Reporting in SAP R/3

Business Information Warehouse?

Is the business data warehouse the answer to all reporting needs? Should we move the reporting to BW? The answer is yes for the majority of report users like cost centre managers, sales managers etc. The answer is yes also for the financial users, when it comes to management reporting and analyses to support business decision making and planning.

However, the core R/3 reporting options including Standard Reports, Report Painter and SAP Query are still great tools in ad hoc reporting, problem solving and error hunting for the financial and controlling department users.

Standard Reports, Report Painter and query tools

FI-reports are usually very rigid and don't allow much modification. Most reports in CO are built with Report Painter that provides an easy tool to create own reports. These reports provide real-time information and come with drill down functionality. Data is often needed to solve problems. Tools like data browser, quick viewer and SAP Query, can be used to track the problem areas.