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Looker Block for SAP
This page describes the insights you can get from the Cortex Looker
Block for SAP data with some additional information for its deployment.
Using this Looker Block for SAP, you can gain faster insights into your
Order to Cash, Finance, and Inventory data based on
the SAP Cortex Framework.
Available insights
The Looker block for SAP in Cortex Framework offers the
following insights.
Order to Cash
- Order fulfillment : Monitor current delivery status, highlight late
deliveries, and compare pending deliveries with current stock.
- Order snapshot: Monitor the health of the orders including product
delivery efficiency.
- Order details: See line item details for orders.
- Sales performance: Review the sales performance of products, divisions,
sales organizations, and distribution channels.
- Billing and pricing: Review price variations by customer and product.
Finance
- Accounts receivable: Analyze total receivables, overdue receivables,
days outstanding, and top companies with highest receivables.
- Accounts payable: Find financial information such as accounts payable,
accounts payable turnover, overdue payables, accounts payable aging, and cash
discount utilization.
- Vendor performance: Analyze vendor performance including delivery, lead
time, price variance, and purchase order status.
- Spend analysis: Review Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like total
spend, active vendor count, and cleared invoices. Breakdown spend by purchase
organization, purchase group, vendor country, and material type.
Balance sheet: View the balance sheet as of a selected fiscal period.
Compare it to the same period last year, the previous fiscal period, or a
different fiscal period. And display multiple levels of the selected hierarchy
for a user-specified chart of accounts and company. Two dashboards using
different table styles are included. If using this block with the SAP Finance
test harness data, only company code C006 balances to zero. This is expected.
Income statement: View the income statement for selected fiscal
periods, individually or combined. Compare the timeframe to the same timeframe
a year ago or the preceding fiscal timeframe, and display multiple levels of
the GL Account hierarchy. Two dashboards using different table styles are
included. If using this block with SAP Finance test harness data, company code C006
provides the best illustration of Income Statement.
Inventory
Repository
To access the Cortex Looker Block for SAP, visit its official
GitHub repository: block-cortex-sap.
This repository contains essential views, Explores and dashboards that enable
you to seamlessly integrate SAP data into your Looker
environment. This repository provides a solid foundation for creating custom
reports, visualizations, and dashboards tailored to your specific needs.
Deployment
For instructions about how to deploy the Cortex Looker Block for
SAP, see
Deploy Looker Blocks for Cortex Framework. After completing these instructions, see
Additional specifications for deployment
in the following section.
Additional specifications for deployment
Depending the data source, some Looker Blocks need some
specifications to work properly. This section describes special settings
for the Cortex Looker Block for SAP.
Persistent Derived Tables required
The BigQuery connection used for this block must have
Persistent Derived Tables
enabled. For more information, see
Enabling PDTs on a Connection.
Required user attributes
Some dashboards require several Looker
user attributes
to work properly. User attributes provide a customized experience for each
Looker user. A Looker administrator defines a
user attribute and then applies a user attribute value to a user group or
to individual users. For more information, see Admin settings - User attributes.
For this Looker Block for SAP, a Looker Admin
should create the following user attributes and
set the values exactly as follows:
| Required User Attribute Name
|
Label
|
Data Type
|
User Access
|
Hide Value
|
Default Value
|
locale
|
locale
|
String
|
View
|
No
|
English (en).
|
default_value_currency_required
|
SAP default currency to display
|
String
|
Edit
|
No
|
USD or chosen currency like
EUR, CAD or JPY.
|
client_id_rep
|
SAP Client Id (mandt) for Reporting
|
String
|
Edit
|
No
|
Enter your SAP Client ID or 100 if using the provided test data.
|
sap_use_demo_data
|
Using sample Data Yes or No
|
String
|
Edit
|
No
|
Enter Yes if using the
provided test data. Otherwise, enter No.
|
sap_sql_flavor
|
SAP: SQL Flavor (ECC or S4)
|
String
|
View
|
No
|
Enter ECC or S4 as required for your SAP system.
|
Each dashboard user can personalize the values of the editable user attributes
by following the instructions in Personalizing user account settings.
Language
SAP Explores filter language based on a user's locale
or use English as a fallback if no locale value is found. The Balance Sheet and
Income Statement Explores further restrict the locale to those also found in the
source tables, using English if there are no matches.
Report Table Visualization from Marketplace
The Balance Sheet and Income Statement dashboards come in two different styles:
- Looker's Table Visualization with subtotals.
- Report Table Visualization from Looker Marketplace.
The Report Table
provides an easy-to-read table style designed especially for
finance reports. A Looker Admin must install the visualization from
the Marketplace to use this table style. Refer to Looker documentation
for Using Looker Marketplace.
Other Considerations
For optimizing the performance and functionality of your
Looker Block for SAP consider the following:
- BI Engine Optimization: Some calculations perform better with
BI Engine Optimization
enabled in BigQuery.
- Liquid Templating Language: Some constants, views, Explores and
dashboards use liquid templating language. For more information, see
Looker's Liquid Variable Reference
documentation.
- Unhide additional dimensions and measures: Many dimensions
and measures are hidden for simplicity. If you find anything valuable missing,
update the field's
hidden parameter value to No in the relevant views.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe Looker Block for SAP provides insights into Order to Cash, Finance, and Inventory data within the SAP Cortex Framework, enabling faster analysis of these key areas.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis block offers specific insights such as order fulfillment status, sales performance reviews, accounts receivable and payable analysis, vendor performance tracking, and inventory management.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo properly deploy the Looker Block for SAP, you need to ensure that Persistent Derived Tables are enabled in the BigQuery connection and configure required user attributes like locale, default currency, SAP Client ID, and SQL flavor.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe block includes Balance Sheet and Income Statement dashboards, with specific requirements for Cortex Framework versions and the option to use a specialized Report Table visualization from the Looker Marketplace.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor optimal performance and customization, consider enabling BI Engine Optimization in BigQuery, understanding the use of Liquid templating language, and unhiding additional dimensions and measures in the relevant views as needed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Looker Block for SAP\n====================\n\nThis page describes the insights you can get from the Cortex Looker\nBlock for SAP data with some additional information for its deployment.\nUsing this Looker Block for SAP, you can gain faster insights into your\nOrder to Cash, Finance, and Inventory data based on\nthe SAP Cortex Framework.\n\nAvailable insights\n------------------\n\nThe Looker block for SAP in Cortex Framework offers the\nfollowing insights.\n\n### Order to Cash\n\n- **Order fulfillment** : Monitor current delivery status, highlight late deliveries, and compare pending deliveries with current stock.\n- **Order snapshot**: Monitor the health of the orders including product delivery efficiency.\n- **Order details**: See line item details for orders.\n- **Sales performance**: Review the sales performance of products, divisions, sales organizations, and distribution channels.\n- **Billing and pricing**: Review price variations by customer and product.\n\n### Finance\n\n- **Accounts receivable**: Analyze total receivables, overdue receivables, days outstanding, and top companies with highest receivables.\n- **Accounts payable**: Find financial information such as accounts payable, accounts payable turnover, overdue payables, accounts payable aging, and cash discount utilization.\n- **Vendor performance**: Analyze vendor performance including delivery, lead time, price variance, and purchase order status.\n- **Spend analysis**: Review Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like total spend, active vendor count, and cleared invoices. Breakdown spend by purchase organization, purchase group, vendor country, and material type.\n- **Balance sheet**: View the balance sheet as of a selected fiscal period.\n Compare it to the same period last year, the previous fiscal period, or a\n different fiscal period. And display multiple levels of the selected hierarchy\n for a user-specified chart of accounts and company. Two dashboards using\n different table styles are included. If using this block with the SAP Finance\n test harness data, only company code C006 balances to zero. This is expected.\n\n | **Note:** Balance Sheet only works with [Cortex Framework 5.3](/cortex/docs/release-notes#release_53) and later.\n- **Income statement**: View the income statement for selected fiscal\n periods, individually or combined. Compare the timeframe to the same timeframe\n a year ago or the preceding fiscal timeframe, and display multiple levels of\n the GL Account hierarchy. Two dashboards using different table styles are\n included. If using this block with SAP Finance test harness data, company code C006\n provides the best illustration of Income Statement.\n\n | **Note:** Income Statement only works with [Cortex Framework 5.4](/cortex/docs/release-notes#release_54) and later.\n\n### Inventory\n\n- **Inventory management**: Review inventory value over time (in total and\n by material type). Highlight other important KPIs including:\n\n - Inventory Turn\n - Days of Supply\n - Obsolete Inventory Value\n - Slow Moving Inventory Value\n\nRepository\n----------\n\nTo access the Cortex Looker Block for SAP, visit its official\nGitHub repository: [**block-cortex-sap**](https://github.com/looker-open-source/block-cortex-sap).\nThis repository contains essential views, Explores and dashboards that enable\nyou to seamlessly integrate SAP data into your Looker\nenvironment. This repository provides a solid foundation for creating custom\nreports, visualizations, and dashboards tailored to your specific needs.\n\nDeployment\n----------\n\nFor instructions about how to deploy the Cortex Looker Block for\nSAP, see\n[Deploy Looker Blocks for Cortex Framework](/cortex/docs/looker-block-deployment). After completing these instructions, see\n[Additional specifications for deployment](#additional_specifications_for_deployment)\nin the following section.\n\nAdditional specifications for deployment\n----------------------------------------\n\nDepending the data source, some Looker Blocks need some\nspecifications to work properly. This section describes special settings\nfor the Cortex Looker Block for SAP.\n\n### Persistent Derived Tables required\n\nThe BigQuery connection used for this block must have\n[Persistent Derived Tables](/looker/docs/derived-tables#persistent_derived_tables)\nenabled. For more information, see\n[Enabling PDTs on a Connection](/looker/docs/db-config-google-bigquery#creating_a_temporary_dataset_for_persistent_derived_tables).\n\n### Required user attributes\n\nSome dashboards require several Looker\n[user attributes](/looker/docs/admin-panel-users-user-attributes)\nto work properly. User attributes provide a customized experience for each\nLooker user. A Looker administrator defines a\nuser attribute and then applies a user attribute value to a user group or\nto individual users. For more information, see [Admin settings - User attributes](/looker/docs/admin-panel-users-user-attributes).\n\nFor this Looker Block for SAP, a Looker Admin\nshould create the following user attributes and\nset the values **exactly** as follows:\n\nEach dashboard user can personalize the values of the editable user attributes\nby following the instructions in [Personalizing user account settings](/looker/docs/user-account).\n\n### Language\n\nSAP Explores filter language based on a user's [locale](/looker/docs/model-localization#assigning_users_to_a_locale)\nor use English as a fallback if no locale value is found. The Balance Sheet and\nIncome Statement Explores further restrict the locale to those also found in the\nsource tables, using English if there are no matches.\n\n### Report Table Visualization from Marketplace\n\nThe Balance Sheet and Income Statement dashboards come in two different styles:\n\n1. Looker's Table Visualization with subtotals.\n2. Report Table Visualization from Looker Marketplace.\n\nThe [Report Table](https://marketplace.looker.com/marketplace/detail/viz-report_table)\nprovides an easy-to-read table style designed especially for\nfinance reports. A Looker Admin must install the visualization from\nthe Marketplace to use this table style. Refer to Looker documentation\nfor [Using Looker Marketplace](/looker/docs/marketplace).\n\n### Other Considerations\n\nFor optimizing the performance and functionality of your\nLooker Block for SAP consider the following:\n\n- **BI Engine Optimization:** Some calculations perform better with [BI Engine Optimization](/bigquery/docs/bi-engine-query) enabled in BigQuery.\n- **Liquid Templating Language** : Some constants, views, Explores and dashboards use liquid templating language. For more information, see Looker's [Liquid Variable Reference](/looker/docs/liquid-variable-reference) documentation.\n- **Unhide additional dimensions and measures** : Many dimensions and measures are hidden for simplicity. If you find anything valuable missing, update the field's `hidden` parameter value to **No** in the relevant views."]]
