# SAP - aaaaaaaargh......



## zag (13 Feb 2004)

Has anyone come across a SAP implementation that has actually made things easier ?

A few of our customers have implemented it in the last year or so and it just seems to be a nightmare.

Problems vary from not being able to print out a remittance advice ('because the system won't let me') and resorting to having to hit PrintScreen to get some form of output from the thing, to having a PO raised in a currency which we have never billed in before and being stuck with it because they can't raise a new PO for something which has already been completed and they can't re-enter the transaction because it will never show as being completed, to having invoices returned because the total is *lower* than the PO amount, to re-issuing an invoice (at their request) and having to wait a further month for payment because they *ONLY* pay 28 days after the invoice date, to our current problem which is a PO amount which is never going to match because we included VAT (as we have to do since it is a VAT'able transaction) and they reckon that because it was a US branch of the organisation which is the cost centre (and they don't know anything about VAT) it shouldn't have attracted VAT even though we reckoned we were dealing with the same Dublin office we have always been dealing with  . . .

It's wrecking my head . . .

z


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## sueellen (13 Feb 2004)

zag,
"It's wrecking my head"
Have heard many people complain generally about SAP.  As far as I can recall its in our company about 2 years now and the people immediately involved with it in our Fin. Dept. were pulling their hair out in the early days.  I only process the invoices and foward on to SAP and to-date have not been impressed with its capabilites. Accruals and month end -aaaaaaaargh......


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## unregistered (16 Feb 2004)

*Re: SAP*

Excuse my ignorance but what does SAP stand for?
Many thanks!


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## Slash (16 Feb 2004)

ERP packages like Oracle and SAP are very powerful tools which can deliver significant efficiencies and cost savings.

All of the problems that you have described can, and probably will, be resolved. If I were you, i would ask why the implementation was allowed to go ahead before those problems had been ironed out.


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## rainyday (16 Feb 2004)

Yah - Stop blaming the system - Blame the people who install/configure/manage/test the system.


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## zag (16 Feb 2004)

unregistered - I don't actually know what SAP stands for.  As far as I can tell it is a huge software system which huge organisations can implement with the aim of standardising and giving structure to their operating procedures.

As in my example, it can mean that *nothing* is paid unless there is a valid PO on the system and the details of the PO match the details on the invoice, and so on.  All very laudable and potentially efficient, but experience has shown that it doesn't quite work that way.

I did try to find out how we could end up with a PO in a currency we have never billed in before (as in, how could the system allow for this situation ?), but was met with answers along the lines of
1) I'm only the vendor setup person, I don't know how the buyer did the input.
2) I'm only the buyer, I thought if the system allowed me to  change the currency then it must be OK.
3) This is SAP - it must be an error on your part.

I know the problems will ultimately be resolved, but only by a large amount of persistence on my part.  I just think that the whole mindset is just mad - SAP says it is right so it must be right, adjust your own records.

z


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## stobear (16 Feb 2004)

It's a German company, which when translated means 'Stop All Production'!! And it does it very efficiently. Ha


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## ajapale (16 Feb 2004)

*SAP - Meaning of the Acronym*

I did a google search using "What does SAP mean?" and got the following on one of the links.www.sapdesignguild.org/FAQ.ASP#sap



> Question: Could you please let me know what SAP stands for?
> 
> Answer: S = systems, A = applications, P = products, that is, "Systems, Applications, and Products (in data processing)." This name is based on the original German name "Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte (in der Datenverarbeitung)."
> 
> ...



ajapale


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## jdwexford (16 Feb 2004)

> Yah - Stop blaming the system - Blame the people who install/configure/manage/test the system.



Often it's the users themselves (or their bosses) who are to blame-for not making the effort to have their requirements properly spelled out at the start of the project.


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## zag (16 Feb 2004)

In a truly all-inclusive way, I include the users and designers in the definition of the system.

If you exclude them and just talk about the software, then the system will never work as it needs user input at all stages from project initiation through to completion of individual transactions.

z


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## jdwexford (16 Feb 2004)

> In a truly all-inclusive way, I include the users and designers in the definition of the system.



To be clear, I agree totally


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## kad (21 Feb 2004)

*people soft*

I used sap before and found it very UN-user friendly.... you need to have a good admin person at the wheel. A friend working in the states who had also used sap agreed and told me he worked with people soft and said it will pass out sap, a far better product, I have only heard of it... but thats what the man said.


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## ninsaga (22 Feb 2004)

*Re: people soft*

Believed that SAP stood for Systems Applications Program.....


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## daltonr (3 Mar 2004)

*Re: people soft*

Isn't SAP a term used by the company to refer to their customers?

-Rd


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## zag (3 Mar 2004)

*Result !*

It appears that SAP is indeed a brilliant thing.

Remittance advice arrived today.

Interesting things about this statement :
1) it arrived at all
2) it was in the original currency (i.e. the one we thought it was supposed to be in, and not the one they raised the PO in)
3) it included VAT, even though this was apparently not possible once the PO had been raised

I think they must have installed the new self-healing patch whereby the system recognised that it was in a mess and set about fixing itself and in the process generated our remittance.

Woohoo (the simple things in life, eh ?),

z


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## 2004 (19 Mar 2004)

*SAP*

Hi Zag,
I support SAP so feel free to post any queries and I will try and help you. In order to change a completed PO it is necessary to remove the completed tick (double click on line item and remove tick), then reverse PO - transaction MB01, movement type 102
Regards
2004


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## Sappho (26 Mar 2004)

*What does SAP stand for?*

We used to call it Hitler's Revenge


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## Mr Techie (1 Apr 2004)

*Sending SAP business documents...*

I've come across a solution to the problem of extracting raw data from SAP and sending invoices, account statements, etc:  

[broken link removed]


[broken link removed]


The problem is that you have to be a software engineer to write SAPscript to extra data from SAP.  

I've seen this DeliveryWare in action - it's about the same level of complexity as printing a document or sending an email.


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