Easy Report Creation Using SAP Report

Building Tools (No Coding Required!)

Darius Bikulcius
PwC
Produced by Wellesley Information Services, LLC, publisher of SAPinsider. © 2016 Wellesley Information Services. All rights reserved.
In This Session

• You will get:

 An idea of how to build reports effortlessly

 An understanding of the features of reporting tools

 An insight on the benefits of using reporting tools

 An idea where reporting tools can be considered

 An idea how to built a report

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What We’ll Cover

• Importance of reports in business

• Need for reporting tools
• Reporting tools in ECC
• Where to consider reporting tools?
• Building a report
• Limitations and future of reporting tools
• Wrap-up

2
How Important Are Reports in Business?

• Reports are integral part to any business

• Any business activity whether sales, purchase, cost, revenue, payment, notification,
transaction, or master data requires reporting
• Any typical project will have 25-35 percent scope for reporting
• Many projects are carried out exclusive for reporting
• C-suite heavily depends on reports for their strategic decisions
• An informative report is priceless
• Annual budgets and plans are based on projected/forecasted reports
• Reports are required for both statutory and regulatory reports
• Performance and future of business is measured through reports

3
What We’ll Cover

• Importance of reports in business

• Need for reporting tools
• Reporting tools in ECC
• Where to consider reporting tools?
• Building a report
• Limitations and future of reporting tools
• Wrap-up

4
Need for Reporting Tools

• All business houses (large/medium/small) allocate and spend funds every year on
software or ERP systems or hardware to satisfy their reporting needs
• If proper analysis is made on reporting requirements and if reporting tools are used to
implement reports, there is the possibility for reduction in cost and time
• A typical project can have a minimum of 40 ECC custom reports other than SAP delivered
• On average, a basic report in ABAP requires 40 hours and a complex report may require
300 hours (from design to delivery)
• ABAP report requires functional experts apart from technical developers, team leads, and
managers

5
Need for Reporting Tools (cont.)

• Let’s see some stats:

ECC Reporting Spend (New Projects / Enhancements / Maintenance)

$ Value (If ABAP is used Savings if reporting tools
Clients Hours (36 Months) for reporting) used @ 30%
Pharma 14000 1050000 315000
Utility 11500 862500 258750
Manufacturing 9000 675000 202500
Chemical Industry 5200 390000 117000
Average rate per hour calculated based on global delivery model @ 75 /Hr.

• By leveraging ECC reporting tools, business houses can possibly experience benefit up
to 30% or 40 % on their spending

6
Need for Reporting Tools (cont.)

Cost and time efficient with minimal resources

Reduced effort and reduced dependency

Standard authorization at all levels

Business users can develop their own colorful reports

Drill-down option, output options, and friendly layout in no time

ABAP knowledge not required

No coding standards or code review required

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What We’ll Cover

• Importance of reports in business

• Need for reporting tools
• Reporting tools in ECC
• Where to consider reporting tools?
• Building a report
• Limitations and future of reporting tools
• Wrap-up

8
Reporting Tools in ECC

• SAP has provided several easy to use tools within ECC for reporting
• Can be used across ECC modules
• No additional cost
• No additional license
• Reduce development cost and time
• Each tool has its own features and has to be used based on reporting requirement

9
Reporting Tools in ECC (cont.)

Report Painter – WYSIWYG, easy to design

Report Writer – Flexible structural designing

Drill-Down Reports – WYSIWYG and interactive

Quick Viewer – Simple queries

SAP Query – Simple, statistical, rank reporting

InfoSet Query – Advanced reporting

WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get

10
Reporting Tools in ECC (cont.)

• Report Writer/Painter
 Functions based on libraries that are specially built for reporting

 Primarily serve Finance and Controlling modules, yet used in Logistics module also

 Used to build reports without the use of ABAP coding, “effective reports effortlessly”

 Characteristics and Key Figures form the base for reporting

 Ideal for reports related to Comparison, Variance, Rolling Period, Actual, Plan, and
Version

Both Report Painter and Writer belong to the same family and share common base objects
and features. Requirements drive the tool selection.

11
Reporting Tools in ECC (cont.)

• Drill-Down Reports
 A powerful and only reporting tool in ECC that provides interactive reporting

 Supports two types of reporting – Basic Report and Reports with form

 Basic Report – For ad hoc reporting

 Reports with form – For complex reporting

 Excellent navigation functionality within the levels and between sub-levels

 Distinguish between detail list and drill-down list within the report

 Helps to analyze Characteristics and Key Figures in the way user wants

 Can display a number of objects for a key figure or a number of key figures for an
object
Transaction FGI1 to create basic reports and FGI4 for form-based reports

12
Reporting Tools in ECC (cont.)

• Query (Ad Hoc Query)

 Simplest reporting tool in ECC

 Used to combine multiple tables and report out of it

 Can build reports with very little time and effort; used for ad hoc reporting

 Reports created using Quick Viewer can be accessed only by the author/developer

Transaction SQVI is used to create, change, execute, and delete queries

13
Reporting Tools in ECC (cont.)

• SAP Query
 Similar to Quick Viewer, but cannot directly work on tables

 Can work only on InfoSet

• SAP Query has the following additional reporting options:

 Statistical List – Allows you to specify the sequence of display, sorting order, the
number of records, and percentage share to calculate totals to determine average
values
 Ranked List – Similar to statistical list, except that the sorting can only be based on
numeric field, which enables ranking

Transaction SQ01 is used to create, change, execute, and delete queries

14
Reporting Tools in ECC (cont.)
• InfoSet Query
 Possesses all the features of Quick Viewer and SAP Query except statistical and ranking list functionality

 Supports creating new fields, allows check boxes, lists, and selections

 Allows to include ABAP coding at various sections of reporting to address complicated requirements.
Available sections are:
 Initialization

 Record processing

 At selection screen output

 Start of selection/End of selection

 Top of page

 Free coding

Transaction SQ02 is used to create, change, execute, and delete queries

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What We’ll Cover

• Importance of reports in business

• Need for reporting tools
• Reporting tools in ECC
• Where to consider reporting tools?
• Building a report
• Limitations and future of reporting tools
• Wrap-up

16
Reporting Tools in ECC

Decision Criteria Reporting Tools ABAP Reports

Simple queries with combination of multiple tables X
Reports with drill-down option X
Reports based on fixed periods (Monthly/Half Yearly) X
Comparison reports (Actual vs. Plan vs. Target) X
Hierarchy reports (based on Order groups/WBS X
Hierarchy)
Reconciliation reports X X
Validation reports X X
On-the-fly reports (ad hoc) X

17
Reporting Tools in ECC (cont.)

Decision Criteria Reporting Tools ABAP Reports

Reports that require:
Frequent modification on Characteristics and Key Figures X
Parsing of field values and extraction X
Validation on selection screen X
Multiple options based on user selection on selection X
screen
Conversion of user input X
Includes/Module pool/Subroutine and so on X
Dynamic reports based on user input values X X
Special formatted reports (tax format) X

18
What We’ll Cover

• Importance of reports in business

• Need for reporting tools
• Reporting tools in ECC
• Where to consider reporting tools?
• Building a report
• Limitations and future of reporting tools
• Wrap-up

19
Building a Report

• Let’s assume the requirement below:

• A summary report has to be designed to display the following for any given WBS or a
range of WBS elements for the given period:
 Cost Elements by Primary postings

 Cost Elements by segregated Partner objects (WBS/Orders/ Cost Centers)

 Listing of values for Actual, Plan, and Variance

 Option to specify version

 Drilldown based on line item and master data

 Hierarchy and non-hierarchy options required

20
Building a Report (cont.)

• Report Visualization – Selection and Display

Cost Object Report – Selection
Options WBS Elements
With Hierarchy Period
Without Hierarchy Year Cost Object Report (Display)
Version Columns
Actual Plan Variance
Rows
Cost Elements by Primary postings
Cost Elements by Partner object (WBS)
Cost Elements by Partner object (Order)
Cost Elements by Partner object (Cost Center)

21
Building a Report (cont.)

• Which tool should we consider for our sample report?

 Requirement drives the tool selection

 Per our requirement – Report Writer or Report Painter or InfoSet Query can be
considered
 Report Writer can be the best fit because:

 It is meant for hierarchy-based reports when compared with InfoSet query

 Multiple structured reporting is handled well by Writer when compared with Painter

 It is faster to develop

22
Building a Report (cont.)

• Activities involved in building a sample report using Report Writer

 Selecting Technical Objects

 Developing the Report

 Assigning Transaction code

 Transporting the report

 Testing the report

We will be building two reports, one with hierarchy and another without hierarchy and
tie them together to get the toggle option

23
Building a Report (cont.)

• Technical Objects required for developing the report

 Report Writer Tables

 Libraries

 Sets

 Variables

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Technical Objects — Report Writer Tables

• Source of data – Master and Transaction tables

• Relevant tables tied together to form Structures Report Writer/Painter Tables

• Key tables and structures required to build Characteristics (Cost Element,

reports are defined by SAP in T804A Company Code, Version, etc.)

Basic Key Figures (Actual Cost, Plan

• For adding any new table, the transaction code Cost, Quantity, etc.)
GRCT has to be used
Base Tables (COSS, COEP, COEJ, etc.)

GRCT is little tricky as it may need technical knowledge if standard filler routines or text
routines are not supported.
Filler routines are programs used to read data records for reporting, and text routines are
interface programs between reporting tools and base tables for texts.

25
Technical Objects — Library

• Has Characteristics and Basic Key Figures from

underlying tables
• Characteristics – Refers to elements or criteria
that cannot be valuated quantitatively
• Basic Key Figures – Refers to field value that can
be measured quantitatively (Amount, Quantity)
• Key Figures – Refers to Basic Key Figures,
which is further filtered by Characteristics
• Call-up reports – Refers to the report called from For our demo report we will be
using 6P3 library defined by SAP
another report for detailed or related information

Key Figure cannot be created directly, but can be copied from Basic Key Figure and renamed
using GS32. Basic Key Figures are defined during T804A table assignment. Transaction code
to create new library: GR21.
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Technical Objects — Sets

• Represents predefined values or variables

• Created with reference to table and field or just tables (CCSS-KSTAR, CCSS-AUFNR,
FAGLFLEXT-RACCT, FAGLFLEXT)
• SAP supports four types of sets:
 Single Set – used to create multiple single values (ranges not allowed)

 Basic Set – used to create range of values

 Multi Set – Used to create set groups (no reference to field values only table)

 Key Figure Set – Used to create key figure groups

 Key figures represent amounts or quantity for any given transaction whether it is

plan or actual or statistical (no reference to field values only table)

Transaction code to create sets: GS01

27
Technical Objects — Sets (cont.)

• Sets maintenance is simple, but helps in numerous ways for reporting

• Program RGSCPY00 is handy to create or duplicate sets or to overwrite
• Set masters provide various useful options like comparison and ambiguity check for set values
across set hierarchies
• Set masters also provide options to display summarized or exploded way of reporting set values

Rows Type Set Name Subset Remarks

ZP01- Multi set used here helps to breakdown level
005 Multi Set PRIMARY_CE1 Primary Postings after level
– Total Primary Cost
Basic Set Primary Transactions
– Cost by Primary Transactions
Object Number
– Each Transaction by Project
Variable - Set (Project Reps)
– Each Project by Cost Element
Variable - Set Cost Element * Levels can be exploded or summarized

Set sample
28
Technical Objects — Variables

• Created with reference to table and field

• SAP supports the following types of variables:
 Value – Can be assigned a default value or constant, or user input during runtime

 Formula – Can have formula based on variables, SAP exits, and user exits

 SAP exits refer to system variables whereas user exits refer to the value of user-

defined variables
 Variable Set is a set of values. Sets defined as a Variable Set will have an “&” symbol
prefix

Transaction code to create variable is GS11

29
Building a Report

• Developing the Report

 Definition

 General data

 Rows

 Columns

 Characteristics

 Layout

 Texts

 Report Group

 Call-up reports

 Authorization

30
Developing the Report — Report Definition

• Reports can be created only with reference to library

• Various reporting components are combined together in report definition to take the form
of the report

Transaction code to create report: GR31 (Report Writer), GRR1 (Report painter)

31
Developing the Report — General Data

• General Data Definition

 Defines report’s general definition. Fields defined here are common to the entire report.

 Controlling area, Fiscal Year, Period, and Projects are defined as general definition in
the sample report

General data for Hierarchy report

General data for Non-Hierarchy report

32
Developing the Report — Rows

• User requirements and/or report design decides how rows are to be defined
• A row can have a multi-set or single set depending on whether data has to be filtered or not
• A row can be assigned with a Set or Formula or Key Figure

Multiple
Row Block
in a section
Single Row
Block in a
section

In the sample report all the row blocks are multi-

sets since data is filtered based on partner
objects and cost elements
33
Developing the Report — Rows (cont.)

• Row with page break will display multiple pages vertically

• The order in which sets are arranged defines the level of totals and subtotals

Sets for Non-Hierarchy report

Sets for Hierarchy report

34
Developing the Report — Rows (cont.)

• Row characteristics
 Defines the row attributes whether a row has to be displayed, suppressed, expanded,
highlighted, or colored in the report
No. of rows in a report

No. of sets within a report

Number of levels to be
displayed for the report

Cosmetic specifications

35
Developing the Report — Columns

• Columns accepts only Sets. Formula or Key Figures has to be packed within the set and
then assigned to the column block.
• One or more columns make a column block
• Column with a page break creates a new page horizontally

Key figures

Formula for key

figures

36
Developing the Report — Columns (cont.)

• How do Key Figures work here?

Actual Plan
Value Type – Filter Value Type – Filter
by value type 4 by value type 1
from version 0 from version 1

Version – Filter by Version – Filter by

version 0 from total version 1 from total
cost cost

Total Cost – Filter Total Cost – Filter

cost for March 2016 cost for March 2016
from CCSS from CCSS
Structure Structure

37
Developing the Report — Columns (cont.)

• Columns in the sample report have the following sets/variables/key figures

Type Column Block Column # Column Values Description Table / Fields

Actual/Plan Costs
Key Figure Set ZP01-Actual_Plan CCSS
Comparison
Key Figure 001 ISWKG Actual Cost CCSS
Basic Key Figure SWKG Costs CCSS
Multi Set Total_Act_Cost Actual Version 0 CCSS
Basic Set Act_VERSN Version 0 VERSN
Basic Set Act_Value_Type Act Data (value Type 4) WRTTP

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Developing the Report — Layout

• Layout is required to define the characteristics for the following components:

 Page Control

 Columns

 Lead Columns

 Column Headings

 Rows

• Standard layout is assigned by default, but can be modified if required. Changes made to
the standard layout will be local to that report.

Transaction code to create layout is GR11

39
Developing the Report — Layout (cont.)

• Screenshot below shows how easy it can be to define a report layout

40
Developing the Report — Section
• Section
 Represents a block of rows or a row within a report

 Can have their own layout, header, page break, totals, color coding, and texts

 Layout can be overridden by report layout and vice versa

 Each section can have different set of Rows, Columns, Characteristics, and Key Figures

Row & Column design in report painter

Screen displayed here shows how rows

and columns can be created in Report
Painter – What You See Is What You
Get (WYSIWYG)
Define layout common to all sections within a vertical page
41
Developing the Report — Texts
• Texts define the title page, header, footer, end page, and text for export
• Title and end page appear only once for a report whereas header and footer appear for each section.
Text for export is used with MS Office integration.
• Text can be defined using any of the following:
 General variables (date of report/report name/author) Always define Texts after the
report is complete so that text
 Selection Parameters: Fields available in report selection
variables used can be validated
 Special variables: Master data related selection

 Characteristics: Characteristics used in report

42
Developing the Report — Report Groups
• A key component for both Report Writer/Painter
• Any report to be executed requires assignment to a report group
• Used for transporting the reports and creating transaction codes
• Call-up reports can be assigned to report groups Report group and the reports
assigned to that group should
share the same library – in
this case 6P3

Transaction code to create report

groups: GR51
43
Developing the Report — Call-Up Reports

• Call-up reports can be used to call any dependent report based on chosen line item. Both
library and report groups support call-up report assignment.

To assign call-up reports

Types of reports that can
View assigned reports Assigned call-up reports be assigned for call-up

44
Developing the Report — Authorizations

• Report Painter/Writer – Both reporting tools give a lot of emphasis to authorization

• Depending on the reporting requirement, authorization can be set at various levels
 Authorization is available at the following levels:

 Report Header

 Report Group Header

 Library Header

 Layout

 Transaction Code

45
Building a Report — Transaction Code Assignment

• Transaction code is required to execute reports

• Commonly, transaction codes are created based on program
• However in the case of Report Painter/Writer, SAP internally generates dynamic program
names based on each client, which will not be consistent across clients; hence SAP
generated program names cannot be used
• Report groups come in handy to create transaction codes

Transaction code SE93 to create transaction code for reports

46
Transaction Code

• Transaction code creation program provides the option to assign the type of report,
report groups, and variant

Choose “Transaction with

parameters” to be able to
assign report groups

Assign RW if report type

is Report Writer
Assign report group name
to the report

47
Building a Report — Transport

• Transport of report between systems

 Report Writer/Painter tool will not generate customizing or workbench request for
create or change activity
 Any report painter/writer activity can be moved to other systems/clients as a separate
activity
 The tool provides two options to move the report and its related objects:

 Export and Import

 Transport requests

Transaction code to create transport requests: GCTR

48
Transporting the Report

• Report Painter/Writer tool provides option to move individual objects separately or all the
related objects in one go

This is how report can be moved

using report groups

Use transport request method to move reports between systems and always use option
“with dependent objects” while creating a transport request
49
Building a Report — Report Execution
• Report Selection Screen
Controlling area is defaulting from
the set which is assigned in
general data (since its generic to
the entire report)

Plan version is defaulting from key

figure

Year is defaulting from the set

which uses system variable S001
to determine current fiscal year

From/To period is defaulting from

the set used in general data

Library 6P3 is specifically for WBS-based hierarchy; that’s why we get the above “Project
Management selections.” Same will not be available if we choose 6P1 or 6P2.
50
Report Execution

• Report Output – Hierarchy-based

 Report output has two outcomes since we have assigned two reports. As a toggle
option is not available in these reports, this functionality can be used to achieve the
same.

Output has listed

Hierarchy-based
reporting

51
Report Execution (cont.)

• Report Output – Hierarchy-based

Output has listed Non-

Hierarchy report

52
Report Execution (cont.)

• Call-Up Reports

Calling line
item report

Display line
item report

Here the output displays line item report for cost element 611008020, which has a total value $2,300
53
What We’ll Cover

• Importance of reports in business

• Need for reporting tools
• Reporting tools in ECC
• Where to consider reporting tools?
• Building a report
• Limitations and future of reporting tools
• Wrap-up

54
Limitations and Future of Reporting Tools

• Limitations of Reporting Tools

Not suitable for highly complex reports

Not all reporting tools provide interactive reporting

Intermediate validation is not possible

Replacement of field values based on select criteria is not possible

Statutory or any specific formatted reports is not possible

On-screen user input cannot be validated

55
Limitations and Future of Reporting Tools (cont.)

• Future of ECC reporting tools

 SAP vision towards “SIMPLE” — the next generation products — such as SAP
S/4HANA Finance (formerly SAP Simple Finance)/SAP S/4HANA Simple Logistics may
challenge the existence of current reporting tools
 Currently SAP updates all the existing tables along with new tables as part of SAP
S/4HANA Finance which means all existing tools will work
 SAP customers who remain on ECC or prior versions continue to use these reporting
tools
 SAP customers using these tools are fairly high and they continue to use in spite of
new Fiori-based reports even if they move to SAP S/4HANA Finance
 In the near future Fiori may support reports developed using reporting tools

 Reporting tools journey continues …

56
What We’ll Cover

• Importance of reports in business

• Need for reporting tools
• Reporting tools in ECC
• Where to consider reporting tools?
• Building a report
• Limitations and future of reporting tools
• Wrap-up

57
Where to Find More Information

Topics SAP Help Portal Link

Report Writer https://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp60_sp/helpdata/en/a9/80d35339874308e10000000a174cb4/content.htm

Report Painter https://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp60_sp/helpdata/en/5b/d22cee43c611d182b30000e829fbfe/content.htm

Quick Viewer http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw73ehp1/helpdata/en/4e/56e44e43184f47e10000000a42189e/content.htm

SAP Query https://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp60_sp/helpdata/en/d2/cb3efb455611d189710000e8322d00/frameset.htm

InfoSet Query http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp60_sp/helpdata/en/f6/c39138e4a0341fe10000009b38f8cf/frameset.htm

InfoSet / SAP Query /

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_46c/helpdata/en/eb/0a8ba835e1d311ba4d0800060d888b/frameset.htm
Quick Viewer – 4.6C

58
7 Key Points to Take Home

• Developing reports using reporting tools helps to lower cost and time. Possibility of
using ECC reporting tools has to be explored for new report development.
• Report Painter is a WYSIWYG reporting tool for simple reports
• Report Writer is for complex, multilevel hierarchical reports
• Quick Viewer is query-based reporting for ad hoc reports, which could have direct access
over tables
• SAP Query can provide statistical and rank-based reporting
• InfoSet Query supports ABAP coding; hence highly flexible
• Reporting tools cannot support specific formatted output and are not for complex
reporting

59
Your Turn!

How to contact me:

Darius Bikulcius
Email: [email protected]

Please remember to complete your session evaluation

60
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This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors.

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