sap erp financials preparing for the single euro payments area

8/4/2019 SAP ERP Financials Preparing for the Single Euro Payments Area

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/sap-erp-financials-preparing-for-the-single-euro-payments-area 1/4

SAP Solution BriefSAP Business Suite

SAP ERP Financials

Getting Ready for the SEPA Initiative

In January 2008, the Single Euro Pay-ments Area, or SEPA, became effective.SEPA is the result of actions taken by

the banking industry in 2002, when theindustry created the European PaymentsCouncil (EPC) to define the standards,frameworks, and rules for euro payments.

SEPA enables citizens, companies, andother stakeholders to make and receivepayments in euros within Europe, whetherbetween or within national boundaries,under the same basic conditions, rights,and obligations, regardless of their loca-tion. The political driver behind SEPA is

the European Commission, along withthe European Central Bank. The EPC,acting as the banking industry’s coordi-nation and decision-making body of thisself-regulatory initiative, refers to SEPAas Europe’s largest payments initiative.

SEPA will apply to all national and cross-border euro payments within and betweenthe 27 member states of the EuropeanUnion (EU), the three European Economic Area countries, and Switzerland. All ofthese countries will gradually harmonize

their payment systems and procedures.This will mean establishing Europeanstandards for processing payments,reducing barriers to market entry, in-creasing efficiency, and lowering transfercosts. Your company can make a smoothtransition to the new SEPA requirementsand environment with the SAP® ERPFinancials solution and SAP Consultingservices.

Managing SEPA Instruments andFormats

SEPA introduces two new paymentinstruments provided by banks for theircustomers: SEPA credit transfers and

SEPA direct debits. These new paymentinstruments will be identical across SEPAand will provide significant payment effi-ciencies for the daily business of corpo-rations. For example, exporters will nolonger require expensive, difficult-to-manage incoming payment accounts atforeign correspondence banks. Compa-nies will be able to set up payment-processing centers and shared servicecenters for financial operations, enablingthem to centralize their financial account-

ing, cash, and treasury managementfunctions. SEPA will affect card paymentsas well – holders of debit cards andcredit cards will be able to use them within SEPA to make payments at theirusual national rates.

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative affectsEuropean companies doingbusiness with Europeanpartners. SEPA requiresfirms to use new paymentstandards, change masterdata, and examine businessprocesses. The SAP® ERP

Financials solution and SAPConsulting services canhelp with these challenges.

SAP® ERP FINANCIALSPREPARING FOR THE SINGLE EUROPAYMENTS AREA



Additional Compliance Supportfrom SAP

Companies can quickly adapt to SEPA with applications that are a part of theSAP ERP Financials solution, includingthe SAP Bank Communication Manage-

ment application, SAP Integration Pack-age for SWIFT, and the SAP In-HouseCash application. You can use SAPBank Communication Management tooptimize the interface to the bank andto monitor status to increase the trans-parency of the payment flows. Withthe flexible release procedure and digitalsignatures, you can help ensure thatoutgoing payments meet auditing re-quirements. With the multibank func-tion in SAP Integration Package forSWIFT, you can exchange data be-

tween the SAP software system andany relevant banks using the Societyfor Worldwide Interbank Financial Tele-communication (SWIFT) infrastructure.Finally, if your company has severalsubsidiaries, you can use SAP In-HouseCash to set up a payment-processingcenter and centralize incoming and out-going payments.

ISO 20022 payment-processing stan-dards and the XML format stipulated bythe EPC regulate both the SEPA credittransfer and SEPA direct debit payments.The SEPA credit transfer will not besignificantly different from the existing

standard EU credit transfer, but it willeliminate the current €50,000 value limit.The SEPA direct debit is a more com-plex payment instrument, requiring thecreditor to receive a mandate from thecreditor’s debtors. The mandate is theauthorization and expression of con-sent given by the debtor to the creditor,allowing the collection of outstandingreceivables from a specified debtoraccount. Creditors must store mandateinformation in their systems as proof

of legitimate collections, as well astransfer mandate-related data to theirfinancial institutions.

Preparing for SEPA withSAP Solutions

Both the SEPA credit transfer and theSEPA direct debit payment instrumentsrequire the international bank accountnumber (IBAN) and bank identifier code(BIC). Companies will need to updatetheir systems to support both IBAN

and BIC. The SAP ERP Financials solu-tion includes functionality that enablescorporations to start collecting theIBAN and BIC from their business part-ners immediately. Companies usingSAP ERP Financials can communicatetheir IBANs and BICs to their businesspartners – for example, printed on theirinvoices. SAP ERP Financials providesimproved IBAN functionality that includes

new options. One option is that you nolonger need to specify a national accountnumber before an IBAN. In addition, you will have an IBAN that is more visibleand has the value presented next toother bank details from the master

record.

Managing SEPA Mandates andPayments

With a support package for SAP ERPFinancials, you will have complete man-date management functionality. You willbe able to:• Create mandate correspondence and

attach external documents to themandate

• Track the status of and manage yourmandates, including the display ofchanges – for instance, the addressof a creditor – and extensive report-ing to provide transparency and com-plete control

• Integrate the mandates and opera-tional processes, such as periodicpayment runs – for example, eachpayment run will help ensure thatSEPA direct debits are processedonly when a valid mandate exists

• Apply mandate management to

accounts receivable, and contractaccounts receivable and payable,so that mandate management isuseful in many industries, includinginsurance, telecommunications,media, and utilities

• Enable the XML generation of thenew standard European SEPA directdebits and SEPA credit transfers



Migrating to SEPA with SAPConsulting

SAP Consulting can also help companiessuccessfully manage the migration toSEPA. SAP Consulting has established

a SEPA center of excellence to provide you with a variety of specialized consult-ing services. SAP Consulting also offerstwo dedicated consulting packagesdesigned to help customers transitionsmoothly to SEPA.

The first package, the SEPA starterpackage, provides you with an over- view of all SEPA changes and helpsfamiliarize you with the SEPA offeringfrom SAP. In addition, you will receive

useful advice on how to complete asuccessful SEPA project. The packageincludes a one-day SEPA assessment workshop and unlimited access to theSEPA knowledge area on the SAP Ser- vice Marketplace extranet for one year.

The second package, the SEPA valuepackage, provides you with detailedinsights into SEPA changes. It includesa two-day detailed SEPA workshop dur-ing which you will learn about SEPA’seffect on business processes. You will

become familiar with the necessaryconfiguration, including the paymentmedium workbench and data mediumexchange engine. Furthermore, you willreceive unlimited access to the SEPAknowledge area on SAP Service Mar-ketplace for one year as well as oneday of remote consulting to answeradditional questions you might have.

A key benefit of both packages isaccess to the SEPA knowledge area, where you will have the opportunityto become involved in a moderated,closed user community where you canshare detailed information and exchange

views with other customers.

In addition to these two packages, SAPConsulting also offers SEPA implemen-tation support, spot consulting, qualityassurance, project management support,and other consulting services.

Powered by SAP NetWeaver®

SAP ERP Financials is powered by theSAP NetWeaver® technology platform.

SAP NetWeaver unifies technologycomponents into a single platform,allowing organizations to reduce ITcomplexity and obtain more business value from their IT investments. It provides the best way to integrate all sys-tems running SAP or non-SAP software.

SAP NetWeaver also helps organiza-tions align IT with their business. WithSAP NetWeaver, organizations cancompose and enhance business appli-cations rapidly using enterprise services.

As the foundation for service-orientedarchitecture (SOA), SAP NetWeaverallows organizations to evolve theircurrent IT landscapes into a strategicenvironment that drives businesschange.

Get Ready for SEPA Todaywith SAP

To learn more about how SAP solutionsand SAP Consulting can help yourcompany prepare for SEPA and thechanges it will bring, contact us at

www.service.sap.com/sepa.



QUICK FACTS www.sap.com/contactsap

50 086 558 (10/04)©2010 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign,

Clear Enterprise, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, and other SAPproducts and services mentioned herein as well as their respec-tive logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG inGermany and other countries.

Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects,Crystal Reports, Cr ystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, andother Business Objects products and services mentioned herein as

well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trade-marks of SAP France in the United States and in other countries.

All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks oftheir respective companies. Data contained in this document servesinformational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

These materials are subject to change without notice. These materi-als are provided by SAP AG and its affi liated companies (“SAPGroup”) for informational purposes only, without representation or

warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errorsor omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties forSAP Group products and services are those that are set forth inthe express warranty statements accompanying such products andservices, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constitutingan additional warranty.

SummaryThe Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative affects European companies doing busi-ness with European partners. SEPA requires firms to use new payment standards, changemaster data, and examine business processes. The SAP® ERP Financials solution and SAPConsulting services can help with these challenges.

Business Challenges

• Comply with European Payments Council requirements for euro payments• Take advantage of payment efficiencies• Centralize financial accounting, cash, and treasury management functions• Ensure that outgoing payments meet auditing requirements

Key Features• Foreign financial management – Set up payment-processing centers and shared service

centers for financial operations• Credit transfer management – Eliminate the current €50,000 value limit• Direct debit management – Store and transfer mandate-related data• Account number and code management – Collect required numbers from business

partners• Bank communication management – Optimize the interface to the bank to increase the

transparency of the payment flows

• Subsidiary management – Centralize incoming and outgoing payments

Business Benefits• Widen your customer base by reducing barriers to market entry• Reduce costs by improving efficiency and lowering transfer expenses• Meet auditing requirements with the flexible release procedure and digital signatures• Lower subsidiary overhead through setting up a payment-processing center

For More InformationCall your SAP representative, or visit us online at www.service.sap.com/sepa.

sap erp financials preparing for the single euro payments area

Documents