3.4 Maturity and Release Restrictions
When discussing SAP S/4HANA Finance release restrictions, we need to make a distinction between the different versions of SAP S/4HANA Finance. Released in March 2015, the add-on version was called release 1503. This version only contained simplifications for finance and didn’t change the logistics part. Logistics was simplified with the introduction of the SAP S/4HANA core that was released in November 2015 and called release 1511. This release not only simplified the finance part on the same level as in release 1503, but also simplified the logistics part as well. Keep in mind that the 1503 and 1511 releases are two different products and run on different code lines. While these two code lines are integrated in the 1610 release, you do need to handle them separately in earlier versions.
In May 2016, SAP launched release 1605 for SAP S/4HANA Finance. This version removes some of the release restrictions that applied for finance mainly in the currency and valuation area. It provided no solution for the restrictions provided in the SAP S/4HANA core version. Consequently, the SAP S/4HANA migration programs wouldn’t support the migration of your SAP ERP system if you were hitting these restrictions. This should be fixed in the 1610 release.
Note
For more information on adopting SAP S/4HANA and what restrictions may apply to your organization, see Chapter 9.
Regarding the maturity of the product, we don’t necessarily need to make a distinction between the two different versions. SAP S/4HANA Finance was the first to become available, and it took almost half a year (two support packs) to mature. Therefore, the SAP S/4HANA core release got these fixes from these support packs as well. When looking at the maturity from a bug fix perspective, the system is stabilized. If we look at other aspects of the maturity, we consider SAP S/4HANA Finance not to be fully mature yet. Following are some areas where improvements can still be made:
Note
Note that the following items are speculation on the part of the authors. While we may see all of these changes in future releases, we may also see none.
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Table ACDOCA architecture
Table ACDOCA may be only the first step to realizing a single version of truth. Although table BSEG for handling open item management and table BKPF for storing header data information are still used, they could have been part of table ACDOCA as well. Further, the fact that the SAP BPC for S/4HANA Finance solution isn’t storing its data in table ACDOCA because the table is only used for storing actual data and not plan data jeopardizes the single version of truth concept. Just by adding a simple indicator, you could select actual data or plan data in the same table ACDOCA as well. -
SAP Cash Management reporting and liquidity forecast
SAP Cash Management isn’t using table ACDOCA in full. When planning items, a different set of tables is used. An improvement could be made by storing all relevant items for FI and SAP Cash Management (plan and actual) in a single table to guarantee the single version of truth concept.
Depending on the SAP S/4HANA release, the Universal Journal might have some release restrictions regarding currencies and transfer pricing as well. As depicted in Figure 3.23, SAP supports two different code lines for on-premise—SAP S/4HANA Finance and SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management—both with their own release strategies.
Figure 3.23 SAP S/4HANA Support for Two Code Lines: SAP S/4HANA Finance and SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management
The SAP S/4HANA Finance edition had a new release in May 2016 called 1605 that resolved most of the existing release restrictions in FI. These release restrictions were related to currency support and transfer pricing. In SAP ERP, the currencies and associated currency types listed in Table 3.3 were supported. By activating parallel ledgers in FI, you could support up to three different currencies. In CO, there were only two, and the ML supported three different currencies.
| FI (Table BSEG) | Local Currency | Second Local Currency | Third Local Currency |
|---|---|---|---|
| CO (table COEP) | Local object currency | CO area currency | – |
| ML | Local currency | Second ML currency | Third ML currency |
Table 3.3 Currency Support in SAP ERP
By the introduction of SAP S/4HANA, all these ledgers were integrated in the Universal Journal that supported three currencies only:
The first currency was used to represent the local currency, the second to represent the global currency, and a third currency that was freely definable. However, multinational groups that need to report profitability for the group in total as well for their individual units normally require up to three different perspectives—legal, group, and profit center views—to support transfer pricing via the ML. The Universal Journal setup can’t support that concept because it only has one currency, so related currency type was left and three currency fields were needed.
In SAP S/4HANA Finance 1605, this problem has been resolved. Now, next to the local and global currency, the Universal Journal supports eight freely definable currencies per ledger:
- Local currency
- Global currency
- First free currency through eighth free currency
This enables support for the previously supported currency types from the ML as well as taking away the existing release restrictions for on-premise deployments of SAP S/4HANA Finance.
Furthermore, there are two options available for storing multiple valuations in FI. One is the approach where every valuation is stored in a separate ledger, a parallel single valuation ledger, so that there is a clear separation of postings and reportings on a specific valuation (see Figure 3.24).
Figure 3.24 Currency Support in SAP S/4HANA Finance 1503 and SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management (Parallel Single Valuation)
The other is that multiple valuations are stored in a single ledger, the multivaluation ledger, as shown in Figure 3.25.
Figure 3.25 Currency Support in SAP S/4HANA Finance 1503 and SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management (Multivaluation)
These currency and ledger functionalities will be added to the SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management 1610 release as well.