Since the introduction of SAP Fiori in 2013, a variety of new Fiori apps or improved functionalities of existing apps have been offered with each SAP S/4HANA release. A detailed explanation of the components of the Fiori Launchpad and the features of SAP Fiori can be found in the blog post “What is SAP Fiori? An introduction to SAP’s new UI for S/4HANA”.
In the following, we will focus on some interesting Fiori apps that can be used in financial accounting, such as the display of journal entries in T-account view, the display of the balance sheet and profit and loss statement, and the processing of recurring entries.
In general, there are three types of Fiori apps in SAP:
- Transactional apps
- Analytical apps
- Informative apps
The focus of transactional apps is on performing transactional tasks such as creating a business partner, posting an accounts payable invoice or the clearing of a general ledger account.
With the help of analytical apps, important key figures of the business processes are displayed and insights for corporate management are provided in real time. Overview pages for accounts payable/receivable accounting, asset accounting or general ledger accounting, for example, belong to this category and provide an analytical overview of important key figures on a high-level topic such as accounts payable accounting (e.g. number of blocked invoices, cash discounts received in the current period).
Info sheets (also called Fact sheets) contain important information about a specific object, for example information about a house bank, a profit center or a general ledger account. As a rule, it is possible to jump from fact sheets to other apps in order to carry out specific transactions.
Display journal entries in T-account view
The app `Display Journal Entries – In T-Account View´ (Fiori App ID F3664) enables a visual display of FI postings in SAP as of release SAP S/4HANA 1909. It belongs to the category of transactional apps.
With the help of the app, postings can be displayed in T-account view or table view. This makes it easy to understand the effects of the entries on the debit or credit side of the individual accounts.
It is also possible to select several accounting documents that are, for example, related to each other. This way, the overall view of the accounting records can be seen. By marking an entry on the debit or credit side, you can see which accounts are affected by the selected entry.
Display of balance sheet and income statement
The app `Balance Sheet/Income Statement – Multidimensional´ (Fiori App ID F3084) is an analytical app for displaying the balance sheet and the P&L. It has been available since the release of SAP S/4HANA 1809.
The “Navigate to” button can be used to jump directly to other Fiori apps, for example, to display a document flow, navigate to postings on a specific G/L account, or to customer and vendor postings. In this way, journal entries can be examined and analysed more closely. It is also possible to compare different fiscal years, ledgers or different balance sheets and P&L versions. The navigation panel (shown on the left side of Figure 3) also allows you to add additional fields such as functional areas, G/L account numbers, currencies, or document numbers.
Furthermore, it is possible to export the reports directly to Excel or as a PDF. In addition to the technical information, the selection variables (e.g. company code, fiscal year, hierarchy ID or filter criteria) are also exported so that the data can be retrieved again at a later time. Alternatively, variants can be saved in the Fiori app so that the same parameters can be retrieved again.
Recurring Journal Entries
The app `Manage Recurring Journal Entries´ (Fiori App ID F1598) is a transactional app for creating and managing recurring entry documents (available as of release SAP S/4HANA 1610). Recurring entry documents refer to periodically recurring postings of the same amount, such as accrual postings or rent.
With the help of this app, so-called recurring entry original documents can be created, edited and deleted. Recurring entry original documents are not direct FI documents, but rather serve as a reference or basis for the subsequent FI posting. In addition, it is possible to get an overview of the current status of recurring entries that have already been made or are still outstanding.
Compared to classic transactions (FBD1, FBD2), it is now possible within this app to make changes to amounts and CO (Controlling) account assignments such as a cost centre. In other words, if the amount of a recurring entry changes, previously the original recurring entry original document had to be deleted and a new, adjusted one created. This is no longer necessary with this app, which results in an immense reduction in workload.
It should be noted, however, that the app is limited to pure G/L account postings. A counterpart in the accounts payable area will be available from Release 2021 (Fiori App ID F4312). For all other cases of recurring entries, the classic transactions (FBD1, etc.) must still be used.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a lot is happening in the area of Fiori for Finance under S/4HANA, especially in the area of analytical apps. In particular, the presentation of journal entries in T-account form facilitates communication with non-FI departments on interface issues. We are looking forward to further developments by SAP.