Enterprise Systems building on enterprise resource planning (ERP) packaged software such as SAP S/4HANA are information systems that target large‐scale integration of business processes and data across a company’s functional areas. These systems are crucial for financial accounting and controlling as they enable organizations to streamline and integrate their financial operations, ensuring accurate decision-making based on real-time financial data.  Contemporary packaged ERP software provide modules that integrate core business processes in financial accounting including general ledger, accounts receivable, payable and asset accounting. The information generated in these processes serves as a major source of cost-related decision-making, reporting and data analyses in internal accounting (“controlling”). Packaged ERP software typically rely on industry best practices captured in the form of product software with a standardized structure of master data. Thereby, they also support regulatory compliance and analyzability of processes in approaches such as process mining which enhances overall business efficiency and competitiveness. However, implementing enterprise systems in practice imposes substantial challenges to organizations.

First, the B.Sc. lecture "Enterprise Systems for Financial Accounting & Controlling" introduces fundamental business processes and concepts in finance and controlling and explains how these processes are implemented in packaged ERP software such as SAP S/4HANA. Students learn the basic and most important terms and master data structures in the SAP FI/CO module. Second, students learn about the principles of packaged ERP software, gaining hands-on experience SAP S4/HANA. Third, the lecture introduces the challenges in enterprise system projects such as SAP S/4HANA implementations, Fourth, students actively apply their knowledge in collaborative team efforts when working with exemplary SAP data in Microsoft SQL Server to analyze finance and controlling master data processes (capstone project)

Learning Objectives:

The students …

• understand modern business concepts of financial accounting & controlling for large enterprises
• the importance of enterprise systems supporting the implemention of modern business concepts
• know the underlying principles of packaged software for enterprise resource planning and process intelligence
• Understand the opportunities and challenges of Enterprise Systems implementation at large enterprises
• Get hands-on knowledge about financial accounting & controlling with commercial product software (e.g., SAP S4/HANA)
• Apply their knowledge on enterprise systems implementation for financial accounting and controlling on real-world data in team effort