- SAP Managed Tags
Introduction
In SAP ECC, the solution designed for US federal agencies relies on the Public Sector Management (PSM) component and special ledger functionality. Extensions to PSM were introduced to support federal-specific processes and reporting requirements, such as the Global Treasury Accounting Symbols (GTAS). GTAS are identification codes that classify financial transactions for the US federal government, consisting of a three-digit agency identifier, a period of fund availability, and a main account specifying the fund’s purpose.
A key feature for public sector entities in SAP ECC is the use of special purpose ledgers. Ledger 95 is specifically reserved for handling US federal government transactions and maintains the split processor configuration. Together with Ledgers 96 and 97, it manages budgetary information and postings for federal accounting requirements. Because this functionality exists only through special ledgers in ECC, most federal agencies remained on classic G/L without the ability to migrate to parallel ledgers in New G/L.
In SAP S/4HANA, the universal journal replaces the special ledger functionality, with the additional information from Ledgers 95, 96, and 97 available as federal ledgers in ACDOCA. This shift creates a significant migration challenge: federal agencies running on ECC cannot pursue brownfield conversions as it cannot bring the information in special ledgers to the universal journal. Meanwhile, greenfield implementations require major investments of time and budget, and they do not support migration of detailed historical transactional data—often a regulatory requirement. Thus, neither brownfield nor greenfield options are viable.
Objective
The objective is to design a unique solution that meets the data migration needs of US federal agencies transitioning from ECC to S/4HANA. This solution must be able to extract splitting information from ECC special ledgers and apply it to the universal journal in S/4HANA, enabling migration of complete historical transactional data while ensuring business continuity and minimal change management.
Solution
SAP’s Data Management and Landscape Transformation (DMLT) organization has extended its Selective Data Transition (SDT) solution to specifically address the needs of US federal agencies. Often referred to as the “third option,” SDT provides an alternative to the traditional brownfield and greenfield approaches. It combines the strengths of both, offering flexibility in choosing the balance between reuse and redesign during S/4HANA transitions.
SDT leverages SAP DMLT’s proprietary software to design and execute tailor-made transitions. The key principle is separating application data from metadata (configuration, organizational structure, customizations, custom code, add-ons, etc.). The metadata is first used to create an S/4HANA shell, which can be deployed in a FedRAMP-authorized cloud environment.
During shell creation, federal-specific extensions such as the federal ledger, budgetary ledger, BCS, and budget period are configured. Once complete, the shell is ready to receive application data from the legacy ECC system.
For historical data migration, SDT tools have been extended to read selective history from ECC special ledgers and map it to the universal journal in S/4HANA. This allows complete transfer of historic transactional data, while ensuring alignment with redesigned federal-specific objects (e.g., mapping ECC tables FMUS* to S/4HANA tables PSGL*).
Note: Prior to data migration, the federal ledger and general ledger must be reconciled to ensure consistency.
Beyond federal extensions, SDT provides additional capabilities such as time-slicing historical data, harmonizing chart of accounts, and executing Customer-Vendor Integration (CVI) on the fly. Since the migration involves direct database loads, throughput is very high and optimized for large data volumes. SDT also includes advanced monitoring, error handling, and automated data validation, ensuring both efficiency and accuracy.
This approach is currently the only SAP-supported method for migrating historical transactional data from ECC to S/4HANA for US federal agencies.
Conclusion
SAP’s Selective Data Transition (SDT) offers a repeatable, automated, and secure solution for migrating historical transactional data from ECC to S/4HANA.
Key highlights of this solution include:
- A hybrid approach that blends brownfield (reuse) and greenfield (redesign) strategies.
- Extended SDT tools tailored for US federal agency requirements—the only SAP solution that enables historical transactional data migration.
- Compatibility with FedRAMP-authorized cloud environments.
- Mapping of special ledgers (95, 96, 97) to the universal journal in S/4HANA.
- Direct database load approach ensuring maximum business continuity and minimal change management.
- Ability to selectively migrate historical data and apply business-specific transformations on the fly.
- A structured deployment process involving at least three iterative rounds of migration and validation before production cutover.
This solution, available through SAP services, has already been successfully deployed and being deployed at multiple US federal agencies, enabling compliance, efficiency, and business continuity in their transition to S/4HANA.
SAP S/4HANA #USFed #DMLT #SDT
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