Issue

Succinctly describe the issue or problem statement that this Decision addresses. Why is a decision required? What business or technical problem does it address?

Syensqo is currently operating in a multi-system SAP landscape which is the result of acquisitions of organizations with separate SAP systems and legacy decisions to keep separate SAP systems for confidentiality reasons (e.g. WPX for classified information of materials used in the defense industry, PI1 to ring-fence access to data and transactions pertaining to in-house banking). This has lead to disparities between the two systems in terms of Finance master data in use across the various systems, most notably on key master data objects such as Chart of Accounts or Cost Centres and Profit Centres.

With a move to a single SAP system, opportunities arise to harmonize master data from the various systems and define new master data frameworks and associated governance rules to ensure that all master data objects follow a single design and purpose in the new system with the goal of increasing transparency, efficiency and accountability across the organization.

Recommendation

Summarise the recommendation being made for the reader, leaving the pro/con evaluation and exact decision-making process to the subsequent sections.

Background & Context

Explain the context in which the decision is being made.

Multiple Finance master data objects do not follow a consistent and unique master data governance design and approach across the organization due to its diverse system landscape which has grown over time from acquisition activities as well as special requirements with regards to data confidentiality. As part of the transition to S/4 as a single system of records, the following master data objects have been identified as potential candidates for further rationalisation and simplification:

1.) Chart of Accounts:

A single operational Chart of Accounts resembling the consolidated group Chart of Accounts which can be used across all Syensqo entities globally can lead to potential benefits such as

• Reduced Reconciliation Efforts: A single operational Chart of Accounts which uses the group Chart of Accounts as the baseline helps to reduce reconciliation efforts across all teams involved in Financial Accounting processes end-to-end ranging from operational to management to group and statutory reporting teams, everyone is working with the same or vastly similar set of base data which doesn't require additional mappings or other aggregation methods to be understood by the various teams involved at the various levels of the Financial reporting chain.

• Time Savings at Period-End: At period-end where time is of essence, time-savings can be realized by the reduced need for mappings and data aggregations to lift Financial data from the operational accounting system up into the consolidation engine for consolidated group reporting purposes. Again, reduced reconciliation efforts across the various teams from the largely unified data sets are expected to lead to time gains at period-end.

• Unified Process Views: Across the organization, a single set of G/L accounts will lead to unified process views globally. Accountants will have a consistent view of process results as G/L accounts used in the processes serve one and the same purpose globally across all Syensqo entities set up in S/4 HANA.  Governance rules will be defined which will help to keep the accounts set up in a streamlined way across the organization supporting global process designs.

• Lower Administration Efforts: The administration efforts to maintain G/L account master data are expected to decrease from using a single operational Chart of Accounts. G/L accounts are defined and managed centrally with a single governance strategy applicable to all Syensqo entities operating in S/4 HANA.

• Cleansed Accounts: A higher degree of cleansed accounts and books can be expected from a single operational Chart of Accounts that is managed centrally. Critical account control settings such as open item management or account currency settings that can heavily influence the data hygiene on G/L accounts will be set and monitored centrally.

Introducing a new Chart of Accounts across an organization requires thorough review of group, legal and process requirements to ensure that the Chart of Accounts as the backbone of each Financial Accounting system-of-records is suitable to cater for all reporting as well as technical integration needs in a highly-integrated system environment. The introduction of the universal journal ledger (single-source-of-truth database table for Financial Accounting) in S/4 HANA has opened up new avenues for Financial reporting based on auxiliary reporting dimensions besides the G/L account to differentiate the nature of the Financial transaction.

2.) Profit Centres and Profit Centre Hierarchies:

3.) Cost Centres and Cost Centre Hierarchies:

Assumptions

Clearly describe the underlying assumptions which informed or limited the choices available, or impacted the decision: cost, schedule, regulatory requirements, business drivers, country footprint, technology, etc. Include links as necessary. This section is important because a future change in circumstances might invalidate some key assumptions, which then prompts a decision to be revisited. 

Constraints

Capture any constraints or limitations inherent to the recommended option. This could be aspects which, if changed or removed in future, could cause the decision to be revisited or invalidated. For example, a constraint might be that a new product has significant gaps in important functionality, which caused an older alternative to be recommended. If those gaps are closed in future, this might cause the decision to be invalidated.

Impacts

Describe the impact of the decision on other aspects such as other processes, infrastructure, other SAP modules or systems, data cleansing and migration, developments, automations, interfaces, in-flight projects, etc.

Business Rules

The decision may translate into business rules which enforce the decision and will require configuration. List these business rules here. For example, "An Outline Agreement cannot be created via the RFQ process. An awarded RFQ can only result in a Purchase Order". 

Options considered

List the options (viable options or alternatives) you considered. These often require a longer explanation with diagrams, or references to other documents (links are best, but attachments are also possible). Use enough detail to adequately explain what you considered so that a project or business stakeholder reviewing this decision will not come back and ask "did you think about...?"; this leads to loss of credibility and questioning of other decisions. This section also helps ensure that you considered enough suitable alternatives rather than just copy/pasting SAP's recommendations.

Option A: Option Title

Decribe the option in sufficient detail for a reader familiar with the subject matter to understand it properly

Option B: Option Title

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Option C: Option Title

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Option D: Option Title

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Evaluation

Outline why you selected a position. The best format could be a pro/con table (sample below), but is up to you as the author. You must consider complexity, feasibility, cost/effort to implement, but also ongoing operational impact and cost. You must consider the program principles and explain any deviations in detail. This is probably as important as the decision itself.

	Option A	Option B	Option C	Option D
Criterion 1	Pro Con	Pro Pro	Pro Con	Pro Con
Criterion 2	Pro Con	Con	Pro Pro	Con Con
Criterion 3	Pro	Con	Con	Pro

See also

Insert links and references to other documents which are relevant when trying to understand this decision and its implications. Other decisions are often impacted, so it's good to list them here with links. Attachments are also possible but dangerous as they are static documents and not updated by their authors.

Change log

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