Cracking the SAP S/4HANA Interview: Get Your Dream Job Today with Intelligent Responses to the Employer

By Sudipta Malakar

This book will guide you through the process about what you need to know and help you perform at your highest level to achieve SAP S/4 HANA and some of the best practices available today.

This book can assist you in acing employment interviews. This book provides an in-depth practical illustration of SAP S/4HANA 2020, 1909, and 2021 fundamentals with several examples. It contains graphical demonstrations and visual descriptions of the commands and methods available in the SAP S/4 HANA Migration Cockpit. It includes thorough hands-on practice showcasing Fiori, BPC, SAP S/4 HANA Central Finance, and Group reporting subjects using SAP S/4HANA standards. Many applications and industry-wide projects are included in the book.

After reading this book, you will be able to reliably perform Basis, Security, SD, MM, PP, FICO, and HCM operations, as well as define complicated tasks in SAP S/4 HANA from the very first day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BPB Online LLP
• Release date: Dec 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9789355512338

Book preview

Introduction

Change is difficult. Changing culture is even more difficult. Adopting SAP S/4 HANA requires a change of culture and mindset. Many organizations and teams have made many SAP S/4 HANA implementation mistakes during implementation/transformation/system conversion.

Certified S/4HANA SAP practitioners are in high demand. Organizations seeking to adopt SAP S/4 HANA always choose Agile Scrum or KANBAN as their framework. Thus, a large part of the team's success depends on skilled professionals. It is on their hands to make a difference in the dynamics and performance of an agile SAP S/4 HANA team. Whether you are new to SAP S/4 HANA or already an expert, it is beneficial to know how to prepare for a job interview in this field.

To ace your job interviews, you need to understand the role of interviewers and what they are trying to accomplish. Sure, they want to hire someone for the position, but they want to hire the right person. It is their goal to make an informed and reasonable decision, so every question they ask has meaning and importance. The questions they ask aren't random; they don't pull them out of a hat and hope that they can divine who the right person for the job is. Every question is designed to illuminate and clarify some piece of information about you so that they can determine whether you are the best person to hire. In the broadest terms, every question asked in an interview addresses at least one of the following four main concerns:

Can you do the job?

Who are you?

Will you fit in at the company?

What will you cost us?

Understanding the subtext of a question can help you customize your responses so that you provide the needed information and remain a viable candidate. Nervous about your interview? You are studying day and night, but you are still very nervous. How to crack job interviews?

This book can help you ace job interviews. It's compact size makes it fit easily in your purse or briefcase, and a flashcard-like format arms job seekers with the can't miss, sure hire answers interviewers want to hear, make it your buddy before your interviews. Jam packed with... real life questions that seem ludicrous but will likely be asked on your next interview.

This book uncovers the different areas from which questions are asked and explores the most commonly asked questions. We hope these will help you while preparing for your job interview. Pragmatic approaches and techniques are used.

The examples given in this book are user-centric and have been highly updated, including topics, figures, strategies, best practices, and real-life examples, demos, and case studies. It gives in-depth knowledge of around 21,000+ HANA interview questions and answers along with "Practice Tests on HANA".

This book promises to be a very good starting point for beginners and an asset for those having insights into Agile, SAP S/4 HANA, and technical best practices. In a tough market with strong competition for just a handful of roles, you need to be the best on the day. Only careful preparation and ensuring that you match everything you say and do to the specific role, employer, and even interviewer will position you as a serious contender for the role. This book, once again, combines a proven, thorough approach with practical tips that will equip you with the skills, examples, and confidence required to achieve interview success.

Why are you on the market right now?

If our roles were reversed, what questions would you ask?

Sell me this stapler!

Tough questions like these can unnerve even the most confident jobseeker, proving that it's not always the best candidate who gets the job, it's the best interviewee. Whether a first time jobseeker, career changer, or returning after a break, Job Interviews: Top Answers to Tough Questions is your indispensable toolkit, now thoroughly revised and updated to reflect today's demanding job market, featuring the following:

21,000 PLUS Real time S_4HANA 2020, 2021, 1909 interview questions and answers and proven strategies to get hired as a SOFTWARE professional and to the interviews

Additional references on Practice Tests on HANA

A 'fast track' preparation option if your interview is tomorrow!

More sample answers to challenging questions

Insights into the employer mindset when vacancies are thin on the ground

Understanding various components of your SAP S/4HANA project

Forecasting and tracking your success throughout the SAP S/4HANA implementation

Build a solid business case for your SAP S/4HANA program

Discover how the implementation approach varies across these components

CHAPTER 1

SAP S/4 HANA 2020, 2021, 1909 Interview Questions

Introduction

Nothing is more crucial to landing your dream job than a stellar performance in the interview, that nerve wracking final step to every job search. Extensively updated and revised for today's highly competitive employment market, this compact and concise handbook will prepare you for the most challenging and frequently asked questions you may encounter. Following each question is a list of savvy, can't miss sample answers that can be easily modified to reflect your own experience level, skills, and qualifications.

What is HANA SAP? HANA (High Performance Analytical Appliance) is an in-memory database engine from SAP that is used to analyze large data sets in real time; these data sets reside entirely in memory. It is a database system that totally changes the DBMS methodology, and it can be deployed on premise or over cloud.

What is new in HANA? HANA is the first system to let you perform real-time online application processing (OLAP) analysis on an online transaction processing (OLTP) data structure. The following figure outlines the available options for a central finance environment:

SAP S/4 Version Interoperability On Premise 1511 > 1909

Figure 1.1: SAP S/4 Version Interoperability On Premise 1511 > 1909

(Image Source: SAP SE / AG)

The following figure outlines SAP S/4HANA 1909 Embedded Analytics Integrating SAP S/4HANA and SAP:

Figure 1.2: SAP S/4HANA 1909 Embedded Analytics Integrating SAP S/4HANA and SAP

(Image Source: SAP SE / AG)

Structure

In this chapter, we will discuss the interview questions on the following topics:

SAP S/4 HANA 2020

SAP Kernel

RFC Blacklist

CHIP

SAP S/4 HANA Basis

SAP S/4 HANA Security

SAP S/4 HANA HCM

SAP S/4 HANA MM

SAP S/4 HANA Simplification Item Check (SIC)

SAP S/4HANA output management

SAP S/4 HANA LIVE_REPORTING

SAP S/4 HANA IPC

SAP S/4 HANA Business Suite

SAP S/4 HANA Hybris

SAP S/4 HANA Business partner approach

SAP S/4 HANA Master Data Governance

DIMP

SAP S/4 HANA 2021

SAP S/4 HANA 1909

Launchpads of Gantt Chart and Commercial Project Inception

Commodity Pricing Engine (CPE)

SAP S/4 HANA FICO

SAP S/4 HANA Logistics

Agricultural Contract Management

SAP S/4 HANA Analytics

SAP S/4 HANA Data Model

SAP S/4 HANA SD

SAP S/4 HANA Customer Service

Customer Interaction Center (CIC)

SAP Travel Management

SEM Banking

SAP S/4 HANA RE FX

SuccessFactors

Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS)

iPPE Time Analysis

Collaborative Engineering

PLM

SAP S/4 HANA SAP Document Center

SAP S/4 HANA Engineering Control Center

Mobile Asset Management (MAM)

Computer Aided Processing Planning (CAP)

SAP S/4 HANA ABAP and PI

SAP S/4 HANA PPQMPM

SAP S/4 HANA PP/DS

Electronic Batch Record (EBR)

SAP S/4 HANA Fiori

SAP Internet Kanban

SAP S/4 HANA PS

SAP S/4 HANA QM

SAP S/4 PM

SAP Product and REACH Compliance (SPRC)

SAP S/4 HANA BW, BI and BO

SAP S/4 HANA WM and EWM

SAP Portfolio and Project Management (PPM)

SAP SRM

SAP DMS

SAP S/4 HANA UI5 and Webdynpro

SAP S/4 HANA CRM

IS Beverage (Excise Duty)

eNetting

SAP Retail

SAP Fashion Management

SAP S/4 HANA SCM

SAP IS Utilities

GIS

Objectives

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

Perform hands-on activities and resolve tricky issues confidently in SAP S/4 HANA

Apply SAP S/4 HANA in your organization/project(s) confidently from day 1

Crack your interviews in first try and get your dream job

Implement best practices and field rules of SAP S/4 HANA for faster performance and better results and help project teams by delivering result-driven, cost-effective, faster time-to-market quality product(s)

1.1 SAP S/4 HANA interview questions

Does SAP Kernel version 7.73 support NW AS Java?

Starting with SAP Kernel version 7.73, NW AS Java is no longer supported. S/4 HANA does not contain the NetWeaver Application Server Java (as Java).

What is CHIP?

A CHIP (Collaborative Human Interface Part) is an encapsulated piece of software used to provide functions in collaboration with other CHIPs in a Web Dynpro ABAP Page Builder page or side panel. All available CHIPs are registered in a library (CHIP catalog).

From a technical point of view, CHIPs are Web Dynpro ABAP components that implement a specific Web Dynpro component interface.

Define RFC Blacklist.

SAP uses a feature called RFC Blacklist, where the remote enabled function modules that need to be restricted from being called by external RFC Clients are added in an RFC Blacklist object, which has the same identify as a package. SAP releases one blacklist package per S/4HANA OP release.

S/4HANA OP Release # | Blacklist Package

S/4HANA OP 2020 | ABLMUCON2020

S/4HANA OP 1909 | ABLMUCON1909

S/4HANA OP 1809 | ABLMUCON1809

S/4HANA OP 1709 | ABLMUCON1709

S/4HANA OP 1610 | ABLMUCON1610SP00

View_the_contents_ of_ RFC_Blacklist

The RFC blacklist and its contents can be viewed from a program RS_RFC_BLACKLIST_COMPLETE. This program can be run on any S/4HANA OP instance.

Applies to S/4HANA 1610 OP and above.

Override the Blacklist on your landscape

If you wish to unblock the access of any RFC enabled Function Module by an external RFC client for any reason, follow the instructions mentioned in note #2408693.

Does SAP Multi resource Scheduling 1.0 for SAP S/4HANA support the material master enhancement for requirements profiles?

SAP Multi resource Scheduling 1.0 for SAP S/4HANA does not support the material master enhancement for requirements profiles.

If you have used this functionality in previous SAP Multi resource Scheduling releases and would like to store the data before it might be lost during SAP Multi resource Scheduling 1.0 for SAP S/4HANA installation, execute the steps describe in the manual activities attached to this note.

In SAP S4HANA is there any change in WFBATCH?

Yes.

Starting with S/4 Hana On Premises 1709, the workflow system user and workflow system jobs changed. The workflow system user is called SAP_WFRT now instead of WF BATCH. The workflow system jobs start with SAP_WORKFLOW now and are scheduled automatically by "Technical Job Repository", transaction SJOBREPO.

Starting with S/4 Hana On Premises 1809, the workflow system jobs are scheduled under the user, under which the system jobs of Technical Job Repository run. This might be a different user than SAP_WFRT.

In SAP S4HANA from SAP_BASIS 756 onward, is there any change of authorization check by authorization object S_PROGRAM?

From SAP_BASIS 756 onward, the authorization check by authorization object S_PROGRAM has been replaced by an authorization check on authorization object S_WF_ADM. This new authorization object has two authorization fields:

WF_GROUP

ACTVT

To a group, all reports/transactions are assigned caring about the same topic. For example, reports RSWF_SHOW_SWW_WIREGISTER (Registered Actions for Work Items) and RSWEQADMIN (Event Queue Administration) are both assigned to group 'EVENT'.

With the activity, you can differentiate the actions that are allowed to the user. For example, by report RSWF_SHOW_SWW_WIREGISTER,you can display the registered actions for work items, but you cannot change them. Therefore, the display activity is checked. However, in report RSWEQADMIN, several actions can be triggered, so it checks on the execute activity.

Your roles for the user needing these reports or transactions need to be adapted accordingly.

In SAP S4HANA 2020, is Business User Management functionality mandatory?

Business User Management in SAP S/4HANA is mandatory and is automatically activated during the conversion from SAP Business Suite to SAP S/4HANA.

What has changed in Business User Management in SAP S/4HANA?

SAP S/4HANA is introducing a new identity model for business users, which is based on the principle of one.

In SAP S/4HANA, the business partner is the natural person who maintains the user data for the person, work center, and communication-related information. For logon, changing the user ID (BNAME) is no longer supported. However, one person can still log on with a user alias or email. The user alias or email can be changed (see SAP Note 2883989).

The identity model for business users ensures correct auditing, workflows, and jobs. It also avoids errors in documents after a change of the user ID (BNAME).

SAP S/4HANA Business User Management enables and supports the entire life cycle maintenance of business users such as organizational changes, change of employment, or retirement. A user in SAP S/4HANA has a one-to-one relationship with a corresponding business partner (natural person). This reduces redundant maintenance and prevents outdated information.

Are business users and SU01 users the same in SAP S/4HANA?

A business user is a SU01 user who also has a one-to-one relation with the corresponding business partner. This relationship is time-independent and cannot be changed anymore.

For more details about important user-related constraints, see SAP Note 2571544.

In many new applications in SAP S/4HANA, the business user concept is used. SU01 users with Classic Address (Identity Address Type 00 – User's Old Type 3 Address) lead to limitations because the new business user model is a prerequisite for many business applications. As soon as Fiori apps are activated and used, business users are mandatory (for example, Teams, Credit Analyst in Credit Management or Situations).

The business partner contains the personal information, for example, private address, workplace address, bank details, and vendor and customer related data. The business partner and SU01 user share personal details and workplace address related data. The advantage of the new business user model is that the entire lifecycle of that person works without redundant maintenance of user address data.

In the SAP Business Suite, you can use transaction BP (Business Partner Maintenance) to assign users to business partners. Existing business partners cannot be converted to business users because of Data Protection and Privacy (DPP). That said, existing business partners could have been part of a distribution scenario.

What is the limitation of Human Capital Management (HCM) in SAP S/4HANA 2020?

In the case of multiple employments (concurrent/global employment/country transfer), only the main employment is allowed to have a user assigned. Additional user assignments are not allowed.

HCM Integration active or inactive: What does it mean in SAP S/4HANA 2020?

HCM integration active means you rely on the HR mini master (HR infotype-based PERNR data model, including the PA Tables). This HR mini master can be locally maintained (for example, via transaction PA30 or PA40) or via real integration scenarios with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central or an external (third-party) HCM system.

If you don't need the HR mini master, you should deactivate HCM integration.

In SAP S4HANA, how can you maintain business users if the HCM integration is inactive?

If the HCM integration is inactive, you can maintain business users via:

Fiori app Maintain Employees

SOAP Service ManageBusinessUserIn

Report RFS4BPU_IMPORT_BUSINESS_USER

In SAP S4HANA, how can you maintain business users if the HCM integration is active?

Based on the HCM integration, business users are handled the following way:

If the HCM integration is active, it is mandatory to schedule the sync report /SHCM/RH_SYNC_BUPA_FROM_EMPL regularly as a background job so that the business users are automatically synchronized with the PA Tables.

Business_users can be maintained via:

Transaction PA30 or PA40

HCM integration

How can you create business users in SAP S/4HANA when HCM Integration is Active?

The HR mini master is the origin of business users (see HCM simplification SAP Note 2340095). The user assignment in the HR mini master has to be maintained in infotype 105 subtype 0001.

The creation of business users is managed by the periodically scheduled sync report /SHCM/RH_SYNC_BUPA_FROM_EMPL.

The steps are as follows:

Creation of business partner in one role of the role categories Employee (BUP003), Freelancer (BBP010) or External Resource / Service Performer (BBP005) with:

Private address

Bank details

Workplace address

Customer/vendor related data (see Customer Vendor Integration [CVI])

Relationships

Assignment of SU01 user. If the user doesn't exist, then the assignment takes place once the SU01 user is created.

Errors of the sync report are stored in the application log. The application log can be accessed via transaction SLG1 (or SLGD) for object SHCM_EE_INTEGRATION, Subobject BUPA_SYNC (filter via External ID field to Personnel Number PERNR).

How can you create business users in SAP S/4HANA when HCM Integration is Inactive?

In order to create business users, you have three options:

Business users can be created in SAP S/4HANA by using the Fiori apps (including CSV import for mass processing)

For mass maintenance, you can also use the report RFS4BPU_IMPORT_BUSINESS_USER (As of SAP S/4HANA 1809)

SOAP Service ManageBusinessUserIn can be set up via SOA Manager (Transaction SOAMANAGER)

Name the different application areas to maintain the workplace address of the business user?

There are three possible application areas to maintain the workplace address of the business user:

Human Resources (HR)

Business Partner Management (BP)

User Management (US)

SAP S/4HANA 1709 FPS02 provides a configuration view that defines the maintenance source of the workplace address attributes. SAP delivers a default proposal for both variants: HCM integration active/inactive. For details, refer to SAP Note 2548303. This configuration ensures that updates to the workplace address are restricted to one dedicated application area.

The configuration view TBZ_V_EEWA_SRC can be set via Transaction SPRO (SAP Reference IMG) Under SAP Business Partner at node 'Additional customizing for SAP Business Partner' (see SAP Note 2591138).

How can you perform conversion from SAP Business Suite to SAP S/4HANA if HCM integration is active?

If HCM integration is active and the conversion from SAP Business Suite to SAP S/4HANA is done, employees are automatically converted to business users via the periodically scheduled sync report /SHCM/RH_SYNC_BUPA_FROM_EMPL.

How can you perform conversion from SAP Business Suite to SAP S/4HANA if HCM integration is inactive?

If HCM integration is inactive:

Business partners that exist in an ERP system with user linkage via table HRP1001 from BP CP US are automatically converted to business users in SUMPhase as of SAP S/4HANA 1809 (see conversion report RFS4BPU_CONVERT_BUSINESS_USER).

Business partners that exist in an ERP system with user linkage via table BP001 are automatically converted to business users in Silent Data Migration (SDM) as of SAP S/4HANA 2020 (see class CL_SDM_BUPA_BPU_BP001).

Mention two important points about output devices.

When talking about output devices, it is worth mentioning two points in advance:

Output devices are defined cross-client, that is, a change in spool administration immediately affects all working clients

Output devices are used, of course, not only in output control but within the complete business suite, and a change in spool administration does affect the complete business suite.

Why does Simplification Item Check (SIC) need to be carried out during upgrade to SAP S/4HANA 2021 from any lower SAP S/4HANA release?

To securely upgrade to SAP S/4HANA 2021 from any lower SAP S/4HANA release, the Simplification Item Check (SIC) has to be carried out to detect such invalidated output devices. Once detected, depending on your business data (see bullet points above), there are two possibilities to ensure a smooth upgrade:

Adapt the detected output devices in spool administration

Create new output devices and exchange the detected output devices for relevant output request items (transaction data) and printer settings (configuration data)

Reference Note 3057330.

Define the business value of SAP S/4HANA output management.

For output-related tasks, you may opt for a modern solution for SAP S/4HANA output management. It takes the functionality from existing SAP output solutions and adds additional features like seamless integration into Fiori apps, flexible email configuration and email templates as well as the support of SAP Cloud Platform Forms by Adobe.

When might the SAP S/4HANA output management not be relevant for you?

The SAP S/4HANA output management might not be relevant for you if:

You want to continue using your existing output management setup in SAP S/4HANA

You require functionality that is not covered by SAP S/4HANA output management

Define SAP HANA LIVE_REPORTING.

For Business Suite and Suite on HANA customers, you can use SAP HANA Live reporting capabilities. In S/4HANA, database tables have changed in many areas. Thus, the Hana Live Calc Views will not work on those changed structures. You can have CDS Views with SAP S/4HANA.

Reporting scenarios built with the SAP HANA Live content in Business Suite, Suite on HANA, or Simple Finance installations have to be either adjusted manually to the changed DB table structures or be rebuilt manually with CDS Views in SAP S/4HANA.

Does SAP release Internet Pricing and Configurator (SAP IPC) within SAP S/4HANA?

The Internet Pricing and Configurator (SAP IPC) is not released within SAP S/4HANA.