SAP FICO


SAP FICO: An Overview and Key Considerations 

What Is SAP FICO?

SAP FICO is SAP’s core functional module consisting of the tightly integrated Financial Accounting (FI) and Cost Controlling (CO) modules, designed to enable the recording of financial transactions across parent and subsidiary entities, the production of financial statements, and support both internal and external reporting, at the end of every period.

The SAP Financial Accounting (FI) module supports accurate financial accounting and financial reporting, while the SAP Cost Controlling (CO) module facilitates cost planning and cost monitoring.

Key sub-modules for SAP FICO:

  • Financial Accounting (FI)
  • Asset Accounting
  • Accounts Payables
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Bank Accounting
  • Fund Management
  • General Ledger Accounting
  • Travel Management
  • Cost Controlling (CO)
  • Activity-based Costing
  • Cost Center Accounting
  • Cost Element Accounting
  • Internal Orders
  • Product Costing
  • Profit Center Accounting
  • Profitability Analysis.

The primary objectives of SAP FICO are to provide financial transparency, improve data consistency, and enable business process integration within the organization. Organizations can leverage the inter-connected sub-modules and real-time data streaming to produce trial balances that accurately reflect most business processes from various industries. SAP FICO is an end-to-end solution that combines industry best practices with application expertise, deep-process knowledge, and technical innovation.

Key Considerations for SAPinsiders

SAP FICO: An Overview and Key Considerations 

What Is SAP FICO?

SAP FICO is SAP’s core functional module consisting of the tightly integrated Financial Accounting (FI) and Cost Controlling (CO) modules, designed to enable the recording of financial transactions across parent and subsidiary entities, the production of financial statements, and support both internal and external reporting, at the end of every period.

The SAP Financial Accounting (FI) module supports accurate financial accounting and financial reporting, while the SAP Cost Controlling (CO) module facilitates cost planning and cost monitoring.

Key sub-modules for SAP FICO:

  • Financial Accounting (FI)
  • Asset Accounting
  • Accounts Payables
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Bank Accounting
  • Fund Management
  • General Ledger Accounting
  • Travel Management
  • Cost Controlling (CO)
  • Activity-based Costing
  • Cost Center Accounting
  • Cost Element Accounting
  • Internal Orders
  • Product Costing
  • Profit Center Accounting
  • Profitability Analysis.

The primary objectives of SAP FICO are to provide financial transparency, improve data consistency, and enable business process integration within the organization. Organizations can leverage the inter-connected sub-modules and real-time data streaming to produce trial balances that accurately reflect most business processes from various industries. SAP FICO is an end-to-end solution that combines industry best practices with application expertise, deep-process knowledge, and technical innovation.

Key Considerations for SAPinsiders

Leverage SAP FICO to generate timely insights within current processes. Organizations typically modernize ERP financial landscapes in phases and not all at once. As a result, finance and accounting managers must incorporate processes across multiple technologies, including legacy or manual solutions, to deliver business benefits. The flexibility of SAP FICO supports this option, as Mark Pockl, insightsoftware’s Solution Engineer, specializing in SAP and Orace EBS reporting solutions, provides best practices for leveraging SAP FICO inside Excel.

SAP FICO automation can enable the standardization of financial processes. With SAP FICO, finance teams are equipped with standard solutions capable of supporting automation across many manual processes related to financial transactions and reporting. This helps finance teams, including the finance departments at Kellogg Company and Newell Brands, effectively manage financial data within SAP ERP systems, including generating reports that different departments require for decision-making.

Economic disruptions increase the need for financial visibility across organizations. SAP FICO is designed to support multiple views of your organization in real time, providing visibility for finance managers at the most critical junctures. In addition, by accurately and quickly managing cost planning and cost monitoring requirements consistently across the business units, organizations can generate ad-hoc reporting from costing and profitability insights.

47 results

  1. Tips and Tricks to Ease SAP S/4HANA Finance Migration Challenges

    Click Here to View Session Deck Your SAP S/4HANA Finance budget is approved, but, are you ready to start your SAP S/4HANA Finance project? Is your existing data consistent for you to successfully migrate? Understand the key data objects (such as customers/vendors, consistent items and balances, consistent FICO setup and more) that you need for...…

  2. Ask the FI/CO Expert: “Is CATT the Best Tool for Changing Field Values in Master Data Records Automatically, or Is There a Less Cumbersome Way to Get the Job Done?”

    Reading time: 8 mins

    “Ask the FI/CO Expert” is a monthly Q&A column where readers can ask FI/CO Expert senior consultants questions on difficulties they’ve encountered using R/3 functionality. The question for this month’s column concerns doing mass updates to accounting information on customer masters. A guest FI/CO Expert senior consultant from ICM America carefully details, step by step,...…

  3. Prepare Your R/3 System Now for the International Accounting Standards Deadline

    Reading time: 14 mins

    Impending deadlines for compliance with the International Accounting Standards (IAS) will require hard work on the part of many accountants and R/3 specialists. The problem posed by IAS is that, in most cases, two or more sets of figures have to be managed because of the differences among IAS, US GAAP, and national fiscal reporting....…

  4. Use Subsequent Activation of Open Item Management for Better Control Over Your SAP General Ledger Account

    Reading time: 7 mins

    Sometimes business users need to convert a non-open item managed account into an open item managed account and convert the existing line items of the account into open items. This step is sometimes required by businesses to have better control over their SAP General Ledger accounts. It helps in controlling and clearing the transactions. SAP...…

  5. Automate Accrual Calculation and Posting for Improved Flexibility

    Reading time: 24 mins

    See the process of percentage-based cost center-wise accrual calculation. You can then automate the subsequent financial posting using standard SAP functionality. Key Concept Accrual calculation is the process of evenly spreading irregularly occurring costs over the periods involved and distributing them according to the cost origin. You perform accrual calculation in the Controlling (CO) module...…

  6. Improve Your Lockbox Performance with User Exits, a Reformat Program, and Customized Reports

    Reading time: 30 mins

    In a typical implementation of lockbox service, users frequently encounter process, data, or functionality issues that are not controllable by the standard configuration. The author draws on her recent experience with a lockbox implementation to show how to develop workarounds with user exits and reformat programs. Payment transactions in the United States are made almost...…

  7. Reduce Help-Desk Queries with 3 Ways to Improve Access Enforcer Usability

    Reading time: 6 mins

    Realize your Access Enforcer ROI by implementing usability best practices that can significantly reduce users’ dependence on the help desk. Many companies use the number of help-desk tickets per area as the metric for identifying problem areas after an implementation. I’ve worked on several implementations of Access Enforcer and have seen some usability concerns arise....…

  8. Use Result Analysis Functionality to Meet IFRS Requirements of Revenue Recognition

    Reading time: 21 mins

    Result Analysis functionality in SAP can help you meet the requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and other accounting principles for recognizing revenues and costs for long-term contracts. Learn how to: • Use some of the key Result Analysis methods in your SAP system to recognize revenues and costs in a make-to-order business scenario.•...…

  9. SAP and SuccessFactors – An Overview

    Reading time: 70 mins

    In this exclusive in-depth report, learn about SuccessFactors and what the acquisition means for SAP ERP HCM and your business. Get a detailed, comprehensive overview of SuccessFactors, SAP’s strategy, the future of SAP ERP HCM, and how the acquisition of SuccessFactors affects your business. It aims to dispel any myths or confusion around SuccessFactors and...…

  10. How to Plan and Manage a Successful Payroll Parallel Run

    Reading time: 13 mins

    Parallel runs are often the most demanding phase of any HR and payroll implementation. Yet little formal advice is available and most users seem to learn through experience only. This general overview of the process shows that detailed planning, setting expectations, and good communication are the keys to a successful parallel run. Key Concept A...…