Summarizing the Responsibilities of an Intermediate Consolidation Consultant

Tasks to be Accomplished:

• Along with an experienced project lead, you’ll configure group reporting and maintain master data in order to perform the corporate close activities.
• The corporate close activities include: update master data, data release, flexible import, data validation, currency translation, adjusting entries, reclassification, intercompany matching, intercompany elimination, reporting rules, restatements, and balance carryforward.

You need foundational knowledge about how to perform these tasks using SAP software. Let's ask your manager for guidance on where to start.

Hi Robert!

Congratulations on your new assignment. Let's go through the business requirements.

ABC Corporation is implementing group reporting to consolidate actual data. ABC Corporation is a multinational company with quite a few intercompany transactions. Some of their companies reside in SAP S/4HANA and some are in legacy systems.

The detailed requirements include the following:

• Report on consolidated data in the ACDOCA table when postings occur in finance.

• Split SAP S/4HANA companies into multiple consolidation units (by segment).

• Perform restatements of historical data as accounting standards change.

• Report in a second group currency.

• Use special versions to share configuration and master data objects to lower the cost of maintenance.

• Create new consolidation groups and units.

• Assign consolidation units to consolidation groups to reflect the corporate investment structure.

• Create new FS items, G/L account mappings, and hierarchies.

• Create a custom task group for the data and consolidation monitors.

• Validate profit centers when group reporting journals are posted.

• Derive segments when group reporting journals are posted.

• Translate local currency into group currency for consolidation units not in SAP S/4HANA.

• Retain group currency from accounting for the consolidation units in SAP S/4HANA.

• Provide complex reports for cash flow and statement of changes in equity.

• Restate opening balances during the balance carryforward.

By the way, we'll configure intercompany matching, intercompany eliminations, and consolidation of investments in a later phase of this project.

After this course, you can:

• Explain the underlying architecture.
• Maintain master data.
• Configure group reporting to perform the monthly close activities for actual data.

Watch the following video to learn about the key steps to implement group reporting.

When using the preparation ledger, there are several factors in accounting to keep in mind:

• Check the assignment of company codes to companies and assign fiscal year variants to company codes.
• Check the assignment of company codes to ledgers and the currency settings for each company code.
• Adjust the accounting trial balance to include group reporting fields.

When implementing group reporting, there are several areas in accounting to consider:

• Trading partner: This will be released to Partner Unit in group reporting. For intercompany transactions, you should check if trading partner is blank in any transactions.
• Functional area: functional areas in accounting must also exist in group reporting (as a subitem).
• Chart of accounts: Since G/L accounts are mapped to FS items, the accounting COA(s) with the relevant G/L accounts must be identified.
• Group currency: group currency values in accounting may be used to populate group currency in ACDOCU. Before releasing data, the group currency values in accounting should be validated. Keep in mind that group currency values in accounting are typically based on exchange rates on the day of the posting (the data is historical).
• Transaction type: This will be released to Subitem in group reporting.