Legacy Data Transfer Using Microsoft^Ò Excel 

Use

Along with the Data Transfer Workbench, the SAP Asset Accounting component also offers the option of transferring legacy asset data using Microsoft^Ò Excel. This method is suited for transferring small datasets, such as a few hundred fixed assets. The system can process a maximum of 5000 rows. The amount of data you can transfer using this method is also limited by the maximum number of rows in your Excel version.

Prerequisites

The first step is to load or manually enter the legacy asset data and values from your legacy system into an Excel sheet. The data transferred to the System has to be in a specified form. In order to ensure that the data transfer is carried out correctly, you should adhere to the following guidelines when creating the Excel sheet:

SAP recommends that you set the Standard Excel format for the entire document before you enter any data. Dates, however, can also be entered using the Custom Excel format.

The Excel spreadsheet consists of two parts (see the example below).

·  In the header (blue in the example), you specify the type of data you want to transfer for your assets, for example, the company code, description, and so on.

·  In the asset section you enter the individual assets and their values.

The Excel worksheet has to contain cells for the legacy asset number, company code, asset class and capitalization date, and values have to be supplied in these cells for each asset. The same applies for any required entry fields that are defined in the asset class in the System.

You might want to prepare for the data transfer, although the organizational structures of your enterprise have not yet been specified (for example, the description of a company code is not decided). In this case, you enter variables for the missing information, for example, company code XXXX. Before carrying out the data transfer, you can then use the Replace function in Excel to replace the variable with the correct value.

Header

In the header, you first specify the field descriptions to be transferred. The first 5 rows in the Excel worksheet are reserved for this header information. You are not allowed to use them for asset master data or asset values.

The fields are organized in record types. Enter these record types in the first column of the worksheet. The next columns should contain the field descriptions assigned to these record types. SAP recommends the following structure:

Use of Record Types

Record type

Used for…

Is assigned to tab page during field assignment (see below) …

0

Identifier (legacy asset number); record type 0 is reserved solely for the number of the asset from the legacy system, and is not allowed to be used for any other purpose. The system needs the identifier if there are errors, in order to assign them to the correct assets.

Header data

1

Asset master data, general data and inventory data

Header data

2

Posting information, time-dependent data

Time-dependent data to Leasing

3

Depreciation areas, cumulative values, posted values

Depreciation areas, cumulative values, posted values

4

Transactions

Transactions

 

If you do not need certain record types (for example, record type 4), then you can omit them when creating your Excel worksheet.

Asset Section

Enter the asset values below the header data. You have to enter the asset data in the Excel worksheet so that it corresponds  to the structure of the field descriptions in the header.

For example, you specify in the header for record type 1 that the company code is in column B and the asset class is in column C.

The system then recognizes the field contents of all fields of record type 1 in column B as company codes and in column C as asset classes.

Therefore, you have to make sure that for each asset, which is in a row specified as record type 1, that its company code is always in column B and its asset class in column C.

Fields that have leading zeroes in the System (for example, company code 0001), have to have leading zeroes in this format. Always enter the asset class with 8 places and leading zeroes (for example, 00001000).

All values have to be entered showing if they are positive or negative (unlike when you create legacy asset data manually). This means, for example, that you have to enter accumulated ordinary depreciation in the Excel worksheet with a negative sign.

Example of Structure of Excel Worksheet

In record type 3 (depreciation area data) always supply the depreciation area name (such as 01)  first.

In record type 4 (transactions) you have to enter the sequential number and the depreciation area in the first two fields. The sequential number is used to keep different transactions separate from one another.

 

Representing Transactions

Record type

Seq. number

Area

Transaction Type

Amount

Posting date

4

1

01

100

5000

01/01/97

4

1

02

100

4900

01/01/97

4

2

01

100

1000

01/01/97

Features

Field Assignment Between Excel and the SAP System (Mapping)

In the System, you assign the field descriptions of the Excel worksheet cells to fields in the system (for example, CoCd to company code). In the initial screen of the transaction, you choose whether you want to use an already existing field assignment or if you want to create a new one. To choose an existing field assignment, select the one you want and choose  Start with field assignment. To create a new field assignment, choose Create field assignment.

Some Excel versions issue a message at this point in a dialog box. The message states that there is a large amount of data in stored temporarily, and asks if you want this data to be available to other applications. ChooseNo.

You make the field assignment by selecting a row in the Fields of file table and selecting its corresponding field on the Fields of asset master record tab pages, and then choosing the Assign pushbutton. The system does not check if the assignment is logical. However, you can assign each field to exactly one other field. Certain assignments are mandatory. You have to assign the old asset number (from the legacy system). In addition, you have to assign the asset class, company code, capitalization date, and any required entry fields (see above) in the System.

The system lists only those field descriptions that are defined in the header section of the Excel sheet. These are sorted according to their record type (0, 1, 2 and so on). The asset master data fields that can be completed in the System are split up on various tab pages. See the Use of Record Types table (above) for the valid assignments.

Before the data transfer, the system displays a dialog box, in which it asks if the field assignment should be saved. However, you can also still save the field assignment after the data transfer (Saved assignments pushbutton). In this way, you can carry out a number of data transfers that always follow the same pattern. You thereby only have to carry out the mapping and conversion once. It is saved in your saved field assignment and can be used again in the future.

In the Excel sheet in the above graphic, the assignment of header information to table field in the System would look like this:

Comp Code – company code

Asset Class – asset class

Tr Type – transaction type, and so on

Setting the Date Format

Choose Settings → Date format to specify whether the date uses American format (MM/DD/YY or MM/DD/YYYY), ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD), European format (DD.MM.YY or DD.MM.YYYY), or SAP format (YYYYMMDD). Dates in your Excel sheet have to have the same format.

Transfer of Fixed Assets

During a test run (choose  Test run  ) the system lists any errors that occur, without actually starting the legacy data transfer.

During a production run (choose  Assets  ) the system creates new assets using the values from the Excel worksheet. It supplies values to their fields based on the assignments you made. To display master records of assets that were created successfully, choose  Details of return message  .

Any incomplete or incorrect data that could not be used to create assets can be displayed in a separate Excel worksheet (choose  Export errors to file).

Activities

Start the legacy data transfer program in Customizing for Asset Accounting. Choose Asset Data Transfer → Legacy Data Transfer Using Microsoft^Ò Excel.