FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION GENERAL NOTE [2014]

How to prepare functional specification document in SAP?

To speak at macro level that is at project manager or at senior levels. The Functional Spec
(Specification) which is a comprehensive document is created after the (SRS) Software
Requirements Document. t provides more details on selected items originall! descri"ed in
the Software Requirements Template. #lsewhere organi$ations com"ine these two
documents into a single document.
The Functional Specification descri"es the features of the desired functionalit!. t descri"es
the product%s features as seen "! the stake holders& and contains the technical information
and the data needed for the design and development.
The Functional Specification defines what the functionalit! will "e of a particulate area that
is to "e precise a transaction in S'( terminolog!.
The Functional Specification document to create a detailed design document that e)plains in
detail how the software will "e designed and developed.

The functional specification translates the Software Requirements template into a
technical description which:
a) #nsures that the product feature requirements are correctl! understood "efore moving
into the ne)t step& that is the technical development process.
") *learl! and unam"iguousl! provides all the information necessar! for the technical
consultants to develop the o"jects.

't the consultant level the functional specs are prepared "! functional consultants on an!
functionalit! for the purpose of getting the same functionalit! designed "! the technical
people as most of the times the functionalit!%s according to the requirements of the clients
are not availa"le on read! made "asis.
+et me throw some light on documentation which is prepared "efore and in a project,
-) Templates
.) /eat 'nal!sis 0
1) Fit 2ap or 2ap 'nal!sis
3) 4usiness (rocess Design
5) 4usiness (rocess 6odel
7) 4usiness *hange 8 mpact
9) *onfiguration Design& which is just 5 : of Total S'(0 have different names 0
;) Future mpact 8 *hange 'ssessment
<) Functional Design (6odule =ise)
->) Risk 'ssessment
--) (rocess 6etrics and 6an! 6ore00 =hich has impact on 4usiness and its work flow
?otes,
This documents are prepared in @anilla S'( Standards 00 Things differ from one
implementation to another& and it alwa!s depends on the t!pe of "usiness which is opting
for S'(.

How to write functional specification in SAP?
Functional specification comes ne)t onl! to configuration when it comes to functional
consultants jo" and without mastering it !our S'( e)perience is incomplete. ' poorl!
written functional spec creates "ig communication issue "etween technical and S'(
functional consultant and the matter is further compounded when the! are not sitting at
same location. Aou can onl! imagine the mess it will create if the functional spec is not
properl! written and the technical gu! is sitting in different countr! and worse still his
spoken #nglish is not good (e.g. *hinese& French& Borean etc. ).
Functional specs are written when the standard S'( is not a"le to meet the client%s
requirement. 4ased on the functional spec the '4'(er will write the technical design doc.
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FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION GENERAL NOTE [2014]
and then the functional gu! will test the same in the s!stem and document the results in his
test script.
=e come across 1 situations which calls for functional specs to "e written,
-. #nhancements Cmodifications. f "usiness requires some special procedure.
.. Reports& *lient%s customi$ed reports.
1. nterface& #D interface involves '+#CDD*.
/ere are some tips to write great functional specs. The o"jective should "e that the
technical gu! should understand it in one go and to reduce an! further clarification.
-. Enderstand the requirement completel!. This will depend on !our "usiness
understanding. 6ake sure that the client%s requirement cannot "e met through standard S'(
"efore working on it. (lease suggest the client if an! alternative "usiness process which is
supported "! S'( and meets his requirement too.
.. n case of reports !ou must "e competent to decide whether it%s a RC1 or S'( 4= report.
one e)ample 0 if the report involves data anal!tics (like !ou do in pivot ta"le of e)cel) it will
"e a 4= report. /owever its data collection will "e done in RC1.
1. Aou must mention the "usiness need and "usiness value the reportCenhancement will add
to the "usiness. This is for future reference and also to convince the other users.
3. 'n! legac! s!stem changes to "e done once the enhancementCreport is run should also
"e mentioned. Aou can mention changes regarding "usiness process or data. This ma! "e
an input for change management team and also for cut0over strateg!.
5. n case of interface please do mention if it%s a displa! or non displa! document.
7. (lease do not write the structure in place of ta"le and field. 6ake some effort and find out
in which field the data is stored. '4'(er will appreciate it.
9. Don%t just write ta"le and field name "ut also give the data pulling logic. This is perhaps
the most important part. 't times it is reall! difficult to make the technical gu! understand
how the data is getting pulled. =ithout understanding this he can%t proceed further. For
e)ample
Target quantit! 0 ('*B(D0TR2FTA needs to "e transported to Rounding quantit! @4'(0
'4+FG
The data pulling logic for the same will as follows
@4'B0@4+#? doc cat #H @4'(0@4+#?
@4'(06'T?RH ('*B(D06'T?R tem cat 6
;. 4e careful a"out the data volume while designing the input screen of a customi$ed
report. Aou must ver! carefull! decide which of these should "e mandator! and optional else
it will create a performance issue at the time of load testing.
(lease note that ever! implementation has its own unique format for writing functional
specs however the a"ove mentioned points needs to "e covered to make it more
communicative and effective.
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