Introduction
As an introduction, I would like to highlight this blog is for fixed asset legacy data migration in S/4HANA (and not for conversion). There are many contents available online for SAP Fixed Asset Legacy Data migration, and this could be one of it. But in this blog, I would like to touch upon multiple points which I was looking before starting fixed asset legacy data migration in S/4HANA. Instead of duplicating details, I have provided link to the content wherever applicable. Please note details provided here are relevant for S/4HANA 2020 version and may or may not be valid for other versions.
Important configuration for Fixed Asset Legacy Data Migration
Configuration related to Fixed Asset Legacy Data migration in S/4HANA can be set using path ‘SAP Customizing Implementation Guide --> Financial Accounting --> Asset Accounting --> Asset Data Transfer --> Parameters for Data Transfer’, predominately company code status, transfer date, transfer status, document type, offsetting account and transaction types.
| # | Configuration | Accounting Entries |
| 1 | Define Transfer Date and Additional Parameters |
|
| 2 | Specify Offsetting Account for Legacy Data Transfer | Mention offsetting account for transferring the asset balances. This GL account will be used for asset data migration. |
| 3 | Define Transaction Types for Transfer of Open Items | Define transaction types for the takeover of open items from a previous system. If you do not have any assets under construction with line-item management, you do not need this kind of transaction type. |
Alternatively, configuration can also be set using procedure described in the BH5 test script (Link) on SAP Best Practices Explorer.
Key Accounting Entries
Below example accounting entries are posted at time of fixed asset legacy data migration: -
| # | Scenario Applicable | Transactions | Accounting Entries |
| 1 | Year-end migration and Mid-year migration | Previous year accumulated Values | Dr. Accumulated Acquisition Cr. Accumulated Dep. Cr. Offsetting/Takeon Account |
| 2 | Mid-year migration | Current year Dep. | Dr. Offsetting/Takeon Account Cr. Accumulated Dep. |
| 3 | Mid-year migration | Current year Acquisition or additions | Dr. Accumulated Acquisition Cr. Offsetting/Takeon Account |
| 4 | Mid-year migration | Current year Retirements | Dr. Offsetting/Takeon Account Dr. Accumulated Dep. Cr. Accumulated Acquisition |
Fixed Asset Legacy Data Migration options
With S/4HANA, SAP has improved data migration by providing S/4HANA migration cockpit tool. However, Legacy System Migration Workbench (LSMW) and transaction code AS100 is also available in S/4HANA. Please find below further details for S/4HANA migration cockpit and LSMW: -
S/4HANA migration cockpit
S/4HANA migration cockpit has provided multiple Migration Objects (click link to access latest/full list). Migration Object Fixed asset (incl. balances and transactions) is used for migrating fixed asset master data and transactional data. SAP has provided standard template for uploading master data and balance. Below is detail of some of the important tabs and fields in upload format: -
| Sr. No. | Tab | Comment |
| 1 | Master Details (mandatory) | This worksheet/tab hold important information for creation of the assets. Some of the fields are Asset number, sub-number, asset class, description, etc. |
| 2 | Posting Information | Asset Capitalization Date field is provided in this worksheet/tab. |
| 3 | Time-Dependent Data | Time dependent data like cost center, WBS, plant, etc. are part of this worksheet/tab. |
| 4 | Allocations | This worksheet/tab hold information like evaluation group, sort key, etc. |
| 5 | Depreciation Areas | Details like depreciation (dep.) area, dep. Key, useful life, dep. Start date, etc. can be updated here. In case there are multiple dep. area then separate line needs to be created for each dep. area. |
| 6 | Cumulative Values | From this tab transaction data field is started, fields like current fiscal year (Current fiscal year = active fiscal year in system), Cumulated Acquisition Value, Accumulated Ordinary Depreciation, Currency, etc. Using this details system will post the required transaction. In case there are multiple dep. area then separate line needs to be created for each dep. area. |
| 7 | Posted Values | This tab needs to be populated for transfers during the year, it holds the Posted Ordinary Deprec. for the Year (Depreciation values must be negative), Depr. posted until (including period). In case there are multiple dep. area then separate line needs to be created for each dep. area. |
| 8 | Transactions | This tab needs to be populated for transfers during the year, it helps to transfer the transactions starting from the beginning of the fiscal year up to the time of the transfer date. E.g., transactions are, additional acquisitions, retirements, etc. In case there are multiple dep. area then separate line needs to be created for each dep. area. |
| 9 | Proportional Values on Transactions | This tab needs to be populated for transfers during the year, it holds important fields like Prop. Accumulated Ordinary Depreciation, Prop. Cumulative Special Depreciation, etc. In case there are multiple dep. area then separate line needs to be created for each dep. area. |
Below table from SAP help portal provides full details on the available tab: -
Source: SAP Help Portal: Link
Legacy System Migration Workbench - LSMW
Fixed Asset Data migration can also be performed using LSMW. This traditional tool has 4 import method, but I tend to use more of BAPI and IDOC mainly because of its speed (parallel processing), error handling and standard. For Fixed Asset Data migration, below BAPI can be used: -
- BAPI_FIXEDASSET_OVRTAKE_CREATE
- BAPI for creating and optionally transferring values to new legacy assets to be created
- S/4HANA migration cockpit Object Fixed asset (incl. balances and transactions) is using this BAPI
- BAPI_FIXEDASSET_OVRTAKE_POST
- BAPI for transferring values to existing legacy assets, using this BAPI asset transactions/values can be updated
Parallel processing of IDocs in the background (report RBDAPP01) with package size 50 has proven successful. Ensure that your package contents are as homogenous as possible (for example, fixed assets from the same asset class).
Selection of S/4HANA migration cockpit or LSMW
Below comparison is based on personal experience, kindly note every project is different, and you should evaluate beforehand:
| Parameters | S/4HANA Migration Cockpit | LSMW |
| Standard | Migration object - Fixed asset (incl. balances and transactions) is available out of the box solution. This is having standard simulation, mapping, validation, and postings. | SAP has provided and support standard BAPI for fixed asset data migration. A migration (or conversion) object needs to be created using provided BAPI/IDOC. |
| Performance | The normal performance benchmark for BAPI_FIXEDASSET_OVRTAKE_CREATE (which is used for Migration object - Fixed asset) is approx. 2 sec per asset. This benchmark is valid for Validation, Simulation and for Execute Import. This means it might take approx. 5 hours for migrating 10,000 assets. Parallelization of XML file loads is possible using attribute ("Max. Data Transfer Jobs") in S/4HANA migration cockpit. This will use batch-job processes in the system. | Using parallel processing in LSMW with BAPI/IDOC system can use multiple (i.e., 80%) dialogue processes in parallel for asset data migration. With personal experience on BAPI (BAPI_FIXEDASSET_OVRTAKE_POST), I have notice approx. 10 records were created/migrated in a second. Considering this speed 10,000 assets will migrate within 15 minutes of time. Please note actual time depends on the system resources and performance. And time for creation and posting with BAPI (BAPI_FIXEDASSET_OVRTAKE_CREATE) will also be differ. |
| Volume | By standard the default size limit for each uploaded XML file is 100MB, size limit for each uploaded XML file can be set to 160MB by changing the system parameter (icm/HTTP/max_request_size_KB). Although here is no limit in case you are migrating using "Staging tables". | LSMW does not have limitation on file size but by default LSMW can only read 2,147,483,647 records. |
| Custom Fields | Migration object provided can be updated to add new fields which are not in template using the Migration Object Modeler (transaction LTMOM). | Standard BAPI has provided extension structure for updating such fields. |
Subsequent corrections to the transferred values
It is advisable to perform mock migration or migration rehearsal before actual migration. It is also recommended that you use a variety of tests to ensure that the transfer of production legacy data can be carried out and reconciled without errors, without requiring subsequent corrections to the transferred values. If incorrect migration is performed and data need to be corrected (and you don’t want to Reset Company Code). Below steps are suggested, however every project is different, and you should evaluate/check the steps beforehand: -
- Reverse the transfer documents using BAPI (BAPI_ASSET_REVERSAL_POST) with LSMW, reversal will be posted to transfer documents. Legacy Fixed Assets which were already created are retained. If require, you can deactivate the legacy assets using change function
- Re-post the corrections of the transfer values using transaction code ABLDT (SAP Customizing Implementation Guide --> Financial Accounting --> Asset Accounting --> Asset Data Transfer --> Manual Data Transfer --> Legacy Fixed Asset --> Post Transfer Values) or using BAPI (BAPI_FIXEDASSET_OVRTAKE_POST). It is recommended to use BAPI with LSMW for mass upload because transaction code ABLDT uses an input enabled ALV grid control and does not support batch input.
Link to important information/source
Below are some useful links for further study: -
| Description | Source | Link |
| S/4HANA Migration Cockpit | SAP Help | https://help.sap.com/viewer/29193bf0ebdd4583930b2176cb993268/2020.000/en-US/8f97f0b407024465a283809f... |
| List of Migration objects with S/4HANA cockpit | SAP Help | https://help.sap.com/viewer/d3a3eb7caa1842858bf0372e17ad3909/2020.000/en-US/8dd142b479f9481891fa8b3f... |
| Migration Object Fixed asset (incl. balances and transactions) | SAP Help | https://help.sap.com/viewer/d3a3eb7caa1842858bf0372e17ad3909/2020.000/en-US/6b5e59864fe846529f841fe5... |
| LTMC for Master Data Step by Step Process | SAP Blogs (by Ruthvik Chowdary) | https://blogs.sap.com/2019/04/26/ltmc-for-master-data-step-by-step-process/ |
| How to add custom fields to SAP S/4HANA data migration cockpit.. | SAP Blogs (by Fernando Martin) | https://blogs.sap.com/2021/01/22/how-to-add-custom-fields-to-sap-s-4hana-data-migration-cockpit-with... |
Below are some useful SAP’s notes for reference: -
- 2208321 - FAQ for legacy data transfer in SAP_FIN 720 and subsequent releases
- 2331123 - Prerequisite customizing required for legacy asset takeover in Simple Finance (sFIN)
- 2631104 - Performance of migration the fixed assets
- 2719524 - SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit: XML template size limits
- 2878945 - Migration Cockpit: Parallelization of XML file loads
- 2554160 - SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit: Fixed Asset: Less performance during simulation run
- 2576565 - SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit and Migration Object Modeler (LTMOM): Learning materials and knowledge points, Data Migration On-Premises
Conclusion
Hope after reading this blog, you got information on important configuration, accounting entries, migration options, parameter on selection of migration options, idea on subsequent correction of transfer values and some links to other important information/source.
Disclaimer
This blog post is my opinion and not linked to any organization. All screen shots are from test systems and any similarity is coincidence.
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