Innovative advantages of BCS/4HANA are:
BCS/4HANA uses InfoProviders optimized for HANA technology, which offer users more powerful processing of consolidated financial statements coupled with simplified reporting.
BCS/4HANA is currently already available in version 4, and a version jump is also expected for BCS with each upgrade of the underlying BW/4HANA platform.
very high flexibility of the data model, including full matrix consolidation (i.e. simultaneous consolidated financial statements in the legal and management dimensions)
i.e. simultaneous consolidated financial statements in the legal and management dimension
a high degree of automation for complex business scenarios (such as intercompany profit elimination and consolidation of investments)
Numerous users of SEM-BCS are currently faced with the more or less urgent question of which consolidation system and on which technical basis they should work in the future.
The reason for this is the end of the maintenance cycle for SAP BW NetWeaver.
(The official maintenance cycle for SAP BW versions 7.3 and 7.4 has already ended, while the maintenance cycle for version 7.5 runs until 2027 for standard maintenance and until 2030 for extended maintenance).
As the direct migration from NetWeaver to the new strategic solution S/4HANA for Group Reporting would be too integrated and complex for many customers, SAP has made BCS available in a new product license as an add-on for BW/4HANA.
BW/4HANA is known as the strategic successor product to SAP BW NetWeaver and offers state-of-the-art data warehouse technology.
Range of functions
Administration
- Upload and download of individual selections
- Method assignment dependent on master data of the consolidation units
- Version-dependent assignment of account assignment categories to items
- Adjustment of deferred taxes for tax rate changes
- Status changes of the monitor with numerous selection options
- Cleaning up incorrect monitor statuses
Consolidation
- Discontinuation of cross-period predecessor measures
- Simplified implementation of a rolling forecast via restatements
- Assignment of special hierarchy versions for each hierarchy-capable characteristic using restatements
- Option to suppress the immediate automatic inversion of documents by means of restatements
- Adjustment of first-time consolidation in the attributes of the consolidation unit hierarchy
Data transfer
- Direct reading of reporting data from BW info providers, without replication in the totals record aDSO
- Direct copying of documents, i.e. an improved copy function for journal entries
- Improved usability when entering manual documents
- Consistency checks when reversing and inverting documents (activated by new settings in the consolidation area)
Reporting
- Multiple selection of consolidation groups in the list of line items
- Data streaming in InfoProvider for reporting
- New possibilities for matrix consolidations (e.g. profit centers or segments) by using appropriate hierarchies
Future prospects
BCS/4HANA is SAP’s strategic solution for customers with predominantly heterogeneous system landscapes and who rely on BW/4HANA as a reporting platform.
BCS/4HANA is currently in maintenance mode and further development is based on the underlying SAP BW/4HANA technology platform.
BW/4HANA is constantly being expanded and will be maintained until at least 2040.
What do you need for the change?
- A BW/4HANA must be available
- You must license the use of BCS/4HANA, even if you were previously using SEM-BCS
Our other SAP solutions in Group management
SAP S/4HANA for Group Reporting
SAP S/4HANA Finance for Group Reporting is a powerful solution that helps companies to efficiently consolidate and analyze financial data at group level.
BCS/4HANA
BCS/HANA optimizes business consolidation with a robust platform for financial data collection, analysis and reporting.
SAP ICMR
SAP S/4HANA's integrated solution ICMR facilitates intra-group reconciliations, makes the process more transparent and automated, and accelerates the transition to consolidated financial statements.
SAP SEM BCS
SAP SEM-BCS optimizes consolidation processes, collects and analyzes financial data, meets compliance requirements and improves reporting.
SAP Data Collection App
The Group Reporting Data Collection App collects, analyzes and transfers data to the consolidation system, saves time and resources and improves reports.
SAP BPC
SAP BPC optimizes financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and consolidation.
It manages complex financial data, creates accurate reports and supports well-founded decisions.
SAP EC-CS
EC-CS is stable and proven for many SAP customers.
With the introduction of S/4HANA, customers are faced with the decision of how they want to proceed with EC-CS, especially in the brownfield approach and for non-S/4HANA customers.
SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP Analytics Cloud is a cloud-based platform for business analytics.
It enables data analysis, business intelligence, planning and forecasting to make data-driven decisions and improve business performance.
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