Lesson 4 of 6
Evidence standards
10 min
Criteria say what must be true. Evidence shows that it is. An evidence standard tells testers, before they start, exactly what to capture for each scenario, so that a reviewer who was not there can confirm the result. Without a standard, every tester invents their own, and most default to screenshots of success messages.
The three evidence sources in SAP
| Evidence | What it proves | How to capture it |
|---|---|---|
| Document flow and statuses | Every expected document exists and each step is complete | Expanded document flow from the order, delivery or billing document; PO history for purchasing; record document numbers |
| Journal entries | The financial result is right: accounts, amounts, profit center, segment | Accounting overview from the logistics document, or Manage Journal Entries; compare with expected values |
| Reports and analytics | Totals and balances agree, controls and blocks behave | Standard analytical apps or reports with selection criteria recorded; reconciliations where needed |
Three evidence sources and what each proves.
Defining "enough"
Not every scenario needs the strongest evidence. A sensible standard varies by risk:
- Financially relevant scenarios (billing, goods movements of valuated stock, supplier invoices, payments): document flow plus journal entry checked against expected accounts and amounts.
- Control scenarios (credit block, approval, tolerance): proof that the control triggered: the block status, the approval record, the payment block on the invoice.
- Master data and configuration checks: a display of the record or setting with the key values, plus the change document if it was changed.
- Reports: the selection, the output and a reconciliation to a known figure.
Every scenario, whatever its risk, should record: scenario ID, tester, date, system and client (for example QAS client 100), data used, document numbers, expected and actual results, and the pass/fail decision.
Expected values are part of the evidence standard. A tester cannot judge "pass" on a journal entry unless the scenario says which accounts, amounts and profit center to expect. For Contoso's sale of 50 alternators at an agreed price, the expected result names the receivable on Great Lakes Fleet Services, the revenue account, the tax, and the cost of goods sold at the $150 Detroit standard cost per unit. Writing these down before execution is the single biggest improvement most test packs can make.
Where evidence lives
Keep evidence with the test run in your test management tool, so it is versioned and linked to the test case and to any defects. SAP Cloud ALM and SAP Solution Manager both support attaching results to test executions. Name files consistently (scenario ID, step, date) and avoid evidence in personal e-mail or local folders, where it cannot be audited.
- Is the expected result written down before execution?Yes → continue · No → the scenario cannot pass; write it first
- Does the evidence show the business result (documents, statuses, postings)?Yes → continue · No → return to tester for stronger evidence
- Do actual values match expected values?Yes → pass · No → fail and raise a defect with both values
- Could a reviewer confirm this without asking the tester?Yes → accept · No → evidence is incomplete
What would you do?
A UAT tester at Contoso marks a goods receipt scenario as passed with a screenshot of "Material document 5000001876 posted." The scenario is financially relevant. What should the reviewer do?
- Set evidence standards before testing, by scenario type and risk.
- Use document flow, journal entries and reports as the three SAP evidence sources.
- Record scenario ID, tester, date, system, client, data, document numbers, expected and actual results.
- Keep evidence with the test run in the test management tool, not in e-mail.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What does a journal entry prove that document flow does not?
2. What evidence suits a control scenario such as a credit block?
3. Why are document numbers better than screenshots alone?
4. Where should evidence be stored?