Integration

The integration of SAP Convergent Invoicing (CI) with SAP S/4HANA Utilities (IS-U) was introduced to allow the Utilities core system to handle high-volume, complex invoicing scenarios typical of a competitive retail market.

In SAP S/4 HANA, CI is available as an additional option beyond the existing classic IS-U invoicing and bill print process.

• Classic Process: The existing IS-U billing process (for commodity services like electricity, gas, and water) continues to execute in SAP S/4HANA Utilities.
• Central Invoicing: Instead of the IS-U system executing the final invoicing and print, the results of the IS-U billing run are converted into standardized data elements called billable items and sent to the central Convergent Invoicing engine.

1. Billing (IS-U): The classic IS-U billing engine calculates charges for commodity contracts (e.g., usage-based electricity).

2. Creation of Billable Items: The system automatically creates commodity-related billable items in the Convergent Invoicing data format.

3. Billable Item Sources (CI):

   • Commodity: Billable Items from IS-U Billing.

   • Non-Commodity: Billable Items from other systems like SAP Convergent Charging (for new services) or third-party rating engines.

4. Invoicing (CI): The central Convergent Invoicing engine receives all billable items (commodity and non-commodity) and consolidates them.

5. Final Output: A single, unified invoice is created for the customer, covering all products and services.

6. Contract Accounting (FI-CA): The final aggregated invoice data is posted to Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable (FI-CA) for subsequent collections and payment processing.

The move to a centralized CI-based invoicing process delivers key benefits, particularly in the context of Digital Transformation and Integration.

1. Support for Modern Business Models

   • Non-Commodity Sales: CI allows utilities to quickly introduce and monetize new retail offerings, which typically use different billing/rating systems.

   • Optimized Invoice Processing: Optimizes processing and makes it more flexible by combining invoices for commodity products (typical utilities products) and non-commodity products in a single invoice.

2. Efficiency and Cost Reduction

   • Central Invoicing Solution: Reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO) by using one central invoicing solution for all revenue streams.

   • Rating Engine Integration: Supports the integration of various rating engines in the central invoicing engine.

3. Utilities Process Support
   • The integration fully supports established utilities accounting procedures, including:
     • Budget Billing (such as statistic budget billing procedures).
     • Partial Billing procedures.

• Demo Video: Demo Video: Integration of IS-U and CI

• Help Document (Introduction): Introduction: Integration of IS-U and CI

• Help Document (Implementation): Implementation Guide