business planning and consolidation tcode in sap

SAP BPC – What is Business Planning and Consolidation?

What is SAP BPC?

SAP BPC is a SAP module that provides planning, budget, forecast, and financial consolidation capabilities. SAP BPC meaning Business Planning and Consolidation. It provides a single view of financial and operational data and a unified solution that supports Performance Management processes like adjust plans and forecasts or speed up the budget and closing cycles.

It delivers built-in functionalities for

• Strategic Planning
• Forecasting

There are two platforms in SAP BPC finance. About 80% of its functionality is same except the difference in the back-end. In each platform, there is two version.

• SAP BPC MS (Microsoft Platform) – SAP BPC 7.5 MS and SAP EPM 10
• SAP BPC NW (Net Weaver Platform) – SAP BPC 7.5 NW and SAP BPC 10 NW.

Like any other module, SAP BPC module too holds master and transaction data. BPC in SAP is divided into two components namely “ Administration ” and “ Reporting “.

SAP BPC Overview

For any organization to run a business successfully financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting are important attributes. SAP BPC software provide everything in one package.

• Unified – Planning and Consolidation in One Product. Single application lessens maintenance, enhance data integrity, and simplifies deployment. It also enables flexible planning & consolidation functions
• Owned and Managed by Business Users : – Business users manage processes, models & reports with little IT dependence.
• An open, adaptable application : – Extends the value of your investment in both SAP and non-SAP environments
• Familiar, Easy to use : – It is easy to use and support native Microsoft Office tools (e.g. Excel) and web browsers accessing a central database.
• Align Financial and Operational plans : – It helps to determine financial goals and operational plans with strategic objectives.
• Reduce budget cycle time : – It helps to reduce budget cycle time.

Let’s see each attribute of SAP BPC in detail,

It helps management team to formulate its vision, mission, core values, and objectives. The team develops strategic plans to uphold its competitive advantage in the marketplace. It helps them to answer the following questions.

• What does corporate want to be?
• What to do?
• How to measure what we do?
• What do operating units need to do to achieve corporate objectives?

It is not just a prediction of future results. It is also a plan of actions and expected operations of the organization over the next year. Budgeting is done for proactive management and measurement of corporate performance.

• How to execute corporate strategy at operating unit level?
• How to measure what operating units do?
• What is the quantitative execution plan of operating units?

It ensures performance progress is monitored, problems are anticipated, and continuous improvement efforts are promoted.

• How to measure that we perform towards achieving our targets and objectives?
• What information would help management decision making?
• How to control performance of corporate?

It is the act of predicting outcomes. It is done throughout the year to reflect changes that have occurred both in the internal and external environment. It determines how the internal or external environment impact on the original plans and budgets? The main objective is to provide more accurate information for less risk management planning and decision making.

What is EPM in SAP?

The EPM solution use is widening over the financial divisions. It is similar to CPM (Corporate Performance Management), BPM( Business Performance Management) and FPM (Finance Performance Management). EPM is being used as a unique repository to manage relevant information.

SAP BPC Architecture

SAP BPC Architecture. It uses various business rules and script logics for doing the planning. The key components in BPC architecture are shown in the image below.

BPC Administration

BPC Administration allows administrators to perform maintenance and setup tasks for BPC client applications.

How to start BPC administration

BPC financial administration has two interfaces; a client application and a web interface. The administration action pane lists the available tasks for both interfaces

To start BPC administration

• Open a browser and type http://<server name>/osoft, where <server name> is the name of your BPC server.
• From the Windows Start menu, select SAP > BPC
• From your Windows Desktop, click the BPC icon
• From the Launch page, select BPC Administration
• From the Administration action pane, select the desired task

The console client is a Microsoft explorer-like window. Where we manage items such as application sets, applications, business rules, dimensions and business process flows. The browser client allows to control application set and application properties, as well as maintain BPC web parameters.

Creating a new dimension

Dimensions represent the entities of a business (e.g., accounts, company codes, and categories). They represent the master, text, and hierarchy data for each of the business entities.

It is possible to create new dimensions in a BPC application set. There is no restriction to create a number of dimensions in SAP BPC. These dimensions then become shared dimensions that are available for use in any application within the appset.

Some dimensions are required dimensions. It must exist in all the applications within an application set. While the dimension type determines the default properties to be included in the dimension. It is possible to add additional properties as needed.

Dimension types

Required in each application

• A = Account type dimension
• C = Category type dimension
• E = Entity type dimension
• T = Time type dimension

Required in each application set

• R = Currency type dimension

Needed to validate currencies that are input in Entity type dimension. This may not be part of any applications within the application set

Required for Intercompany Eliminations

• I = Intercompany

It is also possible to create additional dimensions as a requirement

Un = User defined dimension type. For each user-defined dimension, the number ‘n’ will be incremented. For e.g; U1, U2, U3 and so on

Creating Dimensions

Select Dimension Library on the left side. The action pane will display the related dimension tasks.

To create a new dimension, click on “Add a new dimension”.

Similarly, it is possible to copy, modify, process and delete dimensions. While adding dimensions, you need to enter reference type.

Next in this SAP BPC training, we will learn about BPC reporting.

BPC Reporting

BPC for Office combines the power of BPC with the rich functionality of Microsoft Excel , Word, and Powerpoint. With BPC for Office, we have all of the Microsoft functionality we are used to. On top of it documents, worksheets, and slideshows can be linked directly to the BPC database that has Company’s reporting data.

BPC for Office allows to collect data, build reports, perform real-time analysis and publish reports in a variety of formats. You can save your reports so that you can use them disconnected from the database. You can take reports completely offline and distribute them based on user access rights

A sample layout looks as follows

BPC Security

BPC security is managed in Administration Console. There are four key components in BPC security?

• Users : It is used to add users to the environment and manage their access rights
• Teams : You can define a group of users with same access rights
• Data Access Profiles : It enables setting up profiles for tasks to be performed.
• Task Profiles : It is used to set up profiles and enable access to data in models.
• BPC definition or SAP BPC means: A SAP module that provides planning, budget, forecast, and financial consolidation capabilities.
• BPC stands for Business Planning and Consolidation.
• SAP BPC provides you with a single view of financial and operational data.
• SAP BPC delivers built-in functionalities for
• SAP BPC Administration is a tool that allows administrators to perform setup and maintenance tasks for BPC client applications.
• SAP BPC supports Microsoft Excel, Word, and Powerpoint. SAP Business Planning Consolidation for Office allows to collect data, build reports, perform real-time analysis and publish reports in a variety of formats.

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What Is SAP Business Planning and Consolidation?

SAP is one of the leading providers of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. It’s better than similar services in its category; SAP even outperforms Oracle ERP . 

SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (SAP BPC), one of the top corporate performance management (CPM) systems, is another of its high-quality offerings. It enables companies to create and adjust strategic plans, speed up budget and closing cycles, and ensure financial reporting standards. 

It’s a great module to add to your existing SAP Business ByDesign ERP, letting you consolidate all your business processes into a single all-in-one solution—without significantly affecting your SAP ByDesign implementation costs .

SAP BPC is a planning and consolidation solution that greatly benefits fast-growing and rapidly changing small to mid-market businesses. It delivers operation and financial capabilities, including planning, budgeting, forecasting, and financial consolidation functionalities, allowing enterprises to improve strategic planning and results to drive revenue and profitability.

Benefits of SAP Business Planning and Consolidation

SAP BPC can be greatly advantageous, directly affecting how your business makes decisions, collaborates between departments, and achieves its goals. Here are some reasons why you should consider adding it to your SAP Business ByDesign ERP:

High Usability

SAP BPC is a single-deployment solution for various planning and financial tasks. These include planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and management consolidations. It has various uses that can increase efficiency in different departments.

Better Decision Making

SAP BPC can provide budget plans, forecasts, and analysis that can help you derive better insights to inform your business decision-making. You can base plans on what-if analyses and scenario planning for better outcomes, as well as assess budgets and forecast models in real-time, adjusting as needed.

Improved Collaboration

Your teams can work together on a single viewpoint in SAP BPC. This lets you break down communication barriers and information silos, improving accountability and work accuracy with it.

Increased Efficiency

Connect your departments to the same data points and processes with SAP BPC, allowing you to shrink cycle times, close the books fast, reduce your forecasting cycle, and accurately align your plans with strategic goals.

Flexible Deployment

SAP BPC is available as both on-premise and cloud deployment. Being able to choose your method of implementation allows you to increase accessibility on your own terms.

Key Functions of SAP Business Planning and Consolidation

SAP BPC helps you create an even more integrated ERP system. Here are the key functionalities that you can benefit from after implementation:

Unified Planning and Collaboration

SAP BPC, added to SAP Business ByDesign, completes an all-in-one integrated software solution for business planning and consolidation. This allows you to save time and reduce errors as you come up with strategies and achieve your goals.

Financial Intelligence

SAP BPC comes with robust financial intelligence tools that enable you to automate aggregations, allocations, and other manual processes. It allows you to speed up planning cycles and identify quick course corrections for every what-if scenario.

Microsoft Office and Web Reporting

SAP BPC can help you engage stakeholders across finance touchpoints and throughout the platform with Microsoft Office and HTML5. It also gives you enhanced visualization with SAP Analytics Cloud.

Management Consolidations

Complete all your financial reporting requirements with speed and accuracy with SAP BPC’s management consolidation functionalities (which include automation).

Budgeting and Forecasting

Generate what-if models and scenario plans to assess your business’s budget suitability in real-time. SAP BPC also lets you build forecast models that you can update and adjust as you go.

Get SAP ERP With Navigator Business Solutions

SAP Business ByDesign consolidates all your business processes into one system. The all-in-one solution meets all your departmental needs, and this is made even easier with SAP BPC.

Find out how SAP Business ByDesign and SAP BPC can fit your business requirements and how you can get started in integrating its modules into your operations.

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Your Guide to SAP Business Planning and Consolidation

SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (SAP BPC) has gained popularity as businesses recognize the value of reporting, forecasting, budgeting, and planning. This is an application that is designed to handle financial practices on an integrated platform. It supports financial, consolidation, and planning reporting.

Organizations now integrate operational and sales planning and financial planning to attain better control over their business processes. SAP BPC solutions allow companies to restructure and computerize their financial processes. They offer a variety of benefits to businesses that want to integrate their consolidation and planning to allow them to focus on creating growth.

The use of SAP BPC allows organizations to spend more time on activities that grow the business. The solutions are designed to reduce the amount of time and effort that is put into closing books. All the business processes are streamlined and automated to offer shorter budget cycles and better regulatory compliance. This allows operations and finance managers to collaborate in one setting, which simplifies the budgeting process.

Information is vital for decision making within an organization and the SAP business planning and consolidation solutions can allow companies to make improved decision. An organization can base its decisions on the scenario planning and what-if investigation. When all the functions are managed from a single application, it makes it easy for stakeholders to see how external and internal factors influence business projects. This allows organizations to adapt to suit the changes, which helps to lower risk.

Organizations can also benefit from increased collaboration when they apply SAP BPC. The solutions enhance planning and accountability accuracy. These solutions offer a single view of all the operational and financial data. They also standardize the management processes and come up with what-if scenarios that organizations can use to make decisions. Management, statutory reporting, and consolidation functions are all provided from one application. Streamlining business functions helps to reduce risks.

SAP BPC allows companies to reduce their information technology needs. This is because all the budgeting and planning functionalities are carried out in one intuitive and easy to use application. Managers do not have to rely on manual consolidation using a variety of sources.

Employees can also increase their productivity with the use of an intuitive application like SAP BPC. The innovative office computerization tools and perceptive interface can help an organization to improve employee efficiency.

Who Can Use It?

SAP BPC is a comprehensive consolidation and planning software that offers versions for small, medium size, and large businesses. Organizations have to keep up with the changing business environment. Economic conditions are dynamic and businesses have to adapt in order to remain relevant. Conventional financial closing, planning, and budgeting tools and processes are not effective.

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SAP BPC Module: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction.

SAP BPC (Business Planning and Consolidation) is a module within the SAP ecosystem that focuses on financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation of financial data. It helps organizations streamline their financial processes, improve accuracy in financial reporting, and enable more effective decision-making. SAP BPC provides a platform for aligning financial plans with business objectives, creating budgeting models, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

SAP BPC helps organizations streamline their financial planning and consolidation processes, improving accuracy, compliance, and the quality of financial reporting. It empowers finance professionals to make informed decisions and contribute to the organization’s success by aligning financial strategies with business objectives.

Key Features & Functionalities of SAP BPC Module

• Financial Planning : SAP BPC enables organizations to create detailed financial plans and budgets based on historical data, forecasts, and strategic goals. It supports both top-down and bottom-up planning processes.
• Budgeting and Forecasting : The module facilitates the creation of budgeting and forecasting models, allowing organizations to project future financial performance and assess different scenarios.
• Data Integration : SAP BPC integrates with various data sources, including SAP ERP systems and external sources, to gather the necessary financial data for planning and consolidation.
• Consolidation : SAP BPC streamlines the process of consolidating financial data from different entities, business units, and locations. It helps organizations produce accurate and timely consolidated financial statements.
• Scenario Analysis : Organizations can use SAP BPC to perform “what-if” analyses and simulate different business scenarios to evaluate the impact on financial outcomes.
• Compliance and Reporting : SAP BPC supports regulatory compliance by ensuring accurate financial reporting and adherence to accounting standards. It aids in producing financial statements, balance sheets, income statements, and more.
• Collaboration : The module promotes collaboration among different departments and stakeholders involved in financial planning, allowing for input, review, and adjustments to financial plans.
• Automated Workflows : SAP BPC allows the creation of automated workflows for data validation, approval processes, and financial consolidation, reducing manual effort and enhancing accuracy.
• Real-time Insights : SAP BPC provides real-time access to financial data, enabling timely decision-making and agile responses to changes in the business environment.
• User-Friendly Interface : The module offers user-friendly interfaces for creating, analyzing, and presenting financial plans and reports. This encourages wider adoption and usability across the organization.
• Audit Trail : SAP BPC maintains an audit trail of changes made to financial plans and data, ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Security and Access Control : Organizations can define roles and permissions to control who has access to specific financial data and processes within SAP BPC.
• Integrated Planning : SAP BPC integrates with other SAP modules, allowing organizations to align financial plans with operational data and strategic objectives.
• Management Reporting : SAP BPC supports the creation of management reports, dashboards, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for monitoring financial performance.
• Performance Optimization : The module offers tools for optimizing planning and consolidation processes, enhancing system performance and scalability.

Benefits of SAP BPC

SAP BPC offers numerous benefits to organizations seeking to streamline their financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation processes. Here are some key benefits of implementing SAP BPC:

• Integrated Financial Processes : SAP BPC provides a centralized platform for financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation, ensuring data consistency and reducing the need for manual data transfers between systems.
• Accuracy and Data Integrity : The module minimizes the risk of errors by automating calculations, validations, and data transformations, leading to more accurate financial reporting and decision-making.
• Streamlined Budgeting and Forecasting : SAP BPC enables organizations to create detailed budgeting and forecasting models, allowing for scenario analysis and better insights into future financial performance.
• Efficient Consolidation : Organizations can consolidate financial data from different entities, business units, and subsidiaries using SAP BPC, resulting in accurate and timely consolidated financial statements.
• Improved Compliance : SAP BPC supports compliance with regulatory standards and accounting principles by ensuring accurate financial reporting and adherence to industry standards.
• Scenario Analysis : The module enables organizations to perform “what-if” scenarios to assess the impact of various business decisions on financial outcomes, supporting strategic planning.
• Collaboration and Alignment : SAP BPC fosters collaboration among departments and stakeholders involved in financial planning, aligning financial strategies with broader business objectives.
• Real-time Insights : With real-time access to financial data and reporting, SAP BPC facilitates timely decision-making and agile responses to changes in the business environment.
• Reduced Manual Work : Automation of financial processes reduces manual data entry, validation, and consolidation efforts, freeing up finance professionals to focus on analysis and strategic tasks.
• Auditing and Traceability : SAP BPC maintains an audit trail of changes made to financial plans and data, enhancing transparency, accountability, and compliance with internal controls.
• User-Friendly Interface : The module offers user-friendly interfaces for creating, analyzing, and presenting financial plans and reports, making it accessible to both finance and non-finance users.
• Enhanced Reporting : SAP BPC supports the creation of management reports, dashboards, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for monitoring financial performance and communicating insights.
• Integrated Planning : SAP BPC integrates with other SAP modules, allowing organizations to align financial plans with operational data and strategic goals.
• Better Resource Allocation : By providing visibility into resource allocation and financial performance, SAP BPC helps organizations allocate resources effectively to achieve their objectives.
• Cost and Time Savings : The automation of financial processes and the reduction of manual efforts lead to cost savings and improved efficiency in the finance function.
• Scalability and Performance Optimization : SAP BPC offers tools for optimizing performance, ensuring the system can handle growing data volumes and increasing complexity.

SAP BPC empowers organizations to make informed financial decisions, improve accuracy, streamline processes, enhance collaboration, and drive strategic growth. It plays a critical role in enabling finance professionals to contribute more effectively to the organization’s success and achieve greater control over financial planning and reporting processes.

How SAP BPC works

SAP BPC works as an integrated solution within the SAP ecosystem to streamline financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation processes. It offers a comprehensive platform that enables organizations to align their financial strategies with business objectives, improve accuracy in financial reporting, and enhance decision-making. Here’s how SAP BPC works:

• SAP BPC integrates with various data sources, including SAP ERP systems and external systems, to gather financial data required for planning and consolidation. This data includes historical financials, actuals, forecasts, and other relevant data points.
• Organizations use SAP BPC to create budgeting and planning models. These models involve setting financial goals, defining key performance indicators (KPIs), and projecting financial outcomes for a specified period. Users can input data, create assumptions, and define scenarios to simulate different business situations.
• SAP BPC supports forecasting processes, allowing organizations to project future financial performance based on historical data and assumptions. This helps in understanding potential outcomes and making informed decisions.
• Users can perform scenario analysis using SAP BPC module to assess the impact of various business decisions on financial outcomes. For example, they can model the effects of different market conditions, pricing strategies, or cost structures.
• SAP BPC automates data transformations, calculations, and allocations, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors. Users can define complex calculations, currency conversions, and other financial calculations within the system.
• SAP BPC includes data validation rules to ensure data accuracy and integrity. An audit trail tracks changes made to financial data, maintaining transparency and accountability.
• SAP BPC facilitates the consolidation of financial data from various sources, including different business units, subsidiaries, and legal entities. This consolidation process ensures accurate and consistent financial reporting.
• Users can generate financial reports, dashboards, and key performance indicators (KPIs) using SAP BPC’s reporting tools. These reports provide insights into financial performance, trends, and areas that need attention.
• SAP BPC supports collaboration among stakeholders involved in financial planning and consolidation. Multiple users can access and contribute to the same dataset, improving communication and alignment across departments.
• Automated workflows in SAP BPC facilitate data validation, approval processes, and financial consolidation. This ensures that financial data is accurate and approved before it is used for reporting.
• SAP BPC provides real-time access to financial data, enabling timely decision-making and agile responses to changes in the business environment.
• SAP BPC allows organizations to define roles and permissions, controlling who has access to specific financial data and processes within the system.
• SAP BPC integrates with other SAP modules like Finance (FI), Controlling (CO), and Material Management (MM), ensuring consistent financial data across the organization.

SAP BPC streamlines financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation processes by automating calculations, ensuring data accuracy, and providing insights for decision-making. It acts as a comprehensive tool that helps finance professionals align their financial strategies with business goals, comply with regulations, and deliver accurate and transparent financial reporting.

Why Organizations use SAP BPC

Organizations use SAP BPC module for a variety of reasons, all of which contribute to more effective financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation processes. Here are some key motivations for why organizations choose to implement SAP BPC:

• Streamlined Financial Processes : SAP BPC provides a unified platform for financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation. This streamlines processes, reduces manual efforts, and enhances overall efficiency.
• Accurate Financial Reporting : SAP BPC module automates calculations, validations, and data transformations, ensuring accuracy and integrity in financial reporting. This leads to more reliable insights for decision-making.
• Integrated Planning : Organizations can align their financial plans with operational data and strategic goals, fostering better coordination between different departments and enhancing overall business alignment.
• Scenario Analysis : SAP BPC allows organizations to perform scenario analysis and simulate different business situations, enabling them to make informed decisions based on potential outcomes.
• Efficient Consolidation : The module supports the consolidation of financial data from various entities and business units, resulting in accurate and timely consolidated financial statements.
• Compliance and Governance : SAP BPC helps organizations adhere to regulatory standards and accounting principles by ensuring accurate financial reporting and adherence to industry standards.
• Enhanced Collaboration : SAP BPC fosters collaboration among departments and stakeholders involved in financial planning, promoting better communication and alignment.
• Real-time Insights : With real-time access to financial data and reporting, SAP BPC enables timely decision-making and agility in responding to changes in the business environment.
• Reduced Manual Work : Automation of financial processes reduces the need for manual data entry, validation, and consolidation efforts, freeing up finance professionals to focus on strategic tasks.
• Audit Trail and Accountability : SAP BPC module maintains an audit trail of changes made to financial data, enhancing transparency, accountability, and compliance with internal controls.
• User-friendly Interface : SAP BPC offers user-friendly interfaces for creating, analysing, and presenting financial plans and reports, making it accessible to both finance and non-finance users.
• Integrated with SAP Ecosystem : For organizations already using SAP ERP systems, SAP BPC seamlessly integrates with other SAP modules, ensuring consistent data flow and reducing integration challenges.
• Better Resource Allocation : By providing visibility into resource allocation and financial performance, SAP BPC helps organizations allocate resources more effectively to achieve their objectives.
• Cost and Time Savings : Automation of financial processes and reduction of manual efforts lead to cost savings and improved efficiency in the finance function.
• Strategic Decision-making : SAP BPC empowers finance professionals to make data-driven decisions, contributing to the organization’s growth and success.

In essence, organizations use SAP BPC to optimize their financial processes, enhance data accuracy, improve collaboration, and enable better-informed decision-making. The module serves as a vital tool for finance departments to align their strategies with business goals and ensure accurate and compliant financial reporting.

Career Path in SAP BPC

A career path in SAP BPC offers various opportunities for individuals with expertise in financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation processes. Here’s an overview of potential career paths in SAP BPC:

• As an SAP BPC Consultant, you would work closely with clients to understand their financial planning and reporting requirements, design BPC solutions, configure the system, and provide support during implementation and post-implementation phases.
• Financial analysts or planners with expertise in SAP BPC can take on roles that involve using the system to create budgets, forecast financial outcomes, analyse data, and provide insights for decision-making.
• SAP BPC Administrators are responsible for maintaining and optimizing the BPC system. This includes managing user access, performing system upgrades, ensuring data integrity, and troubleshooting issues.
• Project Managers in the SAP BPC domain oversee the planning, execution, and delivery of BPC implementation projects. They manage project teams, timelines, budgets, and stakeholder communication.
• Financial controllers with SAP BPC expertise can lead financial planning and reporting processes within organizations. They ensure accurate financial reporting, compliance with regulations, and alignment with business objectives.
• Data analysts in the SAP BPC field focus on extracting insights from financial data, creating reports, dashboards, and visualizations, and providing valuable insights for strategic decision-making.
• Trainers or educators in SAP BPC design and deliver training programs to educate users on how to effectively use the module for financial planning, reporting, and analysis.
• Individuals with expertise in SAP BPC module can take on roles as Financial Reporting Managers, overseeing the creation of financial reports, dashboards, and KPIs using the module’s capabilities.
• Solution Architects in the SAP BPC domain design comprehensive solutions that involve BPC and other systems to meet complex financial planning and reporting requirements.
• As an SME in SAP BPC, you become a recognized authority on BPC processes, best practices, and system functionalities. Your expertise is sought after for solving intricate problems and guiding implementations.

Career advancement in SAP BPC often involves gaining more experience, specializing in certain aspects (such as consolidation, planning, or reporting), moving into leadership roles, or expanding your knowledge to include related areas such as SAP S/4HANA Finance or other SAP modules. Staying updated on industry trends, technology enhancements, and advancements in SAP BPC is essential for success in this dynamic field.

How to become SAP BPC Consultant

Becoming an SAP BPC Consultant requires a combination of education, technical skills, industry knowledge, and practical experience. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you on the path to becoming an SAP BPC Consultant:

• Obtain a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as finance, accounting, business administration, or information technology. This provides a foundational understanding of business and financial concepts.
• Familiarize yourself with SAP and its modules by taking online courses, tutorials, or attending workshops. Gain a basic understanding of how SAP works and its relevance to financial processes.
• Enroll in official SAP BPC training courses offered by SAP Education or authorized training partners. These courses provide in-depth knowledge of SAP BPC functionality, configuration, and best practices.
• Practical experience is crucial. Look for internships, entry-level positions, or projects where you can work with SAP systems, even if it’s not specifically SAP BPC at this stage. Gaining hands-on experience with SAP will be valuable.
• Develop a strong understanding of financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation processes. This knowledge is essential for effectively implementing SAP BPC solutions.
• SAP BPC Consultants need technical skills in SAP BPC configuration, customization, and troubleshooting. Familiarize yourself with SAP BPC tools and functionalities.
• Consider pursuing SAP certification in the BPC module. While not mandatory, certification can validate your expertise to potential employers. SAP offers certification options such as “SAP Certified Application Associate – SAP Business Planning and Consolidation 10.1 & 11.0.”
• Attend SAP user group meetings, conferences, and industry events to connect with professionals in the field. Networking can provide valuable insights, job opportunities, and learning opportunities.
• Effective communication, problem-solving, analytical thinking, and teamwork are crucial skills for an SAP BPC Consultant. Develop these skills to excel in your role.
• Look for SAP BPC Consultant job openings on job boards, company websites, and professional networking platforms like LinkedIn. Customize your resume and cover letter to highlight your relevant skills and experience.
• Prepare for interviews by reviewing common SAP BPC interview questions and scenarios. Be ready to discuss your technical knowledge, experience, and how you’ve addressed real-world challenges.
• Stay updated on new releases, updates, and best practices related to SAP BPC. Continuous learning is essential to stay competitive in the field.

Remember that becoming an SAP BPC Consultant is a journey that requires dedication and ongoing learning. Entry-level positions or roles in related fields can serve as stepping stones to your desired role. As you gain experience and deepen your expertise, you can progress to more specialized and senior roles within SAP BPC consulting, such as Solution Architect, Project Manager, or Industry Specialist.

In conclusion, SAP BPC (Business Planning and Consolidation) serves as a powerful solution for organizations aiming to optimize their financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation processes. By providing a comprehensive platform that integrates financial data, automates calculations, and facilitates collaboration, SAP BPC empowers finance professionals to make informed decisions and contribute to the organization’s growth and success.

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Meliá Hotels International: Connecting data from on-premise systems and third-party cloud software with analytics solutions

Explore meliá hotels international’s journey with sap.

Meliá Hotels International is one of the largest hotel groups in the world. It wanted to integrate the data from on-premise and third-party systems with its cloud solutions to enable centralized planning and reporting. The group’s analytics architecture now comprises the SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud solutions to meet this need.

data-source connections to the SAP Datasphere solution.

hours to connect a new data source to SAP Datasphere.

sustainability and social KPIs centralized in SAP Datasphere.

Integrating disparate systems to build a business data fabric

Founded in 1956, Meliá Hotels International (MHI) is a leading Spanish hotel group that has grown into one of the largest and most respected hotel chains worldwide. It operates a diverse portfolio of more than 340 luxury and escape hotels and resorts in 45 countries, and it employs over 39,000 people. Several of its brands cater to different areas of the hospitality market, reflecting the company’s strategy of growth and its focus on the luxury and premium segment.

To remain competitive, MHI continues to modernize its systems. Having previously used SAP BW/4HANA and SAP Analytics Cloud solutions, the company needed a product with tight integration to both. Additionally, it was important to gain smooth connectivity between the on-premise SAP products and third-party cloud-based software it used, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, and its in-house cloud solutions. It wanted to be able to integrate these data sources with its planning and reporting processes. So, the group’s data and advanced analytics department carried out several proof-of-concept projects with software providers.

Embedding advanced analytics into the IT architecture

Meliá Hotels International began using analytics tools more than 20 years ago when it adopted the SAP Business Warehouse application to manage its financial, budgeting, and purchasing information. It gradually upgraded to the SAP BW/4HANA solution that it uses today. The proof-of-concept projects yielded strong interest in the SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud solutions to meet the group’s new needs in data warehousing, consolidation, planning, and reporting. It recognized the high potential of these solutions as self-service tools for advanced analytics, especially in the HR and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) areas. The two offerings now form the group’s analytics architecture.

SAP Datasphere offers native integration with SAP BW/4HANA, where financial data is kept. And it enables connectivity and cross analytics with information from SAP and third-party software and reporting tools, such as SAP Analytics Cloud and Microsoft Power BI. MHI has produced an internal HR model in SAP Datasphere and its first dashboard version in SAP Analytics Cloud. With this, the HR department now has a better overview of employee recruitment and training and can more easily analyze and drill down into that data with regard to each hotel. Also, employees can work with the tools they prefer, such as SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office software.

After implementation, the group carried out a project to connect the two analytics solutions with its ecosystem, including the SAP ERP application, SAP SuccessFactors solutions, and the SAP Business Planning and Consolidation application, version for SAP BW/4HANA.

IBSap Consulting S.L. supports MHI in the basic tasks necessary to create data-source connections and single-sign-on configurations. SDG Group developed HR models in SAP Datasphere and stories in SAP Analytics Cloud. And AC eSolutions developed sustainability models and stories in SAP Analytics Cloud for ESG annual reporting.

Streamlining and centralizing planning activities

One of the main advantages for Meliá Hotels International of using SAP Datasphere is the centralization of information in one place for planning and reporting. Also, the data can be displayed to users through different service models depending on their needs. By connecting SAP Datasphere with SAP SuccessFactors solutions, the group’s HR master data can be maintained in the data warehousing cloud solution, SAP BW/4HANA.

MHI is developing a global project to assess the analytics reporting in SAP SuccessFactors offerings, including the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, and SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals solutions. The project started with the business content offered by SAP Datasphere and adapted to the group’s needs. The development model created in SAP Datasphere was enriched with data from sources external to SAP SuccessFactors, such as the Cornerstone Talent Experience platform or e-Motiva, to provide timely and current information. In addition, the business connected the model with previously created Microsoft Power BI dashboards to analyze their performance and information.

Accommodating planning activities under one roof

Meliá Hotels International plans to gradually integrate SAP Datasphere into its analytics processes. It’s involving the main business units as part of the adaptation plan and aligning with its supply-side platform evolution. The group hopes to deliver its information-reporting project before the end of the year, based on the development data model and using sustainability data from SAP BW/4HANA. And it’s working to migrate customer relationship management data from third-party software to SAP BW/4HANA using SAP Datasphere. Next year, the main objective is to integrate new business data for self-service models for MHI analysts. The group is also considering an internal control system for nonfinancial information.

In 2025, the group intends to conduct proof of concepts for SAP Analytics Cloud for planning. It will use the data in SAP Datasphere to evaluate the migration from the embedded SAP Business Planning and Consolidation, version for SAP BW/4HANA to the planning capabilities. For secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) development, it’s hoping to use the planning capabilities to save data in SAP Datasphere instead of SAP Analytics Cloud, allowing the data to be combined with other information types. The group would ultimately like to have all planning activities carried out with SAP software.

After the planned migration of its ERP system to SAP S/4HANA, MHI will be able to connect the management of data loads from the core data services (CDS) views of SAP S/4HANA to the operational data provisioning (ODP) report directly through SAP Datasphere. And it will move group reporting from SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office to the cloud ERP.

Featured partners

IBSap Consulting S.L. has been partnering with MHI for 10 years, developing different projects with SAP Business Warehouse and SAP Business Planning and Consolidation applications.

SDG Group started working with MHI three years ago, helping the company with a proof of concept for the SAP Datasphere solution.

AC eSolutions, a Spanish company that provides experience and knowledge in data and analytics products and services, has worked with MHI for 12 years.

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