Integrating Data from SAP S/4HANA Finance

Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Integrate data from SAP S/4HANA Finance

Group Reporting Integration

The premise for group reporting integration is that you have companies in SAP S/4HANA Finance. Keeping in mind that group reporting is also in SAP S/4HANA, it is integrated with finance.

As postings occur in the general ledger for integrated companies, they are captured in the ACDOCA (Accounting Document for Actual) table. Before the data is released into group reporting, the general ledger trial balance report can be used to view the group reporting related data in ACDOCA.

The group reporting data can also be viewed in the accounting journal entry. This feature is related to the preparation ledger which became available in the 2022 edition. The benefit is that reporting and reconciliation can occur before the Data Release task (the sooner discrepancies are discovered, the better).

See the following animation to get an overview on integration between group reporting and SAP S/4HANA Finance.

As postings occur in the general ledger, group reporting fields are recorded. In order to view the group reporting fields in the Manage Journal Entries app, follow these steps:

  1. Switch from entry view to ledger view.
  2. Add the group reporting fields to the line item display.

There are several group reporting fields that are recorded in the general ledger (ACDOCA table):

  • Consolidation unit
  • Partner unit
  • Consolidation company
  • Consolidation chart of accounts
  • Consolidation FS item
  • Consolidation subitem category
  • Consolidation subitem
Note
In this scenario, company code 1010 in combination with profit center P9002 are included in a substitution rule to derive consolidation unit DE02.

The standard trial balance can be extended to include group reporting fields.

Note
G/L accounts that are not mapped to FS items are assigned to the FS item &NOMAPBS.

The underlying core data services query can be extended to include group reporting fields.

Check the animation for an integration scenario. Note: the animation has no audio.

Group Reporting Fields in a Trial Balance

This video will show you how to include both group reporting and accounting fields in a trial balance.

Create a G/L Entry and View Group Reporting Fields

Data Release - Key Points

One of the main sources of reported data is SAP S/4HANA Finance. Accounting data (from the SAP General Ledger) is released into group reporting using the data monitor. The data release process controls the flow of data into group reporting. It has a preview and offers several ways to drill down into the source data to perform sanity checks. As adjustments are made in the SAP General Ledger, the data release can be run again and again as needed. The data release has a delta mechanism so that it only picks up changes in the central journal vs. the prior release for the period. Accounting data is then validated via the built-in Validate Universal Journal task.

  1. Release the data for the current period.
  2. Use the Universal Documents (Total) button to preview incoming data for the period. The Release of Universal Documents - Result dialog can then be used to see the status and access supporting documents.
  3. Release the new data | delta vs. the prior release for the current period.
  4. Data from prior periods without release:
    • Identify un-released data from prior periods which can cause inconsistencies between accounting and group reporting.
    • This could be used to identify prior period restatement entries.
    • To be able to use prior period data, it must be released in the period that it was posted.
  5. Access the data release documents and preview the incoming data.
Note
The Release of Universal Documents - Result dialog is used to display documents, display data, and access logs. The Release of Universal Documents - Result dialog appears when the Universal Documents (Total), Universal Documents (Difference), and Data from Prior Periods Without Release buttons are chosen.

See the following animation on the data release options.

Note
The Release of Universal Documents - Result dialog is used to display documents, display data, and access logs. The Release of Universal Documents - Result dialog appears when the Universal Documents (Total), Universal Documents (Difference), and Data from Prior Periods Without Release buttons are chosen.

Prior period unreleased data

When accessing data from prior periods that is not released, keep in mind the following concepts:

  • Unreleased data from prior periods can cause inconsistencies between accounting and group reporting.
  • Unreleased data from prior periods could be due to prior period restatement entries.
  • To be able to use unreleased prior period data in group reporting, it must be released in the period that it was originally posted.
Note
The release process will only release an FI document number one time. The tracking mechanism is based on a timestamp.

See the following animation for the key points and prerequisites for data release.

Release Reported Financial Data Options

After closing the period in accounting, data release should be run for the last time (for that period). After you run Release of Universal Journals, you can then block the task.

When transferring accounting financial data, the system derives the posting period based on the accounting posting date and the period definition of the assigned fiscal year variant (FYV).

Example: You assign the K4 (Calendar Year, 4 Special Periods) FSV to a consolidation unit and make an accounting posting using December 31 as the posting date and any of the four special periods (13, 14, 15, or 16) as the posting period. In group reporting, the system releases data using the same special period as in accounting.

During the release process, the user can access the documents view to display the data by FS Item or by G/L account.

How to Solve Data Release Issues

After data is released into group reporting, the validate universal journal is run. This will detect incorrect sub assignments such as a missing trading partner for an intercompany account. Sub assignment issues would most likely need to be fixed in accounting and then data release would need to be run again.

If there is a G/L account that is not mapped to an FS item, you may catch it when running the data release totals report. Otherwise, the data validation log will display an error. To resolve this issue, complete the following steps:

  1. Map the G/L account to an FS item.
  2. Run the data release task again.

As a result, the value for the previously unmapped G/L account will be in group reporting and the log will not display any errors.

Schedule Data Release

You can use the Schedule Jobs for Consolidation Tasks app to schedule and monitor jobs for consolidation tasks using the provided templates. If you have manual activities that you often need to do at a specific time (such as data release), this app can reduce your workload by automatically running these tasks smoothly in the background.

How to schedule data release

To schedule data release, complete the following steps:

  1. Choose Create.
  2. Select the Release Universal Journal template.
  3. Select a recurrence pattern such as single run, minute, day, week, or month.
  4. Specify the job-specific parameters such as consolidation chart of accounts, consolidation version, fiscal year/period, and consolidation group/unit.
Note
The Schedule Jobs for Consolidation Tasks app can also be used to schedule the following tasks:
  • Balance carryforward
  • Calculation of net income
  • Currency translation
  • Preparation for consolidation group changes
  • Reclassification
  • Validation of universal journals
  • Validation of reported data
  • Validation of standardized data
  • Validation of consolidated data
  • Realign group reporting preparation ledger

The preparation for consolidation group changes and reclassification job templates bundle multiple tasks.

Data Release Task Scheduling

In this video, you will see how to schedule data release task. Scheduling the data release is very similar to scheduling other tasks.

Release Data from Accounting into Group Reporting

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