Executing Sales Planning and Controlling

The central app for the functionality described here is the app called Manage Sales Plans:

With this app, it is possible to set certain sales targets (i.e. planning data) for a certain sales dimension like Sales Organization. It is then possible to compare the actual sales quantities to the defined target sales quantities in the app called Sales Performance - Plan/Actual. Another example of an available dimension is profit center.

When using the Manage Sales Plans app, it is possible to search for sales plans using a free-text search or using filter criteria such as sales plan name, currency, release status, and so on. Sales plans in the search results can be sorted and grouped, for example, based on the sales plan name.

When defining a new sales plan using the Manage Sales Plans app, the following attributes are available:

• Sales plan name and description

• Version name and description

Multiple versions of the same sales plan can be created, depending on the needs of the company. It is for example possible to create a standard version and an optimistic version of a certain sales plan. To do this, an existing sales plan is copied to a new version. The new version is then adjusted as required.

When defining a new sales plan, the following key figures for setting targets are available:

• Incoming Sales Orders:

  Specifies the total net value of sales order items that are relevant for delivery or billing.

• Sales Volume:

  Specifies the total invoiced sales that are achieved during a specified period. This is based on invoice items or debit memo items (debits) that have not been canceled.

• Currency for displaying sales targets:

  Besides the key figure for the targets, the currency in which the key figure is planned and displayed, can also be defined.

It is also possible to add dimensions to define the granularity of a sales plan. An example: sales targets can be set for specific materials sold to specific customers.

Based on the attributes defined for a sales plan, the system automatically generates a plan layout for it. The plan layout can be downloaded to an XLSX (Microsoft Excel) file and then used to enter planning data locally. After having added the planning data locally, the upload to SAP S/4HANA can again be triggered.

When sales plans are released, they can no longer be edited. However, they can always be reopened to enable editing again. For each sales plan, only one version can be released.

A sales plan can have the following release statuses:

• Not Released:

  Indicates that the sales plan is saved but not released. When a sales plan has this status, it can be copied or released.

  For a saved plan, it is only possible to change its currency, version, and planning data. If a sales plan is not actively saved by the user, the system automatically saves it as a draft version. Note that draft versions are deleted automatically after 28 days.

• Released:

  Indicates that the sales plan is released and is therefore read-only. When a sales plan has this status, it can be copied or reopened for editing.

The app also integrates with SAP Conversational AI (specifically: the functionality formerly known as SAP CoPilot). SAP Conversational AI is a collaborative end-to-end platform for creating chatbots. Along with conversational natural language processing and dialog management features and a detailed API documentation. SAP CoPilot was integration with SAP Conversational AI and forms now part of this solution. SAP Conversational AI is operated from the cloud using the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).

With the Sales Performance - Plan/Actual app, it is possible to compare planned and actual sales value on various levels (i.e. dimensions), such as sales organization, customer, and material. The app is available as part of the Sales Manager business role in SAP S/4HANA.

By using this app, it is possible to analyze to what extent certain sales targets are achieved and thus gain insights into current sales performance.

One of the available versions of a sales plan can be selected for comparison with the actual data. After a sales plan version is selected, the planning and actual data are compared as follows:

• Planned and actual values represent either incoming sales order value or sales volume, depending on what has been planned in the selected sales plan version.

• Planned and actual values are compared by month, quarter, or year within the planned period, depending on how this has been defined in the selected sales plan version.