SAP New GL Activation and Migration From Classic GL
During a new installation, the New G/L accounting in the standard system is set to active. While the use of classic General Ledger is theoretically also possible for new customers. As SAP advises, we should do SAP New GL activation in the initial installation to avoid migration effort & cost later on.
SAP New GL Activation
During the release upgrade for an SAP R/3 system to SAP ERP, the classic General Ledger initially continued to remain active. Totals table GLT0 remains active. If you want to switch from classic General Ledger to New G/L, you can do this during the project in a second step after the upgrade. In that step, you have the choice of activating and using New G/L.
The checkbox for activating New General Ledger Accounting is Active is set for each client.
Menu Path—> Financial Accounting—>Basic Settings Financial Accounting—>New General Ledger Accounting
Activation also produces cross-client changes. These changes affect the paths in the application and in customising the SAP ERP system. After activating New G/L, in addition to the classic paths in customising, you will now also find new paths for New G/L accounting.
The already-known classic financial accounting paths continue to remain available for better orientation. You will also see new menu paths in the application and the SAP Easy Access menu as a result of the activation of New G/L. New transactions appear such as FB50L or FB01L.
If after activating New G/L, you want to work exclusively with the paths of New G/L accounting, you can hide the classic financial accounting paths using the RFAGL_SWAP_IMG_OLD program.
The Migration Process
Involving a Project
Captivating New G/L is not simply a question of flicking a switch. The SAP New GL Migration always involves a project. Particularly if you are an existing customer, you can’t simply switch on New G/L under any circumstances. If a document is updated during the start-up process, you cannot undo the activity. In the worst case, it may lead to data inconsistencies.
Migration Scenarios in SAP New GL Activation
Various migration scenarios are possible during the transition from the classic to New G/L, depending on whether you primarily want New G/L to achieve the integration of your internal and external bookkeeping to boost transparency to provide parallel accounting or to speed up period-end closing. These scenarios range from a simple summary of existing ledgers to a complete reworking of your accounting system.
The transition from Classic to New G/L
During the redesign, in particular, the transition to New G/L accounting consists of a conceptual business element and a technical element. Here the existing financial accounting data must be migrated into the new structures of the general accounting. The improvements in and complexity of the transition to New G/L accounting and the affected data volume can be very extensive. Chronological sequence of Individual sub-projects.
A migration should always begin as a project, with all of the elements of a project: Phases, milestones, tests and so on. The migration project represents only a sub-project of the larger project for New G/L.
Pre-Requisite to SAP New GL Activation & Migration
A basic pre-requisite for performing the migration is that the technical upgrade to an SAP ERP system has been successfully performed. New G/L implemented in a second separate project.
Before the New G/L Migration Service becomes active, the implementation project begins and the design and customising of New G/L gets completed.
An exact and complete configuration of New G/L is required before New G/L accounting is set to active. In parallel with the configuration of New G/L work continues in the classic General Ledger.
Project Duration
We cannot generalise about the duration of a project because it depends on various factors. You can accelerate the project by addressing the following issues:-
- Can test systems be quickly built and transport immediately available? In any case, the parties concerned should have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the procedure in a test system so that affected areas can access existing challenges.
- How does the staffing for the project look from the customer side? What background experience do members bring to the project team and is the company prepared to invest in training?
- The customer’s project team or the implementation partner’s team should consist of members with well-grounded expertise in SAP ERP Financials and Migration.
Phases of SAP New GL Migration Project
The Migration project consists of three phases.
Migration date –The migration date with the beginning of migration: between phase 0 and phase 1 of the migration.
Activation date – The activation date of the New G/L.
In phase 0, you implement the design and customising of New G/L. These activities are followed by functional and integration tests in a test system. Additionally, you start to plan and design the subsequent migration. If you use a scenario including document splitting, you must implement the customizing in the production system. Besides these activities, you must also consider the posting data. No single documents are copied from phase 0 before the migration date. For non-open item-managed accounts, such as the G/L account, a carry forward is made into the migration year.
Test SAP New GL Activation & Migration
Customizing of New G/L and migration are now complete. Both the functional and the integration tests were finalised in the test system and test migrations have been implemented. The actual live migration occurs at the end of Phase 1. After the transition period, you deactivate the classic G/L Accounting after updating values in totals table GLT0 or other functions of the classic environment such as profit centre accounting with totals table GLPCT.
SAP Service for Migration
Project assistance from the migration service SAP General Ledger Migration can significantly contribute to the success of migration projects.
SAP General Ledger Migration Service
Central components of the migration sub-project are the preparation and performance of a technical migration of the source data from the classic applications into New G/L. The top priority here is to preserve the orderliness of the accounting during the migration. To guarantee maximum security, SAP supports each migration project with a migration service. This compulsory technical service is based on standard migration scenarios and contains a scenario-specific Migration Cockpit and two service sessions aimed at quality assurance for the data and the migration project. The migration service has the following specific content
- Migration Cockpit for performing the migration
- Remote service session for scenario validation
- Remote service session for test validation
- Development support by the General Ledger Migration Back Office
This content relates to support during the technical migration of the source data from the classic application into New G/L. For support with the blueprint and customizing of New G/L, you can use SAP Consulting from an appropriate local company or consulting partner.
Migration Scenarios
Migrations primarily involve moving existing data. For example, if you want an existing classic profit centre accounting to be mapped in New G/L in the future, data must be copied from table GLPCT into the new totals table FAGLFLEXT. Standardised methods and program packages therefore must be delivered with the New GL Migration scenarios created by SAP to provide secure and effective support for the migration within a project. This section differentiates between the terms service-based and project-based migration and introduces you to the scenarios of service-based migration.
The Migration Cockpit
The Migration Cockpit is a tool for performing the migration. It consists of three parts that support a structured and efficient processing of migration activities.
- The migration overview
- A flow structure
- A Monitor
SAP System Landscape
Customers usually have a three-stage SAP ERP system architecture, which comprises development, quality assurance and production systems. These systems generally involve separate SAP installations, which are each connected to a transport system.
Development System
In the development system, you configure New G/L Development of BAPI or your programs also occur in this system.
Quality system
The quality assurance system is a copy of the production system that is representative master and transaction data available. Additionally, the new configuration and programming are transported from the test system to the quality system, so this system is suitable for test migrations to New G/L.
Production System
In the production system, you can access the configuration only to a very limited extent. Only when the last test migration has been completed successfully should you change to the live operation.
During the migration project, you must ensure that the Customizing for New G/L Accounting has no negative effects on your current day-to-day activities. You must prevent an “ accidental activation” by all means. If you use a scenario with document splitting. It is necessary and useful to transport the configuration before the migration to the production system.
Conclusion
The migration service ensures the quality of the data and minimises possible risks associated with the project. The migration cockpit simplifies the handling of the migration and significantly reduces its complexity. The migrations that already have been performed and the related experiences that have been gained allow you to minimise risk and successfully implement the functional added value of New G/L.
