How a Film Company Uses SAP NetWeaver BW for Closed-Loop Planning

by Hari Srinivasan, Senior Principal, Inforte (March 2009)

Follow the setup for building and executing controls in SAP NetWeaver BW in the context of a real-life media-specific business process.

Categories: Compliance, Internal Controls, SAP NetWeaver BW

Key Concept

SAP Business Planning and Simulation (BW-BPS) allows you to use standard planning applications or build your own. BW-BPS contains the Web Interface Builder for building a custom front-end user interface. Alternatively, you can use the delivered Microsoft Excel interface. The planning workbench allows you to establish the planning data model and enables the creation and use of custom coding to create planning applications for your own business processes. In addition, you can use the standard ABAP workbench tools with the planning workbench to create a custom retraction process to seamlessly integrate planning processes in SAP NetWeaver BW with SAP ERP Central Component.

Many of you are challenged with the need to manage planning processes in SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (SAP NetWeaver BW) that have a closed-loop process with transactional systems such as SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC). The transactional postings triggered from SAP NetWeaver BW subsequently enable decision-making or generate a transactional posting with an accounting implication.

An example of such a closed-loop automated process is the cost center plan that is created in SAP NetWeaver BW and then retracted to SAP ECC. Next, transactional postings are created. Subsequently, plan allocations are made on the cost center plan, which is then compared with the actual cost center postings. Another example is marketing spend that is tracked and created in SAP NetWeaver BW, and the monthly accrual that is posted to SAP ECC using a retractor.

In part 1 of this two-article series, posted to the GRC Expert knowledgebase in October 2008, I walked you through a consumer product goods (CPG) business process that required establishing a closed-loop process from your SAP NetWeaver BW environment. The business process I explained helped you understand the implications with respect to segregation of duties (SoD) and how to build controls that help you realize the business process via technical implementation.

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