Lesson 3 of 6
Finance validation
9 min
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Finance is where a conversion changes the most underneath the business. After the technical conversion, migration-relevant customizing and the data of general ledger, asset accounting, controlling and the material ledger are migrated into the new structures (the conversion guide points to SAP Note 2332030 for the finance conversion). Auditors and the CFO will ask one question: are the books the same after the conversion as before? Finance validation answers it with evidence.
Before the conversion
- Close the period cleanly in the source: all postings complete, period-end jobs finished, no parked work that will confuse comparisons. SAP's downtime course recommends executing period-end closing before the hard freeze.
- Run the finance pre-checks early: the controlling, general ledger and asset accounting pre-checks are part of the Simplification Item Check, and their findings need fixes in ECC.
- Extract the "before" picture with the same reports you will use afterwards, saved with variants and timestamps.
- Agree the comparison set with Dan and the auditors in advance: which reports, which tolerance (for most, zero), who signs.
- Period close in EP1 copyPostings complete; jobs finished
- Extract beforeAgreed reports per company code 1710 and 1810, ledgers 0L and 2L
- ConvertSUM, then finance data migration; monitor until complete
- Extract afterThe same reports, same selections, in the converted system
- CompareDifferences listed, explained or raised as defects
- SignDan and the auditors accept the result
What to compare
| Area | Comparison | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|
| General ledger | Balances per company code, ledger, account and period (trial balance) | Zero |
| Accounts receivable | Open items per customer, for example Great Lakes Fleet Services, and totals per reconciliation account | Zero |
| Accounts payable | Open items per supplier, for example Lakeside Components | Zero |
| Asset accounting | Acquisition values, accumulated depreciation and net book value per asset class and depreciation area | Zero |
| Inventory valuation | Stock quantity and value per material and plant, for example CMC-ALT-100 in plants 1710 and 1720 | Zero |
| Controlling | Totals per cost center and internal order for the current fiscal year | Zero |
| Document counts | Number of journal entries per company code and period | Explained differences only |
Contoso's finance comparison set, agreed with Dan. Use your own chart of accounts and organizational units.
Tooling: Data Transition Validation and the migration monitor
SAP offers Data Transition Validation (DTV), which the conversion guide describes as a tool to compare business data before and after a system conversion from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA, using business reports or transactions as instruments of comparison, with predelivered content; it is part of the standard license. The guide's approach mirrors the loop above: define the reports with the lines of business and auditors, create a project and test specifications in DTV, extract data from the source during ramp-down, and validate in the target afterwards. Check the DTV documentation for your release for which comparisons are delivered.
During the finance data migration itself, transaction FINS_MIG_STATUS shows the migration activities and their status. Where errors occur, SAP's guidance allows accepting them only when the root cause is known and follow-up is clarified. For the test lead, every accepted error is a finding with an owner, an explanation and, if it affects balances, a reconciliation impact Dan must accept explicitly.
- Do before and after match within tolerance?Yes → record evidence · No → next question
- Is the difference explained by a known, intended change (for example a data model change in document counts)?Yes → document the explanation for Dan and the auditors · No → raise a defect
- Did the difference come from an accepted migration error?Yes → link to the accepted error and its follow-up · No → root-cause before the next mock
What would you do?
In Mock 2, the general ledger trial balance matches, but the asset net book value for one asset class differs by $12,400. What should Priya do?
- Close the period, run finance pre-checks and extract the "before" picture with agreed reports.
- Compare GL, AR, AP, assets, inventory and controlling with zero tolerance unless a difference is explained.
- Data Transition Validation supports before/after comparison with predelivered content.
- Accepted migration errors need root cause, owner and Dan's explicit acceptance of any balance impact.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which SAP tool compares business data before and after a conversion using business reports?
2. The GL trial balance matches but asset values differ. What is the status?
3. Which transaction monitors the finance data migration activities?
4. When should the "before" finance picture be extracted?