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Asset Revaluation & Acquisition in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition via SAP Build Process Automation

Hardeep_Tulsi
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
2 weeks ago
1,383

This blog is intended to complement my previous blogs on automation and augment Finance Asset Accounting scenario with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition as described with available scope items for Asset Revaluation (J62) and SAP Help documentation

A Professional Services company wanted to streamline its operations, particularly in managing the intricate logistics of end-to-end fixed asset acquisition and posting asset revaluation processes. 

Company discovers asset revaluation with seamless automation. By effortlessly collecting data from Asset Accountants through various document formats, including PDFs, we streamline the entire process.

In comprehensive approach, company identify assets acquired both in the current fiscal year and previous fiscal years. Each revaluation includes meticulous details such as Ledger information, Fixed Asset Revaluation Acquisition Amounts, Current Year Amounts, and the increments by which the original acquisition costs (APC) are adjusted.  In addition, specific details around corresponding cumulative value for ordinary revaluation are included.

SAP Build Process Automation's low-code solutions, designed to empower users to create and manage processes and workflows effortlessly. With the no-code process builder, enhancing enterprise applications and business sites is as simple as drag-and-drop.

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Automation for asset accounting is driven by SAP Build Process Automation Actions (API), and rapidly developed UI-based automations for both SAP and third-party applications using the built-in automation recorder.

Decision management capabilities transform corporate policies and business rules into repeatable processes. The intuitive business rules editor lets users create decision tables, similar to spreadsheets, or text-based rules.

To streamline access and enhance operations, SAP Build Process Automation offer a unified launchpad and task center, providing a seamless user experience. This allows business users to easily access and manage notifications and tasks from various solutions, whether via web or mobile.

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In a custom scenario evaluated by the Professional Services company, SAP Build Process Automation demonstrates how it can simplify process and task automation for business users without any coding required. The platform's built-in AI capabilities facilitate intelligent document processing, effortlessly extracting data from both structured and unstructured documents, and seamlessly transferring it to your enterprise systems.

In specific customer business use case, SAP Build Process Automation enhance accuracy by using document templates instead of relying solely on pre-trained models. This is achieved by uploading the business document to the service and creating a document template artifact, which can extract data from various file types (e.g., PDFs) as required for the specific business case.

Company evaluates the SAP Build Process Automation to elevate the efficiency and precision of their Asset management business operations, providing a robust solution for intelligent document processing and seamless integration with enterprise systems.

Enterprise Automation with SAP serves as the foundational layer for integrating Generative AI into your business processes. By embedding AI models into orchestrated workflows and task automations, you can significantly enhance the level of automation and efficiency in your operations. You can learn more with roadmap items

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In future enhancements, customer plan to explore the benefits of AI-powered artifact creation and recommendations, areas not covered in the current scope.

  • Generative AI will streamline the creation of process and rules artifacts, leading to more efficient process analysis, automation, and integration capabilities.
  • AI-powered tools will generate integration flows that support seamless scaling and address deviations through advanced anomaly detection.

You can stay ahead of the curve by leveraging the latest AI advancements to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your business operations.

Furthermore, Event-Driven Architectures with SAP Build Process Automation empower business users to fully automate processes in response to business events. (see Business Accelerator Hub for more details).  You can utilize existing business event objects or design custom ones to monitor and subscribe to specific occurrences within your system of records, proactively triggering automations.

SAP Build Process Automation seamlessly integrates Document Information Extraction capabilities, effortlessly extracting relevant data from both structured and unstructured documents, such as scans.

Key data points, including asset acquisition date, useful life, business transaction type, and debit/credit indicators, are captured to facilitate year-end closing and the display of transactions in the asset history sheet.  It adeptly recognizes whether a revaluation is an increase or a reduction, and accurately extracts Revaluation Amounts for both APC (Acquisition Costs) and Ordinary Depreciation.

Leveraging AI-based document processing, SAP Build Process Automation enhances document extraction with features like automatic template detection and prebuilt activities for efficient data extraction. The system also can support data enrichment, like linking asset and company information from templates to match codes in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition, and can automatically align text.

This AI-driven approach to document information extraction and recommendations underscores customer’s commitment to improving their end-user experience and maintaining a competitive edge in the market.

Consider a typical business scenario where automating asset revaluation and verifying asset posted transactions in specific ledger journal entries is essential for an Asset Accountant.

Using SAP Build Process Automation's tasks, it becomes reality to leverage API “Fixed Asset – Post Asset Revaluation” (API_FIXEDASSETREVALUATION_G4BA) to streamline the revaluation process for multiple assets in a single request. This not only enhances data accuracy but also reduces costs compared to manual revaluation entries.

API “Fixed Asset – Post Asset Revaluation”

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The automation action task accesses the API, incorporating nearly all fields from the Fiori app “Fixed Asset – Post Asset Revaluation” (F7775), allowing Asset Accountants to re-valuate assets for selected ledgers and depreciation areas. Revaluations can be applied to acquisition and production costs (APCs) and ordinary depreciation amounts.

To re-valuate an asset, specify the revaluation amount by which the original APCs are to be increased and the corresponding cumulative value for ordinary depreciation. The system then posts the increased APC and ordinary depreciation for the selected ledgers and depreciation areas.

Acquisition and Production Costs encompass any asset acquired or purchased externally, including the invoice price and associated expenses such as customs, octroi, and freight. By factoring in these additional costs, you can determine the total acquisition cost essential for the capitalization of the asset.

Learn more about this efficient automation process by exploring the SAP Help API Documentation.

Next, the Asset Accountant wants to validate the revaluation postings with a list of journal entries and understand the depreciation applied to each asset using an explanation of the depreciation key configuration.

SAP Build Process Automation enables the automation of complex scenarios with ease using the recorder. By automatically capturing the "Manage Fixed Asset" application, it allows for the simultaneous design of automations, leveraging enhanced recording features. These features include recording applications combining screens on SAP GUI for Windows and UI automation technologies, enabling a seamless session that includes both Windows and Web (including UI5) interfaces.

Using a UI-based automation bot scheduled at the desired business frequency, the bot navigates to the “Manage Fixed Assets (New)” Fiori App for specific assets with revaluated postings. The bot executes UI-based navigation with a scheduled job to generate and export the list of journal entries for revaluation postings. This list includes details such as Asset Transaction Type, Ledger, Line Item, Posting Date, Valuation Date, and references, which are then emailed to business users including the Asset Accountant.

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Additionally, the bot emails the Asset Accountant and defined business users an AI-assisted explanation of the Depreciation Key Configuration. This provides a better understanding of how depreciation keys operate and the rationale behind the system’s complex depreciation calculations for the specific asset.

An AI-powered, user-friendly explanation of depreciation keys facilitates quicker asset onboarding, enhances business user productivity in tracking asset value throughout its lifecycle and revaluation postings, and streamlines periodic activities. This efficiency reduces the time required to understand depreciation and asset values, driving overall operational effectiveness.

AI-assisted Explanation of Depreciation Key Configuration  (J62 - Beta) 

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Handshake.pngThis AI powered feature is available only  BETA Customers & Partners and you can  find more information, on how  Get Involved Early and register @ Influence portal and experience the latest AI features in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and influence upcoming AI developments.

In this business use case, the company provides assets, such as laptops and ergonomic office furniture, to consultants and project resources. Asset Accountants face the ongoing challenge of entering newly acquired assets and their inventory numbers and IMEIs into the system before distribution and activation for depreciation.

To address this, the company evaluates and customizes the SAP Build Process Automation Bot template to suit the specific needs of Asset Accountants for mass asset acquisition and creation.

The Asset Accountant uploads a pre-filled template to trigger an approval workflow, sending a notification to the Asset Manager for review. Upon the Asset Manager's approval, the automation posts the acquisition of assets in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. The Asset Accountant then receives a detailed report.

Mass Fixed Asset Acquisition SAP Build Process Automation Template

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Additionally, SAP Build Process Automation template content streamlines the posting of asset acquisitions by fetching existing unposted fixed assets from the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system into a template file, which users update with the necessary asset information. The updated file is then used to extract asset data and utilize the Fixed Asset Acquisition APIs to post the assets. This automation not only saves time and reduces manual errors but also improves overall efficiency. For more details, refer to the documentation on the  SAP Business Accelerator Hub.

As the company continues to acquire new assets, it must create and maintain main and sub-asset numbers on an ongoing basis. To support this, SAP Build Process Automation includes API-driven action tasks to facilitate the creation of main asset number (Learn more about Fixed Asset - Create Main Asset (Asynchronous) with API Documentation, create an sub asset Fixed Asset - Create Sub Asset (Asynchronous) (Learn more with API Documentation)

In specific scenarios, Asset Managers need to update existing assets to reflect changes in master records and valuation information.

SAP Build Process Automation’s API-based Action Task automates these updates, including modifications to the company code, main asset number, asset sub-number, origin information, account assignment, ledger details, valuation data, and time-based valuation information. This streamlined process ensures accuracy and efficiency. For more details, refer to the Fixed Asset - Change (Asynchronous). API documentation .

For more information about the extensibility of the Manage Fixed Assets app, see App Extensibility: Manage Fixed Assets (Documentation)

Visit the SAP Business Accelerator Hub to learn more about 3900+ prebuilt integration scenarios, 1300+ business events, over 250+ connectors to SAP and non-SAP applications, 1200+ automation content, and 35+ integrations all in one place, the SAP Business Accelerator Hub.

Don’t hesitate to leave a comment and check out our community page to ask your questions and engage with the experts. Follow the PSCC_Enablement tag to stay up to date with our latest blog posts.

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Stay tuned for more updates in the next quarters!

Follow us via @ash_G and #S4HANA, or myself via@har1234 (Hardeep Tulsi)

Stay tuned for more updates in the next quarters!

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