Lesson 5 of 5
What changed from ECC
9 min
Contoso's order-to-cash users have worked in SAP ECC SD for years. Most of their transactions still exist in SAP S/4HANA, and a seasoned user can enter an order in VA01 on day one. Underneath, several things changed. Some change what users do; others change what the system stores, which matters for reports, interfaces and tests. SAP lists all of them as simplification items, and the readiness check for a conversion reports which ones affect a given system.
| Area | ECC SD | SAP S/4HANA |
|---|---|---|
| Customer master | Customer maintained with XD01 / VD01 | Business partner with customer roles; customer vendor integration keeps them in step |
| Credit management | FI-AR credit management; SD check types A, B, C | SAP Credit Management; check type D |
| Document status | Separate status tables for header and item | Status fields held directly on the document header and item tables |
| Pricing data | Pricing conditions in a cluster table | A new pricing element table; custom code that read the old table must change |
| Output | Message control with condition-based output | New output management is the default for many documents; classic output still possible in places |
| Rebates | SD rebate agreements | Settlement management with condition contracts |
| Material number | Up to 18 characters | Up to 40 characters, where activated |
| User interface | SAP GUI transactions | Fiori apps alongside SAP GUI transactions |
Changes users notice
Business partner. New customers are created as business partners with roles, not with the old customer transactions. Great Lakes Fleet Services is one business partner with a customer role for financial data and another for sales data in sales area 1710 / 10 / 00. The sales master data course covers this in detail.
Credit management. Credit limits sit on the business partner in SAP Credit Management, and orders that fail the check are released through its release functions. Credit controllers learn new screens; sales users see a credit block as before.
Fiori apps. Apps such as Manage Sales Orders, Sales Order Fulfillment monitoring and Manage Billing Documents give list views, filters and drill-downs that replace several ECC lists. The old transactions remain for users who prefer them.
Changes that matter for reports and tests
Status tables. ECC kept order and delivery status in separate tables; SAP S/4HANA stores status fields on the documents themselves. Pricing. The pricing conditions of documents moved to a new table. Document flow was simplified as well. Standard programs were adjusted, but custom reports and interfaces that read the old tables must be remediated, and any report that changed must be compared with ECC results in testing.
Output. Order confirmations and invoices may be produced by the new output management rather than the ECC message control. Forms, email settings and print routing are often rebuilt, which makes invoice output a common source of go-live defects. Test the content, the channel and the recipient of every output type the business uses.
Some things did not change, and it helps to say so to anxious users. Order types, item categories, copy control, pricing procedures, partner determination and the document chain itself work as they did in ECC. A conversion keeps Contoso's configuration of these, so a well-run order-to-cash process in ECC remains recognizable on day one. The testing effort belongs where the data model or the tooling changed.
What would you do?
After Contoso's first test conversion, the custom 'open orders by customer' report shows every order as open, including fully billed ones. ECC showed the right result. What is the most likely cause?
- Simplification items list every change; the readiness check shows which apply to your system.
- Users notice the business partner, SAP Credit Management and Fiori apps.
- Status fields, pricing data and document flow changed in the data model; remediate and compare custom reports.
- Output management and rebate processing changed; test output content, channel and recipient end to end.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. In SAP S/4HANA, where are sales document status fields stored?
2. What replaces SD rebate agreements in SAP S/4HANA?
3. Why is invoice output a common source of go-live defects after conversion?
4. Where do you find which simplification items affect Contoso's system?