Business Rationale of Editions - Benefits, Advantages etc.

[Former Member]

Hi there MDG experts,

I am aware of the technical aspects of Editions wherein they are required for all time dependent objects (CC, PC etc.) and that these time dependent objects inherit the start date from the edition.

With the above said, it's quite hard to justify to business to ask them to create an ad hoc edition everytime they would create a time dependent object. Creating an edition for say start of the year (e.g. 01.01.2015) or start of the month (e.g. 01.03.2015) is not an option as we lose the original start date history in the master data.

Can anyone provide a real benefit of the Editions functionality? Not quite sure at the moment if there is any.

Many thanks!

[michael_theis · Accepted solution]

Hi Pat,

Editions are used for data consistency as well as time dependency.

The edition allows grouping different objects together. You should be aware of many cross references and dependencies in the financial objects (e.g. common objects and their usage in hierarchies, cross references between accounts and companies, cost and profit centers, and so on). Using editions you're able to create a valid state of your complete set of financial master data objects. Once this is done in MDG, you can replicate everything consistently to you ERP client systems.

The edition concept is used for each pre-defined object in MDG-F. This includes accounts that are not time-dependent in SAP ERP, too. With that, you can plan your next fiscal year setup already in advance. You can have everything defined in MDG-F and replicate the data at a fix date (e.g. the day after the closing runs of your current fiscal year) to your SAP ERP systems.

Best regards

Michael

[sawantp80 · Accepted solution]

Hi Michael,

Do you have Edition document with example to understand the concept of edition works in deeply. Does this edition will effect during the migration and replication in cost center, profit center, GL and their Hry. Please help us if you have any document and PPT for edition topics.

Best Regards,

Prashant

[former_member206605]

Hello Pat

Ask them how they do in ECC? They use validity periods in ECC and same way they can use edition concept in MDG.

Kiran

[Former Member]

Hi Kiran,

Yes they do have validity periods in ECC (Start - End Dates) but it's specific to the master data. Plus the dates are entered during master data maintenance which makes it faster than a 2 step process in MDG (Create Edition - Create Master Data)

What I don't understand is why these ad hoc editions need to be created for every unique start date. Eventually, it would just accumulate in the drop down values.

Let me know if I am missing any REAL benefits to the Edition Functionality.