The latest release of SAP Group Reporting Data Collection is live

The latest release of SAP Group Reporting Data Collection is live
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We in SAP Product Engineering are glad to announce the latest release of SAP Group Reporting Data Collection was made generally available on April 2, 2021. Our native cloud app is designed to provide agile and flexible data collection capability in SAP S/4HANA for group reporting. You can use SAP Group Reporting Data Collection to automatically load data from external systems – with data mapping – and create packages to collect financial or non-financial data manually in SAP S/4HANA for group reporting – with forms. Part of SAP product strategy for consolidation, our native cloud app integrates with SAP S/4HANA for group reporting, whether you use it on premise or in the cloud.

With the April 2, 2021 release, data mapping is enhanced. First, you can leverage a new how-to guide which helps you with the integration scenario for transferring accounting data from an SAP ERP Central Component system to SAP S/4HANA for group reporting as a file-based interface. Second, new import options are available when creating a data mapping job: update mode, and period mode. Third, we deliver a new API which supports additional fields, such as transaction types, to improve mapping with SAP S/4HANA general accounting data. Our latest release also enhances the forms feature, with updated pre-defined forms including their guidelines. In this article, we’d like to give you both an insight in SAP Group Reporting Data Collection latest release, as well as an introduction to the app’s main use cases, key features and tech principles.

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SAP Group Reporting Data Collection, companion app of SAP S/4HANA for group reporting
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SAP Group Reporting Data Collection is a companion app of SAP S/4HANA for group reporting. The app is designed to help you address a series of data collection use cases. In your group structure, some companies may need to complement SAP S/4HANA ERP data for consolidation purposes. These companies can use SAP Group Reporting Data Collection to collect this additional financial or non-financial data required for consolidation. Other companies you own may simply not use SAP S/4HANA. You can collect all their reported / unconsolidated data with SAP Group Reporting Data Collection (if you’re using SAP S/4HANA for group reporting as a standalone tool, this use case may be central). In addition, throughout the life of your group, you may acquire new companies that may not yet be integrated in your SAP S/4HANA ERP. You still need to consolidate them, and with SAP Group Reporting Data Collection (GRDC), these acquired companies can collect data directly at consolidation level. The diagram below depicts these main use cases:

Watch this short demo, and see SAP Group Reporting Data Collection main features:

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Data mapping
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SAP Group Reporting Data Collection data mapping helps you automate data transformation and load from external systems in SAP S/4HANA for group reporting, at group level. You can define and run mappings between (a) source dimensions of your external system, and (b) target dimensions in SAP S/4HANA for group reporting. You can create mapping files between source and target in Microsoft Excel, and upload them in data mapping. The mapping files are used to transform data, and import it in consolidation (ACDOCU table). With the April 2, 2021 release, you can now choose between multiple import options when creating a data mapping job: update mode – delete or overwrite – and period mode – periodic or year-to-date.

Use CSV to transform/load data from any external system

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As depicted in the GIF above, the first step is to extract data from your external / remote system into CSV files you can save in any storage. Second, create your mapping definition in Microsoft Excel, and upload it to SAP Group Reporting Data Collection. Third, run your mapping definition to populate SAP S/4HANA for group reporting. See our demo below:

Find more information on how to run a mapping job with a CSV file as a source in our help portal here.

With the April 2, 2021 release, you can leverage a new how-to guide which helps you with the integration scenario for transferring accounting data from a SAP ERP Central Component system to SAP S/4HANA for group reporting as a file-based interface. This guide explains how to import data from SAP ECC in SAP S/4HANA for group reporting using data mapping.

Use public API to transform/load data from any external system
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To load data from external systems, you can also configure the data mapping public API directly in your remote system (source). Once the API is implemented, your remote system can push selected data to SAP S/4HANA for group reporting. Data mapping definitions are automatically applied, and the mapping jobs automatically run. Unconsolidated / reported data is saved in SAP S/4HANA for group reporting (ACDOCU table), and you can proceed with your consolidation process.

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Transform/load data from another SAP S/4HANA system
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Would you have sub-group(s) using SAP S/4HANA in a separate instance, you can use data mapping to populate SAP S/4HANA for group reporting based on the general accounting data of your sub-group(s), as depicted in the diagram below.

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Transform/load data within the same SAP S/4HANA system
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You can also use data mapping if you need to transform general accounting data (ACDOCA table) within the same SAP S/4HANA instance for consolidation purposes (ACDOCU table). With the April 2, 2021 release, we use a new public API which supports additional fields, such as transaction types, to improve mapping with ACDOCA.

Find more information on how you can create a data mapping definition for the ACDOCA table in our help portal here.

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Forms
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SAP Group Reporting Data Collection forms allow you to enter financial or non-financial data manually in SAP S/4HANA for group reporting (in the ACDOCU table), either by using SAP pre-delivered content, or by creating your own forms. With this manual data collection capability, you can enrich the released / loaded data not captured in your SAP S/4HANA ERP: specific movement types, additional information required for consolidation or management reporting, consolidation of investments, partner information for the elimination of profit on inventory, non-financial information needed for notes disclosure such as employee or sustainability information. You can also use forms to enter data of companies outside of your SAP S/4HANA ERP landscape.

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Pre-defined forms
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We deliver a set of pre-defined forms such as Balance Sheet accounts detailed by transaction types or by partner, Profit and Loss, Retrievals or Consolidation of Investments (see the screenshot below).

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With the April 2, 2021 release, you now benefit from updated pre-defined forms including their guidelines. You can also create your own guidelines, they’ll appear in the left panel of your form.

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Create your own forms
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You can define your own forms either from scratch, or by copy-pasting an existing form. Watch this demo to see how you can define forms:

Find more information on forms in our help portal here: Define forms, Enter group reporting data.

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Tech overview
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Cloud native
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From a tech perspective, SAP Group Reporting Data Collection a set of cloud native apps deployed on SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), which connects to SAP S/4HANA – the apps aren’t part of SAP S/4HANA. Our native cloud app follows SAP Cloud Application Programming Model, exposing SAP Fiori user interface, and relying on a backend which handles business objects. You access the apps in a “provider-subscriber” mode. We in SAP manage a subaccount where the apps are deployed, and where the required services are instantiated. From your own subaccount, you can subscribe to the apps, and manage your dedicated configuration (the forms you created, your data mapping definitions).

SAP Group Reporting Data Collection uses services available on SAP BTP, such as the “SAP HANA services as database” to store all your configured items. Our app can also be integrated with services like “Audit Log” or “Personal Data Manager” to ensure regulatory and GDPR compliance.

Communication with the SAP S/4HANA backend rely on the “Connectivity” and “Destination” services. With these services, you can define the location of the SAP S/4HANA instance linked to your subscription, and establish a tunnel to access it.

The integration with SAP S/4HANA is achieved through Remote Function Call and public APIs, such as Reported Financial Data for Group Reporting – Bulk Import, Master Data for Group Reporting – Read or Transaction Data for Group Reporting – Read. SAP Group Reporting Data Collection should be used in combination with SAP S/4HANA for group reporting, it’s mandatory as as all the master data and financials figures are stored in SAP S/4HANA (in the ACDOCU table).

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For more information on SAP Group Reporting Data Collection integration with SAP S/4HANA, check out our help portal: integration with SAP S/4HANA on-premise, or integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

Why we use SAP Business Technology Platform
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We use SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) because it offers users the ability to turn data into business value, compose end-to-end business processes, and build and extend SAP applications quickly. The services and solutions of SAP BTP are available on multiple cloud infrastructure providers. The multi-cloud foundation supports different environments, such as Cloud Foundry, ABAP, and Kyma, as well as multiple different regions, and a broad choice of programming languages. SAP BTP offers fast in-memory processing, sustainable, agile solutions and services to integrate data and extend applications, and fully embedded analytics and intelligent technologies. Also, by developing SAP Group Reporting Data Collection on SAP BTP, we can deliver innovation at a fast pace: you benefit from new and enhanced features every two weeks.

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More information
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To stay up to date with our bi-weekly innovations, visit the What’s New for SAP Group Reporting Data Collection page on our help portal.

You can experience our SAP Road Map Explorer tool and find out more about SAP Group Reporting Data Collection planned innovations.

If you want to co-innovate online with ourselves in SAP Product Engineering, you can join our SAP S/4HANA for group reporting Customer Influence Platform.

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