Migration To Simple Finance
Migration To Simple Finance
Finance
Posted by Arnaud SERGENT 06-Mar-2015
In this blog I will try to summarize all the main concepts that need to be known and considered before migrating
to Simple Finance, more specifically to its main module SAP Accounting, powered by SAP HANA.
Migration prerequisites:
Any customer running today ECC6, with whichever Enhancement Package, can consider migrating to Simple
Finance.
It is a migration in 2 steps: ECC6 EhPx on any DB => Suite on HANA EHp7 => sFIN
As of today, there is not a direct migration path from ECC6 EhP7 to sFIN. You have to perform the intermediary
step to Suite on HANA. This should change in the future.
The actual migration to the GL in SAP Accounting is actually easy. For the most part, this is a technical
migration. Some functional aspects, which I will cover below, must be kept in mind, but it is above all a
technical migration, not a functional project.
Functional aspects of the migration:
Another important point is that the new GL is not a pre-requisite for an implementation of the GL
in SAP Accounting. You can perform the migration straight from the classic GL to the GL in Simple Finance.
The GL in SAP Accounting is very similar to the New GL in SAP ECC: it provides the same capabilities as
new GL and leverages its data structures, but it is further optimized for HANA, for example no totals tables,
convergence with CO, better reporting, etc. Existing PCA (profit center) and SL (special ledger) functions and
features from classic GL can remain in place.
However, be aware of one limitation when migrating from classic GL: document splitting and
parallel ledger cannot be implemented yet (this restriction is planned to be lifted with a SP in Q4
2015). So, if for example you wanted documents split now in sFIN, you would have to migrate
first in new GL, activate the document split, and then migrate to sFIN. Thats why customers
already running a migration project to new GL in SAP ERP with a planned go live in 2015 should
continue before moving to sFIN.
Finally, the migration also moves you to New Asset Accounting (NAA).
Migration project steps:
The migration project steps can be described as follow. Im giving a rough estimate of the time
repartition spent on each task, from a project (i.e. parameterization) and an elapsed time point of
view:
Project steps:
Project time
Elapsed time
0- technical install
20%
10%
1- GL => new GL
10%
30%
2- Simple Finance data migration
20%
50%
3- Activate NAA
50%
10%
For example, for an actual migration we did, we experienced the following figures for step 2:
Data transfer (93 million rows): 50 mns
Data migration: 11h elapsed time
You can expect a minimum of 24 hours of production system downtime.
SAP is providing a migration guide. There is no required SAP migration service.
Modifications to the ERP data model:
Here is the list of FI/CO tables removed in sFIN v1.0:
Index tables removed:
BSIS
BSAS
BSID
BSAD
BSIK
BSAK
BSIM
FAGLBSIS
FAGLBSAS
GLT3
FAGLFLEXT
KNC1
LFC1
KNC3
LFC3
COSS
COSP
The remaining physical tables are fully Line Items based. All dimensions are available for fast analysis with
SAP HANA. There are no more limitations by pre-defined totals or aggregates as before. Data structures can
be easily enhanced with custom dimensions (just update the line item table).
Please note that all those deleted tables are replaced by HANA CDS views. So those suppressions will
not affect existing custom ABAP code as long as such code is not writing in one of those tables: custom
programs and reports with read access to old tables will continue to work.
Also, new tables will be created in the data model to manage historical data.
Finally, this list above is for sFIN v1.0. The new v2.0 will introduce some new changes on this list as well.
Optimized transactions:
Many period close transactions have been optimized for HANA in SFIN:
Settlement (plant selection)
CO88 -> CO88H
Settlement (make-to-order sales orders)
VA88-> VA88H
Settlement (internal orders)
Settlement (projects)
Results Analysis
(POC method or revenue-based)
WIP Calculation at Actual Costs
Variance Calculation w. Full Settlement
Variance Calculation for Cost Centers
KO8G-> KO8GH
CJ8G -> CJ8GH
KKAK -> KKAKH
But for a production system, SAP recommends that you use a Central Hub Deployment of SAP Gateway. This
means you install SAP Gateway independent of ERP on a standalone system, either behind or in front of the
firewall. You therefore separate back-end components from front-end components. For production systems,
SAP does not recommend the Embedded Deployment option.
So you will need to plan for installing Gateway if it is not already in place in your SAP landscape.
Finally, be aware that the old retired transactions replaced by redeveloped Fiori applications will not be
accessible anymore through the SAP GUI. If you attempt to start them, you will get a pop-up redirecting you
toward the Fiori Launchpad of Simple Finance.
Conclusion:
Hopefully this contribution will help demystify the path to SAP Simple Finance, and let you assess the effort
that would be necessary to make the upgrade in your own situation.
11581 Views Tags: migration, simple_finance, sap_simple_finance
Diego Ortega
24-Nov-2015 20:37
Does anyone have updated information regarding the release of the SP that was supposed to lift the restriction
for the migration from classic GL to New GL supporting document split and parallel ledgers?
Thanks and regards. Diego
Ravindranath Gangampalli in response to Vikash Kumar Tulsyan on page 4
14-Aug-2015 13:27
Thank You all, Thank You Vikash for confirming that migration happens in all clients , i was looking for this
information.
In that case , we plan to run the migration in all clients. I agree that we need to run a parallel landscape for S4 .
Ravi
Vikash Kumar Tulsyan in response to Ravindranath Gangampalli on page 6
14-Aug-2015 13:08
Hi Ravi,
When you start the migration then migration happens for all the client in the system so you are not just
migrating the one client rather you need to migrated all the client in the system otherwise you will have
inconsistency in other clients.
Yes, you need to keep a parallel landscape in addition to sFIN to support your existing production system.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Vikash
Vikash Kumar Tulsyan in response to Daniel Khoo on page 7
14-Aug-2015 13:03
Hi Daniel/Edwin,
Thanks for your response but I see conflicting statement from SAP in this respect.
If I run the pre check report "FINS_PRE_CHECK_SFIN_1503" in the system then there is a check for "New GL
activation"...if New GL activation is not a prerequisite then why SAP has introduced this check in this report.
Unfortuantely I cannot check the output as in my case New GL is activated and hence system pops up the
message " New GL is Activate".
Also please refer the note which says clearly (as below) that we need to do some basic configuration for New
GL accounting..
- Whether the General Ledger Accounting (new) is already active.
Background: During the installation of the Simple Financial on-premise edition 1503, the General
Ledger Accounting (new) is technically introduced in the system. This means that customers who
previously worked with the classic General Ledger Accounting must set a minimum of settings for the
General Ledger Accounting (new) in Customizing that specify
I understand that SAP has introduced New GL technically with sFin but then why is this check required in pre
check report.
Thanks,
Vikash
Edwin Weijers in response to Edwin Weijers on page 6
14-Aug-2015 10:35
It is because AA in SFIN is also using update of the ACDOCA table. Even if you are not using AA in the
current sitation. you might want in in the future. To ensure it will work, it is part of the SFIN migration. Even
if you don't have assets yet, the right order of activities in migration is important, because activities have
interdependencies,
Daniel Khoo in response to Ravindranath Gangampalli on page 6
14-Aug-2015 10:31
I think there is no single approach to this given the varying circumstances in each site. It would however be
a good practice to have a "SFIN Project" landscape running in parallel to a "Production Support" landscape.
The SFIN Project Landscape could be a system copy could be done immediately after period end close. (a
temporary moratorium on AA transaction should be observe until system copy is done) Use this new system
copy to run your trial migrations.
Regards,
Daniel
Daniel Khoo in response to Vikash Kumar Tulsyan on page 7
14-Aug-2015 08:27
New GL Activation is not a pre requisite for SFIN Migration. It is activated in the target system during the
migration exercise. Having said that, if you intend to use functionalities provided by New GL i.e. parallel
ledger and document splitting, a separate implementation exercise will be needed. However, if the plan is to
implement New GL, it would perhaps be better to complete the New GL implementation prior to migration to
SFIN.
Regards,
Daniel
Daniel Khoo in response to Rafael Bermudez on page 7
14-Aug-2015 08:23
For NN customer, you will need to activate new AA during system configuration. This is a pre requisite for SFIN
environment.
For a migration scenario, activation of New AA is part of the migration process.
Regards,
Daniel
Vikash Kumar Tulsyan in response to Edwin Weijers on page 8
13-Aug-2015 19:27
HI Edwin,
If there is no per-requisite for New GL Activation then why do we have this as a check in the report
FINS_PRE_CHECK_SFIN_1503?
Regards,
Vikash
Rafael Bermudez
13-Aug-2015 19:16
Edwin,
Thank you for your recommendations.
I have an additional question:
How important is the sequence of the upgrade to ASSETS ACCOUNTING (NEW) , when we created our S4/
Hana environment from scratch, and Fixed Assets have not been loaded yet?
Thanks
Rafael
Edwin Weijers in response to Ravindranath Gangampalli on page 8
13-Aug-2015 17:59
Hello Ravi,
It is true that productive migration in certain situations take considerable time and it would be a problem to
freeze such a long period. For this situation we give customers into consideration our Near Zero Downtime
(NZDT) approach. Generally this works as follows: for test migration you make a recent copy of your productive
system to a separate system server. This copied system must be very similar (alos on technical specs) as
your productive system. You execute your test migrations 2 or 3 times just as often as you feel comfortable
to go for productive migration. You wil refresh the copy from production prior to each test conversion. On the
final test you perform a succesfull test migration.After that, you start a limited freeze period. Then you make
your converted test system your new productive system and your orginal productive system will be reset to
test system. In the downtime you have to migrate all te postings that you have made in the original productive
system from on he moment you took the most recent copy for test, so the delta postings. You migrate these
from old to new productive system and from classic to simple finance, This approach will reduce the down time
significantly. There is a slide deck available that explains this, SAP can support you with NZDT service. Please
contact your SAP AM.
Ravindranath Gangampalli in response to Edwin Weijers on page 10
13-Aug-2015 16:33
Dear Edwin,
Thanks for confirming.
How the production migration actually takes place for Simple Finance ? How should we manage month
end closing and installation & migration of the production ? As the no postings are allowed after the add-on
installation.
Pl advise
Ravi
Edwin Weijers in response to Rafael Bermudez on page 9
13-Aug-2015 16:15
Hi Rafael,
It looks you did the migrations in the wrong order. Migration from Classic to New Asset Accounting must be
done before you migrate to Simple Finance, You can reset the Simple Finance Migration and run it again.
I suggest you to do so. Reset might take a couple of hours, dependant on the size of your database. When you
re-run the SFIN migration thereafter, the ssystem will recognize that you are on New AA and then I expect it
will migrate your APC. I hope this will solve the problem.
Checking question: did you execute a mgration from classic to new Asset Accounting prior to your migration to
SFIN?
Edwin Weijers in response to Ravindranath Gangampalli on page 10
13-Aug-2015 09:54
If you situation is you first migrate DEV to SFIN, where your migration for the productice system has been
planned for a later date, it is indeed recommendable to keep parallel DEV system in the landscape. In addition
I recommend to limit changes as much as possible and to have a strict policy on urgency of incidents and
change requestts. A frozen period is preferred, to make sure that customizing in your DEV system is similar to
the customizing for future productive migrstion. Keep track of changes you make in DEV carefully.
Rafael Bermudez
13-Aug-2015 04:24
We are working in a project to upgrade from SAP ECC 6.0 to SFIN 1503, and we are trying to upload the Fix
Assets into ASSETS ACCOUNTING (NEW) and we cannot successfully complete it. The system created the
assets without any value. When we try to post the values for Acquisition, Accumulated Depreciation up to the
last fiscal year, and the Depreciation applied in the Current Fiscal Year; with transaction ABLDT, the system
return the error message that the loaded Asset does not have any acquisition value posted and the posting
cannot be done.
Do you have any idea what we should check to fix this issue?
Edwin Weijers in response to Clinton Jones WS on page 10
23-Jul-2015 09:49
Confirmed, F-02 and FB01 are still supported. Same for park variants.
Clinton Jones WS in response to Noemi Diaz-Benito on page 11
22-Jul-2015 19:00
can it also be clarified whether the classic F-02 FB01 and all the park variants will be supported in SFIN and
whether they remain as DYNPRO's.
I have heard that BAPIs are also supported for the MJE process but of course these don't support document
parking - are there new varietals?
Jorge Cepeda in response to Arnaud SERGENT on page 14
14-Jul-2015 23:33
Hi Amaud,
If a customer is running Suite oN HANA EHP7 with just FICO (new GL) , how much time will it take to move
him to Simple Finance Accounting?
Thanks for sharing
Jorge
Bryan shala Tang
13-Jul-2015 10:54
Thank you very much Arnaud.
Ravindranath Gangampalli
29-Jun-2015 10:58
Dear Arnaud SERGENT
Great blog!! Thanks for the information.
Should we deploy parallel landscape during the migration to S/4HANA ? Once Dev system is migrated to SAP
Simple Finance , how can we handle code changes to production in case if emergency ?
Thanks,
Ravi
Edwin Weijers in response to Noemi Diaz-Benito on page 11
26-Jun-2015 15:37
confirmed, FB50 can run both
Noemi Diaz-Benito in response to Arnaud SERGENT on page 12
17-Jun-2015 08:11
Hi, Arnaud,
This is a quite interesting posting as these are the common questions that our customers are asking us. I have
a detailed question for you: what happens with transaction code FB50?. I see it's "fiorized" but in note
1946054 - SAP
Simple Finance, on-premise edition: Transaction codes and programs - Comparison
to EHP7 for SAP ERP 6.0
FB50 is not refelected; does it mean that our customers can run both sapgui or fiori app for t-code FB50?.
Thanks a lot!!
Regards, Noem
Albrecht Gass in response to Arnaud SERGENT on page 11
21-May-2015 00:49
Hi Arnaud,
if I understand you properly S-innovations will be delivered as EhPs that customers impact and then turn on the
snwitch for the new HANA optimized/simplified modules.
So from a technical perspecitve SAP says that many objects will disappear with S/4HANA, will these objects be
removed form the system when a customer switches on an S-innovation? Example: If a SAP function module is
obsolete with S/4HANA will it be removed from the system when we switch to the simplified module? If not how
will customers know that their custom code depends on a function module that is now non-functional?
Albrecht
If a transaction has been rewritten in Fiori and leverages the new data model, then yes it will not be available
though the SAP GUI anymore. If you try to execute the old transaction code, you will then get a pop up window
asking you to connect to the Fiori Launchpad instead.
The new Fiori interface is available in sFin out of the box.
Thanks,
Arnaud
Daniel Khoo
06-May-2015 10:24
Great summary!
With regards to Old Transactions, does this mean ALL transactions or selected transactions will be replaced by
Fiori Apps. And will there be a case of users having switch between the browser for Fiori Apps and SAP GUI?
Secondly, upon migration to SFIN 2.0, will all relevant Fiori Apps need to be activated individually or we do we
assume all SFIN 2.0 apps would have been activated and only assignment of roles is required?
thanks!
Chandresh Vyas
29-Apr-2015 09:34
Excellent !!!
Scott Simpson
22-Apr-2015 18:02
Hi Arnaud,
Release Notes 1968568 (SFIN 1.0) and 2119188 (SFIN 2.0) both state newGL as a pre-requisite. From the
above comments, are you saying that it is not a pre-requisite to migrate to SFIN, but that you have no choice
but be on a technical newGL in SFIN? (in which case what are the risks for migration from Classic GL to
SFIN?)
Thanks,
Scott
jayant daithankar
30-Mar-2015 07:17
Hi,
If Customer has planned new GL implementation by end 2015 .Will it be advisable for him to go for sFin first as
mentioned above.Document split will anyway be available by end 2015
thanks
jayant
mauro b. in response to Arnaud SERGENT on page 14
26-Mar-2015 17:20
Thanks for your replies!
Really appreciated.
Best,
Mauro
Arnaud SERGENT in response to mauro b. on page 14
26-Mar-2015 10:03
Yes, absolutely. Murali is right. New GL is not a prerequiste for sfin migration. You can migrate from classic GL
to sfin directly. The migration will technically convert you into new GL, but you will not be able at first to use the
document split. While "technically" in new GL, you will remain "functionally" in classic GL. The roadmap for sfin
clearly states that the feature to retroactivally activate new GL document split is planned for end of 2015.
Thanks,
Arnaud
Murali Babu Nallamothu in response to mauro b. on page 14
26-Mar-2015 09:31
Hi,
If you want to migrate to sfin, then you don't need to wait till the year end. You can migrate to sfin at any period
end from classic GL. After the migrating to sfin, I guess SAP is planning to assist migration scenarios.
Rgds
Murali
mauro b.
26-Mar-2015 08:44
Hi Arnaud,
really interesting information. We are in old GL, plan to move to HANA on August and implement Simple
Finance by the end of the year. From what I understand, we might avoid the migration to new GL and use
document splittting by 2016?
Best,
Mauro
Murali Babu Nallamothu
09-Mar-2015 14:51
Excellent summary of sFIN functionalities & features.
It is good if you write a separate blog on reporting functionalities & features of sFIN.
Rgds
MBN