Combining and integrating procurement and finance processes into a single system offers many benefits, such as centralizing data in one system, simplifying reporting, and optimizing processes across the board, among others. In an iQibt blog post titled “Procurement and Finance: The Power of Integration, ” Sarah Reitema clearly explains the functional benefits of integrating procurement and finance processes into a single system.
From a technical standpoint as well, combining finance and procurement processes into a single system offers numerous benefits. If, on top of that, a more innovative and user-friendly interface such as SAP Fiori is used, this will lead, among other things, to:
- More efficient processes;
- Improved data integrity;
- A more intuitive approach;
- Faster development time;
- More opportunities for innovation.
In this blog, I (Julian Kuipers) will take a closer look at the technical benefits of integrating finance and procurement.
Intuitive User Interface
In recent years, SAP has invested heavily in its software to continuously improve the user experience, resulting in time savings, more accurate data entry, and greater process efficiency.
Here’s an example: In the past, finance and procurement specialists often accessed S/4HANA via the SAP GUI or the SAP WebGUI. This way of working generally involves a steep learning curve. It takes a relatively significant amount of effort to become proficient with the traditional Graphical User Interface (GUI). A knowledge gap quickly emerges between specialists in these fields and other employees. For GUI specialists who work with the system on a daily basis, this approach poses no problem. For other employees who need to submit purchase requests or record goods receipts in these GUIs, however, it’s a different story. This group of employees performs relatively few actions via the GUIs, which often leads them to encounter problems. There is a high likelihood that this group of employees will start working outside the system. As a result, you lose, among other things, control over and logging of activities and the data used. In addition, work becomes less efficient because there is no support from the system.
To make working with SAP applications easier, SAP developed a new user interface called Fiori. Fiori uses apps that are intuitive and easy to use. A major advantage of this is that user acceptance of these apps is very high and data entry is consistent. Fiori uses an HTML5 framework, which means it can be interpreted by any browser and requires no additional software, unlike the SAP GUI or SAP NWBC.
SAP Fiori gives users access to one or more apps. To launch an app, the user clicks on the tile displaying the app’s name and description. Almost all employees will be able to use this without any explanation because it closely resembles the way they interact with any smartphone or tablet. Fiori uses role-based views, so employees only see the apps they have access to and use the entire app, not just a portion of it, as was often the case with traditional transactions. This makes usage simpler and eliminates the clutter of unnecessary data or features.
All data in one place
Technically speaking, the ideal situation is for all data used (both read and written) during a process to be available in one place. By handling both financial and procurement processes in a single system, you have one central location containing all the necessary data (a single source of truth). With a single call to a single back-end, the Fiori app retrieves both the financial and procurement data associated with a posting to a budget account or a purchase order. That’s what we call efficient.
The same applies to displaying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on a dashboard. Since we have the option to use SAP’s standard Fiori apps, we can also use the standard Analytical apps that display dashboards with the relevant KPIs related to procurement and finance; there is no need to create the relevant KPIs ourselves .
Because you have a single source of truth, you have access to accurate, real-time data, which also makes analysis easier. Data from all processes can be used directly in an analytical query from the same source.
Easy management
Using SAP Fiori offers yet another advantage. By using SAP Fiori, you remain within the SAP framework while providing users with a state-of-the-art user interface. No costly investments are required to use SAP Fiori. In fact, SAP Fiori has become the primary user interface for many actions in the S/4 HANA system. SAP Fiori applications can be enabled—or “activated”—at no cost. Activation involves just a few steps and, in some cases, a bit of configuration. Often, multiple apps can be activated at the same time.
In addition, using standard SAP Fiori apps reduces the administrative burden. These apps are maintained by SAP. Only updates and patches are required. This ensures that you have secure and reliable apps.
Out-of-the-box innovation
SAP has developed standard applications that utilize machine learning. One example is an application that establishes rules for maintaining data quality within the business partner database. These rules are then automatically evaluated when creating or modifying business partners (such as creditors, debtors, suppliers, or customers). This ensures data quality efficiently. By leveraging best practices and Fiori, you can use these innovative apps without it costing a lot of effort (i.e., time and money). The same applies to SAP’s embedded analytics apps. These allow you to utilize real-time data within a process, such as checking budget availability before placing an order. SAP Fiori offers standard apps, enabling you to implement innovative solutions quickly and with relatively little effort.
In short, from both a functional and technical perspective, combining finance and procurement processes into a single ERP system offers many advantages. When combined with the Fiori UX, the result is a fast, robust, and user-friendly ERP system.
