When you release a task it is released copied to its correspond ing transport request The transport request is then released for export The trans port request is what is actually moved between clients and environments FIGURE 1 3 Releasing a transport E RequestTask Edit Goto Object Utliles M Environment System Help e 2 48 eoe nd anaa ODA om Transport Organizer Requests Oise P 8 bir 6 e IS Release Directly F9 Customizing Customizing request La 718 Discrete Master Client G Local Change Requests Modifiable B amp IDEK900004 710 EZ2SF3U Fiscal Year Variant Released IOEK900002 710 v EZ2SF3U Creating Company Code Request Attributes Gi SAPCOMPONENT The Implementation Guide IMG The Implementation Guide IMG provides step by step details on the configura tion settings that need to take place in each module of the SAP system The IMG is
14. Configuration Tools FEATURING INTRODUCTION TO SAP A NEW APPROACH TO SYSTEM CUSTOMIZATION THE IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE IMG THE SERVICE MARKET PLACE CHAPTER L dildVH efore you undertake your first SAP configuration project it is important to under stand the concepts behind table driven customization as well as some of the tools tips and tricks that can be used The purpose of this chapter is to provide the foun dation for successfully carrying out SAP Finance and Controlling FI CO configu ration We ll give you an overview of SAP talk about the new approach to system configuration discuss how to use the implementation guide and introduce you to the Service Market Place Although this chapter is a must read for people new to configuration configuration old timers can also pick up a trick or two from reading it aS NOTE Theterms customization and configuration are used interchangeably through out this book Introduction to SAP SAP stands for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing Founded by five German engineers in 1972 SAP is the world s leading provider of business soft ware offering applications and services to companies of all sizes across more than 25 industries SAP offers an integrated system which means that all SAP modules are designed to share information and automatically create transactions based on various business processes SAP Products SAP has slowly evolved in term
15. arlier in Figure 1 1 The transports owned by John Burger E RequestTask Edit Goto Object Utilites M Environment System Help 1 78 eae SHB 200A fH eos Transport Organizer Requests Cs e 65 0 he 2 2 Change Requests Involving User EZ2SF3U John Burger 748 Discrete Master Client Customizing Customizing request Local Change Requests Modifiable IDEK900002 710 EZ2SF3U Creating Company Code Each transport in the list as shown in Figure 1 2 can be expanded to show the tasks included in it Each transport has at least one related task assigned to it The tasks actually contain the table changes The upper level transport acts only as a container for these tasks When you release transports for the Basis group you must release the individual tasks related to the transport before releasing the upper level transport It is important to note that each task always has objects attached to it It is not necessary to release objects to the Basis group only the tasks themselves This is because the tasks carry the objects with them When you release a task a snapshot is taken of the key that is contained in the task The configuration that resides in the snapshot is what is written to the operating system to be transported Itis very important to understand this timing and how it affects your transports if other consultants are configuring the same key For example consultant X makes a change to object key 12
16. ay business activities occur This is the client that all end users use to perform their daily job functions There is usu ally only one production client per SAP installation It is very important to move into production only transports that have passed all testing cycles Inadequately tested or understood changes to the system can lead to production system issues These production issues generally occur if you as the configurator do not fully understand the integration points between the module effecting the change and generally FI CO Production issues can be as catastrophic as the company s inabil ity to ship goods or post cash Transports Transports are the vehicles by which your configuration settings are moved from client to client and environment to environment Normally your configuration cli ent should be the only client that creates transports Transports in the configuration client are created anytime you make a change to a configuration table or program This is known as automatic recording of transports The setting to allow for auto matic recording of transports is made at the client level in table T000 Although you can make customizing settings in the sandbox client transports are not automati cally created The sandbox and configuration clients are the only clients in which changes to configuration tables or programs should be allowed Without ensuring this level of discipline within the system several issues with the in
17. company code ost Center Accounting Activate Cost Center Accounting in Controlling Ar ost Center Accounting Activate Commitments Management india Calculation for Extended Withholding Tax Maintain Surcharge Calculation Methods india Basic Settings for Withholding Tax Maintain Document Type onfigure Replacement Cost Procedure inflation Assign Inflaton Methods to Company Codes cial Purpose Ledger Define Method for Determining Oftseting Accour cial Purpose Ledger Maintain Company Codes ost APC Values Periodically Reset Reconciliation Accounts arallel Accounting Reset Recondiliation Accounts eferred Tar Assign Deferred Tax Rulles to Company Codes hain Liability for he Netherlands Assign Chain Liability Methods to Company Cod JSL E gt viz This will give you a listing of the views of maintenance interfaces for that table Then you can click the name of the appropriate view and SAP will take you to the proper configuration screen Note how many configuration steps can update T001 company codes Finding the Table to Configure Often it may be necessary to find a customizing setting when you re processing a business transaction in the system The easiest way to accomplish this task is to select on the business transaction the field that contains the setting you want to customize THE IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE IMG In this example say you want to configure a company code You can use any trans act
18. e Management Business Analytics Controlling investment Management Enterprise Controlling Real Estate Real Estate Sales Flexible Real Estate Management RE FX Logistics General Environment Health and Safety Sales and Distribution Materials Management Logistics Execution Quality Management Plant Maintenance and Customer Service Customer Service Production Production Planning for Process Industries Project System Personnel Management SAP E Recruiting Time Management Payroll Training and Event Management Management of Internal Controls Planet Discrete Industries Integration with Other mySAP com Components PEPE BPP PPEPPEPPPPPPPP PEPPE VVVIVVVVVVVVVVVVVVIVVVTVVIVVVVVVIVVVVG I The Project IMG is created by the project team manager or by module team lead ers It contains only those modules and business processes that the creator of the Project IMG generally a single person or the project manager deems necessary It is very important to carefully select what is needed and to not forget anything when generating the Project IMG The Project IMG can also serve as a valuable project management and documentation tool The status of project tasks can be viewed and exported to Microsoft Project for detailed project tracking Using the IMG you can store configuration documentation with related steps and tables 4 n WARNING Youand your customer will be happier and more productive in the long A run if you keep detailed documentatio
19. ervices For small companies that have neither the time nor the resources to undertake a full business process reengineering project SAP has a very well researched and well designed implementation methodology that will help with business process optimization efforts This along with the Industry Solutions ISs will allow for you to utilize the software to ensure a more effective and efficient company For smaller companies there are preconfigured clients with many templates and industry standard reports SAP System Environment It is very important for everyone on the implementation project team to understand the SAP system environment used on the project A system environment is referred to by some as an instance Others will sometimes refer to a client as an instance In this book both environment and instance are used interchangeably to refer to dif ferent systems such as development quality assurance testing environment and production In some cases an SAP term may have or may seem to have more than one meaning depending on which part of the system you are working in One such term is client As defined in the enterprise structure it means the organization for which SAP is being configured for example the XYZ Corporation or the example corporation used throughout this book Extreme Sports When defined in Basis terms the SAP technical system client means the different installations of SAP used for a specified purpose Really
20. ften business owners didn t know what they wanted until they saw it which led to what is commonly referred to in the IT industry as analysis paralysis in projects Upon project completion large IT staffs needed to be retained to maintain the custom programming and to update the programs with requirements that may have changed during the long development cycle Numerous companies also had departmentalized systems which oftentimes did not share information These numerous departmental systems became infor mation silos within the organization Separate systems per function and or depart ment can lead to inconsistent results These disparate and numerous systems also created the need for many distinct interfaces between systems that were not designed to talk with each other Despite the interfaces the systems would never be integrated Worst of all accounting sys tems were updated with financial data by means of batch programs Batch programs are run on a fixed schedule generally daily weekly or monthly which means that the data is never current To fulfill the new requirements of information systems a new breed of software systems now called Enterprise Resource Planning ERP systems was created ERP systems provide a single source of data with designed integration between different functional modules for example Accounting Sales and Distribution Materials Management Production Planning and so on to take full advantage of an enter
21. inocu lars icon in the top toolbar of the IMG shown in Figure 1 5 Using the search functionality in IMG Implementation Guide Edit Goto Additional Information Utilities M tem Help a aA Cae B08 anaa ng em Display IMG Existing BC Sets lt BC Sets for Acity lt r Activated BC Sets tor Actmty I Release Notes Change Log Structure v SAP Customizing Implementation Guide Activate SAP ECC Extensions b SAP NetWeaver Search term DOCUMENT hit list Accounts Receivable and Account Accounts Receivable and Account Accounts Receivable and Account Accounts Receivable and Account Accounts Receivable and Account Accounts Receivable and Account sign Release Approval Procedure for Parking Documents Accounts Receivable and Account sign Release Approval Procedure for Parking Documents Accounts Receivable and Account arry Out and Check Document Settings Accounts Receivable and Account Accounts Receivable and Account Accounts Receivable and Account arry Out and Check Document Settings Accounts Receivable and Account ary Out and Check Document Settings Accounts Receivable and Account a arry Out and Check Document Settings Accounts Receivable and Account 4 b Planet b Discrete Industries b By Integration with Other mySAP com Components THE IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE IMG 17 An explana
22. ion that references a company code in this example we re using the transaction used to display G L line items FBL3N Figure 1 8 shows the appropriate screen FIGURE 1 8 Displaying changing line items FBL3N Once the field is selected press the F1 key or select the SAP help icon This displays general information about the selected field as shown in Figure 1 9 You can then select the technical information box the icon with the hammer and spanner 19 20 CHAPTER1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS FIGURE 1 9 The help screen that SAP refers to as a Performance Assistant which you can open by pressing F1 or clicking the help icon can give you general information about selected fields aeo a a000 Aes G L Account Line Item Display Q amp Dal BID Data Sources 7 E 5 Performance Assistant oe Company Code The company code is an organizational unit within financial accounting 09 21 2008 The Technical Information box lists the field name and tables of the selected setting table SKB1 field name BUKRS as shown in Figure 1 10 Armed with this infor mation you are now ready to go to the configuration table and make the desired changes THE IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE IMG 21 FIGURE 1 10 Thetable and field names can be discovered by clicking the technical information box E Program Edit Goto System Help on 10 CGO GMH Dna FH om G L Account Line Item Display G L account selection GIL account
23. l amount of tables are shared among the clients within an environment These are known as client independent objects For example table view V TO21S is client independent meaning that when this table is changed in the configuration client the setting automatically takes effect in all clients in that environment because there is only one V T021S that is used by all clients in that environment A change to a client independent table should be made only in the configuration client the Basis group controls this setting when it sets up the cli ent The option to allow client independent changes is set at the client level in table T000 Sometimes when testing new design and development in the sandbox you are required to make a change in the configuration client It is fine to design in the configuration client as long as you are making only client independent changes Each consultant developer is responsible for keeping track of their individual trans ports Transaction code SE10 allows you to view and manage all transports you have created You can also view transports created by other developers This transac tion allows viewing of only modifiable unreleased only released or both released and unreleased transports The default is set to modifiable unreleased transports Figure 1 1 shows the initial Transport Organizer screen FIGURE 1 1 You can use transaction code SE10 to view and manage transports on the Transport Organizer screen E
24. n assign this personalized menu to your user ID in your user preferences If you are developing a system to be used by a client site user menus can also be set up for a group of users with limited access to the system This includes users who might not use the system often enough to remember the menu paths they need to use to execute a transaction Distributed systems ALE Some SAP installations have more than one pro ductive instance of SAP running at any one time SAP provides a tool called Application Link Enabling ALE to allow two different SAP systems to share data with each other CHAPTER 1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS TIP SAPisanintegrated system which means configuration choices and decisions made by people configuring other models in the system can have an impact on FI CO Any business transaction that has a financial impact will have an integration point with FI CO therefore the FI CO team is often central to all design reviews A New Approach to System Customization For many years organizations struggled with extremely long project timelines in order to develop information systems that met their specific requirements Most IT projects used structured development methodologies that were very unforgiving in terms of missed or changing business requirements The development of custom code was a tedious process requiring armies of programmers as well as significant end user involvement The project timeline was also extended because o
25. n on the configuration settings that are made in the system It is not necessary to use the IMG as the documentation tool but it is neces sary to document your entire configuration The only thing worse than trying to figure out someone else s configuration settings is going back and trying to figure out your own 15 16 CHAPTER 1 FIGURE 1 5 CONFIGURATION TOOLS If your project doesn t use the Project IMG for documentation and status tracking it is a good idea to use the SAP Reference IMG or the Enterprise IMG to find your configuration steps You can expect with some certainty that all steps processes and tables will be included in the final product It is not easy to discover what SAP functionality is needed if you do not have access to all of it SAP has provided an easy view of virtually all configuration tasks if you include all of the tasks in the IMG If you forget to include those tasks in the IMG you ll find that it is difficult to try to configure the needed functionality When in doubt use the SAP Reference IMG The IMG can display both optional and mandatory activities as shown in Figure 1 5 By no means must every task in the IMG be completed the number of tasks and how specific tasks are customized depend on the functionality needed by the business processes being used It is useful to use the search functionality included in the IMG to find where specific settings are made To use the search function click the b
26. nance Dialog Restrict Data Range No Restrictions O Enter conditions O variant en Display Maintain je Transport a Customizing 18 CHAPTER 1 FIGURE 1 7 CONFIGURATION TOOLS In those instances when you know the table name and not the customizing view name the transaction code SM31 Extended Table Maintenance can be used to access the table maintenance screen Simply enter the table name into the SM31 screen s Table View field and click the Customizing button The first time you use this button you will be asked for a project number however this is not a required field and you can hit enter to continue Once you do that you will be presented with the screen that is displayed in Figure 1 7 A list of configuration steps that update table T001 4 Table Edi Goto System Help 24gieoe oasanasig em Maintain Table Views Initial Screen GH Find Maintenance Dialog Tablevew T9081 ResviciDatsRange We uc actiones overtow z No Restrictions ti FAN Conc Change the Field Status of the Asset GIL Accoun yait lobal Organizational Units Cross System Company Codes India Postings for Extended Withholding Tax Specify Document Type india Postings fee Extended vuithnoleing Tax Specify Document Type 6 Display uaman Transport F Customiang ontrolling Definition Maintain Controlling Area ost Center Accounting Assign field status vartant to
27. ng of values in a table the configuration team should be organized in a way that one person owns a specific area of functionality or business process This structure should include the review of transports to ensure that common tables are being carefully monitored You can use the change request query screen to create a transport automatically in a configuration client A transport number is assigned automatically but you are free to add the description yourself g 1 6B OSS SHS Sees mm OR Transport Organizer Extended View 0 xu Requestrask Davis 3 oye Ad anig e aA Flanders Salasana Requeztzzk E tb Iul Cumar vale uz 9 Request Type NT Rocuest Typos and Task Types Request Claus Modhzklz Ii R isasa frartad n Rekased uec Pe There are two types of transports client dependent and client independent When an environment such as the development environment is created with multiple cli ents most objects are copied one for one to be used for each individual client For example table T030 contains the settings for automatic account assignment In the development environment the sandbox configuration and development testing clients each have its own copy of table T030 Any change to table T030 results in a client dependent transport all the T030 tables in the various places reflect the change only after it is transported CHAPTER 1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS All programs and a smal
28. nterprise Management SEM v Catalog Content Management v Compliance Management for SOA v Supply Chain Management SCM v Product Lifecycle Management v Customer Relationship Management CRM SAP Terms Now that you understand how the different SAP products break down you ll need to become familiar with some common terms that explain different parts of the SAP system you will see the following terms used throughout the book ABAP ABAP 4 ABAP 4 stands for Advanced Business Application Programming 4th Generation Language SAP is coded in ABAP ABAP is also used for extensions and extra programs that are written for SAP ABAP is similar to other fourth generation languages and is a first cousin of COBOL without the JCL Basis Generally SAP projects and the folks who work on them are lumped into two groups technical and functional The technical system includes ABAP data base administration transport management security authorizations and so on Basis is a subset of the technical group and consists of the folks who take care of all technical components of the system except for ABAP The Basis group in more common terms consists of your project database administrators DBAs plus more CHAPTER 1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS Variant A variant is a specific setting that is saved when a program is executed Some data input screens allow you to save and execute variants Variants can also be created in the
29. re and of SAP in particular is this Do Not Modify The Source Code Always try to live by the golden rule a modification to SAP source code is a bad idea to say the least Once you modify the source code of a program SAP generally will not support the program and related business processes and may not support your entire installation Source code modifications also make for a nightmare when you re applying Hot Packs and are even more of a problem when you re trying to do upgrades Some SAP clients have made modifications to source code and have paid the price they are now trying to remove the modifications to get back to core code in order to regain support from SAP If standard SAP functionality just doesn t work for your business there are other options SAP has developed specific Industry Solutions ISs There are prefabricated ISs for certain industries such as IS Aerospace amp Defense IS Oil IS Retail and SUMMARY 27 many more One of the existing ISs may work for your business If not work with SAP regarding your business needs SAP may make or allow you to make SAP supported modifications to your system SAP also provides what are called user exits in some standard programs User exits allow developers to create their own code that is called by a standard SAP program Once the custom code has finished control returns to the standard SAP program for further processing Contrary to programming modifications home brewed u
30. s and technological processes When using SAP ECC you can use two menu paths the user menu and the Implementation Guide IMG When you log on to SAP the first screen and menu path you are presented with is the user menu The user menu is where end users will be spending all of their time This is where you would use SAP s functionality such as creating a vendor invoice or journal entry The IMG menu is specifically for configuring the system so that an organization can tailor it to address the needs unique to its business TIP You can find the configuration menu by using the following menu path or transac tion code Tools gt Customizing gt IMG gt SPRO Execute Project The command win dow in the upper left side of the SAP screen will allow you to simply enter the transaction code SPRO to get you directly to the configuration menu Many companies use the implementation of SAP as an opportunity to reengineer their entire business and develop the most efficient processes available SAP has invested a great deal of time and money into delivering the best business practices for almost all sectors of the economy It has industry solutions for the following Banking Defense and security CHAPTER 1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS Healthcare v v Higher education and research v Insurance Public sector v Manufacturing Aerospace and defense Automotive Consumer products v Service Media Professional s
31. s of its product offerings You will still come across SAP consultants who refer to the SAP system as SAP R 3 but as SAP s product offer ings have broadened the reference to R 3 has been dropped R 3 initially referred to SAP s only product the Enterprise Resource Planning ERP system but today SAP offers a host of products of which SAP ERP Central Component is the heart often referred to as SAP ECC The SAP ERP Central Component is where the original ERP R 3 functionality is housed and it is where all the data processing business process transacting takes place This book is focused on the Financial FI and Controlling CO modules found in SAP ECC version 6 0 The goal of this book is not to teach you how to implement one specific solution but to teach you how to configure the SAP system Attempting to cover every possible INTRODUCTION TO SAP configuration scenario you might encounter would be an impossible task but after reading the book you will be able to apply what you have learned and configure your system based on your business requirements SAP has now introduced many areas of functionality from its data warehouse often referred to as its business warehouse BW or now more correctly business intelligence BI which includes a host of reporting tools and functionality not limited to business objects SAP also offers the following software suites v Supplier Relationship Management SRM v Strategic E
32. ser exits are a good idea SAP is providing increasing numbers of user exits in upgrades and new releases To see if a program already has a user exit while displaying the program source code search for the string customer exit If this string is found the program already has a user exit The transaction code CMOD also contains the customization projects for activating all user exits You can search through these projects to see if the functionality you need is included Summary In this chapter you were introduced to the basic concepts you ll need to understand to get the most out of the rest of this book You reviewed the basic configuration of a three tiered database and learned about a table driven approach to designing your own system You also learned about transports and who has control over the vari ous aspects of preparing and implementing a transport We walked you through the IMG screens and a few tables that will be useful in configuration and customization And youre now more familiar with the sorts of changes that you shouldn t make and how to find out about problems and solutions using the Service Market Place In the next chapter we ll cover the Organizational Structure of the FI Enterprise system and begin to configure the system for our project company Extreme Sports
33. splayed are also defaulted and can be modi fied by using the menu path Settings gt Format List gt Choose Fields If there are a lot of entries within your selection parameters it may be easier to analyze your results in Excel You can easily achieve this by following the menu path System gt List gt Save gt Local File THE SERVICE MARKET PLACE 25 You can save it to your hard drive and then it is a very easy task of importing it into Excel and converting the file You can use the Data Browser to display data from all different types of tables including summary and line item detail This is very useful because reports using the Report Painter or Report Writer can be written only against summary level tables The Report Painter and Report Writer tools allow you to create custom ized reports based on users needs Most modules in the system can utilize Report Painter and Report Writer to create reports Report Painter and Report Writer are especially useful for creating FI CO custom reports The table that is most com monly displayed by FI CO team members is BSEG This table contains all the seg ment line item detail behind every financial transaction in FI You need to be very careful when displaying BSEG or any segment level table because you can cripple performance on your system if you do not narrow your selection criteria enough Running wide ended table displays or queries is also a good way to get locked out of transactions b
34. tegrity of the production system can occur The following are some examples Redundant versions of a program gt Incorrect values for a table gt Incorrect settings for a configuration table These inconstancies can result in disruptions to the business and lengthy often com plex recollections between the systems to determine what needs to be backed out This does not include the corrections to the business results that may be required NOTE Your Basis group should be responsible for maintaining and moving trans ports from client to client In some small implementation projects individual consul tants are responsible for moving their transports from the configuration client to the development testing client A NEW APPROACH TO SYSTEM CUSTOMIZATION NOTE Most transports record only the changes to the table However some trans ports created by a small number of tables copy the entire table not just the changes It is very important that these whole table transports are watched and managed carefully so that only the latest changes are reflected in the target clients This is especially impor tant once a project is live and in maintenance mode When dealing with whole table transports you always run the risk of moving into other environments configuration that shouldn t be moved You can also very easily leapfrog transports moved by other devel opers and overwrite new configuration with old configuration To avoid the leapfroggi
35. tion of the specific tasks can be viewed by clicking the note folder to the left of the configuration step as shown below The level of detail provided in the documentation can be very useful in determining which steps or tasks are suitable for your project 230 DE tecnicos I Tet Tes 3 e 6 n Define Business Area vae Other Methods of Table Maintenance and Customizing FIGURE 1 6 It is sometimes difficult to find the table you need to customize in the IMG SAP provides two transaction codes that can be used when you know the name of the table you need to customize and you re not sure where it is in the IMG Transaction code SM30 is used to access the screen for maintaining tables or table views shown in Figure 1 6 Although it is more common to refer to customizing objects as tables most customizing objects are actually views of tables To customize an object you must create a maintenance interface for it SAP very rarely creates maintenance interfaces on tables themselves Most of the time maintenance interfaces are cre ated for table views by SAP for R 3 as delivered Do not try to create maintenance interfaces for SAP delivered tables Transaction code SM30 is used to maintain custom created user defined tables Transaction code SM30 is for maintaining tables or table views E Table Edit Goto System Help g a 78 6 SHR anas om Maintain Table Views Initial Screen K Find Mainte
36. to production takes place The con figuration client has automatic transport recording turned on covered in the next section Transports Ideally the configuration client should also be your golden client that is no transactions or testing should take place in this client Oncea transport has been created it should be moved to the development testing client Once the configuration is in the development testing client the transport should be thoroughly unit tested Usually only unit testing is conducted in the development system some projects may conduct integration string testing in this client as well Once the transport has been successfully tested it is ready to move into the QA environment Normally all transports for particular projects or rollout phases are moved into QA at one time The QA environment is where all final testing is conducted prior to moving trans ports to the production environment Normally this is where integration end to end business process testing and user acceptance testing UAT is conducted There isa minimum of one QA client that is used to conduct testing There may be addi tional clients you can use in the QA environment to test different transactions for 10 CHAPTER1 CONFIGURATION TOOLS training data conversion and user sandboxes Once the entire project solution has been tested successfully in QA it is ready to move to production The production environment is where all day to d
37. vironment System Help 2 eee Dum 8555 fh 9m Dictionary Display Table PAE es ls 5 A Teic ens inco Append rue i SBT Active Short Description GIL account master company code z 3 i E E Explicit seerch help attschmentSAKD 7 BRGRU F Tms Inout talp iaplanentad with che T6315 BUSAB o Input help based on data typa C parum EH Input help based on data type C parum Li USNAM P 1935 Input help iaplementad with chiH T625 EDERP E 1236 n lp i che T E EbLEv rn C ES E TF Input help implemented with che TC34F FSTAG E T8102 Input help Implemented with chi T612 HEKID RF IK Input halp iaplansntad with cheH TET2K C BKUD J E Ts Input ha p 1aplanantad with ch H T6305 C SDESL o Anput help with fixed values E ung m C SSK A Texts Fm p Im 1p 1apl chek T C vex Toure Input helo taplensntad with che C WAERS B Input heln with fixed values WETH m Input help with fixed values 7 XFELD Siege nput balp with fixed values F XEELD oO Input balp with fixed values 7 XEELD n x 7 XFELD al n Input help with fixed values 7 xEELD iL ol rrr lt gt By viewing the structure of table SKB1 you can see that the field name BUKRS has a check table of T001 This is the table you need to configure in this scenario You know you need to configure table T001 because this is where the primary key for company code field name BUKRS resides In SAP check tables always
38. y your friendly neighborhood Basis group and a good way to feel the wrath of your project team The Service Market Place The Service Market Place https websmp201 sap ag de notes formerly known as Online Support System OSS is a web based tool provided to you by SAP to help solve application problems All configurators and developers should have access to this valuable database and customer service center You can log function ality or code issues with SAP on this website Because of the vast install base that SAP has there are normally several other customers who have encountered your issue and therefore SAP usually has already posted a solution These solutions are known as SAP Notes SAP Notes usually supply additional code to fix program bugs They may also be consulting notes explaining workarounds in the system for certain functionality Whichever the case the information provided in the Service Market Place is invalu able If you can t find a needed piece of functionality in the system always make sure you check Service Market Place to see if it already exists To find SAP Notes one would have to first log on to the Service Market Place Please remember you will need an OSS logon ID that is a user account for the Service Market Place which you can get by going to the SAP Support Portal If you want to search directly for SAP Notes there is a link just below the SAP Notes Search portal heading This will 26 CHAPTER
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