SAP Interview Questions and Answers

Q1.What is an ERP ?

Ans: ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning Software and is a integrated computer based system used to manage a company's resources effectively. It ensures smooth information amongst various departments in an enterprise or a company and manages workflows.

Q2.What are the different types of ERP's ?

Ans:

1. SAP
2. Baan
3. JD Edwards (now acquired by Oracle)
4. Siebel
5. Peoplesoft  (now acquired by Oracle)
6. Microsoft Dynamics

Q3.Tell me briefly about SAP.

Ans: SAP stands for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing.It was Founded in 1972 by Wellenreuther, Hopp, Hector, Plattner and Tschira and is a German Company.

SAP is name of the company as well its ERP product.

SAP is #1 in the ERP market .As of 2010, SAP has more  than 140,000 installations worldwide ,over 25 industry-specific business solutions, and more than 75,000 customers in 120 countries.

Q4. What are the different SAP products ?

Ans: SAP R/3 - It succeds SAP R/2 and is market leader in ERP. R/3 stands for three tier architecture i.e. Presentation , Logic and Data tier. It has many modules like SD , FI , HR etc which encompass almost all enterprise departments.

mySAP - It is a suite of SAP products which apart from SAP R/3 also includes SRM , PLM, CRM, SCM

Q5.What is NetWeaver ?

Ans: Netweaver is an integrated technology platform such that all the products in the mySAP suite can run on a single instance of netweaver known as SAP Web Application Server (SAP WEBAs).

The advantage of using Netweaver is you can access SAP data using the web (http protocol) or even mobile.  Thus you can save on costs involved in training users on SAP Client side GUI.

Q6.List the Different Modules in SAP.

Ans:

1.  FI (Financial Accounting)
2. CO(Controlling)
3. EC(Enterprise Controlling)
4. TR(Treasury)
5. IM (Investment Management)
6. HR (Human Resource)
7. SD (Sales and Distribution)
8. MM (Materials Management)
9. PM (Plant Maintenance)
10. PP (Production Planning)
11. QM - Quality Management
12. BW (Business Warehousing)

There are many industry specific solutions that SAP provides apart from the list of modules above which is ever growing.

Q7.What is Meta data, Master data and Transaction data

Ans: Meta Data: Meta Data is data about Data. It tells you about the structure of data or MetaObjects.

Master Data: This Data is key business information like Customer information , Employee , Materials etc. This is more like a reference data. For Ex. If a customer orders 10 units of your product instead of asking customer for his shipping address 10 times , the same can be referenced from the Customer Master Data.

Transaction Data: This is data related to day to day transactions.

Q8.Is SAP A Database ?

Ans: NO. SAP is not a database but its an application that makes use of databases provided by other vendors like Oracle , SQL Server etc.

Q9. How many SAP Sessions can you work on at a given time ?

Ans: At any given time for a particular client , you can work on 6 sessions at max.

Q10.What is a transaction in SAP terminology ?

Ans: In SAP terminology, a transaction is series of logically connected dialog steps.

Q11. Can we run business warehouse without SAP R/3 implementation?

Ans: Yes, you can run business warehouse without R/3 implementation. You have to simply transfer structures associated with business warehouse data sources (ODS table, Infocube) to the inbound data files or use third party tools to connect your flat files and other data sources.

Q12. Mention what do you mean by datasets?

Ans: The data sets are sequential files processed on the application server. They are used for file handling in SAP.

Q13. What are variables?

Ans: Variables are parameters of a query that are set in the parameter query definition and are not filled with values until the queries are entered into the workbooks.

Q14. Mention what are the different types of variables?

Ans: Variables are used in different application

1. Characteristics variable
2. Hierarchies
3. Hierarchy nodes
4. Text
5. Formulas
6. Processing Types
7. Replacement Path
8. User entry/default type

Q15. Mention some of the set-backs of SAP?

1. It is expensive
2. Demands highly trained staff
3. Lengthy implementation time
4. Interfaces are a little bit complex
5. Does not determine where master data resides

Q16. Mention where are t-code name and program values stored?                       Explain how can you find a list of all t-codes in the SAP system?

Ans: To view transaction table TSTC you can use transaction code st11, and you can define a new t-code using transaction se93.

Q17. Mention what is the difference between OLAP and Data Mining?

Ans: OLAP: OLAP stands for Online Analytical Processing it is a reporting tool configured to understand your database schema, dimensions and composition facts

Q18. Mention what are the three stages of data-mining?

Ans: Three stages of data-mining includes

1. Initial Exploration
2. Model building
3. Deployment

Q19. Mention what are the different layers in R/3 system?

Ans: Different layers in R/3 system includes

1. Presentation Layer
2. Database layer
3. Application layer

Q20. Mention what is the process to create a table in the data dictionary?

Ans: To create a table in the data dictionary, you have to follow this steps

1. Creating domains (data type, field length, range)
2. Creating data elements (Properties and type for a table field)
3. Creating tables (SE 11)

Q21. Mention what is AWB?

Ans: AWB stands for Administrator Workbench. It is a tool for monitoring, controlling and maintaining all the processes connected with data staging and processing in the business information warehousing.

Q22. Explain what is Bex? 

Ans: Bex means Business Explorer. It allows end user to locate reports, analyze information, view reports and can execute queries. The queries in workbook can be saved to their respective roles in the Bex browser. It has following components Bex analyzer, Bex Map and Bex web.

Q23. Mention what is the importance of ODS in BIW?

Ans: An ODS object serves to store debugged and consolidated transaction data on a document level. It defines a consolidated dataset from one or more info-sources. This data-set can be evaluated with a Bex query or Infoset query. The data of an ODS object can be updated with a delta update into InfoCubes or other ODS object in the same system or across systems. In contrast to multi-dimensional data storage with InfoCubes, the data in ODS object is stored in transparent, flat database tables.

Q24. Mention what is the difference between Domain and Data Element?

Ans: Data Element: It is an intermediate object between domain and table type

Domain: It defines the attributes such as length, type, and possible value range

Q25. Mention what are SET parameters and GET parameters?

Ans: To use parameter IDs, you need to "set" values in the global memory area and then "get" values from this parameter ID memory area. In the case of the online program, you have to "Set" values from screen fields, and you will "get" these values for screen fields.

Q26. Mention what is ALE, IDOC, EDI, RFC and explain briefly?

Ans:

1.          ALE: Application Linking enabling
2.          IDOC: Intermediatary documents
3.          EDI: Electronic data interchange
4.          RFC: Remote function call

Q27. Mention what is LUW (Logical Unit Of Work)?

Ans: LUW is a span of time during which database records are updated either commit or rollback.

Q28. Mention what is BDC stand for? How many methods of BDC are there?

Ans: BDC stand for Batch Data Communication. The methods of BDC are

1. Direct Input Method
2. Batch Input Session Method
3. Call transaction Method

Q29. Mention what is meant by a "baseline data" in SAP AR and AP?

Ans: The baseline date is the date from which the payment terms apply. Usually, it is the document date on the invoice but can also be the date of entry or posting date from the ledger.

Q30. Mention what do you mean by one-time vendors?

Ans: In certain industries, it is not possible to create new master records for every vendor trading partner. One-time vendor enables for a dummy vendor code to be used on invoice entry and the information that is normally stored in the vendor master, is keyed on the invoice itself

Q31. Mention what are the standard stages of the SAP Payment Run?

Ans: While executing the SAP Payment Run the standard stages of SAP includes

1. Entering of parameters: It includes entering company codes, vendor accounts, payment methods, etc.
2. Proposal Scheduling: The system proposes list of invoices to be paid
3. Payment booking: Booking of the actual payments into the ledger
4. Printing of Payment forms: Printing of payment forms

Q32. Mention what is the difference between the "residual payment" and "partial payment" methods of allocating cash in account receivable?

The difference between the residual and partial payment includes

1. Partial payment: For example, let say invoice A456 exits for $100 and customer pay $70. With the partial payment, it offsets the invoice leaving a remaining balance $30
2. Residual Payment: While in residual payment, invoice A456 is cleared for the full value $100 and a new invoice line item is produced for the remaining balance of $30.

Q33. Mention what are internal tables, check tables, value tables, and transparent table?

Ans: It is the standard data type object; it exists only during the runtime of the program.

Check the table will be at field level checking

Value table will be at domain level checking

Transparent table will exist with the same structure both in the dictionary as well as in the database exactly with the same data and fields

Q34. Mention what is an application, presentation and database servers in SAP R/3?

Ans: The application layer of a R/3 system is made up of the application server and the message server. Application programs in an R/3 system run on application servers. Using the message server, the application servers communicate with presentation components, the database and also with each other. All the data are stored in a centralized server, which is known as a database server.

Q35. Explain what is a company in SAP?

Ans: Company in SAP is the highest organizational unit for which financial statements like profit and loss statements, balance sheets can be drawn according to the requirement of organizations. A single company contains one or many company codes. All the company codes in SAP must use same COA (chart of accounts) and fiscal year.

Q36. Mention what is the difference between SAP BASIS and SAP ABAP?

Ans: SAP ABAP is the programming language used within SAP to customize, generate forms, generate reports, etc. While SAP basis is, the administration module of SAP used to control code changes, upgrades, database admin, network setup, etc.

Q37. List out the different types of the source system in SAP?

Ans: The different types of the source system in SAP includes

1. SAP R/3 source system
2. SAP BW
3. Flat files
4. External Systems

Q38. Explain what is Extractor?

Ans: In the SAP source system, extractors is a data retrieval mechanism. It can fill the extract structure of a data source with the data from the SAP source system datasets.

Q39. Explain what is extended star schema?

Ans: The star schema consists of the fact tables and the dimension tables. The master data related tables are kept in separate tables, which has reference to the characteristics in the dimension tables. These separate tables for master data are termed as the Extended Star Schema.

Q40. Explain what should be the approach for writing a BDC program?

Ans: The approach to writing BDC program is to

1. Create recording
2. Convert the legacy system data to a flat file into the internal table referred as "Conversion."
3. Transfer the Flat file into the SAP system called "SAP Data Transfer."
4. Depending upon the BDC type CALL TRANSACTION or CREATE SESSIONS

Q41. Mention what are the major benefits of reporting with BW over R/3?

Ans: Business Warehouse uses a data warehouse and OLAP concepts for analyzing and storing data While the R/3 was intended for transaction processing. You can get the same analysis out of R/3, but it would be easier from a BW.

Q42. Mention the two types of services that are used to deal with communication?

Ans: To deal with communication, you can use two types of services

1. Message Service: In order to exchange short internal messages, this service is used by the application servers
2. Gateway Service: This service allows communication between R/3 and external applications using CPI-C protocol.

Q43. Mention what are reason codes used in Account Receivable?

Ans: "Reason Codes" are tags that can be allocated to describe under/overpayments during the allocation of incoming customer payments. They should not be mixed up with "void reason codes" used when outgoing cheques are produced.

Q44. Mention what is the protocol does SAP Gateway process use?

Ans: The SAP gateway process uses TCP/IP protocol to communicate with the clients.

Q45. Mention what is pooled tables?

Ans: Pooled tables are used to store control data. Several pooled tables can be united to form a table pool. Table tool is a physical table on the database in which all the records of the allocated pooled tables are stored.

Q46. Explain what is an update type with reference to a match code ID?

Ans: If the data in one of the base tables of a matchcode ID changes, the matchcode data has to be updated. The update type stipulates when the match-code has to be updated and how it has to be done. The update type also defines which method is to be used for building match-codes.

Q47. Explain what the .sca files and mention their importance?

Ans: .sca stands for SAP component Archive. It is used to deploy the Java components, patches and other java developments in the form of .sca,.sda,.war and .jar.

Q48. Explain what is meant by "Business Content" in SAP?

Ans: Business Content in SAP is a pre-configured and pre-defined models of information contained in the SAP warehouse which can be used directly or with desired modification in different industries.

Q49. Explain what is dispatcher?

Ans: Dispatcher is a component that takes the request for client systems and stores the request in queue.

Q50. Mention what are the common transport errors?

Ans: The common transport errors include

1. Return code 4: Imported with warnings, generation of program, columns or row missing
2. Return code 8: Imported with syntax error, program generation error, dictionary activation error, etc.
3. Return code 12: Indicates import cancelled due to object missing, object not active, etc.
4. Return code 18: Indicates import cancelled due to system down while import, user expired during import and insufficient roles or authorization