Innovation for Utilities on SAP Since 1994

Big news: 2019 marks HPC America’s 25th anniversary. We first got our start in the United States in 1994, after a decade of success in Germany, when SAP's Hasso Plattner asked HPC AG’s founder, Josef Heck, to assist with the SAP ERP implementation at Pacific Gas & Electric. HPC America’s primary contribution was the creation of the first regulatory accounting solution for utilities on SAP — the “FERC module” that is still delivered with SAP S/4HANA to this very day (not that we’d recommend you continue to use it alone - but more on that later).

Since that time, HPC has demonstrated an unmatched track record of pragmatic consulting services and innovative add-on software solutions for utility companies on SAP. For utilities large and small, public and investor-owned, we’ve optimized accounting processes, streamlined cost models, made functionalized financial data more meaningful, and, ultimately, helped our amazing customers get more out of their investments in SAP.

Most recently, we led the first-ever integration of SAP C/4HANA Cloud for Customer with on-prem IS-U billing, establishing a powerful, flexible CRM system for NTUA that leverages their existing SAP ECC without further taxing their lean IT department. And our latest add-on solution, HPC DECIPHER, is certified by SAP as integrated with SAP S/4HANA and enables utilities to replace old FERC batch processes with a modern, line item model that generates better data, much faster.

Credit for HPC’s endurance over the last 25 years must go to our incredible team of people. Their functional and technical SAP skills are strong, and they continue to learn more as the technology has evolved. They bring years of utility industry knowledge, many having been former utility company employees, and that first-hand understanding of the business of a utility resonates deeply with our customers. Guys, your competency is tremendous, and we wouldn’t be here without you.

To see how HPC’s 25 years of dedication to utilities on SAP can benefit your company, meet us in two weeks at SAPPHIRE 2019 at Booth 346A. We can share insights on how SAP C/4HANA works in the real world, walk you through a demo of HPC DECIPHER, or talk about anything else on your mind about SAP Financials, Work Management, Billing, and CRM for utilities on SAP. Contact us to schedule an appointment in advance.

Case study: SAP C/4HANA Service Cloud Integration with IS-U Billing

One week from today, on October 16, 2018, at the SAP for Utilities conference in San Antonio, TX, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and HPC America will present NTUA's case study on SAP C/4HANA Service Cloud integration with the IS-U billing module.

This is the first-ever such integration, and showcases how utilities running on-premises ECC 6.0 can take full advantage of SAP's latest HANA and Cloud technology prior to upgrading their core ERP to S/4HANA. NTUA's Deputy CFO, Gerard Curley, and HPC's CEO, Jerry Cavalieri, will lead the presentation and share their SAP C/4HANA project leadership experience. Learn more about the C/4HANA case study and about HPC's services for implementing C/4HANA.

Contact HPC America with questions about C/4HANA integration with the IS-U, and to schedule a demonstration of SAP C/4HANA Service Cloud at the 2018 SAP for Utilities conference.

#SAP4UTL Take-Aways About FERC Reporting on SAP S/4HANA

Like some of you attending the 2016 SAP for Utilities conference earlier this week, we had the opportunity to learn and talk about different approaches to regulatory accounting on SAP S/4HANA. FERC reporting has historically been an obscure topic, but it’s getting more airtime as utilities consider carefully the business case for, and impact of, moving to S/4HANA or S/4HANA Finance ("Simple Finance").

In the course of discussing FERC processes and results with #SAP4UTL conference attendees, we validated that HPC’s new design for real-time reporting on S/4HANA will in fact meet the needs of utilities adopting SAP’s in-memory platform. The software solution we introduced at the conference, HPC DECIPHER, has a light architecture: it runs natively on the Universal Journal, and doesn’t entail the use of a second HANA system running in parallel (or any additional hardware for that matter). As well, HPC DECIPHER does not require SLT replication of master data or coding block changes.

Bigger picture, we determined that HPC DECIPHER reinforces — even clinches — the business case for SAP S/4HANA in several ways. 

By making the most of SAP’s new technology, HPC DECIPHER translates GAAP to Regulatory accounts in real-time, directly in your S/4HANA server; eliminates GAAP-FERC reconciliation issues; functionalizes operational costs with the most granular level of detail; allocates common costs by utility code or line of business; generates full Financial Statements with drill down to all regulatory line items; enables easy, controlled reversal and reposting of regulatory data; identifies all cost flows traced from start to finish—and in reverse—with drill-down to details; and translates the fixed asset sub-ledger to regulatory accounts (e.g., the 300 series for FERC) directly in S/4HANA, thereby creating the potential to reduce the use of some costly third-party fixed asset solutions. And HPC DECIPHER does all of this, and more, without the legacy FERC module.

So, if you, too, discussed real-time FERC reporting on S/4HANA at the SAP for Utilities conference, and are now asking questions about regulatory reporting on S/4HANA, please contact HPC to chat about HPC DECIPHER — or to simply pick our brains. As you may already know, we’ve specialized in FERC reporting for utilities on SAP for a long time, since the very beginning, and our unmatched expertise will benefit most utilities transitioning to SAP S/4HANA.