01. INTRODUCTION TO SAP

1. What is ERP?

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning

ERP is a combination of business management practice and technology, where information technology integrates with your company‟s core business processes to enable the achievement of specific business objectives. 

Core business processes in most businesses are:



1.1 Top ERP Software based on its popularity globally.

  • SAP 
  • Oracle Applications 
  • Infor Global Solutions 
  • The Sage Group 
  • Microsoft 

2. What is SAP?

SAP Stands for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing (German: Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung)


It started in 1972 by five former IBM employees by Wellenreuther, Hopp, Hector, Plattner and Tschira in Mannheim, Germany, states that it is the world's third-largest independent software vendor. 

The goal of the company was to provide large enterprise customers with the ability to interact with a corporate database in real-time.

Today, the company states that its goal is "to offer the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of business performance and optimization solutions for companies of all sizes." SAP's first software application was a Financial Accounting Software suite that ran on a mainframe and was known for its stability. It eventually became known as the R/1 system. The "R" stands for real-time. During the 1980s, the company went international, and the second iteration of the R system (R/2) accommodated different languages and currencies. 

In the 1990s, the third iteration (R/3) moved from the mainframe to a client/server three-tier architecture composed of a database, software applications and a common Graphical User Interface (GUI). SAP used the name R/3 until the 5.0 release. 

At that time the name was changed from R/3 version to ERP Central Component (ECC). The most current version as of November 2009 is ECC 6.0. When the Internet became pervasive, SAP responded by providing companies with the software they needed to sell goods and services online.

Various Modules available in SAP

SAP’s Market Share in ERP Space


Advantages of using SAP Software

• Efficiency and accuracy
• Integration of various modules
• Faster and Cheaper
• Real time reporting
• Multiple languages(40+)
• Multiple currencies (200+)
• Multiple countries (225+)
• Reduced manpower

3. Conceptual Areas of SAP


4. System Landscape


Transport Request

  • A Transport Request will be saved for every configuration and that request will flow from Development->Quality->Production and not backward.
  • Sandbox server: In the initial stages of any implementation project, You are given a sandbox server where you do all the configuration/customization as per the company‟s business process.
  • Development Server: - Once the BBP gets signed off, the configuration is done in the development server and saved in workbench requests, to be transported to the Production server.
  • Quality Server is where the core team members and other members test the customization.
  • Production Server: This is the last/ most refined client where the user will work after project GO LIVE. Any changes/ new development is done is development client and the request is transported to production.
  • IDES is purely for educational purposes and is NOT Included in the landscape.
  • To view Transport Requests and Release it to Quality, you can use transaction code SE10

5. What is FICO

5.1 External Vs Internal




5.2 Standard Vs Flexibility



6. SAP Login

To login to SAP, start the SAP Logon Pad by double-clicking on the SAP Logon icon
appearing on the desktop.







The SAP Logon Pad will appear. Select the server and click on “Log On”. The SAP
 login screen will appear after this


















In the SAP Login screen, type the User ID and Password. User ID is not case sensitive
but the password is case sensitive. The password field is masked, i.e., “*” cannot be deleted.
After entering the User ID and Password, click on the icon highlighted or press enter.


It is to be remembered that if the incorrect password is entered thrice, the User Account
gets locked and the System Administrator needs to be contacted for unlocking the
account.








Client

As a rule, the client represents a company in an SAP system. This means that in an SAP system with several clients, several companies can be represented at the same time.

The client has an equivalent as a key field in the tables of the database used by the SAP system. After you log on to a client, you can access data for that client only. Clients represent business-independent entities.

Users

User data is stored in the system according to client. For example, you can log on to

client 100 in your system, but not have a user for client 200. The data for a user within a client is also known as the user master record..

Password

The first time you log on to the system, you will receive an initial password from your system administrator. During your first logon, you must specify your own individual password. After this, you use this password every time you log on.

On the logon screen, you can use the New Password button to change your password up to once a day.

Language

When you log on, you can select one of the logon languages that the system supports.

Installed SAP systems can support many languages, which always include at least

English and one other selected language. The number of installed languages determines which languages are supported by your system.

After successful login, the first screen to be displayed is called the “Session Manager”.

7. SAP Easy Access Screen

7.1 SAP Screen Layout

After successful login, the first screen to be displayed is called the “Session Manager” or
“SAP Easy Access Screen”


Various Screen elements in SAP easy Access Screen are as below:


7.2 SAP User Menu


SAP Menu is used to group all Transaction Codes / Applications. The SAP Menu can be expanded and collapse menus in the navigation area by choosing the down arrows to the left of the menu items. To open an application in the navigation area, Double-Click the node.

7.3 SAP Transaction Code


A Transaction Code can be started in four different ways –

  • Position the cursor on the Transaction in the SAP Menu and press Enter.
  • Double click on the required Transaction in the SAP Menu.
  • Position the cursor on the required Transaction in SAP Menu and select Edit → Execute (or press F2).
  • Expand the Command Field and enter the Transaction Code.


If the transaction codes/ Technical names are not displayed for the transactions

Select Extras from MenuSelect Settings Select Display Technical names Check box



If you know a Transaction Code, that can be entered directly in the Command Field as below and Press ENTER



If the Transaction is preceded by a “/N”, then the transaction opens in the current session.





If the Transaction is preceded by a “/O”, then a new session is opened for the transaction. This means that multiple sessions are used.



7.4 Screens/Sessions

SAP allows users to work on a maximum of up to 6 screens simultaneously.










7.5 SAP User Settings

Users can maintain their own settings by choosing System -->User Profile --> Own Data.

































7.6 Navigating with few important Transaction codes

/n to end the current transaction
/nF-02 to start transaction F-02 from another transaction. Without the /n
prefix, you can start transaction F-02 only from the SAP Easy Access.
/O to display a list of your own sessions.
/oF-02 to start transaction F-02 from another transaction in a new session.
/nend to log off a session with a confirmation prompt.
/nex to end a logon session without a confirmation prompt.
/i to delete the current session.

Navigating with Help Functions 

F1 Key – With F1 key you can get the documentation help about the particular
field and Technical parameter of that field. 

F4 Key – With F4 Key you can input the possible input values for the particular
field. 

SAP Online Library – You can access the SAP Library from the Menu path
Help>SAP Library where you can access the whole documentation of SAP.




7.7 Frequently used buttons












































8. How to go to IMG Screen (Implementation Guide)

SAP Easy Access Screen Vs IMG Screen
















Use below menu path or
Alternately use transaction code SPRO (SAP Project Reference Object)











Double click on SPRO in the above screen











IMG /SPRO Screen













To view transaction codes/Technical name in IMG screen, use below option

Additional information -> Additional information->Display Key-> IMG Activity









Normally, last 4 letters would be the transaction code; this may not work for all activity.








9. Basics of Financial Accounting

Accounting Fundamentals:

Accountancy is the art of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers. The communication is generally in the form of Financial Statements that show in money terms. Accounting is defined by The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants(AICPA) as “The art of recording, classifying and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in part at least, of financial character, and interpreting the result thereof”

Accounts are categorized in to

1. Nominal account,

2. Real account and

3. Personal account.

1. Nominal a/c

- Accounts of expense or losses and incomes and gains.

Rule: Debit expense or losses, Ex: Expenses, Purchase, Salary, Wages, Interest Paid etc

Credit incomes and gains Ex. Income, Sales, Commission Received, Interest Received etc

2. Real a/c

Rule: Debit what comes in, Those related tangible aspects, ex: assets, cash, etc..

Credit what goes out.

3. Personal a/c

Accounts of persons and organizations. Ex: Customers, Vendors etc.

Rule: Debit the receiver

Credit the giver

Case Study:

Commence Business with Capital: The owner of the business starts his business by investing $10000. So Bank a/c of Business receives the owner's money ( Known as Capital a/c) . Here Bank a/c and Capital a/c are Personal accounts. Accounting entry will be

Debit Bank a/c Dr. [Debit the Receiver] [Posting Key 40]

Credit Capital a/c [Credit the Giver] [Posting Key 50]

Both these accounts are G/L accounts. So posting key 40 for Debit G/L and Posting Key 50 for Credit GL account

What is a Profit and Loss Account?

This Profit & Loss A/c reveals Net Profit or Net loss at a given time of accounting year. All expenses and losses appear on the debit side of the P&L account. Sales, other incomes, and gains appear on the credit side of the P&L account.

What is a Balance Sheet?

The Word „Balance Sheet‟ is defined as “a statement which sets out the Assets and Liabilities of a business firm and which serves to ascertain the financial position of the same on any particular date.”

On the left-hand side of this statement, the liabilities and capital are shown. On the right-hand side, all the assets are shown. Therefore the two sides of the Balance sheet must always be equal. Capital arrives Assets exceeds the liabilities.

Equation of Balance Sheet:

Capital = Assets – Liabilities

Liabilities = Assets – Capital

Assets = Liabilities + Capital.

Objectives of Balance Sheet:

1. It shows the accurate financial position of a company.

2. It is a gist of various transactions at a given period.

3. It clearly indicates, whether the company has sufficient assets to repay its liabilities.

4. It shows the profit or Loss arrived through Profit & Loss A/c.

The difference between Profit and loss account and Balance sheet are:- 

  • The balance sheet discloses the financial position of the business on a particular date, whereas, profit and loss account discloses profits earned or losses suffered during an accounting period. 
  • Profit and loss account is prepared for the accounting period ending, whereas, the Balance sheet is prepared as at the last day of the accounting period. 
  • Accounts that are transferred to the Balance sheet do not lose their identity and become the opening balances for the next period, whereas, those accounts which are transferred to the profit loss account are closed and cease to exist.


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