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Business Planning with SAP BPC

The combined solution for optimized financial planning and consolidation

A company’s long-term success no longer depends solely on the demand for products and services. It is also a result of a good organization, in which planning and consolidation are essential components in order to make informed decisions within the company. A powerful planning & consolidation solution such as SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (SAP BPC) not only enables you to better understand the current state of affairs; it also provides you with an ideal basis for all aspects of business planning thanks to integrated financial intelligence and forecasting models.

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Table of contents

Process optimization

How can business planning be optimized?

In order to remain competitive, companies must leave behind traditional long planning processes. The aim is to optimize and significantly accelerate all planning processes. Everyone knows that “time = money.” It must be possible to adapt plans quickly and accurately to changes. Otherwise, planning is already outdated when it is created and therefore worthless. But how can process costs be reduced? The answer is simple: with automation and optimization.

SAP BPC provides a comprehensive toolbox for modeling, administering, and controlling a planning environment. The solution is intuitive to operate, and it makes administration and data exchange of the planning models easier, provides these, and creates reports.

Monotonous routine activities represent potential sources of error, they cost unnecessary time, and ensure frustration among planners. In order to counter this and make the planning process more comfortable, preparatory or regularly recurring activities for planning rounds can be automated and executed at defined times. Here’s an example: Copy the actual data of the previous year and adjust it with the multiplier +5%. Whole workflows are thus easier to control. They can be thought out and fixed and tasks can be assigned directly. Plan data changes and administrative activities can be traced at any time using system reports or monitors.

In this illustration you can see a table for process optimisation with SAP BPC

Scenario analysis/forecasts

How do you keep an eye on the company’s future at all times?

Integration

How can all sub-plans be fully integrated into company planning, taking into account dependencies?

Company planning consists of many sub-plans such as cost center, project, and personnel planning. The sub-plans have to be coordinated organizationally and technically, for that’s the only way to create a harmonious overall plan. The first challenge is to identify dependencies and integrate all partial planning processes. This is the prerequisite for deriving the actions required to achieve the planning objectives.

SAP BPC supports this project not only from a technical perspective, by enabling the exchange of master and transaction data between individual BPC and non-BPC planning models. It also helps to structure time sequences and technical dependencies, for example as top-down, bottom-up, and counter-current planning.

The importance of integration is illustrated with this greatly simplified example:

In this illustration you can see an integration of sales planning and sales increase with SAP BPC

Single Point Of Truth

What is the benefit of a single-point-of-truth approach?

SAP BPC is part of the SAP Business Warehouse, and this is exactly what enables a single-point-of-truth (SPOT) approach. The characteristics of the SPOT approach can be summarized in the statement: “All the data you need in the right place and in the expected quality at the right time.” This means that the data needed for both reporting and planning can be collected, prepared and made available in the business warehouse. In addition to SAP sources such as SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC, non-SAP sources can also be connected. This means that additional loading processes for reporting and comparison of plan and actual figures are superfluous.

In this illustration you can see a Single Point of Truth graphic

Our SAP BPC offerings

  1. Initial consultation

    Get to know our valantic SAP BPC specialist Sandra Sertl in a free, non-binding consultation.

  2. Free workshop

    In a joint workshop we will identify individual optimization potential for your planning process and give you a first impression of the SAP BPC look and feel based on realistic data.

  3. Successful collaboration

    With SAP BPC and valantic, your business planning and consolidation will take you to the next level!

Get in touch now!

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FAQ zu SAP BPC

Which SAP BPC versions are available?

A distinction is made between the following SAP BPC versions (embedded and/or standard modeling), based on the underlying BW:

  1. SAP BPC 10.0/10.1: This version requires a BW on any DB or a BW on Hana. It has also been optimized for modeling hybrid approaches with the SAP Analytics Cloud.
  2. SAP BPC 11.0/11.1: This version requires a BW/4HANA and represents SAP’s on-premise planning solution. The web client has been completely redesigned in terms of appearance compared to version 10.0/10.1 and now uses modern UI5 components. It also enables the use of hybrid scenarios with the SAP Analytics Cloud.
  3. SAP BPC optimized version for S/4HANA: An embedded BW (part of S/4HANA) is required for this version. An additional standard architecture (models + workbooks) is also provided when this version is deployed. However, since this version is not an SAP strategic planning tool, it is no longer recommended as a planning solution for S/4HANA new implementation if it is possible to switch to a BW or an SAP Analytics Cloud.
What can I plan with SAP BPC?

With SAP BPC, all company planning including financial planning can be realized and thus optimized. This includes, for example, cost center planning, profit & loss, as well as balance sheet planning, project planning, personnel planning, and/or marketing planning. In addition to providing the planning architecture, interoperability between the individual planning models is also ensured.

What is the difference between embedded and standard?

SAP BPC enables two modeling approaches that can be used separately or jointly:

  1. Embedded : In this modeling approach, as the name suggests, the models are completely embedded in the BW. This means that the same models or data pots can be used for processing the data in planning, consolidation and reporting, without having to duplicate them. In this case, the modeling is done directly in BW Modeler or in BW Workbench and requires basic knowledge of BW architecture.
  2. Standard: A so-called separate namespace is used for the standard environments. This is a sealed-off area of the BW, where the architecture is located. The actual modeling takes place in the WebClient and can be done independently by the specialist department without any major SAP BW knowledge.
Can I migrate my old SAP BPC 10.0/10.1 planning?

For both modeling approaches, both embedded and standard, there are direct migration paths to SAP BPC version 11.0/11.1.

The transition to the SAP Analytics Cloud can be done gradually via hybrid modeling approaches. However, it should be noted that there is no direct migration path, and a remodel must be done in the SAP Analytics Cloud.

Can I continue to use Excel to enter data in SAP BPC?

SAP Business Planning and Consolidation allows you to enter plan data via Excel. For this purpose, the so-called Analysis for Office is installed; it is an Excel COM add-in. With the help of this add-in, users can connect directly to the SAP planning tool. After entering plan data, the data is transferred directly to the underlying BW by clicking the “Save” button and can be used there for reports, for example.

It is also possible to use web input screens.

Where is the plan data from SAP BPC stored?

After data entry and transfer via the “Save” button, the plan data is saved directly in a BPC model, which is either an SAP BW InfoCube or an SAP BW Advanced Data Store object.

What are the technical requirements for using SAP Business Planning and Consolidation?

This SAP solution requires the presence of a BW. It depends on the version of the BW that serves as the platform:

  • BPC 11.0/11.1 = BW/4HANA
  • BPC 10.0/10.1 = BW on any DB / BW on HANA
  • BPC version for S/4HANA = S/4HANA
Can the specialist department independently administer SAP BPC planning?

A specialist department can develop planning models independently in a standard environment without having to have knowledge of modeling in BW. Of course, a certain degree of model understanding is beneficial.

Where do I maintain my master data in SAP BPC?

SAP Business Planning and Consolidation enables the automated transfer of master data from the ERP or S/4HANA in both the embedded and standard environment. Furthermore, the master data can be expanded manually and modified via web screens.

Will SAP BPC be developed further?

SAP BPC 11.1 is the strategic on-premise planning tool provided by SAP. From a technical point of view, quantum leaps are no longer to be expected, as this is an established solution, but optimizations and corrections will still be provided.

Can I use SAP Business Planning and Consolidation to schedule any time slice?

With this SAP solution, modeling of the planning environment is flexible. The time slices for planning can therefore also be selected as required. It is possible to record with offset financial years, quarters, months and – if desired – plan data even on a day-by-day basis.

Is the number of dimensions limited in SAP BPC?

If the SAP planning tool is operated via BW/4HANA or BW on HANA as a platform, there are no restrictions on the number of dimensions.

Can I comment with SAP BPC?

A comment function is included in both the embedded and standard environments. Comments can even be captured at different levels (cells, columns, rows).

Can I use SAP BPC to perform a currency conversion?

Both planning environments (embedded and standard) allow currency conversion of the planned and actual data.

Can I write back my plan data to ERP/S4?

Yes, the so-called retraction can be implemented via an additional development in SAP BPC (or in the corresponding BW). This development is supported by the building blocks provided.

Can more than one hierarchy / structure be used?

Yes, multiple hierarchies and structures can be used. These can either be automatically transferred from the ERP or S/4HANA or created manually in SAP BPC.

Your Contact

Sandra Sertl, Senior Consultant SAP Analytics

Sandra Sertl

Lead Consultant SAP BPC