SAP Analytics Cloud – Project for Budgeting

Introduction

A project developed in Aço Cearense, that provides a tool for Budget in SAP Analytics Cloud won the SAPInovation Award 2020. About this project, I will describe some components used in the development and how this project is helping the company in this pandemic days.

https://www.sap.com/idea-place/sap-innovation-awards/2020-entries.winners.html

Describing the project

The project started in 2017, has the goal to develop a Budget System using SAP technology. We have already SAP ECC system and BW ON HANA to obtain the data that we need to budget. Two systems are from third parties, ( payroll system and treasury) and need additional development to create the interfaces.

Our main strategies to develop the solution was:

1-Must cover all areas of the company (Commercial, Supplies, Production, Stocks, OPEX, CAPEX, Payroll)

2- The budget is decentralized, so around 150 (one hundred and fifty) users participate in the collection, input, and calculation of data on the platform.

3- The system needs to have security in terms of models, cost centers, and accounting accounts, as there is confidential information (such as salaries).

4- The system must generate fast simulation with several versions and be flexible in terms of developing new features. One example, we need to simulate salaries to 5000 people, fast and good calculations.

We create a time to the project with 20 (twenty peoples) where we have Key-users and people from a consulting specialized company SAP Analytics Cloud.

The main challenges that we have during the project were:

• The first was to obtain information from the key-users of their calculation process to place in the budget. Many thought that this is information that only they should know and that the system did not have to make these calculations.
• Obtain information and calculations that simplify the calculation process without losing the necessary accuracy. If you can calculate by group you do not need to import and calculate at the level of detail.
• Train users in a cloud tool that is very different from what they were used to. (like excel).

The project lasted 6 months and uses BW information, extraction and calculations in BPC, and launch of planning and reports in SAC.

We developed the planning for the modules: Commercial, OPEX, CAPEX, Payroll, Supplies, stock, freight, financial, taxes, production cost calculation for metallurgy and forest production cost calculation (we have a forestry company).

Today we see the benefits of using our new platform for budget, that we can enumerate:

• We have the information centralized in a unique platform.
• We can give a fast simulation budget to a scenario.
• Now we can create quarterly versions, and normally now we can create the normal scenario, the pessimistic and the optimistic.
• Information becomes more confidential and we are confident that there is only one source of information.

Conclusion:

This solution, as it encompasses all areas of the company, will allow us to do simulations and present scenarios quickly.

Nowadays with the Pandemic, it will be very useful to quickly redo the budget with the new economic situation so that we can decide the best strategy for the company.

We usually needed 2 to 3 months to make a budget for all companies. I believe that we will need 2 weeks to present a version.

Users have also gained confidence in the company’s first cloud platform, which is a good first step towards a global migration to S / 4HANA in the near future.

The project team in 2019, at Aço Cearense: