PA

Q. Client concept in SAP

A Client is the top-most organizational structure, which has its own set of master records. A Client is denoted by a 3-character alphanumeric code in SAP, and is a mandatory element. The settings made at the Client level, data maintained, etc., are available across all the Company Codes. A Client should have at least one Company Code defined.

SAP comes delivered with Clients 001 and 002, which contain all the default settings. Usually, copying from the default Clients creates additional and new Clients.

Typically, in SAP, you will have different ‘types’ of Clients; namely:  

• Development Client
• Test Client
• Production Client  

In any implementation, you must have at least three types of Clients as mentioned above. There are some companies where you will have more than three. These include:

• Development Client
• Test Client
• Quality Assurance Client
• Training Client
• Production Client

A Development Client is also called a ‘sand box’ Client and is sometimes known as a ‘play’ Client. This is the logical place in the SAP system where you try out new configurations, write new programs, etc. This is the place, as the name suggests, where you can ‘play’ around before finalizing a scenario for customization.

Once you are okay with the configuration or a new program, you will then move it manually (transport) to the ‘Test Client’ where you will carry out all the tests (both modular and integration). The end-users are provided with the training using the ‘training’ Client. Sometimes both the ‘test’ and ‘training’ Client are in a single ‘instance.’ The ‘quality assurance’ Client helps with necessary quality checks before something is ready to be passed on to the ‘production’ Client.

After satisfactory results, it will be transported (automatically) to the ‘Production Client’ (also called the ‘Golden Client’). You will not be able to make any modifications, manually, to the ‘production’ Client and the authorization is very limited because this Client is responsible for day-to-day business transactions and any issues here will jeopardize all business operations, which is why this is also called the ‘live’ Client.

Q. Overview of Enterprise Structure

A. The enterprise structure is one of the HR structures. The HR enterprise structure composition depends upon the HR administrative, time and payroll functions for that company.
The enterprise structure for Personnel Administration is made up of the following elements.

1. Client : an independent legal and organizational unit of the system
2. Company Code : An independent company with its own accounting unit;a company that draws its own balance sheet
3. Personnel Area : A specific entity for Personnel Administration; a sub division of the company code
4. Personnel SubArea : A sub division of the personnel Area

Q. Overview of Personnel Structure

A. The organizational personnel structure describes how the employee is positioned in the organization. This is an individual perspective of an employee in an organization. It comprises of the employee group, the employee sub group and the organization plan (org unit, position, job) for that employee.

Q. Company code

A.The company code is the smallest organizational unit of external accounting in which a complete and isolated financial accounting can be created. All events that affect the company code and the creation of all statements for a legal financial statement, for example balances, profit and loss calculation are contained within the company code organizational units.

Within a client, the company code represents the highest level of the enterprise structure. In Customizing, the company code is defined by a four-character, alpha-numeric code.

In Personnel Administration, the company code has the following control functions:

• · Default values for data entry, for example, an employee’s payroll area.
• · Reporting.
• · Authorization check unit.

At the company code level, the following control features are assigned which are relevant for Personnel Administration:

• · Employee’s personal data, address data, and bank data.
• · Currency key for employee’s basic pay.
• · Language code for text output, for example, employee remuneration information.

Q. Personnel Area

A. A personnel area is a Personnel Administration specific unit and is the subunit of the company code. The individual personnel areas in a company code have four digit alphanumeric identifiers. The personnel areas within a client must be clear.

A personnel area is divided into several personnel subareas.

Personnel area has the following functions:

• To generate default values for data entry – for payroll accounting area.
• It is a selection criteria for reporting.
• It constitutes a unit in authorization checks.

Example:The Berlin site of Company X is physically separated by a railroad line. This could mean that two different tax or employment offices are responsible for the respective areas. In this case, it would define a personnel area "Berlin" and two personnel subareas.

SPRO - > Enterprise Structure -> Definition -> Human Resources Management -> Personnel Area

Q. Personnel Sub Area

A. A personnel subarea represents a subunit of the personnel area. It is at this level that the organizational control of pay scale structures, wage type structures, and work schedules occurs. A personnel subarea is identified by a four-character alphanumeric code.

The personnel subarea has the following functions:

• Determines the country grouping;
• Setting up and processing wage types and pay scale groups in payroll
• Groupings for time management, work schedules etc.
• Pay scale type and area in an employee's basic pay
• Holiday calendar

SPRO -> Enterprise Structure -> Definition -> Human Resources Management -> Personnel Sub Are

Q. Employee Groups

A. Employees are divided within a company into employee groups. This is a fairly high level division which defines the relationship employees have to the company on the basis of their working status.For example, common employee groups in personnel administration would be active employees, retirees/pensioners, early retirees.

The following essential organizational functions can be carried out using the employee group:

• Payroll accounting area or for the basic pay of the employee
• Evaluations
• Authorization check

SPRO -> Enterprise Structure -> Definition -> Human Resources Management-> Employee Group

Q. Employee Subgroups

A. An employee subgroup is a further subdivision of the employee group. Within the active workforce, the employee group can be subdivided into subgroups based on how and when the employees get paid. The main difference here is that salaried workers have a set salary, whereas wage-earners are paid for the work they perform; they are either paid for the time they work, i.e. per hour, or for some other unit, such as piece work.

Employee subgroups are grouped further for the purposes of the following:

• Payroll calculation rule
• Primary wage types
• Collective agreement provision
• Work schedule
• Time quota
• Appraisal
• Employment status

SPRO -> Enterprise Structure -> Definition -> Human Resources Management-> Employee Subgroups

Q. Employee attributes

A. Whatever employee groups and employee subgroups you have defined in enterprise structure, for them, you have to assign one of the following employee attribute statuses to those employee groups and employee subgroups. There are 4 types of employee attributes namely-

(A). Activity status- The activity status can be set as follows:

• 1 = Active employee
• 2 = Retiree
• 3 = Early retiree
• 9 = Other
• 4 = Part-time work for retirees

(B). Employment status-The employment status can be set as follows:

• 1 = Industrial worker/hourly paid worker
• 2 = Salaried employee
• 3 = Civil servant
• 9 = Other

(C). Education and training status-The training status can be set as follows:

• 1 = Trainee/apprentice
• 2 = Trained
• 9 = Other

(D). Salaried employee category

Q. Name the three administrators? How do you default these in IT0001?.
A. The three administrators are

• Personnel Administrator
• Payroll Administrator
• Time Administrator

Besides these, the employees can also be assigned to:

• Group Administrator
• A Supervisor

These are defaulted through the feature PINCH.