Case study. SAP Fiori – a New Interface for SAP Users
Along with improvements in the broadly understood area of Customer experience (UX), the SAP system is developing as well. SAP Fiori has been created in response to the changing user requirements. It is a set of applications that allow the functionality of the most frequently used SAP transactions to be accessed on mobile and desktop devices via a web browser. The traditional SAP application that users are accustomed to, called SAP GUI, has been given a new, transparent and intuitive design. Currently, SAP Fiori provides access to over 300 applications utilised by various SAP systems.
Undoubtedly, the greatest advantages of SAP Fiori are real-time access to data via the Internet from anywhere and the speed of data processing. However, the accounting teams used to the traditional SAP interface will need to change their habits and develop new, most effective ways of working to use the Fiori application.
IMPLEMENTATION IN THE CLIENT’S COMPANY
The MDDP Outsourcing team is taking part in the implementation of SAP with the use of SAP Fiori in a large pharmaceutical sector company. As part of the daily work related to the system implementation, we have to make sure that SAP Fiori applications will be able to reflect all the accounting functions supported by the traditional version of the system. This task is easier thanks to the experience our team gained during previous SAP and SAP Concur implementations.
It is certainly a big challenge to adapt SAP Fiori to the typical Polish legal and tax requirements, for example in terms of ensuring access in the application to all JPK standard audit files, including the obligatory JPK (JPK_V7) as well as the JPK files presented at the request of the Tax Office (JPK_FA (VAT sales invoices), JPK_PKPIR (tax book of revenues and expenditures), JPK_EWP (revenue register), JPK_MAG (warehouse), JPK_WB (bank statement) and JPK_KR (accounting books)). As part of the implementation project discussed, all JPK files will be launched via a dedicated tile in the SAP Fiori application.
SAP Fiori is being implemented in the Client’s company in two language versions: Polish and English. This way of operating the SAP system provides faster access to information for users who do not speak Polish, e.g. transaction statements for foreign counterparties are ready without the need for translation.
CONCLUSIONS AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION
From the financial teams’ point of view, a great advantage of SAP Fiori is the ability to use particular types of applications:
- for the accounting team: transaction applications that support business processes, for example transactions on tangible fixed assets, posting of financial documents, the invoicing process and others;
- for the controlling team: analytical applications that enable calculation and monitoring of KPIs, handling of business inquiries and visualisation of results on diagrams and charts;
- for all teams – information sheets where it is possible to quickly access from the start screen all the necessary information within one business object.
SAP Fiori uses a huge search engine, which makes it possible to search for any function or report from the home screen without switching between applications. The basic view of SAP Fiori consists of the so-called ‘tiles’, which represent the system functions.
A significant advantage of SAP Fiori from the perspective of accounting and tax services is the clear division of roles in the system. Roles such as Inventory Manager, Inventory Accountant, General Ledger Accountant, Accounts Payable Manager, Controller, Asset Accountant, Treasury Risk Manager and Cash Manager have been created or improved. Importantly, each user can have a dedicated, tailored system view (SAP Fiori launchpad) with the most-needed functions to be performed during the day or a visual presentation of results, which helps keep track of work progress.
SAP Fiori is currently being aligned with SAP S/4 Hana, SAP Integrated Business Planning, SAP C/4Hana and SAP Success Factors. It is also possible to integrate legacy systems (SAP ERP/ECC), provided that there is a HANA database. Work is underway on the possibility of connecting SAP Fiori to other SAP systems.
For MDDP Outsourcing, participation in the SAP Fiori implementation project is an interesting challenge, which is also in line with our pursuit of the most modern tools and maximum work automation.
Author: Katarzyna Opalko, Accounting Area Manager at MDDP Outsourcing.