Management
Microsoft Excel templates can be stored within your SAP system and assigned to reports and queries as part of the normal process of saving a variant. The standard SAP ERP HCM system already includes a document repository area called the Business Document Service (BDS). Custom Excel templates can easily be stored in the BDS using a simple interface and an existing set of utility programs.
Key Concept
Most SAP ERP HCM users are familiar with the SAP List Viewer (ALV) environment, and the functions it provides for downloading reports and queries into Excel. One of the options available is to use the Excel Inplace view. By creating custom templates in the Excel Inplace view, users can create pre-formatted spreadsheets with headers, footers, logos, page layouts, and print formats directly from a report variant.
There are many options in Microsoft Excel for formatting reports and queries downloaded from the SAP system. Applying (and re-applying) this formatting can become tiresome and repetitive for users who are required to regularly produce consistently formatted reports for wider publication. I demonstrate a simple way to save these fully formatted Excel templates within the SAP system and directly link them to the relevant reports and queries. This makes reproducing these reports on a regular basis easy.