In the enterprise resource planning landscape, SAP functional modules comprise the heart of the SAP software ecosystem, providing specialized components that streamline, optimize, and manage essential business processes and comprehensive solutions for businesses across various industries.
In this article, we’ll discuss the key components of the SAP Functional landscape, how the core functional modules improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the SAP landscape, and where SAP functional consultants (like the ones at Surety Systems) can come in to help.
What are SAP Functional Modules?
SAP Functional modules provide the specific functionality needed to help organizations manage and optimize front-end business processes and address critical business needs and requirements across different teams and departments.
Functional modules in SAP can also be integrated to provide a comprehensive solution for an organization’s business needs, allowing users to select and customize the modules most relevant to their industry and business processes to create a tailored SAP system.
List of Functional Modules in SAP Software
Here’s a list of all the SAP ERP modules included in the functional realm of the SAP software landscape:
Financial Accounting (FI)
The SAP Financial Accounting module provides a unified platform for tracking the flow of financial data across the organization, analyzing financial conditions across the organization and the market, and integrating all critical financial accounting information for more effective decision-making.
Here are a few critical business activities involved in SAP FI:
- Asset and general ledger accounting
- Accounts payable and the creation of vendor master data
- Accounts receivable and the creation of customer master data
- Tax configuration and the creation of the House of Banks
- Financial accounting global settings
- Integration with SAP MM and SD modules
- Tax accounting and financial statement management
- Customer and vendor master data management and governance
Controlling (CO)
The SAP Controlling module controls the flow of business processes across the entire organization, including coordinating, monitoring, managing, and optimizing a company’s most critical business operations and managing cost and revenue elements.
With SAP CO functionality, companies can understand how their funds are allocated, analyze planned vs. actual figures, and leverage advanced business strategies to improve decision-making.
Here are a few critical elements included in the SAP CO module:
- Cost center accounting
- Cost element accounting
- Activity-based accounting
- Profit center accounting
- Product cost controlling
- Profitability analysis
- Internal orders
Materials Management (MM)
The Materials Management module provides advanced material, inventory, and warehouse management capabilities that enable companies to manage the movement of materials across their entire supply chain and optimize overall supply chain planning.
This module tracks activities from initial quotation to pricing comparison, purchase orders, goods receipts, invoicing and invoice verification, and the actual issue of materials. It also provides pre-built integrations with other modules, like Supply Chain Management, Logistics, and Warehouse Management, to improve connectivity and efficiency across the board.
Production Planning (PP)
The Production Planning module leverages critical master data to improve production planning, including the manufacturing, sale, and distribution of goods across the supply chain.
It provides advanced management capabilities to facilitate more effective production processes, like work centers, production orders, and material requirements planning.
Here are a few key activities involved in the SAP PP module:
- Material requirement planning (MRP)
- Production orders
- Demand management
- Capacity planning and leveling
- Material master data management
- Bill of materials
- Work center management
- Product routing
Plant Maintenance (PM)
The Plant Maintenance module offers comprehensive management tools that enable organizations to control equipment inspection, preventative maintenance, and technical system repair processes more effectively, simplifying maintenance management and improving oversight across teams.
Quality Management (QM)
The Quality Management module enables quality production by combining production, procurement, planning, inspection, audit management, supply chain control, and more in the same location.
SAP QM is designed to help organizations implement and run quality control processes to prevent product defects, facilitate more robust quality control, reduce operating costs, enable continuous process improvement, and improve overall customer satisfaction.
Logistics Execution (LE)
The Logistics Execution module makes it easier for companies to control merchandising processes by enabling more efficient delivery creation, picking and packing, and goods issue posting across the entire organization.
The SAP LE module can be divided into two sub-components, Shipment of Goods and Warehouse Management, to improve overall material management processes and accelerate the transportation of goods between vendors and customers.
Sales and Distribution (SD)
The Sales and Distribution module is designed to help organizations outline the business processes required for efficient product and service delivery and support the entire sales lifecycle, from initial inquiry to sales order, delivery, and everything in between.
SAP SD makes it easier for companies to monitor sales transactions, create accurate sales documents, organize diverse sales and distribution processes, and improve the issue and transportation of goods.
Here are a few critical activities involved in the SAP SD module:
- Design and configuration of the organizational structure
- Sales documents, billing types, and tax-related components
- Customer master data records and configuration
- Assignment of organizational units and distribution channels
- Definition of pricing components and condition tables
Financial Supply Chain Management (FSCM)
The Financial Supply Chain Management module provides pre-defined integrations between financial management, banking, accounting, and supply chain information technology solutions to optimize transaction management and reduce overall financial risks.
With the FSCM module, companies can optimize the flow of financial and business information within their internal teams and between business partners, offering real-time insights into critical financial data and workflows and improving efficiencies across the entire financial value chain.
The SAP FSCM module contains the following components:
- Credit Management
- Dispute Management
- In-House Cash
- Treasury and Risk Management
- Collections Management
- Biller Direct
- Cash and Liquidity Management
Human Resources (HR)
The Human Resource Management module simplifies master data management and administration across the organization by improving employee workflows, enhancing the hiring and recruitment process, managing employee promotions, and facilitating more robust human capital management.
SAP HRM provides critical integration points between virtually all other areas of the SAP ERP landscape, including SAP FICO, SAP SD, SAP MM, SAP AM, and more, to improve personnel administration and create a more efficient flow of work across the board.
The SAP HRM module includes the following functionality:
- Recruitment and onboarding
- Payroll and time management
- Workforce planning
- Benefits and compensation management
- Employee and manager self-service
- Organizational management
- Personnel administration and development
Top 5 Advantages of Partnering with a Functional Consultant
Partnering with an SAP Functional consultant can save time and resources by avoiding common pitfalls in SAP implementations, enhancing user adoption, and contributing to successfully deploying SAP solutions in your organization.
However, it’s essential to choose the right SAP Functional consulting firm with the appropriate expertise in the specific SAP module(s) you require and to establish clear communication and expectations to maximize the benefits of the partnership.
Here are a few of the main advantages of working with a consultant in the SAP functional area:
1) Expertise and Knowledge: SAP Functional consultants are experts in their specific module(s) and possess in-depth knowledge of other SAP modules to facilitate better integrations. They understand the best practices, industry standards, and how to configure the software to meet your business requirements.
2) Customization and Optimization: Functional consultants can tailor SAP solutions to fit your organization’s unique needs. They can customize the system to align with your business processes, which can improve efficiency, streamline operations, and enhance user productivity.
3) Problem-Solving and Issue Resolution: With Functional consultants, companies can identify and address issues arising during SAP implementation or day-to-day system usage. Their troubleshooting abilities help to minimize downtime and keep your business processes running smoothly.
4) Training and Knowledge Transfer: Functional consultants can train your employees to ensure they have the skills to work with SAP effectively. This knowledge transfer empowers your team to use the system efficiently and reduces the reliance on external consultants in the long term.
5) Best Practices and Compliance: SAP functional consultants are well-versed in industry best practices and can guide your organization in aligning with these practices. They can also help you adhere to compliance and regulatory requirements, ensuring your SAP system follows relevant standards.
How Can We Help?
Whether you need help working with SAP S/4HANA’s Advanced Business Application Programming (SAP ABAP) language to create custom applications, additional support building and managing customer relationships in SAP CRM, or just an extra hand getting started with SAP, Surety Systems can help.
Our senior-level, US-based SAP consultant team has the knowledge, skills, and experience to handle all your most critical SAP projects and help you maximize your overall investment.
Getting Started with Us
Interested in learning how SAP Functional modules can help you improve customer relationship management, supply chain management, systems integration, and more? Ready to get started on a project with our team of SAP consultants?
Contact us today!
