Easy steps to prepare SAP FI Certification!!!

                 SAP certification is the entry pass to the fresher and it is like an extra qualification for the experienced people. Most of the clients expect certified consultants now days to develop their SAP program as primary criteria. But certificate won’t give you the assurance to the job. Job is only when you have good knowledge/experience in SAP, domain and requirement in the market (Projects availability). Certification may help when employer short lists similar type of CVs. SAP Certification is one of the prestigious vendor certificate program which validates the knowledge and skills of SAP customers, internal consultants, and SAP partners and SAP independent consultants.

                    The certification test “Application Associate – Financial Accounting (FI) verifies fundamental knowledge and proven skills in the area of SAP ERP Financial Accounting. It tests that the candidate has a good overall understanding within this consultant profile, and can implement this knowledge practically in projects under guidance of an experienced consultant. This certificate is the ideal -although not mandatory- prerequisite for the qualification to SAP Certified Professional in Financial Accounting. It is recommended as an entry-level qualification to allow consultants to get acquainted within Financial Accounting projects.

Basic things need to consider before preparing exam:

What are the certification levels available?:

There are 3 levels of certifications available from the SAP

1. Associate Level
2. Professional Level and
3. Master Level

Currently the associate level and professional level exams are available. The master level is still in development.

Associate: Associate level covers the fundamental knowledge requirements for a consultant or project team member. This certification covers the fundamental knowledge requirements for an SAP consultant ensuring the successful acquisition of broad SAP solution knowledge and skills.

Professional: Professional level requires proven project experience, business knowledge and a more detailed understanding of the SAP solution. This advanced certification requires proven project experience, business process knowledge, and a more detailed understanding of SAP solutions.

Master: Masters Level (in development) involves demonstrating an expert level understanding a specific area of SAP software. This certification, under development, involves demonstrating an expert-level understanding of a specific area of SAP software and the ability to drive innovation and solution optimization through in-depth knowledge and vision. Certification at this level requires broad project experience, comprehensive SAP product knowledge, and the ability to create a future IT vision within complex project environments.

The Associate level exams test book knowledge. In most cases, this level does not require SAP implementation experience in order to pass the exams. Questions on the Professional level exams are designed to test the SAP experience of the test taker.  SAP takes care to point out that you don’t need to pass the Associate level exam before sitting for the Professional level exam. So you get to select which level you think you are qualified for and take that exam.

Eligibility criteria In India:

1. To appear for Associate level certification without attending any SAP Education course or training you need Minimum 1 year of SAP Implementation Experience or 2 years of Support experience with minimum of 6 months experience in the module and version in which you wish to take up certification.

2. To appear for Professional level certification without attending any SAP course you need Minimum to 3 – 7 years of SAP Implementation Experience with   minimum of 6 months experience in the module and version in which you wish to take up certification.

3. The last 1 year should be with your present employer.

4. Your present employer should be a CUSTOMER or PARTNER of SAP India Pvt Ltd.

       If you fulfill the above criteria please send your updated project profile to education@sap.com for direct certification evaluation. On establishing your eligibility they will guide you through the process of registration. Please visit the webpage https://training.sap.com/for available certification details.

Please note no assistance with regard to study material/questionnaire is provided for direct certification. Study material is offered only with training.

Fees:

India:

• Certification fee for Associate level will be INR 39,326/- and for professional level the fee will be INR 56,180/- inclusive of current taxes applicable.

UK and Ireland:

For the Consultant Certification the following three price groups apply:

• Certifications on Associate level (£350)
• Certifications on Professional level (£430)
• Certifications in the SME products SAP Business One + SAP Business All-In-One (£90)

*All published prices for UK based exams are exclusive of VAT unless specified.

* Please note the price is subject to change as per SAP policy in a timely manner.

*Please follow the https://training.sap.com/us/en/ for more details on fees in different countries.

Exam Centre:

       Pearson VUE is authorized (India and UK) to offer only A1 and B1 certifications. All other certifications are offered by SAP India. To know more follow http://www.pearsonvue.com/sap/, but you have to get your profile approved by SAP Education before you can appear in Pearson VUE .

How  to get certification details:

Please visit the webpage https://training.sap.com/ for more details about the certification.

Select country where you write the exam:

Search for the FI with key word ‘TFIN’ or ‘Management’ for controlling certifications.

Select applicable certification

Here you will get all the details about the certification.

FI Syllabus:

  You need to read below material

*Please note that these materials only available when you join SAP class room or on line training.

Exam pattern from each area:

              There will be multiple choice questions which you may need to select check boxes and radio button. Questions will be mentioned clearly how many correct answers are given from the choice.

The below explained the syllabus and the way questions may come in the certification exam from each topic.

TERP01:

• Identify the organizational levels used in SAP ERP
• Explain the functions and structure of master data in supporting ERP business processes
• Identify the various levels and types of reporting available in SAP ERP

SM001E:

• Solution Manager

TFIN50:

Covers the areas such as SAP basic settings (Org Units, Variants, Fiscal Year, Currencies), Master Data (GL, Vendor, Customer and banks), Document control, Posting control, Clearing, Cash journal, Special G/L transactions and Parking documents.

           Fundamentals (Customer, vendor accounts and Simple documents), Automatic payments, Correspondence, Interest Calculation, Reports, List Viewer, Drilldown reporting, Overview of closing activities, The financial statements, the receivables and Payables(Balance Confirmation, Foreign currency revaluation, Value adjustments, Regrouping), Profit and Loss (COS, Controlling, Accrual/deferral posting, The accrual engine, etc..).

The material covers the configuration and the detailed notes of each topic.

TFIN52: 

• Asset Accounting
• Validation /Substitutions
• New GL accounting

How to prepare:

• Prepare each topic by analysing and comparing with other topics and with real time functionality.
• The questions may test your fundamental knowledge on SAP FI.
• Practice all exercises which has mentioned end of each chapter.
• Try to understand configuration and the value entering in each screen.
• Try to understand the end user level transactions and functionality.

Expected (Assumed) Questions from Each Area:

There will be total 80 questions need to answer with 3 hours time period.

*Please note that above details are as expected (assumed) and may change time to time. But most of the cases it will be nearest to above details.

Time:

You will be having 3 hours time for 80 questions. In normal cases 3 hours time is huge for 80 questions. If you prepare above material properly 3 hours will be plenty. Each question will have 2.25 minutes time.

Execution at the time of exam:

• Relax before attempting questions and Don’t hurry to answer
• Please read carefully all the information before starting the actual test.
• You can mark the question for later review which you need more analysis
• Use elimination technique for wrong options and identify correct answer
• Don’t submit once you complete test and go through all the questions once again.

After Exam:

Once you completed exam successfully,

• Don’t disclose exam questions/material  after exam.
• Send mail to your country SAP education asking them to provide SAP market place password and Associate Logo.
• Update your profile with Logo and forward to your manager/update in your company portal.
• You will get your certificate from SAP within 1 month.
• Implement the certification knowledge in your daily consulting work.
• Try to reimburse exam fees 🙂 from company/project if you have the option.

Note: The mentioned details in blog are my personal opinion and some of the details you can even find in SAP education and training portals.

For more details on Certification:

Please read below blogs for more details on certification.

Answering Some of Your Questions on SAP Certification by Susan Martin

How to Approach and Pass a SAP Certification by Ravi Sankar Venna

How is the life after SAP Certification? by Ravi Sankar Venna

Top 10 Myths about SAP Certification by Ravi Sankar Venna

How to Prepare for a Certification Exam in 5 Simple Steps by @Katrin Rissberger

Regards,

Prasad