Intelligent Finance with SAP

... Preface ... 17

... Target Audience ... 18

... Objectives of This Book ... 20

... How to Read This Book ... 22

... Closing Thoughts ... 23

1 ... Introduction to AI with SAP ... 25

1.1 ... Types of AI in Your SAP Landscape ... 26

1.2 ... SAP Business AI ... 41

1.3 ... Solutions in SAP BTP ... 47

1.4 ... Third-Party Solutions ... 58

1.5 ... Summary ... 63

PART I ... Leveraging Standard and Generative AI ... 65

2 ... Accounts Receivable ... 67

2.1 ... Master Data ... 68

2.2 ... Customer Invoices ... 79

2.3 ... Payment Advice and Bank Statements ... 89

2.4 ... Dispute Management ... 91

2.5 ... Cash Application ... 94

2.6 ... Cash Forecasting ... 98

2.7 ... Summary ... 99

3 ... Accounts Payable ... 101

3.1 ... Master Data ... 101

3.2 ... Supplier Invoices ... 102

3.3 ... Supplier Downpayment Requests ... 111

3.4 ... GR/IR Reconciliation ... 113

3.5 ... Invoice Automation with OpenText ... 114

3.6 ... Summary ... 118

4 ... Intelligent Asset Accounting ... 121

4.1 ... Master Data ... 122

4.2 ... Asset Acquisitions ... 127

4.3 ... Asset Transfers ... 130

4.4 ... Asset Retirements ... 136

4.5 ... Asset Scrapping ... 142

4.6 ... Summary ... 144

5 ... General Ledger Accounting ... 147

5.1 ... Journal Entries ... 148

5.2 ... AI-Assisted Journal Upload ... 154

5.3 ... Accruals ... 160

5.4 ... Reclassification ... 164

5.5 ... Exchange Rates ... 167

5.6 ... Intelligent Intercompany Matching and Reporting ... 171

5.7 ... Summary ... 177

6 ... Predictive Accounting ... 179

6.1 ... Prediction Ledger ... 179

6.2 ... Sales Order ... 181

6.3 ... Data Quality Management ... 183

6.4 ... Profit Center Reorganization ... 186

6.5 ... Travel and Expense Management ... 193

6.6 ... Summary ... 198

7 ... Predictive Planning and Analytics ... 201

7.1 ... Just Ask ... 202

7.2 ... Smart Insights ... 210

7.3 ... Time Series Forecasting ... 217

7.4 ... Smart Grouping ... 225

7.5 ... Predictive Planning ... 232

7.6 ... Regression and Classification via Smart Predict ... 238

7.7 ... Summary ... 244

PART II ... Developing Custom AI Solutions ... 247

8 ... Designing, Deploying, and Scaling Custom AI Solutions for Finance ... 249

8.1 ... Identify Information Need and Finance Stakeholders ... 250

8.2 ... Assess Out-of-the-Box Functionality ... 256

8.3 ... Define Use Cases ... 259

8.4 ... Prioritize for Impact ... 263

8.5 ... Review Available Tools ... 266

8.6 ... Assess Development Cost ... 278

8.7 ... Define Implementation Steps ... 281

8.8 ... Understand Audit and Compliance Concerns ... 284

8.9 ... Summary ... 288

9 ... Summarizing and Synthesizing Financial Data ... 291

9.1 ... Automated Variance Commentary ... 292

9.2 ... Executive-Ready Flash Reporting ... 300

9.3 ... Earnings Call Preparation ... 307

9.4 ... Cross-LOB Performance Synthesis ... 317

9.5 ... Summary ... 323

10 ... Retrieving Financial Data ... 325

10.1 ... Natural Language Assistants ... 325

10.2 ... Automated KPI Lookups ... 331

10.3 ... Contract and Transaction Data Retrieval ... 341

10.4 ... Dynamic Drilldowns into Reports ... 349

10.5 ... Summary ... 358

11 ... Transforming Content ... 359

11.1 ... Raw Transaction Logs ... 360

11.2 ... Regulatory Filings ... 368

11.3 ... Multientity Reports ... 378

11.4 ... Historical Data ... 388

11.5 ... Summary ... 396

12 ... Turning Static Outputs into Dynamic Stakeholder Narratives ... 399

12.1 ... Additional Context ... 401

12.2 ... Market Intelligence ... 407

12.3 ... Real-Time KPIs ... 412

12.4 ... Sentiment and Peer Analysis ... 418

12.5 ... Summary ... 424

13 ... Leveraging Assistants ... 427

13.1 ... Financial Analyst Copilots ... 428

13.2 ... Investor Relations Assistants ... 439

13.3 ... Procurement Bots ... 448

13.4 ... Controllership Agents ... 458

13.5 ... Summary ... 467

14 ... Creating Content ... 469

14.1 ... Commentary ... 470

14.2 ... Investor Relations Scripts ... 476

14.3 ... Financial Summaries ... 480

14.4 ... Policies ... 485

14.5 ... Summary ... 489

PART III ... Looking Ahead for AI ... 491

15 ... Nine Elements of Future ERP AI Automation ... 493

15.1 ... The Four Pillars of the Intelligent Enterprise ... 494

15.2 ... The Nine Elements ... 495

15.3 ... Implications for Finance Leaders ... 508

15.4 ... Technology Impacts and Operating Model Shifts ... 510

15.5 ... Common Misconceptions and Failure Patterns ... 512

15.6 ... Putting the Nine Elements into Motion ... 513

15.7 ... From Principles to Roadmap: Building the Automation Portfolio ... 518

15.8 ... Measured Outcomes and Value Realization ... 520

15.9 ... Summary ... 522

... The Author ... 525

... The Contributors ... 525

... Index ... 527