Wherever an organization thinks about SAP Central Finance first topic which pops up is data harmonization as SAP Central Finance given an opportunity to harmonize the data which is not done in legacy or due to the fact that legacy is based on M&A the data is segregated.
There are TWO components of Data Harmonization:
In this blog the focus is on Configuration Data. Lets look at the list first which comprises of configuration data:
- Company Codes
- Controlling area
- Credit Control Area
- Ledger
- Fiscal Year Variant
- Country/Region
- Plants
- Sales Organization
- Purchase Organization
- Payment Method
- Payment Terms
- House Bank
- Order Types
- Business Area
- Credit Segment
- Unit of Measure
- Exchange Rate Types
- Tax Procedures
- Functional Area
- Company/Trading Partner
- Document Types
- Many more…
Now let’s see how these can be managed.
Please note that the information provided here is based on experience from CFIN projects. There is no right or wrong as the design decisions are organization/projects specific.
Object | Recommendation | Options | Potential Solution |
| Company Codes | Recommended to keep 1:1 mapping. | N:1 mapping can be done | Case by case study needed as N:1 mapping is not support by SAP in certain cases |
| Controlling Area | NA | Depends on Organizational Design | N:1 or 1:1 both choices are available |
| Credit Control Area | NA | Depends on Organizational Design | N:1 or 1:1 both choices are available |
| Ledger | This is mandatory in S/4HANA, even this is not in use in classic GL systems | Define Ledgers based on the requirements – Leading/Non-Leading | Conversion from Classic GL or Accounts based approach to ledger based is customization as SAP does not have any standard functionality |
| Fiscal Year Variant | Recommended to keep same as in ECC | Change can be done via customization. Extensive testing needed | If its same FY then standard SAP approach is sufficient |
| Country/Regions | Keep standard | Standard or Custom countries (if custom exists in ECC) | 1:1 mapping recommended |
| Plants | NA | Depends on Organizational Design | N:1 or 1:1 both choices are available |
| Sales Organization | If needed as part of reporting design or future architecture then should be taken case | CFIN mandatorily does not need this field for accounting/CO document replication | N:1 or 1:1 mapping supported. If not needed as part of design, this can be ignored |
| Purchase Organization | If needed as part of reporting design or future architecture then should be taken case | CFIN mandatorily does not need this field for accounting/CO document replication | N:1 or 1:1 mapping supported. If not needed as part of design, this can be ignored |
| Order Types (Cost Objects) | Choose Cost Object Cardinality based on future design (Cost Objects types and available mapping listed here — >>) | · Product Cost Collector  CC· Internal Order : IO · Prod Order to PCC · Quality Order :QM · Process Order to IO · Maintenance Order :MO · MO : Internal Order · WBS:WBS · Project: Project | Based on order category N:1 & 1:1 are support |
| Business Area | Depends on usage | 1:1 Mapping N:1 Mapping or even ignore and clear the field | Segment/PC are better in terms of future design |
| Credit Segment | Not needed for CFIN purposes | Customer Design | Customer Design leads |
| Exchange Rate Types | Recommended to Harmonize | Mapping can be done | Customer Design leads |
| Unit of Measure | Recommended to Harmonize | Mapping can be done | Customer Design leads |
| Functional Area | Recommended to harmonize | N:1 or 1:1 Mapping | Most of the cases it is a derived field |
| Tax Procedures | Mostly based on countries | 1:1 mapping | 1:1 Mapping |
| House Bank | Harmonization Recommended | Not needed for CFIN purposes but needed for Central Payment | Customer Design leads |
| Payment Method | Harmonization Recommended | Not needed for CFIN purposes but needed for Central Payment | Customer Design leads |
| Payment Terms | Harmonization Recommended | Not needed for CFIN purposes but needed for Central Payment | Customer Design leads |
| Company/Trading Partner | business Design and Intercompany processes leads | NA | Customer Design leads |
| Document Type | Recommended to move to Standard document types | 1:1 or N:1 Mapping | Mappings |
Their are several more objects which are not immediately important to think about like:
- Order Groups
- Cost Element Groups
- Financial Statement Version
- Controlling Version
- Cost Center Attributes
- Project Type
In my next blogs i will talk about master data objects.
Keep reading and share your challenges related to CFIN Implementations…
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