Validating transferred data

Direct transfer reduces handling, but it does not prove anything by itself. Selection rules can include or omit records, mappings can change values, and the conversion to the SAP S/4HANA data model can drop or reshape fields. Validation proves that what arrived is complete and correct, and the data owners sign it.

Three levels of validation

Business validationData owners check samples and run processes with migrated data

Value reconciliationTotals that must match: open AP and AR by company code, stock value, open PO value

Count reconciliationRecords in source scope = selected = migrated + errors + approved exclusions

Validation builds from counts to values to business checks.

The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-dmg-202

Count reconciliation

Start with counts per object: how many records does the source hold for the agreed scope, how many did the cockpit select, how many were migrated, how many failed and how many were excluded with approval. Each pair must add up. The source count comes from an independent query in ECC agreed with the data owner, not from the cockpit, because the selection itself is one of the things you are testing. The downloadable list of selected records helps explain differences.

Object	Source scope (ECC)	Selected	Migrated	Errors	Excluded (approved)
Supplier	1,212	1,212	1,209	0	3
Product	9,004	9,004	9,000	0	4
Purchasing info record	3,380	3,377	3,377	0	0
Open purchase order items	2,500	2,500	2,498	2	0

What-if Mock 3 count reconciliation (fictional). The info record gap of 3 between source and selection is a finding to explain.

Value reconciliation

For objects with amounts, reconcile values by company code and currency: open supplier items in ECC versus in SAP S/4HANA, open PO value, and stock value if inventory is part of the transfer. Dan owns the finance reconciliations and expects zero difference or a written explanation for every dollar. Remember that financial objects post with migration clearing accounts that must net to zero once all are loaded, as the fundamentals course explained.

Source totalsSource ECC report for open AP items, company code AD01, at the freeze; target totals in company code 1910, in MXN
Target totalsSame selection in SAP S/4HANA after migration
CompareBy supplier, currency and document type; differences listed
ExplainEach difference traced to a record, mapping or rule
SignDan signs the AP reconciliation with explanations attached

Value reconciliation for open supplier items.

The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-dmg-202

Business validation

Counts and totals can match while individual fields are wrong. Data owners check samples in the business apps the object documentation recommends: is a sampled Alternadores supplier a business partner with the right roles, Mexican tax number, bank details, payment terms and purchasing data? Do migrated open POs show the right open quantities and prices? Then they run processes: receive the remainder of a migrated open PO, post the invoice, pay it. A migrated record that cannot be used in a process is a defect, even if every field looks right.

Currency and reporting views

Wave 2 values are in Mexican pesos. Reconcile open items and open PO values in the transaction currency and in company code currency (MXN) first, because that is what was migrated. Group reporting in USD is a later finance step, not part of the migration reconciliation. If exchange rates were loaded for the load date, check that they were not used to convert migrated amounts by accident. Dan signs the MXN reconciliation; the USD view is checked in the first close after go-live.

What would you do?

After Mock 3, supplier counts and AP open item totals reconcile perfectly. A data owner's sample shows that 12 of 50 sampled suppliers have the wrong payment terms in SAP S/4HANA. What does this mean for sign-off?

Key points

Validate in three levels: counts, values and business checks.
Source counts come from an independent query, not from the cockpit's selection.
Values reconcile by company code and currency with every difference explained.
Data owners sign after samples are correct and migrated records work in processes.