SAP Central Finance Implementation – Main Operations

Once a Central Finance project is Live, the run phase begins. During this phase, we conduct the actual options of an active SAP Central Finance implementation. In this blog, I will briefly introduce the center of excellence paradigm before moving on to more specific operations in SAP Central Finance implementation.

These are – replication, managing master data, system onboarding and process onboarding as well as operation for mergers, acquisitions etc.

Centres of Excellence

If your organization adopts a center of excellence paradigm, the lead usually comes from an architectural background. This is because he/she needs the skill to connect to other modules. This affects the overall impact of the solution within the landscape and within the organization.

The lead will also be responsible for communicating with and reporting to both IT and Finance upper management.

Resources- To use in SAP Central Finance Implementation

Ongoing Replication

On the technical side, we must set up the online replication. Once this setup is complete, we will still need to manage the processes to handle incoming errors and validate results.

We usually re-create the configuration either manually or via Business Configuration sets, which we manually import. We can also handle the Master data manually. However, it is usually re-created automatically through master data management solutions. Such as SAP MDG.

Finally, we can replicate the transactional data out of the box via SAP Landscape Transformation Replication Server (SAP LT Replication Server).

Transactional Replication

In configuring the SAP LT Replication Server, we will define how frequently we should replicate the data from the source system, usually in real-time. The SAP LT Replication server monitors the source database. As soon as transactions are created, these transactions are transferred to the central system.

We can also schedule the configuration with time intervals from minutes to hours or days as per our requirement.  When the master data replication process creates lags in the transaction process.

Parameters to check the performance

SAP LT Replication server constantly monitors source systems for any changes, which could hurt performance in the source system. To avoid performance issues we can check several parameters. These are:-

• Background Jobs– In a Central Finance-only scenario, the number of tables that we monitor is usually less than 5. Since the SAP LT Replication Server system itself does not need many background jobs to trigger analyses. Thus, we should make sure our system is set up with a minimum of background jobs.
• Table Logging– When searching for changes in a source system, the SAP LT Replication Server normally triggers a job in the source system for each identified table. In most cases, no changes have been identified table.
• Memory size – Replicating transactions between the source system and the target system can consume a great deal of memory on the SAP LT Replication Server during the initial load. However, going forward online replication requires much less memory.
• Recovery/partial Load – Unscheduled downtimes can disrupt a Central Finance environment. Especially with three major systems (source, the SAP LT Replication server, target), leading to systems becoming out of sync. In this case, we need to execute a partial load which involves creating additional replication objects with additional filters.

Error Correction

During transactions replication from the source into Central System, errors may occur. The role of the central Finance’s center of excellence is not so much to solve these errors but to dispatch errors and coordinate their resolutions.

We need representatives from multiple domains to sort through errors which are usually related to the following areas:-

1. Missing master data or missing mapping – The master data representative should help revise the master data management process. This ensures that all necessary master data elements and their corresponding mapping are synchronized in the central system before the transactions are replicated.
2. Period handling – During period-end close in the source, we take actions to prepare for the next period. For example, ensuring that the next fiscal period is open for posting. The finance representative should make sure that the period-end process is extended to either communicate with the center of excellence. Or to take direct actions in the central system to prepare for the next period.
3. Integration – The IT representative should ensure proper communication with the infrastructure group. This ensures that the center of excellence is aware of any downtime/upgrades to the interface that could impact the central system.
4. Changes to the source system – The source system might change over time. The business representative and the architect should maintain close collaboration with the rest of the organization to anticipate changes in the configuration of inbound systems or their processes.

Also read: Areas where Central Finance can improve

Master Data – in SAP Central Finance Implementation

Master, data must be present in the central system before the transaction replication. This requirement can have an impact on existing master maintenance and governance. Transaction data and master data can flow from the source to the target, either manually or through tools like the SAP LT Replication server or SAP MDG.

We must take this architecture into account when setting up a maintenance or governance model.

Also Read: SAP Central Finance System Architecture

Requirements – SAP Central Finance implementation

Switching from an initial project into operations requires changes in the organization. We recommend organizing support around a center of excellence with repetitive from enterprise architecture, business, finance, IT and master data. This team will resolve errors that arise from the online replication of transactional data. It will further guide the extension of the Central Finance platform to more company codes, more source systems or additional scope as needed.

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