Data migration, in essence, is the most significant part of almost any SAP project – whether you’re implementing something or rolling out an update. If you perform this stage incorrectly for some reason, the minimum benefit/cost ratio you wanted to achieve for your business.
This, in turn, might lead to client dissatisfaction and frustration and cause unnecessary damage to your organization’s and SAP’s reputation. Therefore, when it comes to migrating data in SAP FiCo or anything else, proper planning and execution will be required.
However, before we delve deeper into that subject, let’s learn more about SAP FiCo first.
What is SAP FiCo?
SAP FiCo is a significant core functional component available in SAP ERP, which can enable a company to manage whatever financial data you have.
If you want, you may also store whatever version of the financial transaction data you have. It might also create and manage financial statements for reporting and evaluation.
Therefore, it will be easier for you to perform an effective business planning stature and make a proper decision accordingly.
Components of SAP FiCo
As mentioned before, SAP FiCo can do quite a lot when taking care of a financial department of an organization. And it does so through various components and elements, including –
- The general ledger contains all the transaction data of an organization and puts them in a ‘chart of accounts.’ The transactions are stored and recorded in sub-modules that are recorded with general ledger data in real-time.
- The account receivables can capture the customer transactions accordingly and make sure that you’re managing the accounts correctly. The transactions may include credit memo posting, invoice posting, down payments, executing customer reports, etc.
- On the other hand, accounts payable usually involve the transactions you have made with a vendor while managing their account. In this case, the transactions can include automatic payment programs, executing vendor reports, etc.
- Asset accounting usually focuses on managing whatever transaction you are making on the fixed asset of your company. It may include any heavy equipment, buildings, as well as land. The transactions might involve – sales, revaluations, transfers, etc.
- The bank ledger deals with the bank account transactions of the company and ensures the record of everything accordingly. It may also be used to reconcile the transactions that you have kept in a bank statement and compare each of them accordingly.
- Funds management manages the budget of an organization and keeps a record of the amount it has spent or received in a given year.
- The consolidation will enable a corporation to combine different financial statements for more than one entity accordingly. It can also provide an overview of your financial position and keep a record of each and everything.
- The special purpose ledger will focus primarily on defining the ledgers in SAP Fi for various reporting purposes.
- Finally, travel management will keep an eye on the transactions you have made for a travel-related purposes. It may include – booking trips and handling travel expenses.
Global Planning for SAP FiCo
The global planning for an SAP FiCo rollout usually goes through four different procedures. It may include the following steps –
1: Timeline
It should entail the start and end dates of the uploading of each object and country. If the date has been finalized, but you haven’t been able to meet the deadlines, it might –
- Affect the GO live date and the overall plan you have.
- Lead to a massive cost-related breakdown.
- Your organization’s profitability might get harmed to some extent.
Hence, it’s a must to focus on the timeline before you get started with the project.
2: The Upload Cycle
When it comes to data migration, the cycles for SAP FiCo will be different. However, this is a significant part of your data migration procedure. So, you must consider the following steps to ensure the success of your project –
- Note down the total number of cycles you want to carry out – whether it’s three or four; the result has to be the same. In any case, the number of them will depend on the time that is available on your hands as well.
- A standard cycle must be agreed upon for each implementation and country.
- Make a provision to complete the entire upload within two cycles only.
- Check if you need any additional cycles to take care of the project and learn more about the reason behind the same.
3: System for Each Cycle
Generally, quality, development, and production systems are employed for the uploads. This amounts to three different upload cycles. In some cases, it might have four cycles, too, with the inclusion of a sandbox. System scope must be defined in advance with the business.
And the contingency plan, such as uploads in a sandbox at the very last moment, can and will be accommodated too.
4: Percentage of Data Upload
Each of the phases of the migration procedure can have a different percentage of uploads. For example, Phase One could happen in the development system or sandbox. And in that case, it might require 10% of the information to be uploaded.
On the other hand, Phase Two might have 50% of the same, and the final one can complete the entire process at 100%. However, this has to be decided in advance while planning.
The Uploading Tools or Methods
Usually, when it comes to migrating data to SAP FiCo, you can opt for two different methods or tools. Here’s what you need to know about them.
1: LSMW
In the ECC v 6.0, LSMW is considered to be the best software for data upload and related proceedings. The standard LSMW programs are usually proffered by SAP for transactional data objects. However, creating two files for the transaction data can be cumbersome. Thus, it might be better to avoid this approach as much as you can.
In order to avoid this two-file approach, it’s important to connect to a technical team to embed an upload account in the program system.
When the file is prepared, usually only a single line of the document gets added within it. Upload account, which you had created before, will be picked up automatically by the program.
Different values, such as the amount, business area, posting key, etc., will also be there. Apart from this, the profit center will be populated from line item 1.
Note: LSMW is ideal for a Master Data Upload procedure. If you want, you might attempt a standard recording and upload Master Data in your system.
2: BDC
Unlike LSMW, BDC is a simpler and easy-to-use tool. However, it’s not really perfect for the larger projects you probably are undergoing. After all, coding exercises, recording transactions, as well as preparing FS can be difficult to perform all at once.
So, as long as you have less data, opting for BDC can be viable for you. However, you can use whatever you want, depending on how you want to approach your data system.
The Unified Template Approach
The data migration procedure in SAP FiCo can be done through the unified template approach in an easier and simpler manner. Here’s how it usually goes through.
Step – 1: Creating the Template
Firstly, you will need to curate a common template based on the selected method. Share them as soon as possible with the implementation and support team accordingly.
These templates must be employed for all cycles and countries. The objects that you can add in this aspect may include the below-mentioned –
- GL Open templates and GL Balance.
- Profit/cost centers and different internal order templates.
- Customer and vendor balance templates.
- Asset balance and asset master templates.
- The tax line item templates.
Step – 2: Curating the Template Folder
Generally, a common drive or a single drive must be used for each of the templates. If you’re thinking about exchanging the files, make sure to do it through emails and nothing else.
Besides, you’ll need to set a protocol for file exchange and circulate the same around the team who are working with you. Violation should only be escalated as per the escalation matrix.
Finally, the file exchanges you have made by mail must be ignored and considered to be void.
Step – 3: Make a Template Checklist
If you have qualitative content in your system, make sure to create a checklist for each object. Talk to your team before making it and once you are done – share it with them quickly.
This, in turn, will help you avoid fundamental mistakes while filling all the templates properly and accordingly. The template checklist might differ depending on the project you’re working on. So, make sure to keep that in mind while creating it.
The Final Say!
So, there you go.
That’s how you can migrate data to SAP FiCo from your usual file. Hopefully, we could help you as much as possible with it. However, if you want to know about anything else, be sure to comment below or talk to a consultant. Good luck!
