This Blog is mainly on SAP Exam Questions and Selected "How-to" SAP processes

Monday, October 28, 2024

Q&A in Class (2024-10-30) S4H00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: S/4HANA Joint Venture Accounting capabilities?

The Oil & Gas Industry Solution previously available as an extension for ECC users was introduced as S/4 Embedded solutioning as early is S/4HANA 1809 (which is in 2018 Q3), 
and lot has been done by SAP to include the IS-Oil features stage by stage include JVA (Joint Venture Accounting as can be seen in S/4HANA 2023, 

Research findings shows the following:
  1. Possible Impact in JVA due to Finance simplifications:
    • Master data maintenance. I.e. Customer Vendor Integration (CVI).
    • Parallel Accounting options in S/4 comparing to the older versions of SAP ERP systems.
    • New Asset Accounting is required in S/4 and the possible impact should also be analyzed. For example the AM integration with JVA.
    • Universal Journal Entry changes and possible impacts on the reporting and reconciliation between JVA and GL.
    • Third party tools that are integrated with JVA in enterprise system landscape.
  2. Possible Impact of the S/4HANA New GL and JVA:
    • JVA and New GL Integration (business function JVA_GL_INTEGRATION) provides the possibility to reconcile data between new GL and JVA at venture, equity group and recovery indicator (RI) level.
    • If new GL JVA integration is active, the JVA attributes are updated in Universal Journal Entry and reporting is possible using the new Universal Journal Entry table ACDOCA.
  3. Possible Impact of the S/4HANA Asset Accounting Changes and JVA: 
    • The classic AA integrated with JVA provides automated process to compare EBC and CRP. This is no longer supported in S/4. SAP is recommending standard revaluation procedures to cover specific revaluation requirements.
    • The following Asset Transfers are also no longer supported in S/4HANA: 
      • Reverse AM/MM Transfer Document (GJT0)
      • JV Transfer Asset to WIP (GJT1)
      • JV Transfer Asset to Asset (GJT2)
      • JV Transfer Asset Retirement (GJT3)
      • JV Transfer Asset Sale (GJT4)
      • JV Transfer WIP to WIP (GJT5)
      • JV Transfer WIP to Asset (GJT6)
    • The above are now replaced with the following in S/4HANA;
      • Transfer of actual costs with subsequent settlement to AuC and the final asset instead
      • For Intra-company asset transfer use ABUMN
      • For Cross-company asset transfer use ABT1N
      • For asset sale use F-92
  4. IMG menu paths are also changed. There is a dedicated node called Asset Management for JVA and a separate node named MM transfers.
See the following links:
https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_S4HANA_ON-PREMISE/MigrationObjectsForJVA_OIl&Gas/
https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_S4HANA_CLOUD/JVAOil&GasDocumentation/

See the following videos: 
https://youtube/SAP S/4 Hana Joint Venture Accounting (JVA) On-Premise Edition 2020/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: can we run some modules like Finance in S/4HANA and other modules like Plant Maintenance using ECC while maybe HR payroll also in the ECC while Payroll some other software ? 

It is possible to implement selected SAP modules like Finance in S/4HANA and remain some modules like MM in ECC using a phase approach but each version of S/4HANA may have differing support cases, please refer to SAP to check the implementation possibilities of the desired scenarios. AND the following documentations maybe can shed some light to he Question. 

See the following links:
https://help.sap.com/doc/Conversion Guide for SAP S/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023.pdf/

Also see the following: 
useful links and resources for SAP Readiness Check information:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Fleet Object booking in Plant Maintenance explanation.


SAP provided "Pool Asset Management" for PM and CS module via the business function LOG_EAM_PAM since EHP4 and still available in S/4HANA 2022. It is SAP GUI based at the moment. Pool Asset Management (PAM) to schedule and manage shared physical assets such as vehicles, cranes, special tools among different maintenance crew. PAM can be used to control and monitor the use of pool assets from the reservation, through issue, to return and settlement using a graphical planning board. 


Other resources:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Is Power Bi supported by S/4HANA?

It should be possible to use OData feed connector in Power BI Desktop to connect to import data from SAP S4HANA Analytics CDS views.


See the following links: 
https://www.youtube.com/SAP HANA with Microsoft Power BI/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: To share the "Malfunction Report" End-to-End scenario via FIORI App in S/4HANA 2023.

"Malfunction Report" scenario in S/4HANA PM offers a combined Notification-Maintenance Order End-to-End processing using a Single FIORI App start from the Orders creation (1:1 Notification & MO) to optional Hours and Spare Parts Planning, to Release of MO, Start work, Report hours, then "Complete" (TECO), and "Close Report" (NOCO). 


Click link below to step by step
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2024/10/sap-pm-malfunction-report-scenario.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Are there any improvement on the classic ECC MM RFQ-Quotation (via ME41, ME47, ME49) in S/4HANA? which is a proper Bidding processing.


Answer: You may want to check Fiori Apps currently available for new S/4HANA RFQ processing, the above FIORI App "Manage Central RFQs" (via App ID F3974) may shed some light. AND you may want activate this to a FIORI user's Role to test the Fiori App usability. 
Link to the above Fiori App in the App Library:

The following links may also be helpful:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Problem with in-class demo of selecting spare parts in "Manage Malfunction Report" Fiori App from the Material BOM (assigned as Construction type) to an Equipment. 


Answer: Click the following link to the Blog Posts of how the above Scenario Error in class Demo is resolved.
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2024/10/sap-pm-manage-malfunction-report-error.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question no 4019 : Field Selection concepts for Material Master

In SAP Material Management, which of the following are TRUE about Field Selection for Material Master ?

(more than answers)

A. Influencing factors via Field Reference for Material Master field selection are Plant, Transaction Code, User and Material Type.
B. Tables and Fields are assigned to Field Selection Group and the Group cannot be changed.
C. One or more Tables and Fields are assigned to the Field Selection Groups.
D. Field Reference can be user defined.
E. Each Material Type can be assigned to exactly one Field Reference.
.

Answer: C, D, E

A) The influencing factors via Field Reference for Material Master are Plant, Transaction Code, Material Type and Industrial Sector.
B) Tables and Fields are delivered by SAP assigned to Field Selection Group, however a Re-Grouping is possible.
C) Some Field Selection Groups have exactly one field while many others are assigned with more than one fields.
D) Except for Transaction code like MM01, MM02, MM03 which themselves are Field Reference keys, a four alphanumeric Field Reference can be created and recommended to start with X, Y or Z; for example ZROH.
E) In OMS2 (Material Type Configuation), each Material Type can be assigned to exactly one Field Reference.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Q&A in Class (2024-10-23) PLM315

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Availability Check already setup but despite "Not enough Stock" in the scenario below, the system is not executing AV check correctly. 


Answer: The issue has been resolved and please see detail solution simulation in the Blog Posts below:
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2024/10/sap-pm-maintenance-order-availability.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, October 18, 2024

Question no 4018 : Material Type Parameters

In SAP Material Management, the Material Type configuration contains the following parameters ?

(more than one answers)

A. Field selection for Price Control field in the Accounting data view.
B. Field selection for Procurement Type field in the MRP 2 data view.
C. Ensure Purchase Order to be created with Account Assignment.
D. Allow Number Range to be internal or external.
E. Control of Cost Estimate with or without Quantity Structure.
.

Answer: A, B, C, D, E

A. Price Control field can be defaulted as "V" or "S" and set Mandatory hence the field becomes display mode.
B. Procurement type can be set to "F", "E" or "X" and grayed out or displayed mode by combination of the Internal Purchase Order and External Purchase Order selections.
C. When Material Type set for a Plant without Value and with Qty, another case is without Value and without Qty then creating Purchasing Document for Material for that Material Type for that Plant will require Account Assignment.
D. Number Range assignment for a Number Group can be either internal or external or both.
E. There is a "Quantity Structure" field in the Material Type that controls if Cost Estimate for the Material should be "Costing with Quantity Structure" or "Costing without Quantity Structure".

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Q&A in Class (2024-10-17) S4500

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: What is the technology SAP deployed or use to send and fetch data between SAP Fiori and the S/4HANA Backend system ? 

To expose SAP data to external environments like UI5/Fiori or HANA, it is crucial to push the data in the form of an API. This is where SAP Gateway CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations come into play. By utilizing SAP OData (Open Data Protocol), developers can generate service links that allow for seamless data manipulation and integration with external applications.


SAP Gateway Foundation (SAP_GWFND) is a software component which is available within SAP NetWeaver.
  • SAP Gateway Foundation offers development and generation tools to create OData services to a variety of client development tools. Put simply, it establishes a connection between SAP Business Suite data and target clients, platforms, and programming framework.
  • SAP Gateway Foundation provides the following functionality:
  • Runtime environment for SAP solutions that integrates desktop programs with SAP systems
  • Runtime features, including user interface, secure data access, database connectivity, and network communications for managing applications running on top of the framework
  • Infrastructure and tools for developing applications to run on the framework or to enhance SAP solutions that integrate desktop programs with SAP systems.
  • Connection to multiple SAP systems regardless of their versions.
Also see the following links:

Videos:

Recommendations: it is better to seek the expert knowledge on this subject matter from SAP NetWeaver consultants for a comprehensive understanding of the SAP Gateway. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: How do one know that a Business Partner already created is a Person, Organization, or Group ?


When creating Business Partner in  S/4HANA, user have to first select the BP Category "Person", "Organization" or "Group". 
  • BP Category "Person" is used for individuals (eg: Contact Person for Customer or Vendor)
  • BP Category "Organization" is most commonly used (eg: for MM Vendor, SD Customer, or TM Carrier)
  • BP Category "Group" can be used to represents Groups of People (eg: Sales Team of the Vendor)
After creating BP using Category "Person and "Group", these 2 types of Business Partners can then be set Relationship to the BP Category "Organization" Vendor/Customers. 
  • Eg: BP "Person" can set as Contract Person of the Vendor.
  • Eg: BP "Sales Team" can set as Sales Representatives of the Vendor.
Answer: See link 
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2024/10/sap-mm-business-partner-relationships.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: What are the use-case scenario for GR Non-Valuated Purchase Order item ?

Answer: GR Non-Valuated setting is only for Consumable scenario. GR Non-Valuated means for a PO item means there are no FICO postings at point of Goods Receipt AND all FICO postings are delayed until at point of Invoice Verification. The following are possible use case:

  1. It is commonly used for purchasing of fixed assets, because in most countries you do not post the acquisition until you have the legal back-up which could be happening only at point of Invoice Verification. 
  2. Sometimes the PO is estimated price only for some company and to avoid posting to Expenses Account as estimated prices at point of Goods Receipt, ALL FICO postings are delayed until Invoice Verification for the approved amount to be posted at that time of LIV. (Otherwise if GR based on estimated PO value and Invoice different price will result in Adjustments; therefore, to avoid these kinds of adjustment is to switch to GR non-valuated for the PO item).
  3. In many cases since for Consumable scenario PO often receive the items purchased + delivery note (DO) + supplier invoice at the same time; the action of GR then Invoice Verify may be redundant step for some practices. Therefore, switch off GR indicator and switch on GR non-valuated indicator to have FICO postings at LIV only.
  4. There will be likely other use cases for the GR Non-Valuated indicator in the PO item which could be Accounting reasons or Country specific practives. 
However, whether should you use GR non-valuated for the PO should be dependent on Financial decision and not procurement decision. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: To show the End-to-End Process from Master Data (BP Vendor + Material) to Info Record, Source List, then PR creation, Convert PR to PO, Goods Receipt and Invoice Verification for Consumable Scenario with GR Valuated and GR Non-Valuated using FIORI App in SAP S/4HANA 2023. 

Answer: see the detail step by step for the Consumable Scenario above using FIORI Apps in S/4HANA 
2023. click link below:
https://docs.google.com/SAP Procurement Processes in S/4 HANA 2023 Consumables Scenario using FIORI APP

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: The following are the Process flow diagram for the "Advanced Transaction" processing steps to be done in Class. 


Caution: Follow the Instructor instruction on the explanations on the process steps to execute the transaction successfully.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Please show the screen steps of selected Automation steps:
  • Reorder Point and MRP run to generate Purchase Requisition
  • Automatic PO creation
  • Automatic Invoice creation

Answer: Click link below to see step by step

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Q&A in Class (2024-10-11) PLM310

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: How to plan preventive maintenance for related equipment to the same dates and include the Equipments into a single Maintenance Order ?


Answer: refer to link to the Blog Posts for suggestion solution.
link

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: How to setup a scenario where 2 containers which are active 6 months in a rotation manner, only preventive maintenance is only required when the container is active; meaning when Container 1 is active for 6 months will required preventive while Container 2 is non-active and does not required maintenance. Then, in the next cycle (next 6 months), there will be switch to Container 2 to become active and thus required regular preventive maintenance and therefore no maintenance for Container 1 during that period.

Answer: refer to link to the Blog Posts for suggestion solution.
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2024/10/sap-pm-container-case-study-preventive.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Why a user accessing a particular Transaction Codes (eg: MMBE) results in System Hang/Termination, while the same user accessing other Transactions Codes in SAP with no Issues. Interesting any other uses accessing the t-code MMBE has no issues. 

Answer: There could have other Technical reasons (Authorization or Basis level) that this scenario is happening for a particular user. From the basic application perspective, it is suggested to look at the following:
For ECC: try t-code SM01 (check Lock Entries)
For S/4HANA: t-code SM01 is not obsolete and replace by the following:
    - SM01_DEV (typically used by SAP and Partners (Software Vendors)
    - SM01-CUS (typically used by Customers)
Probably this Question is best to be addressed by a Technical Expertise in Basis and/or Authorizations. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: How to Mass Print multiple Maintenance Orders into 1 sheet of Paper?


Answer: In IW32 and IW3D, both transaction code can be used to Print on an entered Maintenance Order (MO). AND although IW38 can be used to Mass Select many Maintenance Orders to perform Print; however, the Print process is still the Shop Papers for each select MOs consecutively one after another. 
To print a list of Maintenance Order for specific relationship Technical Objects with selected fields is not possible in the SAP system (whether ECC6.0 Ehp8 OR present S/4HANA 2023). It is suggested to use create Query from SAP PM tables AFKO (Order Header Data), AUFK (Order Master Data), AFIH (Order Header Data), AFVC (Operation Data) (any etc), and download to Excel, perform desired sorting and print from Excel.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: How to check Change Logs of data fields in the Maintenance Order, eg who added more Components in the MO or change the Header title etc?

Answer: In order to record ALL changes in change LOG for Maintenance Orders, first set the "Change doc" indicator for Plant + Order Type Combination in t-code "OIOE" (Action Log is useful but it does not record ALL change history, only selected changes on certain fields decided by SAP). 

After setting in "OIOE", changes for an MO can be accessed in IW32 or IW33 via Extras - Documents for Orders - Changes, from this report, the Change Document number can be found which will show what fields data changed by which user and the time-stamp of changes made. Then, the user can find details of the Change Document via table CDHDR and CDPOS in SE16N.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Tracing PO Qty to Stock and Non-Stock items in the Maintenance Order ?

Answer: For the 2 scenarios:

For Non-Stock item - the Booked item in the Maintenance Order is directly linked to the Purchase Order, the item cannot be deleted unless the PO is set deletion flag. Although TECO is allowed, CLSD is not allowed as the PO is pending. In this case, the planner need to decided if the PO should be closed or to be received before settlement process and set "CLSD" status.

For Stock item - the Reservations items book in the Maintenance Order will be subjected to MRP and therefore PR creation (then converted to PO); in MTS scenario, after MRP run, the PR can be traced to the Reservations via "Pegging" in MD04. However, if the Reservations has been deleted by the User (in the MO), there is no more Pegging record for the PR or PO to the original Reservation and in fact, the system will perform auto Pegging to other demand items (other Reservations). It is therefore, no possible to trace the PO created to deleted MO Reservations.

To avoid users to change the operation and spare parts data in the Maintenance Order after the data has been planned by the Planner, the Planner can lock the operation using Digital Signature. 

See the link below for how the Digital Signature is executed in a Maintenance Order:
click Link: https://DigitalSignature_MO/

Conclusions to stop other users from making changes to the MO except the planner are:
  • Disallow all other users accessing IW32 and only allow IW33, any changes request Planner to access IW32 to make changes. 
  • Use Digital Signature to lock the Operation and Components after MO Release. 
  • Switch-on "Change Log" to "Plant + Order type" in Customizing and download Change Logs in SE16N for table CDHDR and CDPOS for users who have access to IW32 to audit who make changes without informing the planner. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Show the effects of 1:2:2 hierarchy for Time-Based Strategy.


Answer: click link below
Click https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2024/10/sap-pm-time-based-strategy-122.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Setting up for Code Group entry in Measuring Point for Condition-based Maintenance.


Answer: Click the link below to see the step by step
Link

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Please show the process flow of PM/QM integration in a process flow diagram.


Answer: see link below for the steps by step setup and execution of Calibration process in SAP.
Click Link https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2021/08/quality-management-calibration-planning.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------