What are Functional Specifications?
What are Functional Specifications?
Functional specifications (functional specs), in the end, are the blueprint for how you want a particular report and transaction to look and work. It details what the report will do, how a user will interact with it, and what it will look like. By creating a blueprint of the report or transaction first, time and productivity are saved during the development stage because the programmers can program instead of also working out the logic of the user-experience. It will also enable you to manage the expectations of your clients or management, as they will know exactly what to expect.
A key benefit of writing up a Functional Spec is in streamlining the development process. The developer working from the spec has, ideally, all of their questions answered about the report or transaction and can start building it. And since this is a spec that was approved by the client, they are building nothing less than what the client is expecting. There should be nothing left to guess or interpret when the spec is completed.
Functional Specification
A functional specification (or sometimes functional specifications) is a formal document used to describe in detail for software developers a product's intended capabilities, appearance, and interactions with users. The functional specification is a kind of guideline and continuing reference point as the developers write the programming code. (At least one major product development group used a "Write the manual first" approach. Before the product existed, they wrote the user's guide for a word processing system, then declared that the user's guide was the functional specification. The developers were challenged to create a product that matched what the user's guide described.) Typically, the functional specification for an application program with a series of interactive windows and dialogs with a user would show the visual appearance of the user interface and describe each of the possible user input actions and the program response actions. A functional specification may also contain formal descriptions of user tasks, dependencies on other products, and usability criteria. Many companies have a guide for developers that describes what topics any product's functional specification should contain.
For a sense of where the functional specification fits into the development process, here are a typical series of steps in developing a software product:
Requirements:
This is a formal statement of what the product planners informed by their knowledge of the marketplace and specific input from existing or potential customers believe is needed for a new product or a new version of an existing product. Requirements are usually expressed in terms of narrative statements and in a relatively general way.
Objectives: Objectives are written by product designers in response to the Requirements. They describe in a more specific way what the product will look like. Objectives may describe architectures, protocols, and standards to which the product will conform. Measurable objectives are those that set some criteria by which the end product can be judged. Measurability can be in terms of some index of customer satisfaction or in terms of capabilities and task times. Objectives must recognize time and resource constraints. The development schedule is often part or a corollary of the Objectives.
Functional specification.: The functional specification (usually functional spec or just spec for short) is the formal response to the objectives. It describes all external user and programming interfaces that the product must support.
Design change requests: Throughout the development process, as the need for change to the functional specification is recognized, a formal change is described in a design change request.
Logic Specification:
The structure of the programming (for example, major groups of code modules that support a similar function), individual code modules and their relationships, and the data parameters that they pass to each other may be described in a formal document called a logic specification. The logic specification describes internal interfaces and is for use only by the developers, testers, and, later, to some extent, the programmers that service the product and provide code fixes to the field.
documentation:
In general, all of the preceding documents (except the logic specification) are used as source material for the technical manuals and online information (such as help pages) that are prepared for the product's users.
Test plan: Most development groups have a formal test plan that describes test cases that will exercise the programming that is written. Testing is done at the module (or unit) level, at the component level, and at the system level in context with other products. This can be thought of as alpha testing. The plan may also allow for beta test. Some companies provide an early version of the product to a selected group of customers for testing in a "real world" situation.
The Final Product:
Ideally, the final product is a complete implementation of the functional specification and design change requests, some of which may result from formal testing and beta testing. The cycle is then repeated for the next version of the product, beginning with a new Requirements statement, which ideally uses feedback from customers about the current product to determine what customers need or want next.
Most software makers adhere to a formal development process similar to the one described above. The hardware development process is similar but includes some additional considerations for the outsourcing of parts and verification of the manufacturing process itself.
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Role of SAP Functional
What are the differences between a functional and business consultant?
The difference between Functional consultant and Business consultant are as follows: 1) A functional consultant is able to configure the system unlike business consultant. 2) Functional consultant know more about business process unlike Business consultant. 3) A business consultant will bring business process knowledge and provide it to functional consultant who in turn used this knowledge to configure the system. 4) Functional consultant has more configuration knowledge then Business consultant. *-- Rocky
The responsibilities of a support consultant are:
- Primarily responsible for Handling tickets and application support to the end users
- When an issue comes diagnose, analyse and solve the issue
- Responsible for any enhancements
- Writing functional specs and interacting with Abapers to develop any user exits
- Training the end users and preparing end user training material *-- Sistla
For those who wished to know the role of a functional consultant. Below is one view:
A functional consultant evaluates the demands in talking with the customer's representatives, transforms the essence into an abstract and algorithmic business model. Hence, he identifies the use cases and transforms them into logical and technical views.
Then the main task starts: customizing the respective business area and making sure the system reacts in the manner according to the constraints of the requested use case.
The consultant documents the settings and prepares proper guidelines that allow other consultants to do further changes or repairs with due efforts.
The consultant takes care that proper training is given to the users and that the system is usable, performing appropriately and the business flow is complete and correct.
During go live he assists the technical staff by testing the behaviour of the system.
After go live he guarantees that the procedures remain usable and consistent in real live situation and proposes enhancements.
The main duty of a consultant is to transfer external know-how to the client. It is not manpower that counts but intelligence, understanding of processes, a feeling for defects and general a common sense.
Role of a Functional Consultant in an End To End Implementation
When you talk about the role of a Functional consultant in an end to end implementation, I think it won't be possible for me or anybody to define everything but I will try to summarize it:
1. Functional consultant is expected to generate knowledge about the current business process, design current business flows, study current business processes and its complication, in all we can say getting through with current business setup. Flow diagrams and DFD are prepared, most of the time in Vision format, all this forms the part of AS IS document.
2. Everything configured has to be documented as per their categories in the form of predefined templates, these have to be then approved by the team leads or who ever the consultant is reporting to.
3. Mapping and GAP analysis is done for each module, I have seen people defining integration after mapping, gap analysis and configuration is done, but as per my experience in implementation, it is a simultaneous process.
4. Before starting configuring future business processes in SAP, the DFD/ERD are prepared, this documentation is called TO BE, which can be also said as the result of mapping and gap analysis.
5. Sometimes Functional consultants are also expected to prepare test scripts for testing the configured scenarios.
6. End user manual and user training is also expected from F.Consultants.
The project normally starts off with a Kick off meeting in which the team size, team members, reporting system, responsibilities, duties, methodology, dates and schedules, working hours which have been predicted are formally defined.
ASAP, it won't be possible for me to explain it here, but all I can tell you about it is that it is SAP standard implementation methodology, which SAP prescribes but is not mandatory for any company to follow, such as IBM follow some blue Methodology, some companies follow typical SDLC steps, ASAP stands for Accelerated SAP, you can find all the steps on SAP site, through google, reading it from there won't give you a great knowledge about ASAP but will obviously get you to know the definitions of various term.
Tips by: Pascal, Nitin, Sushil Pandey
Source : http://www.erpgreat.com/general/role-of-a-sap-functional-consultant.htm
Integration FI-MM (Down Payment when PO transaction)
Down
Payments: User can choose to enter the DP amount or % along with the due date
for the payment. Once the PO is released, the PO can be further processed for
the payment of DP w.r.t PO using a separate report, which shows the DP against
PO.
The
FI user can choose to change the due date or amount, then further process the
payment from the same report itself. This
functionality eliminates the manual adv. payment request or F-47/F-48 transactions in SAP, which
are in isolation to PO.
This functionality
eliminates the manual entries for Retention amount and helps tracking the
retention money vendor wise using a separate Special G/L indicator ‘H’.
Step - step for activate Down Payment PO :
A. Activate the business function: “LOG_MMFI_P2P”
(Note: it’s BASIS activity).
Transaction code: SFW5
Activate the business function.
B. Step 2: Create PO.
Transaction
Code : ME21N
Down payment can be mentioned at Header level or at
item level as needed.
As of now header level DP is not fully supported,
hence I am illustrating Item level DP processing.
There are 2 types of down payment categories:
a. Mandatory
Down Payment – As per negotiation, down payment is must for this
transaction.
b. Voluntary
Down Payment – Company is willing to pay down payment without any
request from vendor
Select
Option Mandatory Down Payment. (Note: this has no impact / control on any other
transaction;
it’s only a classification of the down payment for the reporting)
Check and Save the document.
C. Go to the report Down payment monitoring for PO.
TCode: ME2DP.
This
Transaction is used by FI team for monitoring and processing the DP.
Use can choose the different type of
selection conditions as needed.
System displays the list of PO which
contains the Down payment request in PO header or item level.
Indicates
DP is at header level
Select the required PO for
processing further.
User can choose the required options
Press Enter
Save the document once Simulated.
Come back and check the status
End of process 1 Down payments in PO.
(source : sapfunctional.com)
F-53 (Post Outgoing Payment)
Functionality
Scenario
You need to pay an invoice based on a business
requirement where you don’t want to wait for the next payment run or you need
to pay an invoice from the bank account that is not relevant for the automatic
payment program.
Requirements
Outstanding
vendor invoice.
Menu
Path
|
Accounting ® Financial Accounting ® Accounts Payable ® Document entry ® Outgoing payment ® F-53 - Post
|
Transaction
Code
|
F-53
|
Double click on F-53
– Post
Field Name
|
Field Description
|
Values
|
Document date
|
Date the transaction occurred
|
Example: 18.11.2012
|
Company code
|
Code identifying a separate legal
entity for which a separate set of accounts is maintained for external
reporting purposes
|
Example: UII
|
Posting date
|
Date that the business
transaction occurred
|
Example: 18.11.2012
|
Currency/rate
|
Code identifying the currency
used in the transaction
|
Example: IDR
|
Reference
|
Vendor document reference,
like invoice number
|
Example: Free
Text
|
Account
|
Code identifying the General
Ledger account
|
Example: 1111112100
|
Amount
|
Amount of a payment
|
Example: 1000000
|
Value date
|
Today's date
|
Example: 18.11.2012
|
Account
|
Code identifying the Vendor
account
|
Example: 1001500
|
You entered the basic payment data. Now you
need to clear your bank document with an outstanding invoice. To do so, click Process open items Button . The system will display full list of
outstanding vendor documents:
All invoices are not selected for
processing. Select the document you want to clear with you payment by double-clicking
on it (choose document 10001113). Now the selected document is displayed in
blue and the value of the field “not assigned” is equal 0.
You can simulate your document before
posting it. From the menu path choose “Document -> Simulate” to display
document overview:
To post your document, click Save Button..
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