Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
The Data Management & Landscape Transformation (DMLT) Group helps
customers with various services to realize business or technology-driven changes
by effectively consolidating and transforming (data conversion and migration)
productive system landscapes.
Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
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Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
Contents
1. Typical Business Requirements .......................................................................................................2
2. Overview of SAP Service “Consulting for Shortened Fiscal Year” ...................................................2
3. Details on Service Delivery and Project Execution ..........................................................................3
a. Prerequisites for a Successful Service Delivery ...........................................................................3
b. Project Steps in Detail ..................................................................................................................4
c. Frequently Asked Questions ........................................................................................................5
4. Appendix ...........................................................................................................................................7
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Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
1. Typical Business Requirements
You plan to introduce a shortened fiscal year, e. g. for the following reasons:
• The business environment of your company has changed, for example because of
a merger, divestiture, spin-off or acquisition. As a consequence, you need to
change the fiscal year definition for your company (for example from a non-calendar
fiscal year to fiscal year = calendar year), and to this purpose you need to introduce
a shortened fiscal year.
• Legal provisions in your country require that you introduce a shortened fiscal year
(for example § 240 section 2 clause 2 HGB in Germany).
In some countries, legislature or authorities require a prolonged fiscal year instead of
a shortened fiscal year. A prolonged fiscal year is a fiscal year that consists of more
than twelve and less than twenty four calendar months. In the SAP system, a prolonged
fiscal year is implemented as a regular fiscal year plus a shortened fiscal year. In
reporting, a regular fiscal year plus a shortened fiscal year are represented as a
prolonged fiscal year.
When you introduce a shortened fiscal year, it must be implemented consistently
across all modules of your SAP systems (this affects for example the modules FI, FI-
AA, FI-SL, IM, CO, EC-PCA, MM, PP, SD, PS, PM).
If changes to the fiscal year definition in a live SAP system are implemented incorrectly,
this can have grave consequences and even cause data inconsistencies and system
standstill. Consequently, you plan to take advantage of specialized consulting support
for this task.
2. Overview of SAP Service “Consulting for Shortened Fiscal
Year”
For introducing a shortened fiscal year, SAP Data Management & Landscape
Transformation (DMLT) offers the service “Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting”.
This service consists of an analysis part and a support part.
• Analysis: A DMLT consultant analyzes the specific conditions in your live SAP
system. This analysis covers modules in use, organizational structures,
Customizing, master data, and transaction data. In particular, the consultant checks
whether the necessary prerequisites for introducing a shortened fiscal year are met.
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Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
• Support: Based on this analysis, we provide you with project-specific support for
your planned change of the fiscal year definition.
3. Details on Service Delivery and Project Execution
The SAP Service “Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting” should best be carried out when
the project for introducing a shortened fiscal year has just started.
The analysis is made via remote connection in your live SAP system. It will not interfere
with everyday work in that system in any way.
The R/3 modules and functions that are used in the system as well as the
organizational structures (e. g. operating concerns, controlling areas, company codes,
credit control areas, plants or sales areas) are analyzed.
The consultant checks whether the necessary prerequisites for introducing a shortened
fiscal year are met.
Based on the results of the analysis, the consultant writes a manual that provides you
with a detailed step-by-step procedure description and explains what you should keep
in mind when introducing a shortened fiscal year in the different areas, particularly
Customizing.
The manual also contains recommendations on project setup and planning for your
“Shortened Fiscal Year” project.
a. Prerequisites for a Successful Service Delivery
• A conversion project is much easier to handle if the customer defines a
dedicated project lead and if the project team does not change in the course of
the project. SAP names one service delivery expert who is responsible for
service delivery and who acts as your central point of contact during the entire
project. There should also be one person from your company who coordinates
the project starting from the early preparation and up to the final tests after the
production conversion.
• Legal provisions in your country require that you introduce a shortened fiscal
year if you want to change the fiscal year definition for your company.
This is the case in most countries. In Germany, for example, the applicable legal
provision is § 240 section 2 clause 2 HGB. In a few countries, for example
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Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
Poland, however, national law does not allow to introduce a shortened fiscal
year. Instead, companies there must introduce an extended fiscal year if they
want to change their fiscal year definition.
• The responsible auditor approved the introduction of a shortened fiscal year.
The relevant authorities consented.
• The contact persons in the application departments can be contacted by mail
and phone.
• A user with comprehensive authorization (SAP_ALL, SAP_NEW) is created for
the DMLT consultant in the production system.
• It is possible to open a service connection to your production system so that the
analysis can be executed via remote connection.
b. Project Steps in Detail
• Questionnaire: You fill in the questionnaire in SAP Support Portal
(https://support.sap.com/DMLT → Data Unification & Harmonization → Order &
Contact Info, Questionnaires) and send it to DMLT.
• Preliminary Talks: Having received your enquiry, we will contact you to discuss
the prerequisites for the analysis in detail.
The schedule for the analysis will also be agreed on during these talks.
• Contract: The responsible SAP Local Subsidiary will send you a quotation for
the Service “Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting”. You accept this offer by duly
signing the document and sending it back to the SAP Local Subsidiary. The
service cannot be delivered until the contract (that is, the duly accepted
quotation) was received by the Local Subsidiary.
• Analysis: You open the service connection to the production system on the
agreed date. The DMLT consultant carries out the analysis in your production
system.
• Manual: The DMLT consultant writes a manual with a detailed step-by-step
procedure description and explanations regarding the points to keep in mind
when introducing a shortened fiscal year in the different areas, particularly
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Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
Customizing. This manual for introducing a shortened fiscal year will then be
sent to you by e-mail on the first working day after the analysis.
• Project Work: You maintain the shortened fiscal year in your configuration
environment as described in the manual.
• Go-Live: You transfer the shortened fiscal year from the configuration
environment to the production environment.
c. Frequently Asked Questions
? Is it still possible to introduce a shortened fiscal year if the fiscal year that we want
to turn into a shortened fiscal year has already started, and transaction data has
already been posted for this fiscal year?
! Yes. It is absolutely normal and by no means critical if transaction data has
actually been saved for the fiscal year that will be turned into a shortened fiscal
year. However, the shortened fiscal year must be introduced before the period of
time which you want to fall into the shortened fiscal year it is completely over.
? May we introduce a shortened fiscal year with retroactive effect?
! With “retroactive effect” means that you want to introduce the shortened fiscal year
at a point in time that belongs to the fiscal year following the shortened fiscal year.
Example
You have a non-calendar fiscal year from October 1 to September 30.
In March 2004, you decide that you would like to introduce a shortened fiscal year
from October 1 to December 31, 2003. In this case, a lot of transaction data has
actually been posted for fiscal periods that would no longer exist after the
shortened fiscal year was introduced. No. It is not possible to introduce a
shortened fiscal year with retroactive effect.
? Is it possible to have two consecutive shortened fiscal years?
! Yes. It is possible to introduce several shortened fiscal years one directly after the
other, even if these shortened fiscal years are in the same calendar year.
? Can we introduce a shortened fiscal year if our business periods are defined on a
weekly basis?
! Business periods defined on a weekly basis (e. g. 4-4-5 rule) are fairly common e.
g. in the U. K. and the U. S. Yes. You can introduce a shortened fiscal year if your
business periods are defined on a weekly basis.
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Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
? Is the “Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting” service available for companies of any
size, area of business, and country?
! Yes. The “Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting” service can be provided irrespective
of the size, area of business and location of the company that wants to order it.
? Should the “Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting” service be executed before the
“Fiscal Year Conversion” service?
! Yes. The “Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting” service should be executed at the
outset of a project for introducing a shortened fiscal year. After the “Shortened
Fiscal Year Consulting” service follows the actual introduction of the shortened
fiscal year. In the R/3 context, fiscal are necessarily integer numbers and assigned
in ascending order. Consequently, it may happen that the R/3 fiscal year precedes
the actual calendar year by one after a shortened fiscal year has been introduced.
In this case, it makes sense to order the “Fiscal Year Conversion” service
afterwards. This service reduces the fiscal year number by one.
? How long does a project for introducing a shortened fiscal year take?
! Typically, the duration of a project for introducing a shortened fiscal year is
determined by the size of the company / group and the degree to which the SAP
system is used. In our experience, a project of this type takes between two and
eight weeks. This approximate value is based on the experiences of customers
who ordered the “Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting” service at the outset of their
project for introducing a shortened fiscal year. Under certain circumstances, it may
be necessary to split a controlling area or operating concern before a shortened
fiscal year can be introduced. In this case, the project will take much longer and
require a considerably higher amount of effort.
? What has to be considered at the beginning of the fiscal year that will turn into a
shortened fiscal year?
! At the beginning of the fiscal year that will turn into a shortened fiscal year nothing
special has to be considered. R/3 operations can continue without change at the
beginning of the fiscal year that will turn into a shortened fiscal year.
? What impact does the analysis in the production system have on normal R/3
operations?
! The analysis in the production environment does not interfere with the normal R/3
operations.
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Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
4. Appendix
Appendix 1 –Examples for Shortened Fiscal Years
As-is situation: Fiscal year = calendar year
Fiscal year 2003 Fiscal year 2004 Fiscal year 2005
2004/10/01
01. 10.2004
2003/01/01 2004/01/01 2005/01/01 2006/01/01
Calendar year 2003 Calendar year 2004 Calendar year 2005
Kalenderjahr 2005
Target situation: Fiscal year from October 1 to September 30
Fiscal Fiscal
Fiscal year 2003 Fiscal year 2005
Geschäftsjahr 2005
year 2004 year 2006
Shortened FY
Jan. 1 - Sept. 30
01.10.2004 2005/10/01
2003/01/01 2004/01/01 2005/01/01 2006/01/01
Calendar year 2003 Calendar year 2004 Calendar year 2005
As-is situation: Fiscal year from July 1 to June 30
Fiscal Fiscal
year 2003 Fiscal year 2004 Fiscal year 2005
year 2006
2003/07/01 2004/07/01
01. 10.2004 2005/07/01
2003/01/01 2004/01/01 2005/01/01 2006/01/01
Calendar year 2003 Calendar year 2004 Calendar year 2005
Kalenderjahr 2005
Target situation: Fiscal year = calendar year
Fiscal Fiscal
Fiscal year 2004 year 2005 Fiscal year 2006
year 2003
Shortened FY
July 1–Dec.31
2003/07/01 2004/07/01
01. 10.2004 2005/07/01
2003/01/01 2004/01/01 2005/01/01 2006/01/01
Calendar year 2003 Calendar year 2004 Calendar year 2005
Kalenderjahr 2005
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Shortened Fiscal Year Consulting
Data Management & Landscape Transformation
SAP Deutschland SE &Co.KG
Hasso1-Plattner-Ring 7
D-69190 Walldorf
Germany
Mail: [email protected]
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