Yes, a career in SAP FICO is still very good and demanding. It is even better if you are from an account or finance background.
SAP is the leading ERP worldwide and its popularity and demand are increasing day by day. It offers you a huge number of career options within its domain. Although SAP has launched a series of HANA versions, ECC still serves the base.
Being an SAP aspirant, it is very common for you to ask this question. It is one of the most frequently asked questions relating to a career in SAP FICO.
(Click to jump over to the specific question)
Let’s start one by one now.
It is the first question that comes to your mind if you are a beginner and an aspirant of SAP FICO. Thus, to simplify your question, I am preparing a separate article on this question to give you a step-by-step guide. A snapshot of it is below:
Skip step one above and start from step two. The rest of the process is the same.
The hierarchy positions in SAP FICO are growth-oriented. It offers you a growth structure that goes a long way in your career. Not just this, but it is flexible too. You are free to shift from ECC to Other platforms in SAP (like HANA), whenever you wish to, as they are interrelated with common concepts. This is the reason that lots of FICO consultants shift to HANA after working for a few years in ECC by upgrading their knowledge and skills.
Likewise, the career path in SAP’s other application is almost similar to SAP FICO.
Read a detailed article on Why choose a Career in SAP?
There are no such minimum qualifying criteria fixed for doing SAP FICO. Anyone who has a keen interest to make a career in SAP can do SAP FICO. However, some qualifications are helpful in learning and understanding SAP FICO, if you possess them. These are below:
The scope of SAP FICO is huge.
A big number of industries are working on the ECC model and use FICO for the functional part of their business process. As a result, lots of FICO consultants and end-users work on the implementation and support jobs. Not to forget, this is increasing day by day. Day by day, industries that working on the non-ERP model earlier are now shifting towards ERP software to manage their business efficiently and to bring in transparency. Since SAP is the leading ERP software across the globe, it becomes the most demanded ERP in the industrial sector.
Since Finance and Management Accounting are two main departments of any smallest or biggest industry, an organization with SAP ERP, necessarily has SAP FICO.
Although SAP has moved way ahead of ECC by launching the HANA series (first in June 2011), SAP FICO still sustains its popularity and requirement across industries.
SAP FICO is a functional module of SAP ERP that has two parts; Finance (FI) and Controlling (CO). FICO is part of SAP ERP’s ECC version. ECC is a version of SAP ERP which stands for ERP Central Component. A newer version of SAP ERP was launched in 2003/04.
SAP FICO’s full form is Finance and Controlling.
It is obvious that when an organization has SAP ERP implemented, they need FICO consultants too to handle their financial and controlling part. This creates a demand for aspirants like you who want to build a career in SAP FICO.
Certainly, a lot of job requirements are being posted by employers on job sites daily. And this is nationwide. You can cross-check this on the most popular job sites to see the requirement of SAP FICO consultants in India.
Now, you might have an idea how much their demand and requirement in this industry are.
FICO is not outdated. It is the first step to making a career in SAP’s Financial module. It is the foundation of SAP’s later versions in functional parts. Hence, until SAP changes its basic methodology, it cannot be outdated.
When an industry shifts to updated versions (of SAP) it grows in terms of business, functionalities, and technology. Parallel, its employees grow too. They also educate themselves with the latest updates and learn new skills.
In this way, even if you started your career as a FICO consultant or User, you learn new changes naturally.
Certainly, you must learn FICO at the first point. This would help you to make a strong foundation of your knowledge. Furthermore, it would help you to understand the updates fast and get an easy hold of the new technologies.
SAP launched HANA in 2011. Since then many versions launched in S/4HANA. (Latest one is S/4HANA 2020). But don’t forget that the basics remain still the same.
Currently, SAP has hinted at the expected date of applicability of SAP FICO as the year 2027. And this is not one & all. It keeps extending every year, seeing the usage of FICO by businesses. Although beside it, S/4HANA is the present and undoubtedly the future too. So, the conclusion is, as a fresher it’s surely wise to start a career with SAP FICO as it’s very much in demand. Since it is the first foundation of SAP Finance; (even for both S/4HANA Finance), be relaxed and choose it as your first career option in SAP.
Read Related: Learn about the Evolution of SAP & its Versions
To get a job in SAP FICO, you first learn the subject. You should take training from a really good trainer.
Importantly, you should put more attention to finding a good qualitative trainer than finding a training institute.
Watch SAP FICO Free Training Videos
Whenever you plan to do something, make a to-do list. This would help you to move systematically and you can see your progress too.
I have made a career planner here, which would surely help you to find the desired job in a calculated manner.
Many factors contribute to guessing a salary package for an SAP FICO consultant. These factors could be:
All these factors contribute to guessing an expected salary however on average an SAP FICO consultant, who is a beginner, may get a salary within a range of 3 Lacs – 5 Lacs per annum.
To get a job as an SAP FICO fresher is not difficult though, but It takes effort I would say. So, you should take calculated and planned steps as I mentioned above. Not just SAP FICO, it’s a general rule that to apply for jobs as a fresher it takes good time and patience and a lot of preparation. In other words, nothing is impossible.
However, still, there are some challenges in building a career in SAP FICO. Here, we discuss them also.
Read Related:- Interview Questions on SAP S/4HANA Finance
Building a career in SAP FICO can be challenging under the following conditions:-
General business process knowledge is a must-have if you are looking for a consultant position. For example knowledge of cost of production calculation, P2P, O2C, profitability analysis, asset procurement, depreciation calculation etc. So whatever is there in a non-SAP environment, you should aware of those procedures and systems.
Almost all companies desire to have an experienced candidate for their SAP FICO consultant position. The above-mentioned business process knowledge is usually gained with domain experience. Without it, it becomes difficult to get a consultant’s role.
Even if you have read all SAP FICO concepts, but didn’t get exposure to practicals, will make it difficult to easily start an SAP FICO career, as hands-on is really what you need to get the job. So do focus on practical knowledge also, along with understanding the theoretical concepts.
Nowadays, post-graduation is compulsory. Usually, companies prefer MBAs, CAs, and CWAs for consultant positions. So mind this point before going to adopt this career.
SAP consultant’s role involves frequent client interactions and meetings. So you should have good communication skills to interact efficiently with your client and do hassle-free work. If you feel, you are not so good at public speaking, then work on it beforehand.
Read Related: Best 50 Questions on SAP FICO For Freshers
It’s really good. The career path of SAP FICO is strategic. So if you go step by step, it is definite to get high growth with SAP FICO. It may take a few years to get into the top positions.
Starting from the end-user, you may further go for superuser, or support consultants. Then after 2-3 more years, you may get Consultants, managers, or Sr. executive positions.
In Project development, a beginner in SAP FICO would join as an associate consultant. After working for 2 years (approx.) you can get the opportunity to become a consultant. Again after 2-3 years and with at least 3-4 end-to-end implementations, you would be capable of being a Sr. consultant.
After this, there are more senior positions like principal consultants and then solution architects.
Associate Consultant –>Consultant–>Sr. Consultant–>Principal Consultant–>Solution Architect
SAP FICO certification is not mandatory, yet recommended.
Many companies hire non-certified consultants too. So, doing SAP certification is truly your choice. Additionally, you may learn SAP FICO without doing certification also. More importantly, a job needs real practical knowledge, which you may gain without certification also.
However, still, I advise you to do SAP FICO certification before applying for jobs. This is because SAP certification is proof of your knowledge in a particular subject.
When you mention it in your resume, it attracts employers’ attention, and your chances to get calls for SAP FICO interviews increase.
Not to forget that SAP is a brand. When it certifies you, employers do trust you.
Secondly, after getting the certification, you get a logo from SAP to put on your resume. This immediately catches the attention of employers.
Thus, if you have certification, employers will give you preference over non-certified candidates.
Certification would surely help you to get preference over non-certified candidates. However, it solely cannot guarantee you the job you wish for.
Any certificate is an acknowledgement by the issuing authority that you possess knowledge of a particular skill. However, every employer must verify that by asking questions you related to that skill.
The same logic applies to SAP FICO also. You should be able to justify whatever you declare in your profile and show it in your certificates.
Employers will hire you only when you answer their questions and satisfy them with your knowledge of SAP FICO.
So my suggestion is, to practice the concepts in practice that you learn from certification.
Here is a list of what you may do after being skilled in SAP FICO:-
There are a lot of questions regarding the career and scope of SAP FICO in the mind of aspirants like you. I hope I have answered many of them. Just do remember, when you decide to start a career as an SAP FICO consultant, definitely assure that you are walking on the right path.
SAP is a booming industry. The scope of SAP FICO is still good as it is the base of the SAP Financial Application. Hence, if you choose to become an SAP FICO consultant, surely you have a bright career ahead.
While you must learn SAP FICO from a good trainer. It is equally important to take timely decisions too. Thus, research around, audit all parameters, and then take the right decision for your career. Do check out the course syllabus on SAP FICO Course Page.
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