Chapter 1- Introduction to SAP Transaction codes and Menu Path

Introduction
In this chapter we will understand the basics of using SAP transaction codes and Menu Path. Broadly
we will learn:

 What are transaction codes?

 What is Menu Path?
 How to use “favourites” in transaction code in SAP?
 How to set start transaction?
 Business user menu and SAP consultant menu differences

Introduction to Transaction Codes

Almost every function in SAP system has some or the other transaction code linked. A Transaction
code can be a number, a combination of alphabets and numbers or any other combination including
special characters. It allows the user to simply get into the task screen faster than any other way.
Before we move further it is important to understand that transaction codes have difference names
on real world. People call “transaction”, transaction code”, “t-code”, “tcode” etc.

Now let’s see how to use transaction code. It is important to have access to SAP system before you
start from here. When you complete the login process the standard SAP screen appears generally:
Transaction code can be entered by typing the same in this block:

This space can be hidden or opened up by this button

If on any screen you want to see which transaction is currently on it can be seen by clicking the small
icon on bottom right of screen where system shows all the details including user logged in, system
logged in etc.

Adding Transaction codes to Favourites

Since users use the same transaction almost daily in their jobs so there is no need to remember the
transaction codes rather those can be saved in the favourite list of the user and will appear on home
screen each time.
Click on favourites on top menu and then insert transaction

Enter the required transaction

Transaction will be added to Favourite

Now if you see here the favourite list the name of the transaction code is visible but the transaction
code is not visible. You need to change a setting here to get that done.
Click on “Extras” and settings

Then check the option “Display technical names” and enter. Now if you see all the same favourites
are added with the transaction code
You can also have your favourites organized in different folder for example you work for TWO
departments and have separate roles in your job and you want to classify transactions based on your
role for the ease of use

Insert folder under favourites

Give folder name as per your need

Now you can save your transactions under relevant folders and those will be organised accordingly.

Setting start transaction

If you generally login to SAP every morning and use one transaction at a start of your day due to
your typical job requirement there is an option to set particular transaction as start transaction and
when you login to SAP that transaction screen comes as initial screen rather than the traditional SAP
screen.

Click on “Extras” and “set start transaction”

Enter the needed transaction and click “enter” (here we have used FK01 as sample)
Now each time you login you will see the FK01 screen as start transaction automatically

Basic SAP Transactions

There are some very frequently used transactions which are not specific to work area but general
SAP use.

 If you want to open a new SAP session while you are working in any other transaction it can
be done by transaction /o + transaction code. Like presently you are in FK01
And you want to directly move to SE16 then enter /nSE16 and SAP will close the existing
transaction and will open new one (SE16 here)

This will be opened

 Now if you want to move from SE16 to FB03 but you want to keep the existing screen open
due to your work needs the you need to use /oFB03

Now we have 2 SAP sessions open.

  /NEX to directly log off from SAP

If you want to open new SAP session you can click on the below highlighted button and it will open
the new SAP session and you can continue using your work even if one session is already in use due
to running of report or you want to compare two things within system.
Introduction to Menu Path
In this section we will see what SAP Menu Path is and how it is organized to make things easy for the
users. Menu path is generally a tree based structure where the activity nodes are grouped together
in certain pattern. See example below

This is the screen which comes when the user login in SAP each time (unless the start transaction is
set). The working screens in SAP are classified for SAP business/end user as well as SAP Consultant.
Before we move on lets understand these roles.

SAP Business/End User

SAP end user is the person/s for whom an SAP application has been designed, developed and
customized within an organization. It is the person who performs day to day business tasks in the
system for example doing purchases, doing accounting, etc.

When SAP end user login to SAP the below menu is used. We will just go to Finance node for
demonstration purposes.
Click on small button on left of “Accounting” and further menu will be opened
Here the entire accounting menu is classified into sub folders as per work areas
When you click on Financial Accounting then further the menu is organized as per various accounting
modules like General Ledger, Accounts Payables, and Accounts Receivables etc.

Based on user needs user can get into any folder. For demo we will get into General Ledger
A user in General Ledger work area can do various tasks like document entry, creating master records,
running reports, viewing accounting documents etc. and same has been further classified in folders.
If you further click on Document entry you can see the options for the user as actual transactions. Like
in this example it can be parking of documents, posting of documents etc.

From here user can click on required transaction and can do the task. For example user want to enter
GL Account document the click on FB50 – Enter G/L Account Document and below screen will open
Similarly same can be done with non-financial transactions and other menu can be used for doing
business transactions
SAP Consultant/Configurator/Architect
When we say SAP consultant it includes SAP architect, leads etc. who are responsible to design SAP
system within an organization as per the needs of the organization and as per standard SAP methods.

The configuration menu is separate from that of user menu. To enter configuration menu the
transaction code is needed – SPRO (SAP Project Reference Object)

Enter SPRO and click Enter. Then Click on “SAP Reference IMG”
This opens up the menu for configuration

Again we will take example of Finance and see how it looks like

If we get into the menu we will see each area within Finance is organized in folder for configuration
and is used by functional consultants in their wok
Also it goes without saying that the roles of the end users and consultants are different in SAP system
so they can’t access each other’s transactions in real time (in business productive system) however in
development or test environment the consultants can access the end user transactions as they are
responsible to test the system before it is handed over to the end users.

Summary
With this we conclude our introductory chapter where we have learnt lot of things. Those may be
small in real life but actually very helpful to do our jobs in SAP. We have learnt about transaction
codes, adding them to favourites, menu path, the classification on menu for users and consultants and
several other small things. Now moving ahead we will start with the chapter which will contain
transaction codes for each chapter, widely used along with their usage and importance as well as
classification. At first let’s start with transaction codes in Financial Accounting.