SAP S/4 Finance blog series-3-SAP Integrated Business planning-Overview & Setup

[Former Member]

Hi Guys,

After my blog on the S/4 reporting options,( SAP S/4 Finance blog series-2-Reporting options... | SCN ), i take this opportunity to write about SAP IBPF which is one of the pillar of SAP Simple Finance.

There are some excellent blog on IBP given by Arnaud Sergent which you guys should check

Overview , So what is IBP / IBPF - :???:

IBP is the planning tool offered by SAP in Simple Finance and it replaces all the GL based planning. It is also a tool which enables client to use the same planning setup for both BPC and ECC ( read Analysis for Office) based planning. With Sfin 2.0 / 1503 on premise, there are a good number fiori tools which can be used for reporting the plan vs actual data.

It uses AO for the planning layout:- Shown below is cost center planning

Shown below are the various Fiori apps available for reporting of Plan vs Actual for various dimensions

OKK...So how do I use this :lol: :lol:

During the initial setup of this, one problem was lack of documents online on how to use this tool. I am talking in term of an regular FICO consultant .Since Integrated Planning was available previously though mainly from BW, there are few consultants with this skills.

However fret not :smile: :smile: , I will try to outline most of the steps and details to set IBP

1) Setup BW client

In the sfin system you need to create a BW client to which the IBP would work. You can use this function module and set the client

2) Once this is done, you need to define the logical system and activation of the BI content. The BI content delivered by SAP provides a great deal of standard content for planning and it is almost enough to meet about 80 % of your planning requirement of client.

Follow the 4 nodes shown below

Shown below is the activation of the BI content. Before you perform this please read the help provided on the node to set the parameters correctly

4) Once this is done, all the excel layout for planning are available, but they need to be activated for use.

To do this, use transaction RSA1 and activate the excel layout. This will enable the AO layout to be available for planning

5) Once the above step is done, we still need to change the query for the planning. This is a minor change and will enable the data comes out correctly

Open the planning query in the "Query Designer" tool and change the default parameters to get data from Master data instead of the posted data.

All the planning query are set with the default parameter as "posted data", which will not allow the initial launch of the planning views

View all the list of query available for planning:-

Change the parameters for the default values, as shown in diagram for the GL Account for the Cost Center planning on period

This should enable IBP for your usage now :smile: :smile: :cool: :cool:

Other good resource

There is a central note-0002081400 provided by SAP which has all the information on setup of IBP.

Other excellent document for the IBP and how to change the default content are:-

https://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-59001  Enhancing an Input-Ready Query with a Comments Column https://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-59000  Provisional Master Data

https://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-63225  Process Orchestration with BPF

https://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-65723   Plan Data Retraction from Standalone BPC to IBPF https://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-54501  Embedded BW

I hope this helps and you guys will be able to explore this good solution of SAP.

Regards

Rishab

Other blogs in the series:-

SAP Appendix ledger

SAP Simple Finance blog series-1-Parallel Accounting with multiple Ledger & Extension (Appendix )Led...

Reporting options with S/4 HANA

SAP S/4 Finance blog series-2-Reporting options with COPA as use case

CO-FI initial setup

SAP S/4 Finance blog series-4-Changes in Controlling & how to use them

SAP S/4 1511 changes in details

S/4 Finance- Blog series-6- 1511 changes in details

S/4 Finance- Blog series-5- 1511 and its details

[Former Member]

Hi Rishab,

Thanks for sharing this information.

It is still confusing how above configuration steps provided for IBP linked to Fiori tool.

Can you provide more insight on the same?

It is also not clear the purpose of above customization steps.

Thanks & Regards,

Yogesh

[Former Member]

Hey Yogesh,

Thanks for feedback,

The configuration for the Fiori apps of IBP follows both fiori and IBP side.

I will list the steps below:-

1) All the Fiori app will use some backend query to get the data. So the all the Bex query need to be checked and working. So you need to refer the above the step and activate the Bex query. This will ensure the data availability to the Apps

2) Now to get the app working, you need help from Basis to get the Fiori tile available.

After this you need to get the web dynpro service active for all the apps.

This should get the tile working for you

Hope this helps.

Regards

Rishab

[Former Member]

Hi Rishab

Thanks its Great so can BW also help me setup some more Analytics Reports

Like Dashboards something which was not there in ECC

[Former Member]

Hi Aniket,

Thanks for your response

Yes there is a lot of standard content provided by SAP which need to be activated annd used.

Much of this will be the standard content available with BW standalone.

However I have not been involved in the Reporting side for BW so far with Simple Finance.

Regards

[Former Member]

Another Good one !

[steffen_vollmert]

Hello Rishab,  additional information:
a) IBP for Sales and Operations Planning (IBP SNOP) covers the logistics part of the planning cycle. IBP for Finance (IBPF) covers the financial part of the planning cycle.
b) IBF's cannot replace all existic planning tools from a functional point of view. Its strenght is (among others) that it combines CO-Planning (Cost Center Planning/Project Planning/..) with FI Planning (BS / P&L) so that you can see the result of the plans inmediately on company or group level.

Regards, Steffen

[Former Member]

Thanks Steffen for you comment

[ravindbs]

Hi Rishab,

Thanks for the useful information.

I have a question.

We are facing HANA views errors while activating BI bundle content for planning in Sfin system.

Do we need to install HANA live before activation of BI content in Sfin system. Please let me know.

Thanks and Regards

Ravi Kumar

[steffen_vollmert]

Hi,

note 1972819 - Setup Integrated Business Planning for Finance describes the way to correctly activate the embedded BPC/BI and the corresponding reports etc.

Regards, Steffen

[Former Member]

Great blog.

I have assigned BW client via functional module and activating the Queries . But the jobs are facing Timeout error after running for 4 hours.

did i miss something?

[Former Member]

Hi Micheal,

Please read the help document on the customizing node.

It mentions the parameter to be set before activation.

Hopefully it should help resolve your issue.

There is a log which is saved for the activation, see what is really getting struck

regards

Rishab

[Former Member]

Hi Rishab , i already read the notes and configured accordingly as in the screenshot.

[Former Member]

Hey Michael,

It seems like all the steps are followed and activation parameters are set correctly.

Not sure if there is a overlap in objects / lock as shown in message- a previous activation is still running.

Please raise a message with SAP, it may be an issue with locks. Hope that should help.

Regards

Rishab

[Former Member]

Hi,

Its really  a helpful document.

But I have many questions related to IBP.

As IBP being brought as another alternative for BPC Planning.

1) Do I need to create Environment/Model/Dimensions like in BPC?

2) In BPC we have a web link but here I can't see any web link.

3) In my case Planned Actuals will be loaded externally through a File so how should I implement this as there is no web link and EPM Spreadsheet

My questions are in perspective with BPC vs IBP for planning.

Please help me on my queries

Regards,

Ravi

[Former Member]

Hey Ravi,

Thanks for your valuable feedback.

About your questions:-

1) In IBP you dont have environment  to be setup. SAP gives a lot of default data and models for planning and you can copy those for use.

2) There is no web version for IBP, though you can have both BPC and IBP together and in that case you will have the web link

3) The actuals for IBP are stored in a cube, so you need to load it manually.

Personal opinion,  if you dont have SAP for actuals then using IBP does not make a lot of sense.

Hope this helps,

Regards

Rishab

[Former Member]

Hi Rishab

Thanks for the information.  I have a question relating to locking the plan data. 

In SAP FICO, we have transaction OKP1 to lock the planning data for a given version and year once the planning is completed so users can no longer modify the information.  Do we have similar functionality to lock a region of data in IBPF given now we are using CATEGORY and not version?  

Thanks and Kind Regards

Julie

[Former Member]

Hello Julie,

The OKP1 transaction for locking can be made available with a note, but it will still function as before and will not be involved with data set by IBPF solution.

About locking & unlocking period, this is available directly in BPC with IBPF solution, scenario.

For normal S/4 -IBP scenario, I think you can work with authorizations to ensure this lock.

I will update you if I find more on this subject.

Regards

Rishab

[Former Member]

Hi Rishab,

Do you know the impact on the cost center planning from 'rate' perspective - KP06 and KP26 ? If I do the cost center planning using IBP , do I need to again do the planning for rate calculation separately ?

Thanks.

[Former Member]

thanks for the information Rishab,
With the procedure that you have mentioned, also activate the InfoCubes, infobojetos, and other items needed for planning? it is necessary to activate or differently?

It is the first project we do in IBP with BW and we have very clear procedures for working with IBP.

Thank you,

[Former Member]

Hello Emilio,

How are you doing.

I think the infocube & info objects are activated with the activation of BI content.

This will help you get the objects.

Regards

Rishab

[Former Member]

Hi Rishab,

thanks for your reply, I understand that the steps you are said to enable planning templates, right ?. as a preliminary step objects such as InfoCubes, infobojetos must be activated, among other objects for planning and all this is activated BI Content. I could provide a guide or link where you can find more information to activate these objects from BI Content ?

thank you very much

[Mohamme_Habib]

HI Rishab,

Very nice presentation.

Is there any plan from SAP to introduce Consolidation functionality on this product as what we are having in Standard BPC and recently Embedded version of BPC also equipped with Consolidation feature.

And this product also has web reporting or AO is the only interface available for this product ?

Please update if you have any info.

Thanks & Kr,

Mohammed

[Former Member]

Hello Mohammed,

How are you doing,

About your questions:-

1) Consolidation- We might have it in IBP but it is not mentioned as of now. BPC will be the solution for consolidation

2) Reporting in IBP- You have Fiori apps & AO, but since it is a BW cube you can also use BO tools to access this.

Hope this helps,

Regards

Rishab

[Mohamme_Habib]

Hi Rishab,

I am doing good and thanks for asking and also thank you for your reply.

With IBP we can share the ERP Master Data and realtime access to transaction data in IBP.

Besides, this what are the Pros and Cons to be considered and compare with Traditional BPC system, suppose we have to load data from external system outside of ERP to perform planning functions and Reporting.

Because, we are in the above situation and considering which product to select or have both of them.

Please share your inputs.

Thanks & Kr,

Mohammed

[Former Member]

Hi Rishab

Thanks for your response.  Is it correct to say that the work status setup in BPC will not lock data using the standard workbook delivered as part of IBPF?  The work status will only work if we setup new BPC model with the IBPF real-time INFOCUBE and create the input form.

Thanks and Kind Regards

Julie