When transitioning to SAP S/4HANA, SAP offers a standard migration tool known as the “migration cockpit“. While this tool can be useful, it’s essential to understand its limitations before deciding to use it for your financial data migration, such as balance sheets, profit and loss statements (P&L), and work in progress (WIP)
Unmodified Data Transfer
One of the most notable features of the migration cockpit is that all postings are transferred one-to-one (“as is”) from the legacy accounting system. This means that outdated posting structures remain unchanged and any posting errors cannot be cleaned up. For companies looking to cleanse or restructure their financial data during the migration, this can pose a significant limitation.
Limited Selection Options
The cockpit offers little flexibility in selecting specific entries for migration. It’s not possible to exclude certain parts of the financial data, which can be problematic when working with connected external systems that contain additional financial information. For example, data from Accounts Payable (such as invoice scanning software) or Accounts Receivable (such as debtor monitoring) cannot be selectively migrated.
Limited Transformation or Enrichment
Another significant limitation is the lack of capabilities for data transformation or enrichment during the migration process. If your organization wishes to implement new project structures or work methods in SAP S/4HANA, the migration cockpit offers little support for this. It only allows for a straightforward mapping of data from source to target. In essence, you remain constrained by the old working methods and data structures.
Excessive Data Transfer
For long-running projects, the cockpit cannot migrate selectively or in aggregated form. All historical details are transferred, even if they have become less relevant. This can lead to an unnecessarily large amount of data being migrated and stored in the cloud, affecting both efficiency and costs.
No Phased Migration
The migration cockpit does not support a phased approach, such as a ‘two-stage rocket’ where balances are transferred first to quickly make the business operational, followed by a later migration of details. Or for ‘long-standing projects’ where historical data is less relevant and a balance would suffice. This limitation can significantly impact the flexibility and speed of your migration.
Faster Depletion of Number Ranges
An often overlooked disadvantage is that when migrating large amounts of historical data, you’ll run through your number ranges (such as document and journal entry numbers) more quickly. This can pose administrative challenges in the long term.
Conclusion
While the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit offers an accessible solution for data migration, its limitations are significant, especially for organizations with complex financial structures or specific migration needs. It’s crucial to carefully weigh these limitations against your organizational needs and migration objectives. For many businesses, it may be worthwhile to consider specialized migration solutions that offer more flexibility and control over the migration process of critical financial data.
SAFI Financial Migration Software:
Beyond the Standard Migration Cockpit for Financial Objects:
When a financial SAP S/4HANA data migration becomes more complex, involving changes in posting processes in the new situation or requiring significant transformations, the Standard Migration Cockpit of SAP S/4HANA considerably limits your migration capabilities. Our SAFI (SAp FInancial data migration) software bridges the limitations of the standard SAP migration cockpit, with special focus on balance sheet migration, profit and loss transfer, and the migration of work-in-progress project balances. Discover how we can accelerate and optimize your financial data migration (YouTube Demo). We strongly recommend getting well-informed in advance to prevent surprises during the project. We welcome inquiries not only from end clients but also collaborate with fellow migration specialists. Please don’t hesitate to contact us.