CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

Contents
1.
1.1

What is ERP? ...................................................................................................................................... 2

Top ERP Softwares based on their popularity globally. .......................................................... 2

2.

What is SAP? ...................................................................................................................................... 3

3.

Conceptual Areas of SAP ................................................................................................................. 5

4.

System Landscape............................................................................................................................. 5

5.

What is FICO....................................................................................................................................... 7

5.1

External Vs Internal ........................................................................................................................ 7

5.2

Standard Vs Flexibility ................................................................................................................... 7

6.

SAP Login............................................................................................................................................ 8

7.

SAP Easy Access Screen ............................................................................................................... 10

7.1

SAP Screen Layout ...................................................................................................................... 10

7.2

SAP User Menu ............................................................................................................................ 11

7.3

SAP Transaction Code ................................................................................................................ 12

7.4

Screens/Sessions......................................................................................................................... 13

7.6

Navigating with few important Transaction codes ................................................................... 14

7.7

Frequently used buttons .............................................................................................................. 15

8.

How to go to IMG Screen (Implementation Guide) ..................................................................... 16

9.

Basics of Financial Accounting ...................................................................................................... 19

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

1. What is ERP?
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Panning
ERP is a combination of business management practice and technology, where
information technology integrates with your companys core business processes to
enable the achievement of specific business objectives.
Core business processes in most of the businesses are:

1.1 Top ERP Softwares based on their popularity globally.

SAP
Oracle Applications
Infor Global Solutions
The Sage Group
Microsoft

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

2. What is SAP?
SAP Stands for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing
(German: Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung)
It started in 1972 by five former IBM employees by Wellenreuther, Hopp, Hector,
Plattner and Tschira in Mannheim, Germany, states that it is the world's third-largest
independent software vendor.
The goal of the company was to provide large enterprise customers with the ability to
interact with a corporate database in real-time.
Today, the company states that its goal is "to offer the industry's most comprehensive
portfolio of business performance and optimization solutions for companies of all sizes."
SAP's first software application was a Financial Accounting Software suite that ran on a
mainframe and was known for its stability. It eventually became known as the R/1
system. The "R" stands for real-time. During the 1980s, the company went
international, and the second iteration of the R system (R/2) accommodated different
languages and currencies. In the 1990s, the third iteration (R/3) moved from the
mainframe to a client/server three-tier architecture composed of a database, software
applications and a common Graphical User Interface (GUI). SAP used the name R/3
until the 5.0 release. At that time the name was changed from R/3 version to ERP
Central Component (ECC). The most current version as of November 2009 is ECC 6.0.
When the Internet became pervasive, SAP responded by providing companies with the
software they needed to sell goods and services online.
Various Modules available in SAP

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

SAPs Market Share in ERP Space

Advantages of using SAP Software

Efficiency and accuracy

Integration of various modules
Faster and Cheaper
Real time reporting
Multiple languages(40+)
Multiple currencies (200+)
Multiple countries (225+)
Reduced manpower

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

3. Conceptual Areas of SAP

4. System Landscape
System Landscape in SAP

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

Transport Request
A Transport Request will be saved foe every configuration and that
request will flow from DevelopmentQualityProduction and not
backwards.
Sandbox server: In the initial stages of any implementation project, You
are
given
a
sandbox
server
where
you
do
all
the
configuration/customization as per the companys business process.
Development Server: - Once the BBP gets signed off, the configuration is
done is development server and saved in workbench requests, to be
transported to Production server.
Quality Server is where the core team members and other members test
the customization.
Production Server: This is the last/ most refined client where the user will
work after project GO LIVE. Any changes/ new development is done is
development client and the request is transported to production.
IDES is purely for education purpose and is NOT Included in the
landscape.
To view Transport Requests and Release it to Quality, you can use
transaction code SE10

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

5. What is FICO
5.1 External Vs Internal

5.2 Standard Vs Flexibility

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

6. SAP Login
To logon to SAP, start the SAP Logon Pad by double clicking on the SAP Logon icon
appearing in the desktop.

The SAP Logon Pad will appear. Select the server and click on Log On. The SAP
Login screen will appear after this

In the SAP Login screen, type the User ID and Password. User ID is not case sensitive
but password is case sensitive. The password field is masked, i.e., * cannot be deleted.
After entering the User ID and Password, click on the icon highlighted or press enter.
It is to be remembered that if incorrect password is entered thrice, the User Account
gets locked and the System Administrator needs to be contacted for unlocking the
account.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

Client
As a rule, the client represents a company in an SAP system. This means that in an SAP
system with several clients, several companies can be represented at the same time.
The client has an equivalent as a key field in the tables of the database used by the SAP
system. After you log on to a client, you can access data for that client only. Clients
represent business-independent entities.
Users
User data is stored in the system according to client. For example, you can log on to
client 100 in your system, but not have a user for client 200. The data for a user within a
client is also known as the user master record..
Password
The first time you log on to the system, you will receive an initial password from your
system administrator. During your first logon, you must specify your own individual pass
word. After this, you use this password every time you log on.
On the logon screen, you can use the New Password button to change your password
up to once a day.
Language
When you log on, you can select one of the logon languages that the system supports.
Installed SAP systems can support many languages, which always include at least
English and one other selected language. The number of installed languages determine
which languages are supported by your system.
After successful login, the first screen to be displayed is called the Session Manager.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

7. SAP Easy Access Screen
7.1 SAP Screen Layout
After successful login, the first screen to be displayed is called the Session Manager or
SAP Easy Access Screen

Various Screen elements in SAP easy Access Screen are as below:

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

7.2 SAP User Menu

SAP Menu is used to group all Transaction Codes / Applications. The SAP Menu
can be expanded and collapse menus in the navigation area by choosing the down
arrows to the left of the menu items. To open an application in the navigation area,
Double-Click the node.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

7.3 SAP Transaction Code

A Transaction Code can be started in four different ways
o

Position the cursor on the Transaction in the SAP Menu and press Enter.

Double click on the required Transaction in the SAP Menu.

Position the cursor on the required Transaction in SAP Menu and select Edit
Execute (or press F2).

Expand the Command Field and enter the Transaction Code.

If the transaction codes/ Technical names are not displayed for the transactions
Select Extras from MenuSelect Settings Select Display Technical names Check box

If you know a Transaction Code, that can be entered directly in the Command Field as
below and Press ENTER

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

If the Transaction is preceded by a /N, then the transaction opens in the current
session.

If the Transaction is preceded by a /O, then a new session is opened for the
transaction. This means that multiple sessions are used.

7.4 Screens/Sessions
SAP allows users to work on maximum up to 6 screens simultaneously.
To open a new screen select
and to close select
Alternatively, you use below options.

7.5 SAP User Settings

Users can maintain their own settings by choosing System User Profile Own Data.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

Select

and maintain defaults for Decimals, Date formats and printer.

Save

7.6 Navigating with few important Transaction codes

/n to end the current transaction
/nF-02 to start transaction F-02 from another transaction. Without the /n
prefix, you can start transaction F-02 only from the SAP Easy Access.
/O to display a list of your own sessions.
/oF-02 to start transaction F-02 from another transaction in a new session.
/nend to log off a session with a confirmation prompt.
/nex to end a logon session without a confirmation prompt.
/i to delete the current session.
Navigating with Help Functions
F1 Key With F1 key you can get the documentation help about the particular
field and Technical parameter of that field.
F4 Key With F4 Key you can input the possible input values for the particular
field.
SAP Online Library You can access the SAP Library from the Menu path
Help>SAP Library where you can access the whole documentation of SAP .

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

7.7 Frequently used buttons

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

8. How to go to IMG Screen (Implementation Guide)

SAP Easy Access Screen Vs IMG Screen

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

Use below menu path or
Alternately use transaction code SPRO (SAP Project Reference Object)

Double click on SPRO in the above screen

Click on

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

IMG /SPRO Screen

To view transaction codes/Technical name in IMG screen, use below option

Additional information Additional informationDisplay Key IMG Activity

Normally, last 4 letters would be the transaction code; this may not work for all activity.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

9. Basics of Financial Accounting
Accounting Fundamentals:
Accountancy is the art of communicating financial information about a business entity to users
such as shareholders and managers. The communication is generally in the form of Financial
Statements that show in money terms. Accounting is defined by The American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants(AICPA) as The art of recording , classifying and summarizing in a
significant manner and in terms of money , transactions and events which are , in part at least,
of financial character, and interpreting the result thereof
Accounts are categorized in to
1. Nominal account,
2. Real account and
3. Personal account.
1. Nominal a/c
- Accounts of expense or losses and incomes and gains.
Rule: Debit expense or losses, Ex: Expenses, Purchase, Salary, Wages, Interest Paid etc
Credit incomes and gains Ex. Income, Sales, Commission Received, Interest Received etc

2. Real a/c
Rule: Debit what comes in, Those related tangible aspects, ex: assets, cash, etc..
Credit what goes out.
3. Personal a/c
Accounts of persons and organizations. Ex: Customers, Vendors etc.
Rule: Debit the receiver
Credit the giver
Case Study:
Commence Business with Capital: The owner of the business starts his business by investing
$10000. So Bank a/c of Business receives the owners money ( Known as Capital a/c) . Here
Bank a/c and Capital a/c are Personal accounts. Accounting entry will be
Debit Bank a/c
Credit Capital a/c

Dr. [Debit the Receiver]

[Credit the Giver]

[Posting Key 40]

[Posting Key 50]

Both these accounts are G/L accounts. So posting key 40 for Debit G/L and Posting Key 50
for Credit GL account

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAP

What is Profit and Loss Account?
This Profit & Loss A/c reveals Net Profit or Net loss at a given time of accounting year. All
expenses and losses appear on debit side of the P&L account. Sales, other incomes and gains
appear on credit side of the P&L account.
What is Balance Sheet?
The Word Balance Sheet is defined as a Statement which sets out the Assets and Liabilities of
a business firm and which serves to ascertain the financial position of the same on any
particular date.
On the left hand side of this statement, the liabilities and capital are shown. On the right hand
side, all the assets are shown. Therefore the two sides of the Balance sheet must always be
equal. Capital arrives Assets exceeds the liabilities.
Equation of Balance Sheet:
Capital = Assets Liabilities
Liabilities = Assets Capital
Assets = Liabilities + Capital.
Objectives of Balance Sheet:
1. It shows accurate financial position of a company.
2. It is a gist of various transactions at a given period.
3. It clearly indicates, whether the company has sufficient assents to repay its liabilities.
4. It shows the profit or Loss arrived through Profit & Loss A/c.
The difference between Profit and loss account and Balance sheet are;
Balance sheet discloses the financial position of the business on a particular date,
whereas, profit and loss account discloses profits earned or losses suffered during an
accounting period.
Profit and loss account is prepared for the accounting period ending, whereas, Balance
sheet is prepared as at the last day of accounting period.
Accounts which are transferred to Balance sheet do not lose their identity and become
the opening balances for next period, whereas, those accounts which are transferred to
the profit loss account are closed and cease to exist.

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