SAP covers almost every business area. Its functionality is organised into modules (in S/4HANA often called lines of business). Understanding them helps you scope projects and talk with consultants.

Finance

  • FI – Financial Accounting: general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, asset accounting, financial statements.
  • CO – Controlling: cost centres, profit centres, internal orders, product costing, profitability analysis.

In S/4HANA, finance and controlling share a single data source (the Universal Journal), which simplifies reporting.

Logistics

  • MM – Materials Management: purchasing, goods receipts, invoice verification, inventory management.
  • SD – Sales and Distribution: quotations, sales orders, pricing, deliveries, billing.
  • PP – Production Planning: material requirements planning (MRP), bills of materials, routings, production orders.
  • QM – Quality Management: inspections, quality notifications, certificates.
  • PM / EAM – Plant Maintenance: maintenance planning and orders for equipment.
  • EWM – Extended Warehouse Management: detailed warehouse processes, bins, picking, automation.
  • TM – Transportation Management: freight planning and execution.

Human resources

  • HCM (on-premise) and SAP SuccessFactors (cloud): personnel administration, payroll, time management, recruiting, learning.

Other important areas

  • PS – Project System: project structures and costs.
  • Ariba: procurement and supplier collaboration.
  • Analytics: embedded analytics, SAP Analytics Cloud, BW/4HANA, Datasphere.

How modules work together

A sales order (SD) checks stock (MM), may trigger production (PP), creates a delivery and billing document (SD) and posts revenue in finance (FI) with profitability data in controlling (CO). This integration is SAP's main strength – and why changes in one module must be tested across processes.

Which modules do you need?

That depends on your business model. A trading company focuses on SD, MM and FI/CO; a manufacturer adds PP, QM and PM; a logistics provider EWM and TM.

We help you define the right scope and build the integrations and extensions around it.

Planning a project like this? Our AI project assistant asks the right questions for your field and turns your answers into a clear brief – then our team near Munich sends a free, non-binding quote within 24 hours on business days. Start now or read the complete SAP guide.
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