Benefits of SAP S/4HANA Finance for Businesses

SAP S/4HANA Finance is a powerful tool that offers numerous benefits for businesses. It provides enhanced reporting, simplifies IT management, improves user experience, increases performance, and offers cost-effectiveness. Discover how implementing SAP S/4HANA Finance can revolutionize your business.

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Introduction
SAP S/4HANA simple finance is basically a modernized SAP type. It entails several features
like the general journal streamlined design as well as the instantaneous analytics. The
fundamental aim for the design of SAP S/4HANA is to jettison the traditional obstructions
including transactional, planning as well as for analytics systems whose fundamental aim is
to provide instant or immediate insights as well as on the go analyses by making use of all the
financial level of data. The application of SAP S/4HANA Simple Finance is therefore of
critical importance for the process of decision making within any business undertaking. The
decision makers are able to make use of this tool to model data and subsequently create
forecasts for vital data through the use of real-time analytics. The fundamental aim for
undertaking the design of SAP S/4HANA Simple Finance was to modify their business
applications and thereby taking maximum advantage in doing its HANA database. SAP
S/4HANA simple finance user base includes companies that range from the fortune 500
companies across the entire globe. The program's development and general framework has its
main focus on the financial experts as well as major professionals across all the industries
(McKenna, 2018)
Brief historical overview of SAP S/4HANA Finance
SAP S/4HANA is an enterprise resource planning SAP for huge companies. The creation of
SAP S/4HANA succeeded SAP R/3 as well as SAP ERP. SAP S/4HANA optimized to meet
the operational requirements of SAP HANA which is SAP's in-memory database. The SAP
HANA platform has been in existence since 2010. In the same manner, SAP applications
including SAP ERP as well as SAP Business have been able to be embedded and installed for
use on databases such as SAP HANA or any other database. SAP S/4HANA as noted already
is an enterprise resource planning software (Shaul and Tauber, 2010). It is a package whose
main attribute is to cover all the daily processes of a given enterprise. Some of these day to
day processes include a plan to product, order through cash, request to service as well as
procure-to-pay among many other organizational processes and several other fundamental
capabilities. The software is embedded with functionalities which make it capable of
integrating functions from various business lines and related industrial solutions. The
software is also fitted with a unique capacity to reintegrate aspects of the products of SAP
Business Suite including SAP SRM, SAP SCM as well as SAP CRM. It should be noted
though that SAP Business Suite 4 is only capable of being run on the SAP HANA database.
For that reason, its packaging is in the form of one product and specifically the SAP
S/4HANA. SAP's standard R3, Enterprising Reporting planning, and the ECC which have

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their basis on the business and the associated products were designed with a specific capacity
to run on a number of database platforms. Some of these platforms include Oracle, IBM, and
Microsoft. The new suite referred to as SAP S/4HANA was launched in 2015 at News's stock
exchange. The event marked the introduction of the cloud as well as premier editions. It was
also during this period that the on-premise edition was also launched. The availability of the
cloud edition did follow the launch of the SAPPHIRE NOW in the same year of 2015. SAP
S/4HANA has been dubbed SAP's most significant update of its enterprise resource planning
strategy as well as a platform over the last two decades. The post-launch analysts did note
that SAP S/4HANA epitomized a transformational shift. Notably, though, they did raise
doubts concerning the availability, functionality, migration as well as pricing concerning the
S/4HANA. By the end of April 2015, around 370 clients had been credited with the purchase
of S/4HANA. There was also positive growth in terms of demand for SAP confirmed in the
aftermath of the first half of 2015. By the turn of October 2015, SAP had already confirmed
more than 1300 S/4HANA purchases. By the end of the financial year in June 2018, the
software's customer base had grown to tremendous 8,900 customers.
Difference between SAP S/4HANA Finance and current SAP ERP FICO
SAP S/4HANA Finance and the current SAP ERP FICO are quite different in a number of
ways. Whereas SAP HANA is essentially just a reporting tool within SAP as well as its
technical module, SAP FICO is categorized as a functional model where one can manage all
the activities associated with accounts. SAP ERP FICO is integrated with several modules
such as MM, PP, FICO, SD, and SAP. Whereas SAP ERP FICO falls under the
categorization of the core functional components in SAP ERP Central which facilitates an
organization's capacity to manage all of its financially related data, the S/4HANA suite
entails ERP proficiencies across a range of distinct areas including the human resource, the
finance department, sales, procurement as well as the supply chain. SAP FICO major purpose
is to aid the capacity of companies in terms of being able to generate as well manage their
financial statements for the reporting as well as analysis to ensure effective decision making
as well as planning within the business. On the other hand, S/4HANA is essentially a
business suit whose development supplements the SAP's in built-memory framework,
HANA. SAP S/4HANA Finance is therefore just a component within the S/4HANA suite
which particularly deals with solutions relating to financial management.
Benefits of SAP S/4HANA Finance for businesses

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SAP S/4HANA Finance for businesses is a particularly useful tool for most companies. More
specifically, its portability makes it quite appealing and therefore highly successful given that
its implementation is not restricted to a particular environment. It can be implemented on the
cloud and on a number of other environments. It is this overall flexibility which allows it to
be implemented on both standalone products as well as bundled products simultaneously. Its
emergence has revolutionized the field of the finance industry. It makes it possible for firms
to share data while also ensuring that they are able to achieve accelerated reporting as well as
closing in conjunction with decisions which derive analytics and also achieving more
efficient as well as faster transactions. SAP S/4HANA Finance has several advantages and
most of them include the following
It is a core component and provides a user experience. There are several financial
enhancements as well as benefits associated with the use of SAP given that it is a core
component. The S/4HANA tool is simple in its application since its basic requirement for
upgrading is to merely be present on the SAP Net Weaver 7.4 or version 1.0 of SAP HANA.
Its comprehensible Fiori screens facilitate interactions between the users and the core
components by using the tool's SAP Fiori-based GUI elements. The SAP Fiori-related GUI
element can also be upgraded through the use of a discretionary NETWEAVER CLIENT
together with SAP GUI and also as a user interface.
The other benefit relates to its enhanced reporting components as well as the upgraded APP
elements. The pre-crammed live component of HANA makes it possible for a user to achieve
real-time reporting as well as for analytics that can be quickly and efficiently be installed
along with the basic SAP ERP or SAP HANA components. The fundamental focus of this
component to help decision makers within the financial sector through the provision of all
application of analytical nature for financials suite (Lextrait, 2010). The establishment of a
general journal through SAP S/4HANA enhances SAP's capacity to be more of a storehouse
for a singular accounting transaction. This has resulted in postage into one unified journal
rather posting to several balance sheets like the assets accounting as well as material logs.
From an operational point of view, the component of price determination material ledger
produces a direct entry onto the journal tabulation. The most critical factor relates to the fact
that SAP has ensured that there is reduced data as well as related replications across all the
modules of FI. The modern version also incorporates an extended version of its journal block
to the coding block. This was initially one of the most laborious aspects associated with the

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implementation of except costing on the basis of profitability investigation. It was
transformed into automatic and equally highly instantaneous processes.
It has also been observed that the application SAP S/4HANA is associated with tremendous
simplification to the administration as well as management of the landscape of IT. More
specifically, simplicity is one of the most significant aspects that SAP has been able to
introduce within its structure of ECC application. SAP S/4HANA creates a foundation for the
centralization of hardware as well as network resources. It also serves as well as digital
bedrock for the simplification of businesses processes. It achieves that through the harnessing
of the unique capacity of its HANA in-memory database. Within the older versions, it was
always common for enterprises to run into complications associated with multiple batch-run
dependencies. The invention of SAP S/4HANA ensured the elimination of aggregate tables
and also a reduction in the time of processing and the ease with which the system can be in a
position of responding to queries and transactions. This a game changer because it helps to
create more time and efforts for an organization devoted to the strategic and sustainable
growth for the organization.
The tool is very easy to use by organizations. The organization's Fiori 2.0 is fitted with a
modern design for ensuring a totally innovative user experience. It makes it possible for users
to effortlessly have access to overview pages, list reports as well as works lists. The design of
SAP Fiori's UI is in such a manner that it is explicitly highly instinctive, custom-made, and
responsive as well as simple. This makes it possible for users to prompt questions and have
access to the required particulars no matter the deployment or device. This operational
capacity makes it possible for businesses to evolve and subsequently drive new revenues
while also connecting with customers at a much deeper level. Most crucially, it facilitates the
attainment of some of the most pertinent insights into any data in real time and henceforth
supporting enhanced decision making (Boeder and Groene, 2014).
The tool also facilitates increased performance. The use of S/4HANA makes it possible to
attain an enhanced level of performance. This is obtained by creating a foundation for
planning execution as well as the generation of reports and related analytics on the basis of
live data. It can also trigger a period of closing as well as the provision of improved
predictions. It also makes it possible for the organization to provide a much better service for
applications which are customer-centric. HANA provides enhanced contextual
responsiveness and democratized access to data (Malhorta and Temponi, 2010),

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It is highly cost effective. The adoption of S/4HANA is quite a smart move particularly in
terms of how cost effective it is. It endows the business with a unique capacity to bring
together all the diagnostic as well as transactional capabilities relating to a plethora of
systems within a singular location. This facilitates immeasurably better capacity for decision
making.
SAP S/4HANA for business finance is fitted with a unique ability to create a foundation for
future innovation. The rate at which technology is evolving is quite rapid. This, therefore,
means the notion of merely keeping up does help anymore. It is critical that enterprises
should stay ahead of the curve and be able to make progressive and highly visionary
decisions with as much precision and accuracy as possible. Applications associated with S/4
HANA leverage speed, data accessibility as well as the context in a manner that has never
been seen before. It is henceforth driving cloud adoption for businesses.
The tool is quite easy to use. While most of the talk is focused on a cloud-based future, it is
critically important to note that S/4HANA provides a much easier capacity to transition to the
cloud. The fact that it is possible to move to the cloud framework at any time within the
organization as a way of reducing costs, business leaders are motivated to move faster and
take advantage of this particular advantage. It is notable that it won't be easy to make a switch
from the traditional ERP solutions to SAP S/4HANA. It necessitates a well-thought process
as well as a rigorous assessment of the benefits that can be leveraged by the organization
especially in the face of the cutthroat competitive business atmosphere. It is also critical to
remember that even SAP S/4HANA can ably provide the digital core, it should not be
forgotten that it is merely a platform for enabling. To be able to ensure a true maximization of
the benefits associated with its adoption and more specifically of an upgrade, it is necessary
to put into consideration its digital capabilities.
SAP S/4HANA Finance is shaping accounting in the industry in many ways. Its capacity to
allow an enterprise to create a consolidated view for all the financial as well as operational
data has been of great help to companies such as Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola, and many others
multinationals. The tool is quite efficient and also offers high levels of flexibility in terms of
reporting especially given its automation set up. It is capable to offer real-time analytics,
high-level forecasting, as well as simulations, ensures that it is able to stand up and provide
quite an experience for such huge multinationals such as Apple and Coca-Cola. As has been
discussed already, SAP S/4HANA is associated with several benefits.

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Through the implementation of S/4HANA,Apple not only aims to achieve a modern and
digitalized core system, but it also ensures enhanced forecasting and planning.The company
also aims to connect its supply chain to the demand chain. To be able to further leverage it’s
the benefits associated with S/4HANA, Apple has made long term investments towards the
installation of the tool. Through the use of the S/4HANA platform, Nike will not only obtain
a single source of factual information but also attain on the fly capacities. These very
capabilities have been taken up by companies such as Coca-Cola, Ameco Beijing, and
Thyssen Krupp AG. Coca-Cola has been able to roll its 120 legacy systems onto a single SAP
framework. The rolling was divided into three particular phases within the business. The first
two phases included the upgrading of the finance as well as human resources systems for
back offices. There were also other activities in these phases and they included upgrading of
the CCA's call center, the warehousing systems, the equipment service, the payroll and
systems of demand planning and supply chain management.
In a bid to solve the enterprise communications crisis through an open cloud strategy, cloud
and mobile technologies have become the points of convergence for enterprise
communications as well as collaboration. Enterprise planners for companies such as Coca-
Cola and Apple have focused their strategy on the implementation of a global open cloud
strategy to ensure the facilitation of effective external as well as internal concerted business
workflows. Coca-Cola did invest in the purchase of SAP Ariba to enhance their transition
capabilities to SAP S/4HANA and be in a position of achieving greater control for their
procurement spend while also moving towards their automation, simplification as well as
standardization. SAP S/4HANA has been used for the modernization of their business
processes while also ensuring that the company's businesses are positioned for a streamlined
integration essential for future growth.
Standard Chartered bank in the UK, did select SAP S/4 for the standardization of finance,
treasury as well as supply chain processes through their global business ideal across more
than 50 countries. The companies hope to accelerate their processes through the leveraging of
their real-time consolidation capabilities. Salvatore Ferragamo in Italy has implemented SAP
S/4 HANA to provide support for their retail, production, wholesales as well as supply
collaboration processes. The company believes that the adoption of SAP S/4 HANA will help
the company to meet the customer demand and needs at a much faster rate of innovation as
well as creativity. Through this, the organizations hope to achieve excellence in distribution
as well as production (O'Brien, 2011).

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The innovative UI-SAP FIORI is the user platform for SAP S/4HANA.This creative
innovation is its self a radical adjustment. It is completely different from the traditional SAP
user interface given that the entire concept has been modified to role-based and performance.
Because of the introduction of the UI, there is a possibility for the customers to raise
complaints concerning this particular FIORI that is based on the UI since (Rau, 2016). This
is particularly the case because it might hinder their overall profitability. In addition, the
configuration of this-this particular FIORI user platform would be quite an arduous and
complex procedure. This is particularly so in instances where the organization prefers to
assume this UI completely. For that matter, the majority of the organizations have undertaken
the selection of a phased methodology where there is a restriction of FIORI application when
migrating to SAP S/4HANA.
Data inconsistencies
It is important to note that in any transition to SAP S/4HANA stages, financial data
migration is the most important stage. It is clear that in the above stage, all the data involving
transactions have to be efficiently transferred to a modern, new or reliable model of data.
There is a need for extreme consistency and perfection for all the current data transactions to
enhance the proper transfer of data. This is important in reducing cases of error. There exist
various supportive arguments that explain how an entity winds up where transaction data is
inconsistent. The first one is a variation or marginal modifications in master data. It should be
noted that by focusing on standard tables, direct modifications are done. This is popular with
the utilization of functional code (Ingolfo, Siena and Mylopoulos, 2011). Henceforth where
there large data size in an organization, data at the time of the year-end procedure of closing
may not be resolved meaning that inconsistent transaction data cases will be evident.
Procedures involving cleansing of data are in most cases very expensive, thus before
commencing S/4HANA alteration project, the challenges associated with quality of data must
be effectively recognized (Bradford, 2015). Lastly, because of conflicting and unreliable
updates, an enterprise may wind up with inconsistent transaction data. These updates are
usually made by interfaces and other programs that are specifically developed.
Conclusion
The adoption of SAP S/4HANA necessitates that an organization should have clean as well
as clear data particularly during the time of financial data migration. To be in a position of
confirming the accuracy of the data that has been relocated, it is critical that data should be

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modified while the execution of migration master and transactional data is undertaken. These
particular actions must be undertaken at the time of system downtime. It is this phase which
is most challenging in the processes converting the system to SAP S/4HANA. Central
Finance provides a fascinating route to the consolidation and migration of ERP systems to
SAP S/4HANA by incurring a lower risk. It is able to deliver unprecedented benefits through
the undertaken projects. For the implementation SAP S/4HANA to be successful, it must
ensure that it addresses business cases while maintaining a balance of the cost of working
within multiple systems visas the attained benefits. There must be thorough budgeting for the
regression as well as patching of the tests related to source systems. There should also be a
clear and well-defined strategy for Master Data Governance. There should also be a clear
plan for architectural and integration frameworks for the combined solution.

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