ABAP Development Tools (ADT)
The suite of tools that lets you develop in ABAP within Eclipse, with a smart editor, completion, refactoring and debugging.
Explained in SAP ABAP
The SAP glossary in plain words
Every SAP term you will run into, defined in one line and linked to the module that explains it in depth. Built for a career change: no needless jargon, just enough to get it.
112 terms
A
ABAP Dictionary
The repository that describes the data: tables, structures and data elements, shared by all programs.
Explained in SAP ABAP
ABAP Objects ABAP orienté objet
The modern way to structure ABAP code into reusable, testable classes, stored in the central repository of the system.
Explained in SAP ABAP
ABAP Unit
The unit testing framework built into ABAP, which automatically verifies each small unit of code and secures refactoring.
Explained in SAP ABAP
Activity type Type d'activité
The service a cost center provides to others: it acts as a tracing factor to bill internally, debiting the receiver and crediting the sender.
Explained in SAP CO
Analytical app App analytique
A Fiori app that shows a key figure or an indicator live, to track a situation at a glance.
Explained in SAP Fiori
Authorisation check Contrôle d'autorisation
The verification the system performs in the background when each transaction or application is started, to confirm the user really has the right.
Explained in SAP Security
Authorisation concept Concept d'autorisation
The role-based model that governs access: authorisation objects grouped into roles, assigned to users and checked at runtime.
Explained in SAP Security
Authorisation object Objet d'autorisation
The technical unit of security: it groups a few fields (such as the activity) that are checked together to allow or deny an action.
Explained in SAP Security
Automatic payment run Run de paiement automatique
The program that selects the invoices due, prepares and settles the payments to vendors, then books the corresponding entries.
Explained in SAP FI
B
Background job Job de fond
A scheduled task that runs without user intervention, often at night, for tasks like closing, payroll or mass printing.
Explained in SAP Basis
Bill of materials Nomenclature
The structured list of components needed to make a product, with their quantities.
Explained in SAP PP
Billing document Document de facturation
The invoice created from the delivery or the order: it carries the prices and posts to accounting on the customer side.
Explained in SAP SD
Business role Rôle métier
The setting that decides which apps and tiles a user sees in their launchpad, based on their function in the company.
Explained in SAP Fiori
C
Carrier selection Sélection du transporteur
The process that ranks carriers by cost and agreements, then runs tendering to assign a carrier to the freight order.
Explained in SAP TM
Chart of accounts Plan de comptes
The variant that holds the structure and basic information of the general ledger accounts, assigned to each company code.
Explained in SAP FI
Clean core
The principle of keeping the S/4HANA standard intact and building your extensions alongside, on BTP (side-by-side extensibility), for simple version upgrades.
Explained in SAP BTP
Client Mandant
An isolated data environment inside an SAP system, which lets you separate, for example, production from tests on the same installation.
Explained in SAP Basis
Code catalog Catalogue de codes
QM's reference of standardised codes (defects, causes, actions) used to qualify a result or a problem in a structured, analysable way.
Explained in SAP QM
Code-to-data
The S/4HANA paradigm of pushing calculations and aggregations down to the HANA database, instead of transferring data to the application server to process it; also called push-down.
Explained in SAP ABAP
Condition technique Technique des conditions
The SAP pricing engine: it looks up condition records and applies a pricing procedure to calculate base price, discounts, surcharges and taxes automatically.
Explained in SAP SD
Core Data Services (CDS)
A way to model data in the Dictionary through a definition language, with joins, unions and aggregates, far richer than classic base views.
Explained in SAP ABAP
Cost center Centre de coût
An area within a controlling area where costs are incurred, for example a department or a workshop, on which charges are collected and tracked.
Explained in SAP CO
Cost element Élément de coût
The account that carries a cost in management accounting: primary when the charge comes from accounting, secondary when it arises from an internal allocation between CO objects.
Explained in SAP CO
D
Data-to-value
The concept of deriving maximum value from data, from storage with HANA Cloud through to analysis and planning with SAP Analytics Cloud.
Explained in SAP BTP
Distribution and assessment Répartition et imputation
The closing techniques that move costs from a sender to its receivers: distribution keeps the original cost element, assessment groups it under a secondary element.
Explained in SAP CO
Dynamic modification Modification dynamique
The mechanism that adjusts inspection effort to risk: it lightens inspections when quality is stable and tightens them when it slips.
Explained in SAP QM
E
Emissions management Gestion des émissions
The collection, calculation and monitoring of a site's emissions to prove environmental compliance.
Explained in SAP EHS
Equipment Équipement
An individual, maintainable technical object, for example a pump or a motor, carrying its own maintenance history.
Explained in SAP PM
F
FI document Document FI
The basic unit of SAP accounting: each operation becomes a balanced document, made of a header and line items, identified by its number, its company code and its fiscal year.
Explained in SAP FI
Financial statement version Version des états financiers
The formatting structure of the balance sheet and income statement, which lets you produce the statements for tax authorities, internal and external users.
Explained in SAP FI
Freight order Ordre de fret
The result of planning and the execution document: it represents a shipment or a load, departing from or arriving at a site.
Explained in SAP TM
Freight settlement document Décompte de transport
The document that calculates and settles transport charges, posted to finance on the MM and FI side.
Explained in SAP TM
Freight unit Unité de fret
The smallest transportable unit, the business object that planning groups or splits all along the transport.
Explained in SAP TM
Functional location Poste technique
A functional spot in the asset, organised in a hierarchy: it locates where maintenance happens, regardless of the machine occupying it.
Explained in SAP PM
G
General ledger Grand livre
The general ledger that gives the overall view of the company's accounts and serves as the basis for the balance sheet and income statement.
Explained in SAP FI
Global account and subaccount Compte global et sous-compte
BTP's architecture: the global account realises the contract with SAP and distributes usage rights to subaccounts that organise the projects.
Explained in SAP BTP
GRC Access Control
The governance solution that, above base security, analyses access risks, automates segregation of duties and manages requests and emergency access.
Explained in SAP Security
H
Handling unit Unité de manutention
The combination of goods and their carrier (pallet, carton), tracked as one whole through physical moves.
Explained in SAP EWM
I
Identity management Gestion des identités
The management of an identity's lifecycle, from arrival to departure, and its access across several systems, including in the cloud with identity governance.
Explained in SAP Security
Incident management Gestion des incidents
The solution that records, qualifies and investigates safety or environmental events: accident, near miss, spill or pollution.
Explained in SAP EHS
Inspection lot Lot d'inspection
The central object of QM: created by a trigger such as a goods receipt, a production or a delivery, it carries the quantity to check, takes the results and ends with a usage decision.
Explained in SAP QM
Inspection plan Plan d'inspection
The reference that defines in advance the characteristics to check, the methods and the tolerances applied to an inspection lot.
Explained in SAP QM
Internal order Ordre interne
A cost object used to plan, collect and analyse the costs of a specific action, such as an event, a campaign or an investment, before settling them.
Explained in SAP CO
Invoice verification Contrôle des factures
The match between the purchase order, the goods receipt and the supplier invoice before payment.
Explained in SAP MM
L
LE-TRA (basic shipping)
The legacy transport of SAP ERP, known as basic shipping, kept in the S/4HANA compatibility scope; embedded Transportation Management, integrated since release 1709, is its modern successor.
Explained in SAP TM
M
Maintenance notification Avis de maintenance
The document that reports an anomaly or a service request: it describes the problem, the object and the urgency.
Explained in SAP PM
Maintenance order Ordre de maintenance
The document that plans, executes and costs a job: operations, parts, labour and costs are gathered on it.
Explained in SAP PM
Maintenance plan Plan de maintenance
The object that automatically triggers preventive jobs, on time, a counter or a condition measured on the equipment.
Explained in SAP PM
Material master Fiche article
The master data behind every item managed in MM: description, units, valuation, purchasing and stock views.
Explained in SAP MM
Movement type Type de mouvement
The code that qualifies a stock movement, for example 101 for receipt, 261 for production issue, 309 for transfer.
Explained in SAP MM
MRP Calcul des besoins (MRP)
The engine that turns demand into planned orders and purchase requisitions by exploding the bills of materials.
Explained in SAP PP
N
NetWeaver application server Serveur d'applications NetWeaver
The technical engine on which the SAP modules run, made of instances and work processes that execute the users' tasks.
Explained in SAP Basis
O
OData
SAP's data protocol (Open Data Protocol): it exposes the system's data to the web so Fiori apps can read and write it.
Explained in SAP Fiori
Order-to-cash
The end-to-end process from order to cash: sales order, delivery, goods issue, invoice, then payment in finance.
Explained in SAP SD
Outbound delivery Livraison sortante
The document that drives physical shipping: created with reference to the order, it triggers picking and the goods issue.
Explained in SAP SD
P
Production order Ordre de fabrication
The document that plans, executes and costs the making of a product: operations, components, times and costs are gathered on it.
Explained in SAP PP
Profit center accounting Comptabilité par centre de profit
The view that tracks performance by internal unit responsible for a result, organised in a standard hierarchy of profit centers.
Explained in SAP CO
Profitability analysis Analyse de rentabilité
The view that sets revenues against costs to measure the margin by product, customer, region or market segment, also known as CO-PA.
Explained in SAP CO
Purchase order Commande d'achat
The document that commits a purchase with a supplier, usually created from a purchase requisition.
Explained in SAP MM
Q
Quality notification Notification qualité
The document that records a quality problem, triggers corrective actions and feeds supplier evaluation.
Explained in SAP QM
R
Regulatory and permit compliance Conformité réglementaire
The tracking of regulatory requirements, permits and environmental limits, in a prepare, execute and manage process.
Explained in SAP EHS
Risk assessment Évaluation des risques
The health and safety approach that identifies hazards, assesses risks at the workstation and process, and defines control measures.
Explained in SAP EHS
Role Rôle
The set of authorisations that describes a user's activity. It can be single, composite (several roles bundled) or derived (one model rolled out by site).
Explained in SAP Security
Routing Gamme
The ordered sequence of operations and work centers to go through to manufacture a product.
Explained in SAP PP
S
Sales order Commande client
The pivot document of SD: it records which material, in what quantity, at what price and for when a customer buys.
Explained in SAP SD
SAP ABAP
SAP's programming language, in which the standard modules and most custom developments are written; the technical path of the ecosystem.
Explained in SAP ABAP
SAP Basis
The technical administration of SAP systems: everything that keeps the system running behind the scenes, from installation to transports, monitoring, performance and maintenance.
Explained in SAP Basis
SAP BTP
The Business Technology Platform, SAP's cloud platform: the technology foundation that lets you extend, personalise and integrate SAP applications around four pillars.
Explained in SAP BTP
SAP Build
BTP's development environment, in low-code and no-code for citizen developers, and in pro-code for developers, to build applications and automate processes.
Explained in SAP BTP
SAP Business AI
SAP's artificial intelligence offering, whose services run on BTP to enrich processes, with built-in governance and ethics.
Explained in SAP BTP
SAP CO
Controlling, the SAP management accounting module: it tracks costs by center, order, project and product, up to the margin, and shares the Universal Journal with FI.
Explained in SAP CO
SAP EHS
Environment, Health and Safety, the SAP module that handles occupational safety, health and the environment, as a portfolio of solutions integrated in S/4HANA and run on Fiori apps.
Explained in SAP EHS
SAP EWM
Extended Warehouse Management, the SAP module that drives the inside of the warehouse down to the bin, the handling unit and the physical move.
Explained in SAP EWM
SAP FI
Financial Accounting, the SAP module for external financial accounting: general ledger, customers, vendors, assets and bank, integrated in S/4HANA and connected to the Universal Journal.
Explained in SAP FI
SAP Fiori
SAP's user experience layer: modern web apps, organised by role, that gradually replace the classic SAP GUI screens.
Explained in SAP Fiori
SAP Fiori launchpad Launchpad SAP Fiori
The single entry point of Fiori: a home page where the user's apps sit as tiles, organised into spaces and pages.
Explained in SAP Fiori
SAP HANA Cloud
BTP's in-memory database, managed and delivered as a service, that serves as the cloud data foundation to store and use information in real time.
Explained in SAP BTP
SAP Integration Suite
BTP's integration platform as a service, which connects SAP and non-SAP applications, on-premise and in the cloud, through APIs and pre-built content.
Explained in SAP BTP
SAP MM
Materials Management, the SAP module for purchasing, inventory management and supplier invoice verification.
Explained in SAP MM
SAP Note Note SAP
A correction or recommendation published by SAP, that the administrator applies to fix a problem or close a security gap.
Explained in SAP Basis
SAP PM
Plant Maintenance, the SAP module that manages the upkeep of equipment and assets, from the breakdown report to the costed completion of the job.
Explained in SAP PM
SAP PP
Production Planning, the SAP module that plans and controls manufacturing, from the stated demand to the goods receipt of the finished product.
Explained in SAP PP
SAP QM
Quality Management, the SAP module that runs quality control end to end, from inspection planning to the usage decision on stock.
Explained in SAP QM
SAP SD
Sales and Distribution, the SAP module that runs the whole sales cycle, from the customer order to the invoice, around the order-to-cash process.
Explained in SAP SD
SAP Security
The SAP discipline of authorisations and access: it decides who is allowed to do what in the system, protects the data and watches over compliance.
Explained in SAP Security
SAP TM
Transportation Management, the SAP module that plans, executes and settles goods transport, integrated into the core of S/4HANA since release 1709.
Explained in SAP TM
SAP WM
Warehouse Management, the classic SAP module that runs the warehouse down to the bin through the transfer order, carried over as Stock Room Management on S/4HANA.
Explained in SAP WM
SAPUI5
SAP's web development technology, used to build Fiori apps.
Explained in SAP Fiori
Segregation of duties Séparation des tâches
The rule that prevents one person from holding incompatible rights, such as ordering and paying, to reduce the risk of fraud and error. Often abbreviated SoD.
Explained in SAP Security
Solution Manager
SAP's central tool to monitor, configure and maintain a landscape of systems, notably through the EarlyWatch Alert that surfaces points of attention.
Explained in SAP Basis
Stock movement Mouvement de stock
Any goods receipt, issue or transfer that updates stock quantities in real time.
Explained in SAP MM
Stock Room Management
The name of classic WM on S/4HANA: same functions, no new features, the lightweight alternative to EWM for simple warehouses.
Explained in SAP WM
Storage bin Emplacement
The smallest address unit of the warehouse in EWM: the exact place where goods are put away or picked.
Storage type Type de magasin
A warehouse area, physical or logical, such as high-rack or the picking zone, grouping storage bins with shared rules.
Explained in SAP WM
Sub-ledgers Comptes auxiliaires
The customer accounts (accounts receivable, AR) and vendor accounts (accounts payable, AP), where open items, clearing, the automatic payment run and dunning are managed.
Explained in SAP FI
T
Task management Gestion des tâches
The cross-cutting engine of the portfolio that plans and tracks preventive or corrective actions, with approval and reminders, across the health-safety, incident and environment solutions.
Explained in SAP EHS
Transactional app App transactionnelle
A Fiori app built to act: create or change an object, the way a SAP GUI transaction used to.
Explained in SAP Fiori
Transfer order Ordre de transport
The central WM document: it instructs a precise stock move, from a source bin to a destination bin.
Explained in SAP WM
Transfer requirement Besoin de transfert
The demand that a move must happen, created by a goods receipt or a delivery, before the transfer order is created.
Explained in SAP WM
Transport Management System (TMS) Système de transport (TMS)
The mechanism that migrates code and configuration across the landscape, from development to quality then production, after release.
Explained in SAP Basis
Transport request Demande de transport
The mechanism that moves a validated development object from the development system to quality, then to production.
Explained in SAP ABAP
Transportation Cockpit
The visual control desk of planning, where freight units get consolidated into freight orders, manually or through the optimiser.
Explained in SAP TM
Transportation requirement Besoin de transport
The initial event that triggers the cycle: an order, a purchase or a delivery creates a shipping demand in TM.
Explained in SAP TM
U
Universal Journal Journal universel
The single S/4HANA table, called ACDOCA, that has become the source of truth of accounting: it brings together in real time external accounting (FI) and internal accounting (CO).
Explained in SAP FI
Usage decision Décision d'emploi
The verdict that closes an inspection: accept, reject or rework the goods, with the stock posting that follows.
Explained in SAP QM
W
Warehouse order Ordre magasin
The grouping of warehouse tasks handed to one operator, so they run a batch of moves in an optimised sequence.
Explained in SAP EWM
Warehouse task Tâche magasin
EWM's elementary unit of work: it says what to move, from where to where, for example putting a pallet away at a specific bin.
Explained in SAP EWM
Wave Vague
The grouping of outbound deliveries processed together to optimise picking rounds across the warehouse.
Explained in SAP EWM
Work center Poste de travail
The resource, machine or line, where an operation runs; it carries the capacity and the costing data.
Explained in SAP PP
Work Clearance Management Sécurité de la maintenance
The securing of maintenance work through work permits, in direct connection with equipment maintenance.
Explained in SAP EHS
Work process
A unit of work of the application server that runs a task: dialog with a user, background processing, update, lock or printing.
Explained in SAP Basis
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