SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting 2208 is live

SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting 2208 is generally available

We in SAP Product Engineering team are glad to announce the general availability of SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting release 2208 on July 27, 2022. In the latest version of our next-generation consolidation software, you can benefit from the following new and enhanced features to help you run your group financial close better:

• Restatements and simulations: transparent changes on past closings
• Segment reporting through flexible derivation of the consolidation unit in group reporting preparation ledgers
• Ability to integrate planning data from SAP Analytics Cloud with group reporting consolidation
• Connectivity of SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office with SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting
• New GRDC Forms features including ad hoc items and new C/I predefined forms
• New GRDC Data Mapping features including new import options, support of ECC as a data source, test run, and segregation of rights
• Local currency change during balance carry-forward
• Support additional and customer fields in source and destination of consolidation rules / reclassifications for increased flexibility
• Other key consolidation rules / reclassifications enhancements including rounding warnings at currency translation and equity pickup BAdI
• Increased flexibility with new consolidation unit selection attributes
• CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) APIs for group reporting master data
• Post and simulate journal entries using a synchronous inbound service
• Data warehouse extraction for group reporting

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Restatements and simulations: transparent changes on past closings
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In release 2208, we leverage and enhance the extension version capability for restatements and simulations purposes, that are critical activities of the consolidation process:

• Need to restate data already published, typically because of a change in accounting standards, in legal group structures, in management organizations, in reported data, to make possible the comparison between years/periods, for example prior year comparison
• Need for different types of restatements, that require a change in master data, transaction data, or configuration
• Restated data sometimes becomes the norm for the future – restated data needs to be “merged” into the standard during balance carry forward
• Previously published data must be secured (data, logs, process status, master data, configuration)
• Simulation cases can be processed like restatements, such as the consolidation of current year but without the acquisition of a subsidiary

Release 2208 helps you support restatement and simulation, you can:

• Store values in local currency, transaction currency, and quantity in extension and GC extension versions
• Define different special versions, and different tasks for the GC extension and extension versions
• Define a destination version and a deviating sub item for balance carry forward

In the example below, in 2021 the Standard version consolidates without a new IFRS rule. You can define an Extension version to consolidate 2021 with the new IFRS rule, and the restated 2021 closing balances are carried forward to the Standard version in 2022.

You can use the same approach for your simulations, for example to simulate a case where you did not acquire a subsidiary. In addition, you can define several GC extension and extension versions linked to the same standard version, so you can stack different restatements and/or different simulations. Across the version stack deltas values are calculated.

The example below depicts the case where:
1) You need to restate your standard consolidation (Z10) in EUR for a new IFRS standard, and also for a management reorganization. For this, you can create 2 extension versions (Z14, Z15) stacked on top of the standard version
2) You also need to simulate the case where a subsidiary was not acquired. For this you can create an extension version (Z16) not stacked

The new restatement and simulation feature of release 2208 includes the following main capabilities:

• Create new extensions version on top of a reference version for simulation or restatement purposes
• Extension version carries the delta amount to the underlying reference version
• Read data from extension and reference version
• Write delta amounts to extension version
• Process asynchronous task of extension version and reference version with status consistency support for (open and close) periods

You can find more information on this new feature in the Restatement and Simulation page of our help portal

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Segment reporting through flexible derivation of the consolidation unit in group reporting preparation ledgers
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Since release 2202 you can benefit from a tighter integration of accounting with group reporting, via the introduction of group reporting preparation ledgers at accounting level. With this new feature we integrate Group Reporting directly into a Central Accounting group reporting preparation ledger offering immediate advantages such as the ability to get real-time aggregated group view into accounting, increased flexibility, early derivation without changing source date, and improved response time and performance.

Today with release 2208, you benefit from a flexible derivation of consolidation units for integration with group reporting preparation ledger. This new capability enables you to derive the consolidation unit from the Company field or other fields, such as Segment or Profit Center, and for integrated accounting company codes. It helps you:

• Manage of the data collection process on the level of segments (represented by flexibly defined consolidation units using unchanged functionality of the data monitor)
• Define consolidation groups for segments and assignment of corresponding areas of legal companies (represented by flexibly defined consolidation units) supporting level-30 postings on the segment level
• Split up data from one company to several consolidation units so that you can perform the consolidation of additional criteria, such as segment, profit center, functional area, or a combination of these

With 2208’s flexible derivation of the consolidation unit in the accounting group preparation ledger:

• Company is now an editable attribute in consolidation unit master data
• You can use the consolidation unit as a target field for substitutions in the business context “group reporting preparation ledger core fields”
• You benefit from a default substitution in case of only one single consolidation unit referring to the company ID of the transactional data
• You can realign incorrectly assigned consolidation units

With the flexible derivation of consolidation units, you can now explicitly maintain the company assignment to consolidation unit (see the screenshot above). This assignment is time-dependent, so it can change over time. In addition, a flexible consolidation partner unit derivation during accounting posting is now possible via customer defined substitution rules.

When the data release task is executed for a certain consolidation unit it transfers all relevant accounting journal entries to group reporting which have the given consolidation unit value. With that data from one company may now end up in different consolidation units, representing certain data slices (for example segments) of the company.

By assigning all consolidation units representing a certain segment to a consolidation group (either in a consolidation unit hierarchy or in the group structure manager) a segment consolidation and reporting can be achieved.

Check out for more information in our help portal: Flexible derivation of consolidation units for segment reporting.

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Ability to integrate planning data from SAP Analytics Cloud with group reporting consolidation
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With SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting 2208 we close the last mile of integrating plan data for financial consolidation. You can now perform entity planning as well as corporate planning using SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP Analytics Cloud based on built-in integration on planning functions and analytics reporting. The diagram below depicts the end-to-end planning process based on SAP Analytics Cloud for planning and SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting 2208.

Connectivity between planning and group reporting is a critical topic for an integrated financial close. Check out our new blog on how to integrate SAP Analytics Cloud for planning with SAP S/4HANA for group reporting 2208, and see how tools and platforms can help you integrate process and data.

Read our new blog and learn more about:

• Planning scenarios, process flow and technical components
• Importing SAP S/4HANA for group reporting transaction data to SAP Analytics Cloud
• Perform corporate planning in SAP Analytics Cloud
• Export plan data from SAP Analytics Cloud to SAP S/4HANA for group reporting (see the screenshot below)
• Run plan consolidations in SAP S/4HANA for group reporting
• Configure SAP S/4HANA for group reporting for plan consolidation

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Connectivity of SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office with SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting
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The Excel add-in that comes with SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office is an important functionality for consolidation. It allows multidimensional analysis of data sources in Microsoft Excel and MS Excel workbook application design. Today with release 2208, you can now connect SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office with SAP SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting, and benefit from Excel to analyze your consolidated data.

Check out our SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting with SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office blog, and find out:

• What are the steps to connect to SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office
• How to create group financial statement workbook, for example P&L, Consolidation balance sheet or Cashflow statement
• How to get a hierarchical display, expand the hierarchy to a particular drill state, or use conditional formatting
• Limitations compared to the on-premise version of S/4HANA for group reporting

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New GRDC Forms features including ad hoc items and new C/I predefined forms
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With SAP S/4HANA for group reporting 2208, we deliver two key new features to further improve your data collection process when using the Forms app of SAP Group Reporting Data Collection (GRDC).

Ad hoc items: create form-specific master data, and design notes to the annual statements, tax reports, sustainability or integrated reports
You can now use GRDC to create form-specific master data – called ad hoc items – during the design of a form, and:

• Split existing numbers into additional categories
• Collect new numbers that exceed the scope of the regular consolidation data model
• Create forms where non-financial and qualitative data need to be collected

Our new ad hoc items help you create data collection forms for business scenarios such as Notes to the annual statements (see the example of maturity below), Tax reports, Sustainability or integrated reports.

For more information, you can check out our “SAP Group Reporting Data Collection: create form-specific master data (ad hoc items)” blog, and learn about ad hoc items benefits and use cases, how to create ad hoc items and how to design forms using ad hoc items.

New Consolidation of Investments (C/I) predefined forms
In release 2208, you can benefit from new and updated predefined forms for the collection of Consolidation of Investment (C/I) data.

First, existing C/I data entry forms for Investments and Equity are enhanced and easier to use. Second, you now benefit from new retrievals forms leveraging visual control formulas help you control the cumulated direct shares, and check that the breakdown by Activity for Investments and Equity FS Items is complete and correctly filled in.

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New GRDC Data Mapping features including new import options, support of ECC as a data source, test run, and segregation of rights
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With SAP S/4HANA for group reporting 2208, we deliver five key new features to further improve your data collection process when using the Data Mapping app of SAP Group Reporting Data Collection (GRDC).

New import options
In Data Mapping, you can now select Read and Write Document types in the Import options of the job (see the screenshot below):

• Read Document Types allows you to select the different Document Types you want to consider for calculating the delta between the data which already exists in ACDOCU table and the data created by data Mapping
• Write Document Type allows you to select the Document Type (belong all Document Types of posting level 00) on which you want to import data

In addition, you can now import data on any Document Type of Posting Level 0C. In the Import Options of the job, all Document Types of posting level OC and Business Application are now available in the list of « Write Document Types » (see the screenshot below).

Check out the Import Options in our help portal for more information.

Support of ECC as a data source
You can now use a new Source Type called “SAP ECC System” in the Data Mapping Definition (see the screenshot below). Source filters allow to filter ECC data that are read : based on the general ledger principle, the source data table is determined by the ledger selected, a commonly used ledger is 0L (delivered standard ledger), where data is read from source data table FAGLFLEXT. Specific ECC template mapping file can be downloaded from the Define Data Mapping page.

Check out for more information (especially on how you can locate and view your source data, which also helps building data mapping definitions more easily) in our User Guide Create a Data Mapping Definition with SAP ECC as Source | SAP Help Portal and in the Admin guide Importing Data from SAP ECC into Data Mapping | SAP Help Portal.

Test Run
You can now perform a “Test Run”, and check for errors in the import and traceability logs, without sending any data to the ACDOCU table (see the screenshot below). Once you have corrected the errors, you can run a complete job again to send the data.

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See the “Import Status” in the list of runs
In addition of the “Run Status” (which only displays the status of the mapping process, and not the import process), the “Import status” is now displayed in the list of runs (see the screenshot below). This status indicates the status reported by the SAP S/4HANA system regarding the import. It displays errors if lines have been rejected. The import status might not be known at the same time as the run status and is updated once the import is finished.
To display the import status in real time, check out the SAP BTP Cockpit procedure Automatically Update the Import Status from your SAP S/4HANA Cloud System | SAP Help Portal.

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Segregation of rights and Access restrictions
For you to set up a more granular segregation of rights, you can now use 11 role templates for Data Mapping.

You can use 5 role templates for the “Define Data Mapping feature”: Read, Write, Edit Access Restrictions, Download Mapping File and Upload Mapping file. For the “Run Data Mapping” features, 6 role templates are available: Read, Write, Test Run, Run with Import, Generate Traceability Log and Download Traceability Log.

In SAP BTP, you can assign one or several role templates into role collections following the procedure described in Defining and Bundling Roles on SAP Business Technology Platform | SAP Help Portal.

In addition, a new Access Restriction section has been added to the “Data Mapping Definition” (see the screenshot below). This new feature allows to restrict the access to the definitions : a definition is visible for the user only if the global parameters of the user corresponds to the Access Restrictions values of the definition.

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Local currency change during balance carry-forward 
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In release 2208, you can now change the local currency of the consolidation unit at year end close through balance carry-forward. This new feature reduces manual work inside and outside SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting and also helps maintain data continuity.

The new feature includes the following capabilities:

• Change the local currency in the consolidation unit master data
• New options for currency translation method
• Balance carry forward converts values from the old to the new local currency

Check out for more information in our help portal: Local Currency Change.

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Support additional and customer fields in source and destination of consolidation rules / reclassifications for increased flexibility
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With release 2208, in the reclassification rules you can now define the additional fields including custom field values for the posting. This new feature brings more flexibility and robustness when you design your consolidation rules/reclassifications. For example, you can reclassify an equity FS item to a corporate Profit Center, or clear the Cost Center.

You can use a new option to define the additional field values. For each field you can define the Source and Destination values as follows:

• Keep the trigger value
• Clear the value
• Fix the value
• Default the value
• Inherit from the partner field

With this, you can now select the additional field(s) that must be considered to evaluate the balance to trigger a sign-based reclassification.

For example, let’s say you need to reclassify the FS items “Cash on hand” from Assets to Liabilities depending on the balance (debit/credit) of the corresponding G/L accounts. In the “Additional Characteristics” tab, you can mark an additional field as “Sign Decision Relevant” (see the screenshot below).

Check out for more information in the “Reclassification – additional fields for source and target” section of the 2208 feature deck.

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Other key consolidation rules enhancements including rounding warnings at currency translation and equity pickup BAdI
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In release 2208, you also benefit from a series of key new enhancements of our consolidation engine.

Accept missing percentages
You can now define a reclassification rule in a way that it will accept missing percentage for a specific step in a reclassification method without raising any error or warning. This can be used, for example, in the rules defined for the changes in the group share because the absence of the percentage is also normal.

BAdI to define logic to match trigger records with percentage records
You can implement your own code to search for the percentage applied to the trigger data when a reclassification task is executed. For example, you can implement a custom code for inventory profit elimination to search for the percentage according to a special sequence like: (1) search with material number and partner unit, (2) search with material number only and (3) search for a dummy material number.

No deletion of data, delta documents
Reclassification has been enhanced to stop deleting the documents posted during the prior execution. Instead it posts only the delta documents needed.

New C/I activity
You can now use the C/I activity 12-Liquidation to filter the reclassification rule to the periods included between the first consolidation and the total divestiture (excluding the period of first consolidation and total divestiture).

Currency Translation: Activate Rounding Warnings
You can now define in the currency translation method that the imbalances in local currency found in rounding entries must not cause an error, but only a warning.

Auto reversal at year end
When a document type is configured with auto reversal, and no suppression of auto reversal in the new year, the auto reversal documents in the new year are now posted when you run balance carry forward in the next year, instead of being posted immediately when the original document is posted.

BAdI to change the field vales in equity pickup postings
You can implement your own code to flexibly change the field values in Equity Pickup postings. You can use this BAdI to change the field values in the journal entries created by Equity Pickup. You can also use this BAdI to delete line items in the journal entries. The log mentions when a field values is changed by the BAdI.

Check out for more information in the “Other enhancements on core functions” section of the 2208 feature deck.

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Increased flexibility with new consolidation unit selection attributes
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With release 2208, you can now leverage four consolidation selection attributes:

• “Data Collection Selection” attribute
• “Partner Selection” attribute
• “Posting Rule Selection” attribute
• “Validation Selection” attribute

The consolidation unit selection attributes work exactly the same as the FS item selection attributes, which are available for many releases already. The basic idea is to classify consolidation units via the assignment of selection attribute values with regards to a certain usage (e.g. data collection, posting rules, validation) and then to select consolidation units for processing just via addressing certain selection attribute values instead of listing the consolidation units themselves. The assignment is time- and version-dependent and is optional.

The consolidation unit attributes may be consumed in selections and with that for example used as trigger in reclassifications or as maximum selection in breakdown categories.

Check out for more information in our help portal: Consolidation Unit Selection Attributes.

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CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) APIs for group reporting master data
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In release 2208, you can now use 23 new CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) APIs for group reporting master data. The new CRUD APIs increase your flexibility to develop side-by-side extension applications, offer additional capabilities beyond the formerly existing master-data read API, and enable you to distribute additional fields for group reporting master data in a heterogenous system landscape using APIs.

The CRUD APIs are remote enabled. With that you can cover scenarios where master data is provided or synchronized from other systems to/with your SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting system.

Get more information on our new CRUD APIs for master data in our help portal: APIs for Group Reporting.

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Post and simulate journal entries using a synchronous inbound service
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With release 2208, a new service enables you to post and simulate journal entries in group reporting. The service enables you to make manual postings to adjust the reported financial data, standardizing entries, and consolidation entries to the requirements of the group. Based on the version, fiscal year, posting period, and document type, you can specify the relevant consolidation group, consolidation unit or consolidation unit pair, and the journal entry line items with relevant amounts in local currency or group currency.

Check out for more information in our help portal: Journal Entry for Group Reporting – Post

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Data warehouse extraction for group reporting
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The Data warehouse extraction for group reporting helps you perform efficient data integration from SAP S/4HANA for group reporting with data warehouse software such as SAP BW/4HANA. Our new feature allows data extraction from SAP S/4HANA for group reporting to source data warehouse applications such as SAP BW/4HANA through extracted objects: extract master data including hierarchies, extract required objects for the reporting logic (group structure for consolidation group derivation, version stack for reporting version derivation, reporting rule run-time definitions for reporting rule-based analytics).

Check out for more information in the “Analytics” section of the 2208 feature deck.

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More information
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• SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting 2208 feature deck
• SAP S/4HANA Cloud for group reporting 2208 documentation
• Recap of SAP S/4HANA for group reporting releases
• SAP S/4HANA for group reporting Road Map Explorer
• Join our SAP S/4HANA for group reporting community
• Co-innovate online with SAP Product Engineering team

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