What people complain about in SAP

Capabilities people described needing that SAP does not give them, taken from the highest-scoring problems first. These are individual accounts written in each person’s own terms, so two entries may describe the same underlying gap in different words.

• Mobile receiving app that allows provisional logging without full GRN documentation during emergencies
• Real-time physical location tracking that syncs with systematic inventory systems like SAP
• Automated FX rate normalization across disparate ERP systems
• Preventative FX discrepancy detection before consolidation
• Manual OCR and data extraction from PDFs, statements, receipts
• Manual reconciliation of GL exports to bank statements using spreadsheets
• Manual review of workpapers for errors and missing support
• Desktop automation tool that runs without admin privileges
• Automated approval follow-up and status tracking system that integrates with SAP
• A standardized, human-readable invoicing protocol with an open transport layer is needed to prevent fragmentation and simplify development.
• A universal connector or 'browser' for EDI is needed to bridge disparate EDI networks that 'speak different languages'.
• A desktop application that can automate fetching multiple technical drawings from a web interface using a list of item codes.
• A utility to seamlessly export and format data from SAP into Excel spreadsheets without manual intervention.
• An automation tool for Windows that can perform repetitive data manipulation tasks across various applications.
• Automated service invoice auditing with contract and delivery evidence matching
• Month-end close management software with automated reconciliation and checklist tracking
• Automated reconciliation tool that matches webform amounts to SAP wage types without manual spreadsheet lookups.
• A tool that integrates with SAP/Anaplan to automate close readiness checks and exception tracking, replacing manual VBA scripts
• Authoritative AI research tool that provides source-cited answers for specific accounting standards (e.g., German GAAP)
• Automated evidence capture tool that extracts data from SAP screens and directly populates compliance workpapers
• Integration layer that bypasses Excel as intermediary and feeds structured evidence from SAP to Blackline

The manual processes people built around the gap. A long workaround list is the strongest evidence a problem is real: someone is already paying for it in time. Where several people described the same workaround, it is marked.

• inbound all the parts without GRN
• systematic stock on s.a.p and excel but physical parts scrambled
• spends 2 days running rec'd reports and finding FX gaps line by line
• posts manual journal entries to fix FX basis differences
• manually performs 7-step sequence 450 times today
• Manually chasing approvals via email or messages
• coders invent new standards e.g. for SAP, or OASIS
• copy pasting (or even typing if they're reading from paper) each item code one by one and printing one by one to get technical drawings
• awkwardly getting things out of SAP and into spreadsheets in the right format manually
• doing basic data manipulation manually most of the time
• payables associates manually apply knowledge of past contracts
• staff capabilities used to detect leakage
• built own tool to track what is done and what is not yet at month end
• uses normal vlookup for each wagetype
• Controller uses ChatGPT to ask accounting questions
• Takes screenshots (snippets) when running reports in SAP
• Drops those snippets into Excel support workbooks
• Then uploads Excel to Blackline

The problems themselves

Highest opportunity score first.

• The logistics team receives large shipments without proper Goods Received Note (GRN) documentation, causing systematic inventory records in SAP/Excel to become inaccurate while physical parts are scattered across the warehouse.

  4High
  Trucking & Logistics·Inventory Management·DockFlow Rapid Receiving

• FX rate inconsistencies across multiple ERPs and a consolidation tool cause time-consuming manual adjustments during month-end close.

  4High
  Software and Technology·Financial Management·FXHarmony

• Accounting professionals waste a significant portion of their time on clerical, repetitive tasks (like manual data entry, reconciliation, and workpaper review) that are disconnected from the judgment and analysis they are trained for

  4High
  Accounting & Bookkeeping·Workflow Management·FileBot Accounting Assistant

• A worker cannot get admin permission to use automation software (Power Automate Desktop) to automate a repetitive 7-step data transfer process between SAP and Word, forcing them to perform 450 manual iterations.

  4High
  General Business Services·Software Reliability & Performance·Permitless Automation

• Chasing approvals in SAP is tedious and time-consuming.

  3Medium
  General Business Services·Workflow Management·ApprovalFlow Optimizer

• There is a lack of unified, human-readable, and easily implementable standards for business document exchange, specifically invoicing, leading to complex and incompatible systems.

  4High
  Software and Technology·Workflow Management·InvoiceFlow Connect

• Workers are performing highly repetitive and inefficient manual data entry, manipulation, and document retrieval tasks due to limitations of existing systems and the lack of automation tools on Windows.

  3Medium
  General Business Services·Workflow Management·Workflow Maestro for Windows

• Services and indirect spend leakages (2-5% of spend) occur because payments are processed without matching contractual clauses or service delivery evidence like job cards.

  3Medium
  Manufacturing·Procurement & Vendor Management·ServiceSpend Auditor

• Scrambling to track what is done and what is not yet at month-end close, lacking early visibility into GL balance discrepancies.

  3Medium
  Accounting & Bookkeeping·Accounting & Financial Management·CloseCheck Pro

• A solo bookkeeping/accounting entrepreneur struggles to find an affordable software solution that allows managing multiple clients without high costs.

  3Medium
  Accounting & Bookkeeping·Software Selection·MultiClient Ledger Hub

• Finance workflows remain reliant on manual Excel workarounds despite existing accounting software, indicating gaps in automation or integration.

  3Medium
  Accounting & Bookkeeping·Workflow Management·ExcelFlow Bridge

• Employee spends excessive time manually reconciling payroll variances across different systems using VLOOKUP for each wage type.

  3Medium
  Accounting & Bookkeeping·Reconciliation & Cleanup Workflow·PayrollRecon Automator

• Controllers in manufacturing/plant environments need lightweight tools (like Excel with VBA) to perform close readiness checks, variance threshold monitoring, exception identification, and escalation tracking, but these tasks are not fully supported by core SAP or Anaplan systems, requiring manual or ad-hoc solutions.

  3Medium
  Manufacturing·Financial Management·CloseGuard

• A controller questions whether AI-generated accounting guidance (specifically regarding German GAAP treatment of in-transit material) can be trusted, due to lack of authoritative sourcing and risk of hallucination.

  3Medium
  Accounting & Bookkeeping·Software Reliability & Performance·GAAPCite

• The current process for SOX compliance journal and balance support involves manually taking screenshots from SAP and pasting them into Excel workbooks before uploading to Blackline, which is tedious and slow.

  2Mild
  Accounting & Bookkeeping·Compliance Management·ComplianceSnap for SAP

• Advanced ERP systems may not be fully eliminating manual journal entries, leaving accountants with transactional work instead of shifting them to analytics and advisory roles.

  2Mild
  General Business Services·Accounting & Financial Management·AutoLedger AI