SAP Review Booklets bring related analyses into a guided SAP Fiori experience. Finance and Controlling teams can review business results through grouped pages, shared filters, and analytical drilldowns, with the features supported by their SAP S/4HANA edition and release.
This article explains how Review Booklets fit into embedded analytics, who configures them, and what to check before a pilot. It draws on Sebastian Doll’s presentation, “Unlocking the Power of Embedded Analytics with Review Booklets,” at the SAP Controlling Conference.
Sebastian’s session explored how SAP analytics can support everyday finance decisions. The release-specific notes below also refer to SAP’s product documentation.
Table of Contents
- What Is SAP Embedded Analytics?
- How SAP Review Booklets Work
- Who Uses and Configures Review Booklets?
- Review Booklet Designer and Release Availability
- Commenting and Collaboration Prerequisites
- How to Start a Review Booklet Pilot
- Licensing and Deployment Checks
- Related Articles and SAP Documentation
- Watch the Conference Session
- Glossary
What Is SAP Embedded Analytics?
Embedded analytics places analytical reporting within the SAP S/4HANA working environment. CDS views and analytical queries provide the reporting model used by supported SAP Fiori analytical applications.
For Finance and Controlling, the Universal Journal provides a shared accounting foundation. Useful analysis still depends on appropriate account assignments, reporting hierarchies, authorizations, and data quality. A shared journal does not remove the need to validate report scope and reconcile results.
Delivered analytical experiences include KPI monitoring, analytical list pages, and multidimensional reporting. Select the application that supports the business question and the reporting content available in your system.
How SAP Review Booklets Work
A review booklet groups related analytical pages into one review flow. Instead of opening several disconnected reports, a user can work through a structured set of views and apply the relevant filters.
- Guided review: Organize related business questions into pages and page groups.
- Consistent context: Check how filters and variables apply across the booklet and individual pages.
- Drilldown: Investigate underlying detail where the analytical query and application support navigation.
- Presentation: Use supported formatting and navigation options to highlight the measures that matter.
For example, a finance team could pilot a financial-statement review: agree on a ledger, company code, period, and hierarchy; review totals; investigate selected balances; and validate the results against the team’s established reports. Treat this as a pilot design, rather than a promise that every delivered booklet contains the same pages.
Who Uses and Configures Review Booklets?
- Business users review results and investigate differences.
- Key users and analytics specialists adapt supported analytical content, test filters, and manage report definitions.
- Developers build or extend the underlying analytical model when the requirement exceeds key-user capabilities.
Agree on responsibilities before changing a booklet. A reporting requirement may involve a page layout, an analytical query, or the underlying data model; these require different skills and authorizations.
Review Booklet Designer and Release Availability
The Review Booklet Designer supports configuration of custom review booklets. SAP’s release documentation identifies creation and modification through Manage KPIs and Reports for SAP S/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2025 FPS01.
For that documented key-user workflow, the required catalog is Analytics – Review Booklet Design (SAP_CORE_BC_EXT_RVB_PC), included in the SAP_BR_ANALYTICS_SPECIALIST business role template. Other development workflows and releases have their own prerequisites.
Check the SAP release note for creating Review Booklets in Manage KPIs and Reports and the designer authorization requirements. Select the documentation version matching your installed system.
Commenting and Collaboration Prerequisites
Commenting is conditional. SAP documents it for booklets based on cubes and analytical queries with a document store. Users also need the applicable commenting authorizations.
Confirm that the selected booklet supports the intended collaboration workflow before promising cell comments, tagging, notifications, or external sharing. Test with the business-user role, rather than only an administrator account. See SAP’s commenting documentation.
How to Start a Review Booklet Pilot
- Choose one review process. Define the business question, audience, and decisions the report should support.
- Check availability. Confirm the booklet, app, and adaptation options for your edition and release.
- Validate data and filters. Agree on ledger, currency, organizational scope, period, and hierarchies.
- Test authorizations and drilldowns. Use representative business-user roles and reconcile sample results.
- Adapt carefully. Change supported pages or queries, then repeat the validation.
- Train and review. Document useful filter settings, collect feedback, and expand only after the pilot meets its objectives.
Licensing and Deployment Checks
Availability and entitlement depend on your deployment, release, and contract. Check embedded reporting, SAP Analytics Cloud integration, and any AI-assisted features separately. Do not assume that access to a Review Booklet includes every analytics or AI feature demonstrated in a conference session.
For analytics spanning multiple systems, assess the broader architecture as a separate decision. Start with the reporting requirement and existing landscape before selecting additional products.
Related Articles and SAP Documentation
- SAP Margin Analysis Extensibility — adding reporting dimensions.
- SAP Fiori Apps for Manufacturing Variance Analysis — a related Controlling reporting use case.
- SAP Review Booklet Designer FAQs — access and custom-query questions.
Watch the Conference Session
Explore Sebastian Doll’s full presentation, “Unlocking the Power of Embedded Analytics with Review Booklets,” and other SAP Controlling Conference recordings through ERPCorp membership.
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Glossary
Analytical Query
A reporting definition that exposes measures, dimensions, and filters for analytical consumption.
CDS View
A Core Data Services definition used to model and expose data with business semantics.
Embedded Analytics
Analytical reporting integrated into the SAP S/4HANA application environment.
Key User
A business specialist authorized to adapt supported application and analytical content.
Pilot Checklist
A short list of steps for testing Review Booklets with a small group before a wider rollout, covering feature availability, data accuracy, authorizations, and user feedback.
Review Booklet
A collection of related analytical pages organized for a business review.
Review Booklet Designer
The tool for configuring review booklet content through a workflow supported by the applicable release.
Universal Journal
The shared accounting line-item foundation used for integrated SAP S/4HANA Finance and Controlling reporting.