Unit 9: Reporting and Analytics
Embedded analytics in SAP S/4HANA evaluates procurement data in real time directly on the transactional database – no separate data warehouse extraction is needed. This unit introduces SAP Smart Business KPI apps for spend, contracts, requisitions and POs, and the Procurement Overview page.
Lesson 1 · Using Analytical Apps
After this lesson you can
- Explain SAP Smart Business KPI tiles and their drilldown functions
- Name the key procurement KPIs and what each measures
Key concepts
Procurement analytics (spend visibility, contract analytics, supplier evaluation) runs on live S/4HANA data via CDS views. The Purchasing Analytics launchpad groups contain SAP Smart Business KPI tiles: the tile shows a number or mini chart, colour-coded against thresholds (e.g. green/amber/red), and is refreshed in real time.
Choosing a tile opens an evaluation with drilldown ("insight to action"): from the analysis you can navigate straight to transactional apps to fix the issue and come back.
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
| Smart filter | Filter bar with default parameters (display currency, relative date); more dimensions via Adapt Filters; header can be expanded/collapsed. |
| Facet filter | Further restriction on the discrete values that exist in the current evaluation (e.g. only the three purchasing groups found for POrg 101C are offered). |
| Mini charts | Show/hide configured mini charts with thresholds; a mini chart from an associated KPI navigates to its page; not affected by filter changes. |
| Smart chart | Chart or table of selected dimensions/measures: drill down/up, legend, zoom, chart type and dimension settings (not savable), sort, full screen, export to spreadsheet, chart ↔ table toggle. |
Procurement KPIs
| Area | KPI / app | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| General | Purchase Group Activities | POs, PRs, contracts, scheduling agreements and GRs per purchasing group and category in a time frame; GR count, invoice and PO net amounts |
| Off-Contract Spend | Spend on POs without contract reference (share of non-contract purchasing), previous year to date | |
| Non-Managed Spend | Amount paid to suppliers without PO reference relative to total supplier spend (based on accounting documents) | |
| Purchasing Spend | Spend for chosen filters (supplier, material group, purchasing group, supplier country, POrg) vs. total spend | |
| Spend Variance | Relation of PO value, GR value and invoice value per supplier or material | |
| Contracts | Contract Expiry | Contracts expiring in a time frame, with target and released amounts |
| Unused Contracts | Contracts not used in the previous year to date | |
| Contract Leakage | PO spend without contract reference although a contract could have been used | |
| Quantity Contract Consumption | Consumption % of quantity contracts (target vs. released quantity) | |
| Value Contract Consumption | Consumption % of value contracts (target vs. released amount) | |
| Purchase requisitions | PR Average Approval Time | Days from shopping cart creation to PO creation |
| PR Item Changes | Number of item changes (price, quantity, purchasing group, supplier) | |
| PR Item Types | Free-text, material and catalog items created in GUI vs. Fiori | |
| PR-to-Order Cycle Time | Average days from cart creation until the PO is sent to the supplier | |
| PR Touch Rate | No-touch (fully automatic), low-touch (approval only, no changes) and high-touch (manual changes) rates in % | |
| Purchase orders | Overdue PO Items | PO items with delivery date in the past not yet delivered |
| Purchase Order Value | Current value of POs in a period, filterable by material, supplier, plant | |
| PO Average Delivery Time (weighted, days) | Supplier delivery time based on past POs | |
| Invoice Price Variance | Monthly trend of invoice price variance (trend tile based on weighted material price) |
Details for each KPI are documented in the SAP Help Portal under Sourcing and Procurement › Procurement Analytics › Spend Visibility.
System steps
- Open the Purchasing Analytics group and choose e.g. Purchase Order Value.
- Set smart filters (e.g. purchasing organization), then use the facet filter on purchasing group.
- Drill down in the smart chart, switch to table view, export to spreadsheet.
- Navigate from a problem item to the transactional app (e.g. Manage Purchase Orders).
Classic list reports remain available for operational lists: ME2N (by PO number), ME2L (by supplier), ME2M (by material), ME80FN (general analyses) and ME5A (requisitions).
Later releases add intelligent and situation-based monitoring: Situation Handling can alert buyers, e.g. about contracts that are about to expire or are nearly consumed, and the classic Smart Business KPI catalogs are increasingly complemented by analytical list pages and SAP Analytics Cloud stories embedded in the launchpad.
- Smart Business KPI functions: smart filter, drilldown, mini charts, export to spreadsheet (not "layout" or "selection variant").
- Off-contract spend vs. non-managed spend (no PO) vs. contract leakage (contract existed but not used).
- Touch rate: no / low / high touch.
- Embedded analytics works in real time without data extraction.
Lesson 2 · Using the Procurement Overview App
After this lesson you can
- Use, personalize and filter the Procurement Overview page
- Describe the cards and their navigation targets
Key concepts
Procurement Overview is an overview page (OVP) showing the information and tasks currently most relevant for the buyer on actionable cards, ranked by relevance. It helps to focus and decide quickly.
- Hide/show cards: user icon › Manage Cards › switch.
- Rearrange: drag and drop.
- Global filter: e.g. supplier or material group – applies to all relevant cards.
- Creating new cards is not possible for the end user.
- Navigation: in list cards the header opens the app and an item opens item details; analytical cards open a detailed analysis.
| Card | Content | Navigation |
|---|---|---|
| Monitor Purchase Contracts | Expiring and nearly consumed contracts (priority by remaining time, target value, consumption) | Header → Manage contracts app; item → contract object page |
| Monitor Purchase Requisition Items | All open items, or unsourced items close to delivery date (priority by value and time) | Manage Purchase Requisitions (filtered) |
| Monitor Purchase Order Items | Overdue items and items in approval (priority by overdue days, value) | Monitor Purchase Order Items app |
| Monitor RFQs | RFQs sorted by submission deadline | Manage RFQs / RFQ object page |
| Purchasing Spend | Overall spend from aggregated PO values, by supplier or material group | Purchasing Spend KPI |
| Non-Managed Spend | Invoice spend without PO, % by material group or supplier | Purchasing Spend KPI |
| Off-Contract Spend | Invoice spend without contract | Purchasing Spend KPI |
| Supplier Performance Monitoring | Bubble chart: spend vs. supplier performance, supplier feedback score | Supplier Evaluation KPI by supplier |
| Purchase Requisition Touch Rate | Donut chart of no/low/high touch | PR Touch Rate KPI |
| Purchase Requisition Item Types | Donut chart of catalog, free-text, material items | PR Item Types KPI |
- Cards can be hidden, rearranged and filtered – but not created by the user.
- Know which card shows unsourced PR items (Monitor Purchase Requisition Items) and expiring contracts (Monitor Purchase Contracts).
Unit summary & exam focus
SAP Smart Business KPIs deliver real-time, threshold-coloured indicators with drilldown and navigation to action; the Procurement Overview page bundles the most relevant information on personalizable cards.
T-codes in this unit
| T-code | Purpose |
|---|---|
| ME2N | Purchasing documents by number |
| ME2L | Purchasing documents by supplier |
| ME2M | Purchasing documents by material |
| ME80FN | General analyses of purchasing documents |
| ME5A | List display of purchase requisitions |
Self-check questions
- Which are functions of SAP Smart Business KPIs?
Answer
Smart filter, drilldown, mini charts and export to a spreadsheet. - What is the difference between non-managed spend and off-contract spend?
Answer
Non-managed spend is paid without any PO reference; off-contract spend is spend on POs without contract reference. - What does contract leakage measure?
Answer
PO spend without contract reference although a suitable contract existed. - Define the low-touch rate.
Answer
Share of PR items that needed approval but no changes after creation. - What can a user do with the cards of Procurement Overview?
Answer
Hide/show, rearrange and filter their content – not create new cards. - Why is no data warehouse needed for these analytics?
Answer
Embedded analytics reads the S/4HANA transactional data in real time via CDS views on SAP HANA.