Describing SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, Public Sector

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Explain SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, public sector
  • Investigate the scope of the current course

SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition, Public Sector

Join Sarah and Daniel as they discuss Budget Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, public sector and how to manage financial resources in public sector organizations. Select the following video to begin!

Introduction

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, public sector is a variant of SAP S/4HANA Cloud and it includes a specific solution package for public sector entities, such as state and local governments, higher education, K-12, and non-profits.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud: Core to the Intelligent Suite

With the database management system SAP S/4HANA, SAP created the base for an enterprise software that supports the digital transformation, and drives it forward. SAP HANA is at the heart of SAP product development.

SAP S/4HANA is the current intelligent ERP solution from SAP that only runs on the SAP S/4HANA database. SAP S/4HANA stands for the SAP Business Suite 4 SAP S/4HANA.

SAP S/4HANA can be deployed on-premise, in the cloud (public or private), or through a hybrid model that supports various deployment scenarios.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition refers to the provision of SAP S/4HANA as Software as a Service (SaaS) in the public cloud.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud covers scenarios in the SAP S/4HANA Line-of-Business Solutions (LoB) that are essential for running a business in the cloud such as finance, procurement, services, supply chain, sales, and others.

Integration with additional SAP Cloud solutions, including SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, SAP Ariba, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Fieldglass, SAP Concur, SAP Business Technology Platform and others, enables the business suite to address the end-to-end business processes required by different customers.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Business Scope

UI Examples of various modules in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. These include ML GR/IR Cockpit for finance, Procurement Overview for procurement, My Sales Overview for sales, Solution Order for service, SAP Analytics Cloud embedded for industry capabilities, Manage Production Orders for manufacturing, Compliance Information for R&D, Maintenance Cost for asset management, Transportation Cockpit for supply chain, and Sequenced JIT Calls for industry capabilities.

Increase efficiency with built-in best practices and industry-specific processes.

Comprehensive end-to-end business processes delivered by preconfigured best practices and industry-specific scenarios.

Finance

  • Accounting and financial close
  • Receivables and payables management
  • Cost management and profitability analysis
  • Treasury and working capital management
  • Governance risk and compliance

Procurement

  • Procurement of direct materials and services
  • Supplier management
  • Central procurement

Sales

  • Sell, deliver, bill, and monitor a combination of physical goods and services as one solution offering
  • Sell from stock and sell services
  • Convergent and external billing

Service

  • After-sales services with service contracts, service deliveries, and billing with cost controlling and revenue recognitions
  • Combine sales and services as packaged solution offerings

Industry Capabilities

  • Professional services
  • Public sector
  • Higher education
  • Media
  • Financial services

Manufacturing

  • Material requirements planning with demand driven and/or predictive MRP
  • Make to stock and make to order
  • Quality management
  • Environment, health and safety

R&D

  • Product compliance
  • Enterprise portfolio and project management
  • Advanced variant configuration

Asset management

  • Reactive and proactive maintenance
  • Resource scheduling for maintenance planner
  • Enhanced collaboration and review

Supply Chain

  • Warehouse outbound and inbound processing
  • Core inventory management
  • (Advanced) ATP processing
  • Basic transportation management

Note

The solution scope for SAP S/4HANA Cloud can be found in the SAP Process Navigator.

System screen capture of the SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA Cloud for Public Sector defaulted to the Solution Process tab. The following text provides more information.

SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA Cloud provide ready-to-run business processes optimized for SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA Cloud are structured along Lines-of-Business (LoB) to represent the roles and responsibility areas of a company. To structure the processes within a LoB, the content is split into different business areas. Each business area includes a selection of Scope Items, representing preconfigured, ready-to-run scenarios.

Scope items play an important role in the context of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, as they must be activated in order for the scenarios to be available in the system. The activation of scope items results from the scoping process, which is one of the first activities in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud implementation process.

At an early stage of the implementation of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, in the early Explore phase, according to the Activate methodology, the customer decides on the scope of the solution.

Scoping is the process of selecting solution capabilities.

Customers are able to scope:

  • Countries in which the selected business processes are to run
  • Predefined scenario bundles
  • Additional non-standard scenarios

In addition, a choice of sector (private or public) is available during scoping for selected countries. The available scenarios (scope items) are then based on the selected sector. The choice of sector public was previously used for US customers requiring GASB functionality. Now, for all released countries, choose sector private and then choose to activate the Public Sector Scope Bundle. The public sector scope bundle limits the overall scope items that may be additionally selected to only those tested and confirmed for public sector. Full scope item lists are available in Process Navigator. 

The solution package for the public sector differs from the one for the private sector.

  • The scope items available for the public sector represent a selection of relevant scenarios.
  • Some of these scope items are identical for the private and public sectors, while others are unique to the Public Sector.
  • Some scenarios are exclusively relevant to the public sector:
    • Account Mapping for US GASB (7QE - US only)
    • Earmarked Funds
    • Fund Accounting
    • Government Budget Management
    • Grants Management
    • Public Sector Budget Planning

Hint

You find all the scope items relevant for the public sector in the SAP Process Navigator.

Key Capabilities of Public Sector Management and the Scope of this Course

Introduction to Public Sector Management

Public Sector Management (PSM) includes three modules: Budget Management, Grants Management, and Fund Accounting. The following text provides more information.

Public Sector Management (PSM) is a concept that encapsulates the management of the budgeting of revenue and expenditure at state and local authorities.

Key Features

  • Budget Management

    The solution supports the budget-based management of funds in public organizations. Revenues and expenditures are budgeted according to legal and internal criteria, such as in-kind services, area of responsibility, program, function, and source of funds. Financial transactions are checked for compliance with the allocated budget.

  • Grants Management

    The solution enables the management of grants from governments or other institutions for specific operational or programmatic purposes. The solution enables transparency in the control and distribution of external funding by sponsors and in the use of external funding by grant recipients.

  • Fund Accounting

    Fund accounting supports fund-based accounting that takes into account the requirements of the GASB (Government Accounting Standards Board - US only). It is based on the integration of accounting and reporting by fund and functional area throughout the solution.

Scope of the Current Course

The budget management course will focus on the basic concepts including Master Data and Account Assignment Derivation.

Additional Units will discuss: Budgeting, Budget Consumption and Availability Control.

A chapter is devoted to the integrated solution including earmarked funds, procurement and inventory management, SAP SuccessFactors, contract and lease management, and treasury and cash management.

Specific Best Practices Scenarios for Public Sector

  • Budget Management

    This module supports budgeting-based management of fund at Public Sector institutions. Revenue and expenditure are budgeted according to legal and internal criteria, such as payment in kind, area of responsibility, program/funding and source of funds. Consecutive arrows showcase support for Manage budget planning and distribution; perform budget and consumption and control; manage budget supplements and returns; prepare and execute activities for the budget year-end closing; and monitor budgets, budget usage, and residual budget.

    Budget management supports budgeting-based management of funds at public sector institutions where revenue and expenditure are budgeted according to legislative criteria, such as payment in kind, area of responsibility, program/function and source of funds. Financial transactions are validated against legislative criteria to ensure compliance with the distributed budget within a state or local authority.

    The business benefits are as follows:

    • Maintain and monitor the allocation, distribution, or changes of approved budgets
    • Plan, standardize, schedule, and monitor financial and budget close activities
    • Automate and streamline budget processes, and reduce manual effort
    • Optimize closing of open commitments and financial and managerial accounting
    • Immediate budget availability checking to ensure regulatory compliance
    • Real-time reporting to aid in time-sensitive managerial decisions
    System screen capture of the Budget Consumption Dashboard displaying budget consumption groups, past budget periods, and amount types.

  • Grants Management

    This module supports grants management, which is designed to provide public sector organizations and bodies engaged in higher education or research with an integrated tool they can use to do the following: plan, budget, identify, obtain, and record all funding related to received grants. Consecutive arrows showcase support for Grants Management: prepare and apply budget; grant budget award, earmark and consume budget; review and monitor grants; and close out grant.

    Grants Management allows for the control and distribution of sponsored funds from sponsors and monitors the usage of sponsored funds (planning, budgeting, and invoicing).

    The business benefits are as follows:

    • Identify, obtain, and record all funding related to grants received
    • Record the tasks and activities related to managing the sponsored programs and furthering the sponsor’s and organization’s objectives
    • Bill and record sponsor amounts
    • Record and report all related costs, revenues, and required statistical information
    • Differentiate between eligible and ineligible costs
    System screen capture example of the Grants Budget Overview Available Budget bar chart showcasing available and consumed grants by millions USD.

  • Earmarked Funds

    Earmarked funds are business transactions in which approved funds are claimed for planned expenditures and revenues.

    The following business transactions are included under the concept of earmarked funds:

    • Funds reservations
    • Funds pre-commitments
    • Funds commitments
    • Forecast of Revenue

    The business benefits are as follows:

    • Record encumbrances to reserve budget
    • Immediate budget availability checking
    • Usage/reduction in procurement and Finance documents
    System screen capture of an earmarked funds document with the header selected to showcase general information, document items and statistics.

Best Practices - Fund Accounting

Showcase the Fund Accounting module with features described in the following text.

Fund accounting is the act of recording, summarizing, reporting, analyzing, and interpreting the financial transactions of governments or non-profit organizations by using fiscal and accounting entities, such as a fund with a self-balancing set of accounts. Fund Accounting provides additional functionalities that are unique to state, local governments and non-profit organizations, such as the following:

  • US-GASB only - Additional accounting principles for modified (current financial resources measurement focus) and full accrual (economic resources measurement focus) accounting, accounting for pool funds, such as the treasurer's and payroll agency fund

  • The ability to record and distribute interest from the pool to participating funds

The business benefits are as follows:

  • Reduce manual processes
  • Simplify production of statutory financial reports
  • Facilitates creation of cash flow reporting
  • Provide an overview of key performance indicators for the fund accountant
  • Automatically distribute interest to destination funds and grants based on defined rules; average daily balance calculated on funds and grants

System screen capture example of a funds overview page featuring balances per periods.

Account Mapping for US GASB

This practice delivers G/L accounts for US state and local government customers before the fit-gap analysis starts. It provides G/L account numbering in order to satisfy GASB (Government Accounting Standards Board) requirements and facilitate ACFR (Annual Comprehensive Financial Report) reporting.

Caution

The selection of scope items 7QE, account mapping for GASB, is only possible as part of initial scoping.

The business benefits are as follows:

  • Efficient and fast initial setup of a starter system through a predefined set of accounts
  • Reduction of costs through a fit-to-standard approach rather than starting from scratch
  • Enables a faster, less service-intensive deployment

Hints for Successful Learning

Hint

This course is not intended to provide general background knowledge, such as finance or procurement in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Instead, this course focuses on topics specific to Public Sector Management.

You will also not find fundamentals on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, which are essential for the implementation of SAP S/4HANA Cloud for public sector.

For these reasons, we highly recommend the study of the learning journey "RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud (public) - Onboarding Fundamentals" first. Furthermore, it is also recommended that there are specific learning journeys for the Lines-of-Business of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, such as the following:

  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Sourcing and Procurement
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Finance
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Asset Management

In addition, you have the option to pass the corresponding certifications. Only then, when prepared with the general basics, you will be able to study the specifics of SAP S/4HANA Cloud for public sector outlined in this course.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Learning Journeys

Note

The titles of individual Learning Journeys may change over time or be removed from the program. There's no guarantee that the mentioned examples exist.

Fundamentals, Project Management and Project Team Onboarding

  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud (public) – Onboarding Fundamentals
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Project Management
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Central Business Configuration
  • SAP Cloud ALM - Implementation of SAP Cloud Solutions
  • SAP Cloud ALM - Operations of SAP Cloud Solutions
  • SAP S/4HANA Cloud, extended edition – Onboarding Fundamentals
  • RISE with SAP Solution Architectures

Core Lines of Business & Industries

  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Sourcing and Procurement
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Professional Services
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Finance
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Manufacturing
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud - R&D Engineering
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Sales
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud - Asset Management
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Supply Chain
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Warehouse Management
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Service Management
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Transportation Management

RISE with SAP Cross Topics

  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Analytics
  • SAP Analytics Cloud
  • RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud – Extensibility: SAP Fiori Application Development
  • SAP Business Technology Platform: Enterprise Extensions – Certification Path
  • SAP Business Technology Platform Integration - Certification Path
  • SAP S/4HANA Cloud – SAP Cloud SDK Development
  • SAP Ariba Supplier Network
  • SAP Logistics Business Network
  • SAP Asset Intelligence Network

Note

You also may need to refresh your skills regarding SAP SuccessFactors. Specific learning journeys such as "SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central" are available.

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