Architecture overview

SAP Architecture Module Overview

SAP was founded in 1972 in Walldorf, Germany. It stands for Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing. Over the years, it has grown and evolved to become the world premier provider of client/server business solutions for which it is so well known today. The SAP R/3 enterprise application suite for open client/server systems has established a new standards for providing business information management solutions. The main advantage of using SAP as your company ERP system is that SAP have a very high level of integration among its individual applications which guarantee consistency of data throughout the system and the company itself.

In a standard SAP project system , it is divided into three environments, Development, Quality Assurance and Production . The development system is where most of the implementation work takes place. The quality assurance system is where all the final testing is conducted before moving the transports to the production environment. The production system is where all the daily business activities occur. It is also the client that all the end users use to perform their daily job functions. To all company, the production system should only contains transport that have passed all the tests.

SAP is a table drive customization software . It allows businesses to make rapid changes in their business requirements with a common set of programs. User-exits are provided for business to add in additional source code. Tools such as screen variants are provided to let you set fields attributes whether to hide, display and make them mandatory fields. This is what makes ERP system and SAP in particular so flexible . The table driven customization are driving the program functionality instead of those old fashioned hard-coded programs. Therefore, new and changed business requirements can be quickly implemented and tested in the system.

SAP R/3 is a client server model, using 3-tiered architecture. The three layers are 1) Presentation Layer 2) Application Layer 3) Database layer 1) Presentation Layer Presentation Layer provides means of: Input, allowing the users to manipulate the system Output, allowing the system to produce the results of user’s manipulation SAP is having Graphical User interface (SAP GUI). The SAP GUI is installed on Individual machines which acts as presentation layer. 2) Application Layer In this layer business logic is executed. The application layer can be installed on one machine, or it can be distributed among more than one system. 3) Database Layer The database layer holds the data. SAP supports any relational database. SAP does not provides any database. But it supports any RDBMS. The database layer must be installed on one machine or system. Major databases which are being used in SAP implementations are Oracle, DB2.

SAP R/3 is written using its own programming language ABAP. Kernel is written using C language. What is ABAP? ABAP stands for Advanced Business Application Programming. ABAP is a fourth generation language. (4GL). Types of Projects: We can divide the SAP projects into three categories. They are 1) SAP Implementation Projects 2) SAP Support Projects 3) SAP Migration Projects

1) SAP Implementation Projects In this type of projects, Customers are moving towards SAP software. Previously they might be using some other software. 2) SAP Support Projects Once SAP project is implemented, it should be supported by the consultants in day-to-day business. In Support projects, the support team helps the customer in day-to-day business. 3) SAP Migration Projects As we see, SAP is continuously upgrading the R/3 software. Customers are moving from the older versions to new versions. When the customer decides to new version, it is called SAP Migration Projects. Now-a-days many customers are migrating from older versions like 4.5 or 4.6b, 4.6c to ECC 5.0 or ECC 6.0 versions.

Personnel Administration (PA) HR - Personnel Administration (PA) PA involves administrating employee data, commonly referred to Master Data. Master Data contains all employee data used in HR processing. Master Data includes Personal (Eg. address), Organizational (Position description), Benefits (Insurance, Pension), Time & Payroll. More on Master Data... Master Data is stored in Infotypes. Infotypes are tables (for user Data entry screen) that contain logically related employee data. Data can be stored for specific periods, which includes current and historical. More on Infotypes..

Components of PA: Recruitment Organizational Structure Compensation Management Personnel Development Company Structures in HR: Enterprise Structure - Assigning employee to a geographical location (eg. San Francisco). Personnel Structure - is used for functional grouping of employees (eg. salaried, hourly).

Components of PA: Personnel Area : represents a division of a company code into subunits. It is an organizational entity representing an area within an organization defined by specific aspects of personnel administration, time management and payroll. Personnel areas are subdivided into personnel subareas. Personnel area is specific to HR and is a four character alpanumeric identification. Eg. Personnel area 1000 is for employees in Texas, 2000 is for Louisiana.

Personnel Subarea : is a further subdivision of Personnel area. It may represent geographical locations. Functions include: 1. Set groupings for Time Management, so that work schedules, substitution and absence and leave types can be setup for individual personnel subareas. 2. Generate default pay scale type and area for an employee's basic pay. 3. Define public holiday calendar. Employee Groups : divides or groups employees into various categories. Eg. Active employees, Retired employees, Contractors. Employee groups are used to generate default values for payroll accounting area and basic pay.

Employee Subgroups : are further differentiated within the employee group. Eg. Salaried employees, Hourly employees, Unionized employees, Executives. The employee subgroup grouping for the payroll rule allows you to define different payroll procedures for different employee subgroups. For eg. you can specify whether an employee's pay should be determined on hourly or monthly basis. The employee subgroup grouping for the work schedule defines the validity of work schedule, and the attendance or absence quota type determines the validity of time quotas.

HR - Time Management SAP HR Time Management functionality includes time collection, evaluation of time and absence data for payroll, leave management and reporting. It also automatically calculates leave accruals, overtime, shift premiums and bonuses.

HR - Time Management (for Payroll processing) SAP HR Time Management functionality includes time collection, evaluation of time and absence data for payroll, leave management and reporting. It also automatically calculates leave accruals, overtime, shift premiums and bonuses. Time data is used to process Payroll, internal & external reporting. Payroll needs Time data to process: Hours worked Overtime Shift times Vacation Absence to be paid

Time is also used for Internal reporting - by management to evaluate and project costs. External reporting - tracking of time data for Labor Union requirement etc. For eg. Labor union requires statistical data concerning the amount of overtime spent on certain shifts etc. Time data is stored in various infotypes. This data is evaluated according to various rules during time evalution and the processed data is transferred to payroll.

Time data is generally collected by a third party recording terminal. Time data is recorded in various ways. eg. Punch cards, Manual time sheets that stores hours worked for each day along with any absenses. All the absence's and attendance in a day are uploaded into SAP and analysed using the pre-defined times in the employees Work Schedule rule. After processing the time events, the system generates wage types and time types based on pre-defined rules within the time evaluation program. These wage types and time types are then used for Interfacing to payroll, reporting etc.

Time Evaluation process Check for Completed and Approved Time Sheets (CAPS): The Time Evaluation process begins after all employees have entered time and supervisor has approved it. This can be done using transaction CAPS. Important Note: When you use the transaction CAPS to approve time, you will be locking the employee records from any changes (i.e. no one else can make changes, enter time, approve time, etc., while you are in this transaction). Therefore, to reduce the number of locked records and improve system performance, perform this step by cost center instead of for the entire personnel area. Once finished, you may then run the transaction for the entire personnel area to validate completeness. Use Menu Path: Time Management> Time Processing> CAPS-Check for Completed/ Approved Time Sheets.

Transfer Time (CATA): The Transfer Time step take time data that has been entered on the time sheet and moves it to the HR and Controlling databases for further processing (i.e. payroll cannot be processed unless this step is performed correctly). The system transfers time data automatically to HR when time has been approved by the either supervisor or CSR. A batch program that runs nightly will transfer time data to Controlling for further processing. Although this is an automatic process, there are situations where the initial transfer can fail and the time will need to be transferred manually (for example, if the employee record was locked by another user). Therefore, as a matter of precaution, always execute this step before you perform the “Review Time Data” step. Use Menu Path: Time Management> Time Processing> CATA Transfer Time

Review Time Data: Once the time sheets have been entered, approved and transferred to the HR database, the final step is the validate that the time data has been correctly entered. Check for overtime, public holidays etc. If any check fails, you will have to correct and re-approve (via CAPS) the employee’s time sheet, transfer the time (CATA) and then review the entries again. Use Menu Path: Time Management> Time Processing> S_AHR_61018659 – Review Time Data. Run TIME Evaluation (RPTIME00) for pay period (PT60)

HR - Payroll Payroll is used to calculate the remuneration for work done for each employee. SAP Payroll delivers powerful and efficient gross-to-net, net-to-gross, regular and off-cycle payroll processing. SAP's complex Payroll process handles everything including vacation policies, compensation programs, work schedules, Holidays, overtime pay etc.

Payroll Overview Payroll is used to calculate the remuneration for work done for each employee. SAP Payroll delivers powerful and efficient gross-to-net, net-to-gross, regular and off-cycle payroll processing. SAP's complex Payroll process handles everything including vacation policies, compensation programs, work schedules, Holidays, overtime pay etc. SAP's ESS (Employee Self Service) function allows employees to view, create and maintain data anytime, anywhere, via Web-based technology and interactive voice response functionality. ESS is an effective means for providing real-time access and data maintenance capabilities to the source or owner of the data. It has the ability to offload much of the data entry and related customer service activities that may be typically performed in an organization's human resources, payroll, benefits and purchasing departments.

Payroll accounting calculates the payment of work done by an employee. Payroll function does the following: Compute employees gross salary Make necessary deductions Calculate Net salary Generate Checks or direct deposits. Payroll components include: Payroll area - groups employees based on the frequency of their paydates. eg. Z1 for salaried staff paid monthly. Control Record - It determines the current payroll period for a payroll area. Period Modifier - Period in which payroll accounting is carried out. eg. 10 - for monthly pay periods.

Date Modifier - Distinguishes periods with same frequency but different date. Eg. 10 - for monthly pay period but with the pay date being 5th of every month. Payroll Calendar - Generating calendars for cumulating wage types to get monthly, quaterly or yearly sum totals. Payscale type - used for segregation of employees payscales based on the type of union contracts in a company. Eg. 10 - non union workers 20 - collective agreement for secretaries contract. Payscale area - Differentiates payscales based on geographical area. Eg. 10 - California. Payscale group - Differentiates employees payscales based on functionality. Eg. GR01 - grouping for junior clerks, GR02 - for senior clerks. Payscale level - Subdivision of employees payscales. Eg. L1 - level 1 clerk, L2 - level 2 clerk. Wage types - The payments and deductions for an employee are coded as wage types. Eg. A001 - salary payment, B001 - 401K deduction.

Payroll Infotypes : Payroll data is stored in various infotypes, which includes, 0001, 0007, 0008, 0009, 0207, 0208, 0209, 0210, 0234. These infotypes maintain personal details, payment and deduction info, benefits data, garnishment data, tax data, etc. Payroll Process involves: Maintaining payroll related infotypes Periodic payroll run Transferring data to FI/CO Transferring third party remittance data to Accounts Payable Tax reporting Standard reporting Payroll program name: RPCALCx0

Payroll Hours Entry · Electronic Time Cards/Automated o Start and End Time input o Hours verification § Reports § Electronic notification (at time of user punch in/out) § Timing (when should Payroll notification occur) o Manual entry and corrections o Real time operation o Conversion of current bar-coded badge system Payroll functionality

Manual Entry Number of screens involved and efficiency of entry Carry forward of information entered on one screen to the next Check and balances to verify entered information – Reports and/or screen totals Employee totals Dept. totals Batch totals

Payroll Gross Wage Calculation · Compensation Correctly calculate wages for different shifts and salaried personnel Recognize and calculate shift differentials Different differential within the same pay period Calculate overtime Based on employee’s individual schedule Previous hours worked and type of hours during pay period holidays sick Time vacation Special double time considerations Track Vacation/Holiday/Sick time Vacation

Automatic accrual Usage Manual adjustments Checks so that it can not go below zero Holiday General business holidays Floating personal holiday accrual Floating personal holiday usage tracking Track Sick time within the system Maternity/Family leave

Mass Wage Updates/Changes Annual percentage increases across the board To select groups All employee’s Holiday pay Pay For Performance Distribution based on company’s financial performance.

Deductions from Wage · Benefit Plans Company Contributed Benefits Health Insurance Vision Coverage Dental · Basic · Dependent · Optional additional coverage · Accidental death and dismemberment

Disability Coverage Short-term Long-term Optional long-term Flex Pay (for those that do not elect company sponsored benefits) Tuition reimbursement Parking reimbursement

Employee Contributed Benefits and/or Reimbursement Accounts 401k Daycare Reimbursement Health Care Reimbursement · Garnishments – Tax, Child support, Legal, Miscellaneous Entry process Automatically discontinue when fulfilled Tracking Reporting On screen Printable reports

Savings bonds Multiple bonds How payroll deducted funds are applied to the bonds Savings/Checking Miscellaneous Shoes Uniforms United Way Tax State Federal County City

Payroll Processing · Manual Checks Entry Printing Controls · Normal Processing by Business Area (location) Timing When should payroll be processed Closing of periods when complete Processing payroll Entered by business area (location) and processed at corporate Steps involved Manual corrections if necessary Checks printed by location (business area) at location · By shift · By department · How to print checks

Controls Reconciliation tools within process Error/Warning Reports Checks over $$ Multiple to same name On line options Totals Reports by Overall pay run Department Business Area Company code

Miscellaneous Reporting Online and Hardcopy Reporting Employee information Wage information (current and termed employees) Wage information for a set period YTD wage information Hours paid for and type Vacation Holiday Sick Overtime History of pay increases Select information by cost center Various sort options

Quarterly Reporting Samples of reports and processes Annual Reporting Samples of reports and processes (if different than quarterly) W-2’s Processing of Corrections Printing

Human Resources Application Entry Online Through web-based technology Directly into system within controlled screen Confirmation process/everything entered correctly Conversion/transfer to new employee status Conversion of termed employees to new hire/active.

Employee Information Benefit Information Overall Data Entry Issues Number of screens involved Templates to help reduce redundant entry Conversion of past information from termed employees to new hire/active status Tax information W4 What if screens View results of tax information changes before committing Ability to convert if acceptable Benefit Plan Options Health Insurance Vision Coverage Dental

Life Insurance Basic Dependent Optional additional coverage Accidental death and dismemberment Disability Coverage Short-term Long-term Optional long-term Flex Pay (for those that do not elect company sponsored benefits) 401k (when eligible) Daycare Reimbursement Health Care Reimbursement Savings bonds Savings/Checking

· Employee Deductions Garnishments Tax Child support Legal Miscellaneous Shoes Uniforms United Way Position Information Job Title Job description Job code Encoded to show Where they work Hourly or salaried Shift Salary Grade/Schedules Shift Current Shift Rotation Differential

Reporting/Printed Documents Benefit Reporting Health Insurance Plan premium report (from which payment is made) On screen review Weekly reporting to Prescription Care Services Vision Coverage Plan premium report (from which payment is made) Downloadable to disk (once per month)

Dental On screen review Plan premium report 401k contribution reporting/payment Service Awards Anniversary Reports Years of service Performance review notices Open Enrollment document showing available benefits for distribution to employees Employee cost (if applicable) If current employee, current coverage selections Confirmation document for distribution to employees Current selections and cost

Labels Internal distribution for employee information By shift By department By status Full-time Part-time Temporary All

Government Government Reports New Hire Report Bi-weekly report sent to government for garnishment purposes EEO HIPPA letters COBRA letters Management/Planning Salary Reports/Planning Planning by salary grades Salary survey reports Supervisory Reporting Ability to provide supervisory and management with detailed employee/payroll information restricted to their area(s) of responsibility

· Training Conversion of current data Tracking of training received Program, course and class information Cost of training Review of course taken Certification if received Expiration/renewal date if certification need to be renewed History of classes taken Reporting by Individual Cost Center Department Business Area Company

PD ( Planning and Development) Organizational Units : describe the different business areas within your company. Org. Units must exist in a company organization structure and be linked to one another in order to create a hierarchical structure for your company and a link between the objects. Use transaction PP02 to create Org.Units. Object type ' O '. Following is a three level hierarchy. Table HRP1000. One Org. Unit can be related to another Org. Unit.

Human Resources Benefit Admn. Payroll Compensation Staffing

Jobs : A job is the general classification for a set of tasks. Eg. manager, customer service representative. Each Job identifies a unique classification of activity. Employees hold positions and not Jobs. Jobs are linked to Positions, which are held by employees. Equal number of positions should be created for each Job. Use transaction PP02 to create Org.Units. Object type ' C '. Table HRP1000. Positions : are specific jobs performed by individuals in a company. Each position is occupied by one employee. Eg. HR Manager. Positions not assigned to employees are known as vacancies.One Position can be assigned to more than one person. Eg. the first employee may work 50% and the other will work the remainder 50%. Position belongs to a Job which describes the Position. Use transaction PP02 to create Org.Units. Object type ' S '. Table HRP1000.

Relationship between object s: Table HRP1001. Transaction PP02 (Infotype 1001) Cost Center => Org. Unit => Position => Job Manager HR Manager Account Manager

HR - Benefits SAP HR Benefits Administration handles an unlimited number of plans, including flexible benefits plans, executive benefits programs and miscellaneous benefits such as health club memberships. SAP also provides powerful reporting, integration with other SAP business applications and interfaces to third parties to transfer Benefit related information.

Personnel Actions (Human Resources > Personnel Management > Administration > Personnel Actions or Transaction PA40) Benefits Hire/Rehire: Use this action after an employee has been (re-)entered into SAP by personnel. If the employee has one or less dependents that need to be entered, you may proceed to enrollment from the Adjustment Reasons Infotype. Otherwise, you will need to add additional dependents via Maintain Master Data before enrollment. Benefits Term/Retire: Use this action for an employee that is terminating or retiring. Once you complete the action, go to the Benefits Termination transaction (below) to terminate the employee’s benefit plans. Benefits Dependents Create: Use this action for any qualifying event that includes adding a dependent. Examples include birth of a child, adoption, marriage, etc. Benefits Dependents Change: Use this action for any qualifying event that involves changing or removing an existing dependent. Examples include divorce, death of dependent, loss of student status, etc.

Benefits Trnsfr/Position Chnge: Use this action when an employee goes from part-time to full-time, full-time to part-time, or when a position change will affect the employee’s benefit elections. Benefits LOA: Use this action only when a leave of absence affects the employee’s benefit elections. Benefits Return from LOA: Use this action only if the return from leave affects the employee’s benefit elections. In general, this action should only be necessary for those employees who have experienced the Benefits LOA action above.

Maintain Master Data (Human Resources > Personnel Management > Administration > Maintain Master Data or Transaction PA30) This transaction should only be used when personnel actions or other benefits transactions cannot be used to accomplish changes to an employee’s master data. It should primarily be used to copy master data ( to maintain history) or to change master data ( to correct wrongly entered data). One example would be correcting a dependent’s date of birth due to a prior keying error. In this case the Change button would be used on the correct dependent record on the Family/Related Person infotype.

Display Master Data (Human Resources > Personnel Management > Administration > Display Master Data or Transaction PA20) Use this transaction to view an employee’s master data. For example, if you wanted to make sure you enrolled a person in all the health plans, you could display the employee’s master data on the Health Plans Infotype. There is no danger of altering data in this transaction.

Benefits Enrollment (Human Resources > Personnel Management > Benefits > Enrollment or Transaction HRBEN0001) Use this transaction to enroll an employee into benefits or to change an employee’s existing benefits. It can also be used to terminate plans, however if you are terminating multiple plans, it is easier to use the Benefits Termination transaction (below). Benefits Termination (Human Resources > Personnel Management > Benefits > Termination or Transaction HRBEN0014) Use this transaction to terminate an employee’s benefit plans; mostly used for an employee who is terminating employment with the company.

Architecture overview

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Architecture overview