Downtime-Optimized Conversion

Downtime and Business Restrictions

To obtain a transactional consistent state of Asset Accounting (FI-AA) before cloning the tables, new postings in Asset Accounting must be temporarily locked. By freezing the leading Asset Accounting tables in your system, we ensure that no further postings can be generated in the system (except for the postings required for period-end closing). The Asset Accounting lock is removed in the REQ_SMIG_APPL_UNLOCK phase.

Consider also the following constraints for the Finance components when planning the downtime:

  • For any Accounting component during the delta period (time after the short term lock for Asset Accounting until entering the downtime; time when the database triggers are active):

    • Only post the current period in the delta period. Do not make any postings in periods that have already been closed.

    • Do not perform any archiving.

    • Do not perform any balance carryforward.

    • Do not change anything in the customizing.

    • Do not change anything in the repository.

  • Asset Accounting (FI-AA)

    • Do not transfer legacy data (for example, using transaction AS91).

    • Do not carry out any fiscal year-end closing activities in Asset Accounting using transactions AJRW and AJAB.

    • Do not adjust any Asset Accounting data using reports that have names beginning with RACORR*.

    • Do not reopen any closed fiscal years.

    • Do not post full retirements or full retiring transfers starting the first day of the open period when triggers are activated.

    • Do not change Depreciation Key, Expired Useful Life or Depreciation Start Date of an asset during the delta phase.

    • To minimize the data volume and the downtime, avoid performing full regular period depreciation posting runs for all assets during the delta phase (calling report RAPOST200 and transaction AFAB).

  • Material Ledger Accounting

    • If you have activated Actual Costing in your system before the system conversion to SAP S/4HANA: Complete all Material Ledger costing runs for actual costing (transaction CKMLCP) as well as alternative valuation runs (transaction CKMLCPAVR). The reason for this is that after the conversion, you will not be able to perform any modifications to costing runs created before the conversion.

    • Do not change Material Ledger costing runs and do not run steps of Material Ledger costing runs during the conversion.

    • Do not activate or deactivate Material Ledger Actual Costing during the conversion for one or more plants.

      For more information, see SAP Note 2354768 Information published on SAP site.

    • Do not use transaction CKMSTART (Production Startup with Material Ledger).
    • Do not use transaction MMPI (Initialize Period for Material Master Records).

  • Inventory Management (MM-IM)

    • In the source system, do not archive materials and material documents (object MM_MATBEL).

    • Do not start MM-IM inconsistency reports to correct MM-IM data. Such changes are recorded in table MMINKON_UP.
    • Do not change the base unit of measure MARA-MEINS to simplify the conversion procedure.