SAP Fundamentals

An SAP Crash Course for students new to SAP

 An SAP Overview Course for Students New to SAP

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Describe the high-level uses of SAP ERP

• Log in and navigate within the SAP GUI
• Execute basic transactions
• Outline the most implemented SAP modules
 What is SAP?
• SAP SE – founded 1972 in Walldorf, Germany
• SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products)
• SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
Who Uses SAP?
87% of the global 2000 companies run SAP
Why Implement SAP?
• Eliminates information silos
• Automates core business processes
• Facilitates better decision-making
• Prioritizes security and compliance
Logging in to SAP GUI
1. Click the SAP Logon icon on your desktop
2. Choose the system from
the SAP Logon pad
3. Click Log On button
Logging in to SAP GUI
1. Enter Client
2. Enter Username
3. Enter Password
4. Press Enter
Understanding the SAP Easy Access Screen

Unless a user has selected a default start

Transaction, every time we log into the SAP GUI
we start at the SAP Easy Access Screen. From
here we have multiple ways to navigate to the
transactions we want to use.
SAP Easy Access Screen – Menu Tree Navigation

We can drill down into transactions

broken up by each business area using
the menu tree.

The menu tree can be useful when we

don’t have/know a transaction code.
Display Purchase Order via Menu Tree
Menu Tree – Pro Tip 
Have the Transaction Codes show when navigating in the Menu Tree.
Command Field Navigation

We use the command field when we know the

Transaction Code for the transaction we want to
use. A transaction code is a series of letters,
numbers, or both that are linked to a specific
transaction in the system, and a transaction
tells the system we want to do something.
System Information We can use the System Information in the Menu Bar
to show which transaction we are on if we get lost.
Most users will want to have this set to Transaction.
Navigating Between Transactions
• Return to SAP Easy Access
Screen using /n

• Navigating between
Transactions using
/n + Transaction Code

Once we’re in a transaction, what we type in

the Command Field Changes. To return to
the SAP Easy Access Screen we can type “/n”
in the command field and press enter.

If we want to go to a new transaction we

must type /n and then the transaction code
and press enter.
Multiple Sessions in SAP
• Open a new session in SAP
using /o
• Up to six sessions at one time

• Open a transaction in a new

session using
/o + Transaction Code
Command Field Shortcuts – Pro Tip 

Command Field Outcome

Shortcut
/n Back to SAP Easy Access Screen
/o Open a new SAP session (up to six)
/n + Transaction Code Open a new transaction from the current transaction
/o + Transaction Code Open a new transaction in a new session
CTRL + / Cursor goes straight to Command Field
/* + Transaction Code Open a transaction, but skip first screen (when possible)
Favorites

Many jobs/processes can be fairly

repetitive, so the work we do in SAP
can find us using transaction codes
over and over again.

We can make transactions handy to

access by adding them to our
Favorites folder.
Favorites – Pro Tip 

Be the hero of your department! Download all your favorites to share with
your colleagues by going to More-> Favorites-> Download to PC. Name the
file and share it with your colleagues via email or flash drive. Once they
have the file they can go to More-> Favorites-> Upload to PC.
Searching in SAP With so many fields, SAP can seem intimidating. Just remember,
that any editable fields that are not free-form text will allow us to
search for the data we need. When we click in an empty field
that is searchable, the match code button appears. We can click
the match code button to bring up our search screen. From our
search screen we can fill any of the fields with information to
narrow our search and click Start Search.
Searching Using the Wildcard
Sometimes we only have partial information available to
begin a search. The wildcard in SAP search is the asterisk.
It can be used before and/or after our search term.

When used first “*searchterm” means anything

can come first and our search will still return our
result. When it’s used last “searchterm*” the
search will return all results that start how we
have listed. When the wildcard is both before

*
and after “*searchterm*” any characters can
come before or after our search term but all
results will show.
Searching – Pro Tip
Some Search fields have a limited number of

 entries. For example when we’re looking at

Plants at a medium-sized organization there will
usually be less than 20 plants. If we’re working
with the same 3 of those plants over and over
again we can declutter our search results by
creating a Personal Value List. In our screen
shot, we have 17 plants. We select 1700, 1710,
and 2000. Click the Star icon which is “Insert in
Personal List.” We then close and hit the match
code button again and we have only those 3
plants present in our personal list.

Sometimes we’ll need to get back to our Global

list—this is done by pressing the globe icon.
Success, Warning, and Error Messages
SAP will give us messages in the status bar alerting us to what’s happening in the system. There are three types of status messages. Green
success messages denote that what we were trying to do in the system has completed successfully. Yellow warning messages tell us that
something doesn’t look quite right to the system. However, with yellow warning messages we can press enter and continue our transaction. Red
Error messages signify a hard stop. These messages say we cannot continue until we fix something on the screen. These messages come up
most frequently (as seen in the screenshot) when information is not entered into required fields.
Note: We can double click on the status bar to get more information about any status message.
Modules in SAP
SAP is broken up into different areas that work together called modules. There are two
types of modules in SAP. Technical Modules and Functional Modules. Work done in
Technical modules makes sure the system runs correctly and is done mostly behind the
scenes by programmers. Most end users never see any of these modules.

Human
Logistics Accounting Resources
Functional modules
house transactions.
Sales and
Financial Transactions are built
Distribution Human Capital
Accounting in the system to align
Management with business
processes.
Materials
Management There are many
Functional modules in
Controlling SAP and companies
can decide which
Production Employee Self
modules they want to

Planning Service
implement and use.

This is a list of some

(not nearly all) of the
Quality Project Systems most commonly

Management implemented SAP

modules.
Industry Modules
SAP IS (Industry Specific) Modules

• Aerospace & Defense

• Life Sciences
• Oil and Gas
• Retail
• Utilities
SAP Financial Accounting
We’re now going to take a deeper dive into some of
the most important SAP modules.
Let’s start with one of the most commonly
Asset
implemented modules– SAP Financial Accounting or
Accounting
SAP FI.

FI tracks and allows reporting on financial data

across a company and covers every financial
business process a company may have.

We’ll start with the General Ledger, or GL.

Bank General Accounts
Management
Ledger Payable The GL houses all financial transaction data in a
chart of accounts. The Chart of Accounts is a list of
the accounts. Transactions are recorded in sub-
modules that can be reconciled with the general
ledger data in real time.

Four primary submodules of the SAP FI Module in

Accounts the General Ledger are Accounts Payable, Accounts
Receivable Receivable, Bank Management, and Asset
Accounting.
SAP FI Submodules
Accounts Payable Accounts Payable is the FI submodule that deals with supplier
related data. An Account Payable is a liability owed to either an

• Supplier Related Data internal stakeholder or an external supplier.

Accounts Payable includes supplier data, invoice posting, invoice

• Invoice Posting
payments, and automatic payments program.

• Invoice Payments and Automatic Payments Programs

Accounts Receivable
• Customer Related Data Next is Accounts Receivable, or AR. This is where we deal with
Customers and manage Customer data and any money that is owed

• Payment Postings
to the company. Transactions in Accounts Receivable include
Payments that are applied to the correct invoices and accounts—
which is called cash application.

• Cash Application
Asset Accounting Now we’ll look at Asset accounting which deals with a company’s fixed assets. Examples of
fixed assets are things like owned warehouses, land, and office equipment or machinery. In
Asset Accounting we can record acquisitions, depreciation, sales, and the retirement of these
• Fixed Assets fixed assets.

• Acquisition, Depreciation, Sales, and Retirement

Bank Accounting
Finally we’ve got Bank Accounting which deals with all of the company's bank account transactions. It can
reconcile all transactions recorded on bank statements and compare them with the transactions in the system
to ensure they balance. Each of these areas have associated reports for deeper real-time insights into how
the business is performing financially.
SAP Controlling
SAP Controlling is commonly called SAP CO. Combined with SAP FI, they are often referred to as SAP FICO.
Controlling deals with planning and monitoring business operation costs. It includes reporting functions to identify how money is being spent at a company to
enable increased profitability. CO is used to compare actual financial results to planned financial results.

SAP
Controlling

Cost Center Profit Center Internal Product Profitability

Accounting Accounting Orders Costing Analysis
There are five primary submodules of the SAP CO module. Cost Centers deal with the costs associated with a company's internal departments like Human
Resources. Cost Centers deal only with expenses, not revenues. They show exactly how much departments are spending. On the other side of cost centers we
have profit centers. Profit Center Accounting is used to evaluate profit or loss of independent areas within a company instead of looking at a company’s
profitability as a whole. A classic example of a profit center is the Sales department.

The next submodule is Internal Orders which are used to manage the costs for small internal projects within a controlling area. Internal orders are used in SAP
controlling for in-depth analysis of short-term projects or a one-time expense like a marketing road show. Next up- Product Costing looks at the costs required
to produce goods and services. It helps with decisions on whether it’s worth buying a product to re-sell or better to make it in-house by identifying
manufacturing costs. Finally, Profitability Analysis measures the profitability of the products or services offered. A key feature is the ability to determine
profitability by geographic region or country, distribution channels, or how profitable a single customer is. This information gives insights to help make pricing
decisions.
SAP Materials Management
Materials Management ensures that there are
always the right materials available at the
right time for a business. Materials
Management used effectively can help

Master Data Purchasing

increase productivity and reduce costs.

There are Four major components of Materials

Management in SAP.

First is Master Data like Material Masters and

Supplier Data. Material master data can have
up to 200 fields of information about a specific
material and there are different material types

SAP Materials like Finished Goods or Raw Materials.

Purchasing includes procurement activities like

Management Purchase Requisitions and Purchase Orders.

Inventory Management manages the inventory

through mechanisms like Goods Receipts
(receiving orders into stock) and Internal
Transfers - where we move a material from
one storage area to another.

Inventory Management Physical Inventory

Physical Inventory is closely tied to Inventory
Management. This is where physical inventory
is recorded. We can run special inventory
processes like cycle counts. A cycle count is
where a small sample of inventory, in one
storage location, is counted at a specific time.
 SAP Sales and Distribution
SAP Sales and Distribution is a Logistics
module that is used to deal with customer-
and product-related data.

Let’s look at the typical Sales and Distribution

progression:

Presales Actions are first. This step is where

Presales Sales Shipping Billing customers make inquiries. They can also
request Quotes which are legally binding.

• Inquiries • Sales • Pick • Invoicing Next comes Sales where one-off Sales Orders
are created, and long-term Contracts are

• Quotations Orders • Pack • Return created.

• Contracts • Ship Orders Third is Distribution. This is where Delivery

documents are created and goods are picked
from the warehouse, packed appropriately,
and then shipped to customers.

Last is billing where customer invoices are

created. If anything from the order isn’t
correct or of the appropriate quality, the
return process is started here by creating a
return order.
SAP Production Planning
SAP Production Planning is a logistics module that helps businesses
Bill of produce goods efficiently and in the right timing to meet sales
Materials demands.

Again there are Four key parts of SAP Production Planning:

First, the bill of materials is a complete inventory of the raw

materials, assemblies, and other components used to manufacture
a product. One common analogy is to call it the ingredients list
part of a recipe.

Routings are a description of operations and the sequence that they

Materials
SAP need to happen in for something to be produced. Routings are used
for scheduling the production of semi-finished and finished
Requirement Production Routings
products.

Planning
Planning With a bill of materials as the ingredients list of a recipe, the
Routings are the step-by-step instructions part of the same recipe.

Capacity planning is done to balance the production load across

different Work Centers in SAP.

Materials Requirement Planning, called MRP, is used to guarantee

material availability for production while minimizing the cost of
holding too much unnecessary stock.

Capacity
Planning
SAP Quality Management

Quality Management The SAP Quality Management module ensures that goods
produced meet the defined level of quality before they are
shipped to customers.

There are three big pieces of the Quality Management module.

Quality Inspection Quality Inspection is the process of inspecting produced

goods and recording any defects.

Quality Control is the area where different preventive and

corrective actions take place. Vendors are also evaluated on
quality. If parts from a specific Supplier end up being faulty
Quality Control too often, the supplier will be replaced.

Quality Notifications record internal or external problems

that are caused by poor quality of products. Quality
Notifications can be recorded at incoming inspection when a
product has been purchased externally and at final inspection

Quality Notifications before sending finished products to customers.

SAP Human Capital Management
The Human Capital Management module is far
reaching and has the capability to run most HR
Organizational Management business processes in very complex organizations.

The Human Capital Management module has many

pillars. We’ll explore a few of the most common.

Employee Administration First Organizational Management is where the

organization is set up with different areas,
positions, and employee names.
This flows into Employee Administration where
employee addresses, bank details, and tax
information is maintained.
Time Management
SAP Human Capital It can also handle Time Management to record
attendance and leave accruals.
Management This leads into Benefits management. This is
Benefits Management where companies can create their own unique
benefits packages for employees.

The employee administration, and time and benefit

management areas dovetail together and allow for
payroll functions to compensate employees.
Payroll
Finally, Recruitment is a key function of HCM that
allows companies to track applicants and determine
how effective the recruiting efforts are at an
organization.
Recruitment
Master Data and Transactional Data
Master data is considered to be the building
blocks or the foundation for all the
transactions to come. Master Data is
Master Transactional relatively static. At many organizations there
Data are people with special permissions that can
Data manipulate master data. Think of master
• Static • Changing data as the nouns—people (customers or
• Nouns • Verbs suppliers), places (assets), or things
• Material Master • Sales Orders, (materials).
Records, Customer Customer Invoicing
Master Records Transactional data on the other hand is
constantly in flux. It leverages verbs like
sales, purchasing, or invoicing.

Poor master data will lead to poor quality

transactions—which emphasizes the
importance of excellent master data.
Organizational Structures
Finance Sales and Materials Human Capital Each SAP module has its own
Distribution Management Management independent organizational
structure which defines the
Chart of Accounts Sales Organization Plant Company Code relationships between
different work groups and
departments.
Company Distribution Channel Storage Location Personnel Area
The table highlights some (but
Company Code Division Purchasing Personnel Subarea not all) aspects of the
organizational structures
Organization associated with those
modules.
Business Area Sales Area Purchasing Group

Starting with Finance, there is the Chart of Accounts which lists all accounts and is based on country defined accounting rules. Next is company which is the level where
individual financial statements can be created. Below company are company codes. A company can have multiple company codes, and each company code can have multiple
business areas. An example of a business area within a company code would be manufacturing.

In Sales and Distribution, Sales Organization is at the highest level and the reporting on all sales activities is done at the Sales Organization level. Next is the Distribution
Channel which is the means by which customers are reached like retail or wholesale. The next component is Division which handles a specific product line. A company may have
one division that sells consumer products and a separate division that sells consulting services. The combination of Sales Organization, the Distribution Channel and the Division
is called the Sales Area.

Moving to Materials Management, first up is plants. A plant can be a manufacturing facility, a distribution center, or an office. Storage Locations, within plants are the physical
storage locations where stock is kept. Purchasing organizations handle negotiations and procurement activities from suppliers. Purchasing Organizations can handle procurement
across multiple company codes, or they can be limited and do the buying for specific plants. Purchasing organizations are often broken up into purchasing groups which handle
specific aspects of the buying process.

In Human Capital Management again we see the company code which is it’s own independent accounting unit. Within the company code there are personnel areas. A
personnel area could be assigned to a country within a company code. Similarly a personnel subarea would be a smaller division of a personnel area. Perhaps a personnel
subarea would be assigned to one operating location within a country.

Again, Organizational Structures define the relationships between different work groups and departments. They are set up when the system is first configured at a new company,
and they remain static unless a company acquires companies or divests different parts of its business.
Course Summary
You should now be able to:

• Describe the high-level uses of SAP ERP

• Log in and competently navigate within the SAP GUI
• Execute basic transactions
• Outline the most commonly implemented SAP modules
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