S/4HANA finance - embedded analytics

by Alexander Roan on Jun 12, 2025

Introduction

If you come from the world of SAP R/3 or SAP ECC, you may hear the term ‘embedded analytics’ and assume it refers to a module or add-on, but it’s really a capability built into S/4HANA itself.

In this post, I’ll walk through embedded analytics, showing some examples for finance and sharing a few thoughts based on my own experience.

The old paradigm

SAP R/3 and SAP ECC are transactional systems. They sit on top of traditional relational databases that are not optimised for analytical operations. They couldn’t efficiently calculate totals on the fly, never mind aggregation, filtering, sorting etc.

(That’s why the general ledger had totals tables like GLT0 and FAGLFLEXT).

Secondly, the SAP graphical user interface (SAP GUI), was relatively static. It wasn’t easy to create role or context specific transactions.

The new paradigm

From SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA, one of the biggest changes is the HANA database. It brings three new capabilities:

  1. In memory computing

  2. Columnar store

  3. Parallel processing.

Combined, these enable S/4HANA to efficiently handle analytical operations.

Secondly, the new user interface: Fiori, is built on common technologies, HTML, CSS, JavaScript etc. This makes Fiori less proprietary and more dynamic.

SAP positions Fiori as a design language as well as a set of apps. They have published a design system to allow customers to build their own apps. Many of the analytical apps we will look at are based on re-usable design templates.

Enter the ‘analytical app’

This combination of flexibility from Fiori and power from HANA means we can create role based analytical apps.

Fiori itself includes many transactional and analytical apps. With embedded analytics, we are referring to a subset of popular analytical apps.

I would break down embedded analytics into three categories:

Let’s look at each one and discuss some examples.

Analytical Apps by Category

Before we start, let’s look at how to find information about apps online.

How to find apps

The Fiori app library is published online: Fiori apps library.

An important note is that app availability varies by S/4HANA version. For example, some apps will release in Cloud version first before coming to on-premise versions. Other apps may only be available in Cloud versions. For the purposes of this post, we will look at all versions. Some apps listed may only be available on the Cloud.

  1. Under categories, select ‘all apps’ (16,932 apps listed!)
  2. On the bottom right of the left sidebar, click the ‘filter’ icon
  3. Enter some filters e.g. ‘Analytical’ apps, ‘Finance’ line of business

This gives a much more focused list of apps to scroll through (351).

We will look at ‘overview’ apps first. Enter ‘overview’ in search to narrow the list further. A list of apps that include the following is shown:

Fiori app library Fiori app library

Overview pages

Purpose

I would describe the overview page apps as analytical ‘home pages’ for a function. They show more detail than a simple KPI, but less detail than a more focused report.

They could be considered an entry level view into the analytics for the area in question.

Overview pages have a consistent layout. A header at the top with a range of search fields, followed by the content area, which is made up of cards. The cards may have charts, values, links etc. Users can drill down from the cards to see more detail.

Content ‘cards’ are a well-established concept in frontend design, and it’s good to see SAP embrace this.

SAP provide several standard overview pages. Customers can develop their own.

Example – General ledger overview

I found two different iterations of the general ledger overview. The first is from the Fiori app library, the second from the analytics SAP help page. This highlights how pages can be set up differently.

App - general ledger overview - sample 1.

App - general ledger overview - sample 2

Layout and contents

They are split into two main content sections:

Filter toolbar at the top:

Multiple cards are displayed below the filters:

My thoughts

I like these overview pages. They come across as a classic functional dashboard. Having this directly in S/4HANA is great.

Key here is the customisation. If we take a typical general ledger accountant or manager, their focus tends to vary widely by organisation and industry.

In financial services, for example, I would want my overview screen to show recent transactions on certain accounts where accuracy and substantiation of assets is critical.

In manufacturing, I may want a view more oriented towards cost of goods sold or profit and loss by function.

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a G/L accountant who cared about days payables outstanding, so it’s unusual to see that there. I could understand a cash flow metric being there, though.

References

Analytical list pages (ALP)

Purpose

Analytical list pages aim to bring together analytical and transactional work. The idea is to combine an analytical view with transaction data such that, the analytics provide a basis to act.

The best examples of these layouts combine a filter, a chart and a work list of items into one page.

In the Fiori app library, these will be marked as Fiori elements apps. SAP provide templates, customer can also create their own. They all have headers which allow for filtering and sorting.

Example: Commitments by cost centre

Analytical list app - commitments by cost centre

Commitments is a great example. An accountant may want to monitor commitments to spot something that is out of line with plan or previous period actuals.

In case you are not familiar with commitments, let’s go into more detail.

In this app you can compare commitments, actuals, and plan/budget:

S/4HANA utilises ‘extension ledgers’ for commitment tracking, an example:

In ECC commitment information was stored in CO tables. With the S/4HANA changes it has moved to an extension ledger of the universal journal. It is separated out from the main ledger (ACDOCA) as these aren’t accounting postings.

This app pulls:

Example 2: Allowance for doubtful accounts

Analytical list app - allowance for doubtful accounts

Shifting from payables to receivables, another good example is doubtful debts. This app is called allowance for doubtful accounts.

The chart on the top half does an excellent job of showing the difference between overdue receivables and allowances made.

This may trigger an accountant to either change the allowances made or to follow up on some overdue items.

The customer balances are shown under the chart, and the accountant can drill down into the individual line items.

Layout and contents

References

Multidimensional reports

Purpose

These apps are analytical queries. You could think of them like pivot tables in MS Excel. They allow you to select different dimensions and choose whether to split data into rows or columns via those dimensions.

They are a special kind of Fiori app labelled as Web Dynpro apps in the app library.

Like other apps, they’re launched from tiles on the Fiori launchpad. However, they can also be launched from the query browser, which will be discussed later.

Multidimensional report capabilities:

As these multidimensional reports are based on queries that contain many fields, users need to select what’s of interest to them via the navigation panel.

Example: Balance sheet/income statement – multidimensional

Multidimensional report - balance sheet/income statement

This app is based on the CDS view C_FinStmntComparison. More on this later.

Example 2: Journal Entry Analyser

Multidimensional app - journal entry analyser

This app is based on the CDS view C_GLLINEITEMSQ0001. More on this later.

Layout and contents

References

Smart business key performance indicators (KPIs)

Purpose

These are tiles that you place on the Fiori launchpad to show specific key performance indicators (KPIs). The KPIs can be shown as values or via mini charts.

SAP delivers various predefined KPIs. Users can select them from a role-based catalogue.

Custom KPIs can also be created.

The KPI tiles support drill down into more detail via other analytical apps. For example, drill down into a multidimensional report. See also the section on analytical path framework at the end.

Example: Accounts payable

A launchpad page with various AP KPIs.

This screenshot from SAP learning shows various KPI tiles for Accounts Payable arranged on a Fiori launchpad page. The first is ‘overdue payables’ – app ID F1746 (SAP Help / Fiori app library).

Layout and contents

My thoughts

These tiles are very useful. It’s a flexible way to build a dashboard for a specific user role. The embedded analytics features: real-time data, and drill-down add a lot of power here.

To get the most out of this requires some thought. A common mistake a project team might make is to throw all Accounts Payable KPIs on a single page for an AP clerk or AP manager. However, if you think about these KPIs, the context of how the information can be used varies widely.

I could envision a set of KPIs for an Accounts Payable clerk or manager that they may review and action daily. This could include overdue payables. Personally, I may want to add KPI tiles for topics such as blocked invoices, or payment status for critical vendors.

On the other hand, I may set up a different page for the monthly reviews that include KPIs like invoice processing time, ageing analysis, reversals etc.

References

Review booklets

Purpose

Review booklets combine multiple related reports into a collection of easy to navigate pages.

One of the first review booklets was "group financial statements". This makes sense, as the financial statements are a set of reports that together measure the state of an organisation.

Features of review booklets:

Review booklets are a good example of apps that were delivered in S4/HANA cloud first. I believe the first booklets will be available for on-premise this year.

Example: Group financial statements (F6133)

Group financial statements review booklet - one

Group financial statements review booklet - two

Other examples

Layout and contents

Views can be saved and shared if authorisation allows.

References

Query browser

Purpose

The query browser isn’t an analytical app itself; it’s an app to search for analytical queries. You can however launch analytical queries from within the query browser. This opens them as multidimensional reports.

Analytical queries are a special type of CDS view. I will cover this later under solution architecture. I’ll note here that you can browse finance CDS view online. Help portal – CDS views for Finance.

If you click on CDS views for general ledger and then look for items with a technical name starting C_\ these are analytical queries. For example, in this list, we can see the query C_FinStmntComparison that was used in the balance sheet/income statement multidimensional report.

Query features

Note that the query browser does not identify underlying views or source tables, but the view browser can show this.

Example

Query browser

Unfortunately, I don’t have a screenshot of a finance query to hand, but here is a screenshot of the sales order item query (C_SalesOrderItemQry):

Query browser - sales order item

Note the "open for analysis" button on the bottom right, this will open the query as a multidimensional report.

Layout and contents

On the first page, you will see a list of analytical queries. For navigation:

After selecting a query, you will see query details and the option to open for analysis.

References

View browser

The query browser only shows analytical queries. Those are CDS views of type "consumption". However, the information presented is limited.

The view browser shows all CDS views with more detail.

Analytics – view browser

Embedded SAC

Purpose

So, SAP analytics cloud is a whole other thing!

But you get a taste of analytics cloud with embedded analytics called ‘SAP analytics cloud embedded version’

To illustrate the difference, we could consider `stories`: one of the key features of analytics cloud. This is where we bring together values, charts, and other visualisations: images, pictograms, etc. to create a story.

For example, a management accountant may use multidimensional reports for analysis. They may then use a story to link together various pieces of information to explain a situation. A simple example might be showing a decline in profitability in a story which highlights a couple of connected things, reducing volume from a key customer and increasing costs for a particular cost centre.

What exactly is included with the 'SAP analytics cloud embedded version'?

Example: operating income

SAP analytics cloud - operating income

Source: SAP learning

Example: working capital

SAP analytics cloud - working capital

Source: SAP help

References

Other items

Analytical path framework

When browsing analytical apps, you may come across this term.

This is the approach to define how you drill down from KPIs into details. For example, from a KPI you may want to drill down into a chart, then from the chart into multidimensional reporting.

Analysis path framework

Solution Architecture

Let’s look at the main components of the solution architecture.

Embedded analytics is made possible by:

  1. The performance capabilities of HANA database tables
  2. Various features of Fiori (web-based, flexible, role-based, extensible etc.)

One piece of the puzzle which I’ve hinted at but not explained is the virtual data model, which sits between the tables and Fiori.

Solution architecture

Virtual data model (VDM)

SAP database tables are mostly structured by module and business transaction. Analytical apps in Fiori are structured by user-role and business scenario. We need a way to bridge this gap.

In a simple application, data is retrieved from tables directly using code (usually SQL).

However, as we are talking about thousands of tables and thousands of apps, SAP came up with a better way to manage this.

This is the virtual data model (VDM).

As per the name, it’s a virtual structure only. Data is not stored in the VDM.

The VDM is made up of core data services views (CDS views), it will make more sense if we describe those.

Core data services (CDS)

Think of a CDS view as the specification of a set of fields along with information about those fields. They are code based and are a mix of SQL and SAP proprietary language.

CDS views are structured into layers:

An example – commitments.

Earlier in this post, we discussed an analytical app based on commitment data. That app required commitments, actuals and plan/budgets. That means the consumption view would be an aggregation of all of this data. This consumption view will rely on many composite views, which in turn rely on several basic views.

In addition to many standard CDS views, customers can create their own.

Available CDS views can be seen on SAP help.

Fiori

Fiori is positioned as a design system as well as a set of apps.

Many of these apps are based on design templates that can be used to create your own apps. Fiori itself is a large topic; in this post I’d just highlight a few key points:

So, when you use one of these Fiori apps generally what is happening is:

  1. Fiori app (JS) → calls OData endpoint (/sap/opu/odata/....)
  2. OData service → implemented via an ABAP backend (often based on CDS views)
  3. CDS view → reads from HANA and pushes data back via the service

As a side note, in ECC, the SAP GUI client communicates with the ABAP server using proprietary protocols, which was much more difficult to customise.

Implementation considerations

Let’s consider two main scenarios:

  1. New S/4HANA implementations and upgrades from ECC
  2. S/4HANA already implemented, but with minimal Fiori and/or analytics.

For new implementations and upgrades, when we consider the core S/4HANA work, the workload is huge. The change management impact is huge. This is before thinking about Fiori or analytics.

It's challenging to get requirements and design right for the Finance (FI CO). This is especially true for large international organisations. Designing optimal chart of accounts, cost centre and profit centre hierarchies is a big exercise. On top of the basics, more complexity is introduced with topics like multiple ledgers, product cost control, and margin analysis.

Figuring out how to fit in analysis and design for Fiori and embedded analytics is tough.

Many projects will create an analytics work stream. In my view, this doesn't work well. Team members working on analytics need to understand the core model.

I can't emphasise enough how important it is to focus on core elements of FI/CO. Many organisations suffer for years due to poor design of profit centres, ledgers, business area etc.

The sheer number of Fiori apps is a challenge in itself. But as we've seen in this article, we can filter the list down to a more manageable focus area for finance.

When it comes to Fiori, on implementations, my suggestion is to start small. Target the Fiori apps that deliver the most value for an initial go-live, then follow up with a continuous improvement program to investigate more apps.

Core apps for go-live might look like:

However, I recognise that some consultants may promote a 'Fiori first' approach: put Fiori at the centre of the project. This may be a better approach, but you must be careful not to lose focus on the core design.

In the case where S/4HANA is already implemented, an organisation is free to choose their own path depending on their current goals and available resources.

They could initiate a larger formal project to implement Fiori and/or embedded analytics. A business case could be constructed based on time saving and IT cost reduction (elimination of other apps).

On the other hand, this could be done through a longer running continuous improvement program driven by product managers or centres of excellence. I would generally lean towards the latter, as it poses less of a change impact on an organisation.

User-role mapping

Fiori is built around roles. It's good to see SAP moving towards a more nuanced understanding of business roles.

Smart business KPIs and overview pages align well to user roles, team roles, and function roles. However, one thing I'd like to highlight is how much these roles vary by:

We need to be careful to ensure KPIs and overview page cards are relevant.

The best way to think about what’s relevant is to look at the organisation and function objectives. These translate into responsibilities and accountabilities for a team or user.

Responsibilities and accountabilities are executed by actions that are informed by the information.

To illustrate, my design thinking would work something like this:

Role: Accounts Payable clerk - Accountability: 98% payment on time

Role: Cost accountant – Accountability: Monitor plan vs. actual on production costs

When it comes to overview pages, I see potential for them to be designed for working groups, as well as individual roles.

For example, you may have an overview page oriented towards a monthly business review. This would cover all relevant aspects of revenue and cost.

Another overview page might relate to financial operations, which would cover operational metrics.

A further one could be related to financial stewardships and focus on metrics like manual journals or reversals, or transactions above a certain threshold.

These could be a useful tool for the facilitation of meetings and discussions. I think this is also true for review booklets.

Common pitfalls

Analytics for the sake of analytics.

The tiles look pretty. The charts look pretty. It’s tempting to just throw everything at a user.

I’d be very careful about this. Any content that we use should have a clear purpose. That purpose can either be an action or an escalation.

Reporting duplication.

Some of the reports in embedded analytics will duplicate or replace other analytical reporting. We should be careful to decide which report is the source of truth, any others should be retired.

I worked for a client once that had about 10 different versions of net profit, depending on which system you took the KPI from.

I've seen a significant number of issues arise during SAP implementations with the boundary between what I'd call 'trusted financial reporting' and broader analytics.

As soon as financial data leaves the finance function and gets into analytic systems, it can be so heavily manipulated it is no longer reconcilable to what's reported externally.

Examples of this include applying alternate hierarchies, running allocations etc. or even just simply filtering out data.

Analytic users may expect they can do similar things with embedded analytics. This is usually due to a lack of understanding of finance data.

There's no right or wrong answer here. I would say there are two truths:

The role of embedded analytics vs. other tools should be clear.

Conclusions

Overall, embedded analytics are great. The team at SAP have done a great job in two areas:

  1. Fiori:
    • Based on standard web technologies
    • Very well documented design system
    • Template approach with emphasis on a customer’s ability to create what they need
  2. S/4HANA virtual data model
    • A smart way to define a huge range of data sets and make them available for consumption.

As someone who implemented R/3 and ECC several times, I wish we had embedded analytics and Fiori back then.

On the flip side, as with everything with SAP, it’s highly complex. This article just covered an overview, but each of these apps has a lot of detail to address:

Some apps are only available in certain cloud versions, and some apps require certain configuration approaches in FI CO. There's a lot of hidden complexity behind this post.

For an organisation not using Fiori and embedded analytics, I’d suggest starting with those that deliver the most value, based on your current challenges and opportunities. The best way to do this is likely through setting up an expert role and potentially a continuous improvement program.

I’d like to cite and thank SAP for the good quality information that I gathered for this post:

If you want to delve deeper I suggest working through the SAP learning course on Embedded Analytics as a starting point.

If you have any thoughts on this, please share in the comments.

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