Use

You can carry out planning and process planning data locally, using a number of Excel files on one or more computers. The planning data entered with Excel can be imported to the SAP system via an upload.

Prerequisites

Planning with Excel is based on the settings in the planning layout . In order to prepare and carry out an Excel upload, the following prerequisites must be met for the planning layout:

You have to first define the planning layout which serves as the basis for entering the planning data.

Note that if you change a planning layout after creating an Excel template for it, you can no longer use this Excel template. In this case, you have to create a new Excel template.

Planning data that matches the planning layout (at least one line) must already be in the system. If there is no planning data, enter this data using the planning layout desired without Excel integration.

In order to import the planning data into the SAP system using an upload, you have to enter the characteristic value in the key column of the planning layout used. The characteristic text alone is not enough.

Preparing the Excel Upload

In order to enter planning data in Excel and then import it to the SAP system, you must first prepare the Excel upload. To do so, you have to set up a connection between the planning layout and the Excel file. To do this, proceed as follows:

Choose Budget Control System (BCS) →BCS Budgeting →Budget Entry →Planning →Set Planner Profile in the Customizing of Funds Management.

Go to the desired plan task and checkmark the indicator in the column Integrated Excel .

Open the default parameters for your planning task.

Enter the values for the variables defined in the planning layout. This entry is necessary so that the Excel spreadsheet can be opened in the next step.

Choose ( ) ( Overview Screen F5 ). This opens Microsoft Excel as the entry screen.

The system automatically assigns a file name. A connection between the planning task and the Excel spreadsheet is created by the file name, that is, there is now a connection between the cells of the spreadsheet and the cells of the planning layout.

You can also define a file name. To do this, you have to go to the column File Name in the planning profile when editing your plan task and enter your own file name.

This takes you to the screen Maintain File Name with Excel as the entry screen.

The screen defined in the planning layout is displayed in the upper left hand corner of the Excel sheet. You can set up the spreadsheet individually. Various functions are available for this purpose. For more information see Functions for Editing Excel Sheets .

Enter a generic file name under Generic File .

The generic file name creates the connection between the file on the local PC and the file name during the upload.

The generic file name must consist of a group of characters (in capital letters), the generic sign *, and the file ending .TXT, for example PLANNING*.TXT.

The name ranges of the various generic file names cannot overlap as this would not allow a unique assignment of the local file to the file name. If, for example, the generic file name PLAN*.TXT was assigned at one position and PLANN*.TXT at another, the system cannot uniquely assign the upload of file PLANN5*.TXT .

You can display an overview of all data files with generic data names. To do this, call up the program RKCDPREO using the ABAP Editor . You can delete data file names and generic data names from this list if they are no longer used.

Save a copy of the Excel file in Excel on your PC and give it a name that matches your generic file name. If you have defined, for example, SALES*.TXT as a generic data file, you can name the local file on your PC SALES1*.TXT , SALES2*.TXT or SALES_D*.TXT .

You first have to use the Excel format with the ending .XLS as a file format. The file can now be opened in Excel independent of the SAP System. You have to save the file as a text file .TXT if you want to upload this file to the SAP System.

Save your file name. Choose ( ) ( Save File Name ).

You can copy the downloaded copy of the Excel sheet as often as required and make it available for local planning.

Ensure that the individual file names correspond to the generic file name so that you can upload this file to the SAP system correctly.

Creating Planning Data Locally with Excel

Open the downloaded copy of the Excel sheet on your local PC.

Enter your planning data. Keep a copy saved on your hard disk with the Excel format .XLS during planning.

Do not usethe following Excel functions:

Delete

Insert

Sort

If you use these functions, data cannot be imported correctly to the SAP System.

The following functions are available for entering your planning data in the Excel sheet:

You can make your own additional calculations and insert diagrams in a second spreadsheet. Only the first spreadsheet is saved when the Excel folder is saved as a TXT file prior to the upload. The other spreadsheets are not relevant for the upload.

If you want to delete a characteristic value such as cost center in the SAP system, enter the value 0 for it in the Excel sheet. This is necessary since all objects contained in the local file are processed during the upload. If you delete the characteristic value in the Excel sheet it is not reset in the SAP System.

Complete the following before the Excel upload:

Remove the whole totals line from the first spreadsheet. Otherwise, the system searches in the master data for the entry “total” and cancels the upload.

Save the Excel file in text format with the file ending .TXT.

Ensure that the local file name matches the generic file name in order to ensure a correct assignment to the file name.

Completing the Excel Upload

To start the upload, from the Funds Management menu, choose Budgeting →Budget Control System (BCS) →Tools →Planning →Upload Plan Data from Excel

Enter the file to be imported or the file directory to be imported.

The path and the file names on your PC, in which the planning data is saved, must not have any spaces between the words, such as in the directory “My Documents”.

You can enter a file name in the field File Names which the system uses to import the file(s). If you do not enter a file name, the system determines the file name automatically using the generic file name.

Start the upload.