What is SAP Group Reporting?
Group Reporting is SAP’s newest consolidation tool that is fully integrated into the SAP S/4HANA platform. This tool can produce a consolidated output based on either universal journals that are released from SAP S/4HANA Finance and data from additional, integrated data sources.
What are the Data and Consolidation Monitors applications?
The Data Monitor is the principal application within Group Reporting that affiliates use to submit data to Group Reporting. This application provides a set of tasks and milestones per consolidation unit. A task in the Data Monitor is a required process that a consolidation unit must execute. Examples of tasks could be data loading or data validations. A milestone is a non-required step in the submission process. A milestone could be for posting manual adjustments for a given period. Each consolidation unit must flag all required tasks and milestones as complete during a submission cycle to finish the closing process in Group Reporting.
The best practice content for Group Reporting provides a standard set of tasks and milestones. The standard setup for the Data Monitor can be seen in the following image.
Image 1 - Data Monitor Default View
The rows of the matrix presented in the above image display the affiliated entities of a group, known in Group Reporting as consolidation units. The columns represent individual tasks or milestones that each affiliate executes to complete the submission process. A milestone can be identified with the blue diamond to the left of the caption.
The Consolidation Monitor is another application in Group Reporting that is used for launching the tasks that are associated with the consolidation process. The application can be seen in the following image.
Image 2 - Consolidation Monitor Default View
Each task launches a specific process that generates consolidation entries. The entries posted by the consolidation process along with the submitted data plus any manually posted journals comprise the consolidation position for a group. The consolidation process also contains milestones. These milestones can be used by the consolidation team to post manual journals if needed.
Why would a custom task be needed?
There are several instances where clients would require additional processes that have not been included in the best practice content provided by SAP. In the Data Monitor, consolidation units could be forced to make manual postings on a specific document type and in a specific month for late adjustments. The Consolidation Monitor could also be enhanced to include processes that have not been included as well. For example, the proportional method of consolidation is not supported at the current time by the best practice content. An additional task could be added to the Consolidation Monitor to process entries associated with this type of consolidation method.
It is even possible to add a custom BADi to either the Data or Consolidation Monitors of Group Reporting. The following hyperlink to SAP’s help indicates how this can be done.
Consequently, by adding additional tasks to the Data or Consolidation Monitor, Group Reporting can be made flexible enough to support any number of business requirements that are beyond the standard best practice content that is provided by SAP.
How to add custom tasks?
Since this “Tip & Tick” is about adding custom tasks which are purely dependent on the requirements of the implementation, we cannot give an example for every possible type of custom task. Consequently, we will provide an example of assigning a new task to the Consolidation Monitor, which will be used to perform an additional specific process in the consolidation.
A custom rule in the Consolidation Monitor
The first step in adding a new task is actually to pre-set the Global Parameters. This action can be performed by opening the Global Parameters application (transaction CXGP). Once you have opened this application, select the appropriate Version and Consolidation Chart of Accounts. Tasks and a group of tasks are updated by Versions and Consolidation Chart of Accounts. Consequently, it is possible to have a set of tasks for a budget process that is not the same as a set of tasks for actuals.
Image 3 - Global Parameters
Once you have set the Global Parameters, you will need to open SAP Project Reference Object (transaction SPRO) if you are using the on-premise edition of S/4HANA. If you are using the cloud edition of S/4HANA, you would need to open the Central Business Configuration console from the Manage Your Solution application.
After opening one of these configuration interfaces, you will need to create a new method in the “Define Reclassification Methods” program (transaction CXEB). A method is an umbrella grouping of specific consolidation rules. In our example, we have added the new method C2025.
Once you have created your new method, select it and then click on the “Rules” folder to the left of the image below. You will then need to add the appropriate rules to this new method.
Image 4 - New Method
Your new method then needs to be applied to a task. Open the “Define Reclassification Tasks” program (transaction: CXEK), then add a new entry to create a new task.
Image 5 - Consolidation Tasks
In our example, we are adding method C2025 to task 2025. Once you have created your new task, select it and then click on the folder “Assign Method, Document Type to the Task”, which can be seen to the left of the image below.
Image 6 - New Consolidation Task
You will then be presented with the screen in the image below. This is the point where we assign a method to a task. You will need to assign the start year and period (this is the first period that the task can be used), the new method that was created in a prior step plus a document type.
Document types are used to store the output of each action in Group Reporting. So, if you post a manual journal, for example, the posting is applied to a document type. The summation of all document types is the fully consolidated position. In order example, all of the output for method C2025 will be stored on the document type 30.
To create a new document type that can be used by a consolidation process, open the “Define Document Types for Reclassification in Consolidation Monitor” program (transaction CXEK) and add the new document type then apply it to the task.
At the current time of writing this “tip & trick”, it is not possible to create custom document types for the cloud version of Group Reporting, but this type of request can be submitted to SAP support.
Once the task has been created, you will need to apply it to the consolidation task group that is in use. To apply the task to the task group, open the “Define Task Group” program (transaction: CXE0). In the example below, we are using task group S20 from the SAP best practice content. Select the task group that is being amended and then click on the folder “Assign tasks to task group” to the left.
Image 8 - Task Group
In the detail for the “Assign tasks to task group” program, create a new entry and select the task that was created in the prior step.
Image 9 - Define Task Group
Using the position attribute, we can apply the correct ordering to the new task.
Image 10 - Assign Task to Task Group
We can now see that the consolidation task group has been updated with the new task.
Image 11 - Updated Task Group
Once you have saved your changes, you can close the Central Business Configuration or SAP Project Reference Object interface and go back to the Consolidation Monitor to view the updates that you have just made.
Image 12 - Updated Consolidation Monitor
In summary, you first create a method, and you assign rules to that method. Once the method is created and has the applicable rules, you then apply that new method to a new task. The new task this then applied to a task group.
To conclude, it is possible to create and benefit from custom tasks in support of various business processes, going beyond the standard functionality within SAP’s Best Practice Content.
Keen to know more?
Continue reading or contact us to get started:
- https://www.element61.be/en/resource/next-generation-intercompany-reconciliation-within-s4-hana-group-reporting
- https://www.element61.be/en/resource/introduction-sap-s4hana-group-reporting
- https://www.element61.be/en/resource/migration-bw4hana-opportunity-build-modern-datawarehouse
