xP&A with SAC and IBP

Why xP&A is crucial now

Many companies are familiar with the problem: financial and operational planning run in parallel—with different tools, data views, and forecasting methods. The result: high coordination effort, delays, and a lack of transparency.

Extended Planning and Analysis (xP&A) addresses precisely these issues. In this article, we show how the concept can be implemented with the SAP solutions SAC, IBP, and Datasphere for end-to-end planning from sales to income statement.

Current planning challenges

Many studies confirm that "integration" is one of the top requirements in the planning environment. In reality, however, separate systems and shadow calculations in Excel still dominate. The biggest challenges here are:

• Different time horizons between Finance & Operations
• Lack of integration of operational data into financial planning
• Unclear causal relationships and deviations
• High manual effort and susceptibility to errors

How an xP&A solution works with SAP

By combining the right systems and processes, corporate planning can be taken to a new level—with significantly greater transparency, efficiency, and planning accuracy. Reducing shadow accounting and involving end users in planning are just as important as a clean architecture concept with SAP SAC, IBP, and Datasphere.  

Technical implementation with SAP:

• Data integration via the standard data source IBP
• Automated planning logic and workflows based on data and multi-actions
• Datasphere can serve as a central layer for data integration and governance
• Integration of production capacities from S/4HANA
• Use of optimization models in IBP

The big advantage in practice: 360° overview

By linking the systems, you finally get a consistent planning process that connects your operational and financial data.  

Automated forecasts, Monte Carlo simulations, and the transfer of results into financial planning help to directly classify and evaluate the effects of changes on sales, costs, and profitability—e.g., to what extent delivery restrictions influence income statements and cash flow.

Our tip: For companies with many products, aggregation at the product group level is recommended for a better overview. This focus helps to reduce complexity and make simulation runs more efficient.

Conclusion: xP&A is not a buzzword, but a competitive advantage.

xP&A with SAP SAC and IBP is more than just a trend—it is the key to informed decisions and resilient processes. Combining financial and supply chain planning increases speed, accuracy, and flexibility.

Now is the right time to modernize your planning. We would be happy to assist you with the roadmap and implementation. Just get in touch with us. We look forward to hearing from you.