SAP New GL Migration via SAP Scenario 1: Merging FI Ledgers

A couple weeks ago we wrote about the benefits of migrating to the SAP New General Ledger for utilities on SAP. SAP best practices outline five different General Ledger migration scenarios that offer increasing amounts of functionality—and corresponding complexity. For utilities looking for an efficient approach, we recommend the least costly and complex, "Scenario 1: Merging of FI Ledgers."

In this scenario, the classic General Ledger (Ledger 0) is migrated. Table GLT3 of the consolidation preparation (Ledger 09) is migrated as well if it's in use. When we work with clients on SAP New General Ledger migrations, we evaluate whether to assign profit and loss accounts from the 8A ledger or to form Ledger 0.

Depending on the utility's financials, we may recommend an "accounts approach," taking all accounts from Ledger 0. In our experience, profit center accounting (PCA) will not, nor should not, drive the migration project. Rather, PCA is planned during blueprint. Configuration changes are made as required, and then PCA is re-introduced to PRD in the new year. What we mean by "re-introduced" is a new way of tagging the PCA to the CO object using the FMDERIVER.

This approach allows our customers the most flexibility to change the PC assignment to the internal order later on. This is especially helpful to utilities that also use SAP Funds Management (FM) since the fund assignment can be updated in the FMDERIVER as well. Our latest solution, HPC Utility Financials Accelerator, automates these updates with an Excel upload program to make maintenance incredibly simple, even on a very large scale.

While there are other, more complex migration scenarios that involve segment reporting and some form of document splitting to parse the balance sheet line items to enable business area financials at a line item level, we don't often recommend them to our customers who are already running HPC Utility Financials Accelerator. For those utilities, business area reporting by balance sheet can be accomplished for all company codes using UFA's expanded functionality. Once migrated, the FERC drill-down feature in UFA is updated to source the FERC account balances from the new FAGLFLEXT table in the SAP New GL.