Job Description: SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting – Quality Assurance Consultant

Job Title: SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting – Quality Assurance Consultant
Location: Saudi Arabia (Onsite – Phase-wise Deployment)
Industry: Oil & Gas / Midstream / Downstream / Petrochemical / Energy
Engagement Type: Independent Quality Assurance (QA) Consulting
Project Duration: Approximately 24 Months (Phase-wise Engagement)
SAP Module: SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting
Experience Required: 10+ Years in SAP Consulting

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting Quality Assurance Consultant to support a large-scale SAP S/4HANA implementation program for a leading Oil & Gas organization in Saudi Arabia.

The successful candidate will join an Independent Quality Assurance (QA) team responsible for evaluating the quality, completeness, compliance, and effectiveness of SAP Group Reporting solutions and implementation deliverables developed by the System Integrator (SI).

The role requires extensive functional expertise in SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting, Legal Consolidation, Management Consolidation, Intercompany Matching and Elimination, Currency Translation, Consolidation Data Integration, and Group Financial Reporting.

The consultant will independently assess consolidation solution designs, validate financial reporting processes, review integration and data migration approaches, identify implementation risks, and provide recommendations to ensure compliance with applicable International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and SAP S/4HANA leading practices.

The engagement will follow a phase-wise deployment model across an approximately 24-month SAP transformation program, requiring onsite participation in Saudi Arabia during designated project phases.

Key Responsibilities

1. SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting Solution Assurance

• Independently review and evaluate SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting solution designs, configurations, and functional specifications.
• Assess the overall consolidation architecture and its alignment with the organization's financial reporting requirements.
• Review consolidation units, consolidation groups, organizational hierarchies, and reporting structures.
• Validate the configuration and application of consolidation methods, ownership structures, and consolidation rules.
• Evaluate the alignment of Group Reporting processes with SAP S/4HANA standard functionality and leading practices.
• Review consolidation master data, reporting dimensions, financial statement items, and consolidation-related mappings.
• Assess the effectiveness of Group Reporting solutions in supporting accurate, timely, and controlled financial consolidation.
• Identify functional gaps, configuration inconsistencies, and implementation risks, and recommend corrective actions.

2. Legal Consolidation and Statutory Financial Reporting

• Review legal consolidation processes and solution designs in accordance with applicable IFRS requirements.
• Assess consolidation group structures, consolidation units, ownership relationships, and reporting hierarchies.
• Validate consolidation methods, including full consolidation, equity method accounting, and other applicable consolidation approaches.
• Review investment consolidation, ownership changes, and consolidation-related accounting treatments where applicable.
• Assess minority interest and Non-Controlling Interest (NCI) calculations and reporting.
• Evaluate consolidation adjustments, elimination postings, and financial statement preparation processes.
• Review the treatment of acquisitions, disposals, and changes in group ownership where relevant.
• Validate the completeness and accuracy of consolidated Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow reporting.
• Identify compliance risks and inconsistencies in consolidation accounting and statutory reporting.

3. Management Consolidation and Performance Reporting

• Review management consolidation requirements and related SAP Group Reporting designs.
• Assess management reporting structures across business units, legal entities, operational segments, and geographical locations.
• Validate consolidation hierarchies, reporting dimensions, and group-level management reporting processes.
• Evaluate the integration of financial and operational information required for management decision-making.
• Review the design of consolidated financial performance indicators and reporting outputs.
• Assess the consistency of financial information between statutory consolidation and management reporting.
• Identify potential reporting gaps, data inconsistencies, and opportunities for process improvements.
• Recommend enhancements to strengthen group-level financial visibility, reporting accuracy, and management insight.

4. Intercompany Matching, Reconciliation and Elimination

• Independently assess intercompany matching and reconciliation solution designs.
• Review intercompany transaction identification, matching rules, and reconciliation methodologies.
• Validate intercompany elimination processes involving:
  • Intercompany Receivables and Payables
  • Intercompany Revenue and Expenses
  • Intercompany Profit and Loss
  • Intercompany Dividends
  • Intercompany Investments and Equity
  • Unrealized Intercompany Profit, where applicable
• Evaluate the configuration and effectiveness of Intercompany Matching and Reconciliation (ICMR) processes where implemented.
• Assess the accuracy and completeness of elimination rules and consolidation adjustments.
• Review the handling of intercompany differences, exceptions, and unreconciled balances.
• Validate reconciliation controls, approval workflows, and supporting documentation.
• Identify risks that may result in inaccurate group financial statements or unresolved intercompany balances.

5. Currency Translation and Multinational Consolidation

• Review currency translation designs for entities operating across multiple currencies and jurisdictions.
• Evaluate the configuration of local currency, group currency, and other relevant reporting currency requirements.
• Validate exchange rate types, translation methods, and currency conversion procedures.
• Review the treatment of foreign currency translation adjustments and related financial statement impacts.
• Assess the handling of currency translation differences and cumulative translation reserves where applicable.
• Evaluate the accuracy of currency translation for Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and equity-related consolidation items.
• Review the integration of exchange rate data and currency translation reporting.
• Identify potential risks affecting multinational consolidation accuracy and IFRS compliance.

6. Group Reporting Data Integration and Collection

• Review data integration architecture and consolidation data collection processes.
• Assess the integration between SAP S/4HANA Financial Accounting and SAP Group Reporting.
• Evaluate financial data extraction, mapping, transformation, and loading procedures.
• Review the integration of financial information from SAP and non-SAP entities.
• Assess flexible upload mechanisms and data collection procedures for group entities.
• Validate financial statement item mapping, reporting classifications, and master data consistency.
• Review SAP Group Reporting Data Collection capabilities where applicable.
• Assess controls surrounding data completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and reconciliation.
• Identify gaps in source data integration, mapping logic, or consolidation data quality.

7. Group Financial Close and Consolidation Calendar Assurance

• Review the design and execution of the group financial close and consolidation calendar.
• Evaluate dependencies between entity-level financial close processes and group consolidation activities.
• Assess consolidation task sequencing, financial data submissions, reconciliations, and adjustment processes.
• Review the configuration and use of consolidation monitoring and task management capabilities.
• Validate the completeness and appropriateness of consolidation controls and approval workflows.
• Assess period-end and year-end consolidation procedures.
• Review exception management, unresolved adjustments, and late financial submissions.
• Evaluate whether consolidation processes support timely and accurate financial reporting.
• Identify operational risks that may delay group close activities or affect reporting reliability.

8. Group Financial Reporting and Analytics

• Review consolidated financial statement reporting requirements and solution designs.
• Assess reporting structures, financial statement hierarchies, and group-level reporting dimensions.
• Validate the accuracy and completeness of consolidated Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss, Cash Flow, and equity-related reports.
• Review management reporting, statutory reporting, and reconciliation reporting capabilities.
• Assess drill-down, financial analysis, and reporting transparency requirements.
• Evaluate the use of SAP Fiori applications and relevant reporting or analytical tools.
• Review access controls and authorization requirements for group reporting information.
• Identify reporting inconsistencies and recommend improvements to enhance usability, accuracy, and financial transparency.

9. Cross-Module and System Integration Assurance

• Assess integration between SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting and relevant SAP components, including:
  • Financial Accounting (FI)
  • Controlling (CO)
  • Accounts Payable (AP)
  • Accounts Receivable (AR)
  • Asset Accounting (AA)
  • SAP S/4HANA Universal Journal
  • SAP Group Reporting Data Collection, where applicable
  • SAP Intercompany Matching and Reconciliation (ICMR), where applicable
• Review end-to-end integration between entity-level financial accounting and group consolidation.
• Validate source-to-target financial data mappings and reporting dependencies.
• Assess interfaces involving non-SAP financial systems, legacy applications, and external data sources.
• Review reconciliation between source financial ledgers and consolidation data.
• Identify integration risks affecting financial consolidation accuracy, financial reporting, or operational continuity.

10. Solution Design and Documentation Review

• Conduct independent reviews of Solution Design Documents (SDDs), functional specifications, configuration documentation, and integration designs.
• Validate the completeness and accuracy of consolidation requirements and approved business process designs.
• Assess adherence to SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting standard capabilities, fit-to-standard principles, and leading practices.
• Review consolidation rules, accounting logic, integration points, data mappings, and functional dependencies.
• Challenge unnecessary customizations and identify opportunities to leverage standard SAP functionality.
• Assess the adequacy of financial reporting controls, governance requirements, and reconciliation mechanisms.
• Document functional gaps, risks, observations, and recommendations.
• Ensure identified findings are communicated to the relevant business and implementation stakeholders.

11. Design Assurance and Quality Gate Reviews

• Participate in formal design assurance reviews and project Quality Gate assessments.
• Evaluate the quality, completeness, and readiness of SAP Group Reporting deliverables at key implementation milestones.
• Assess solution compliance with approved business requirements, financial reporting standards, and implementation methodologies.
• Review unresolved functional issues, consolidation dependencies, and implementation risks.
• Validate that critical QA findings have been addressed before milestone approvals.
• Provide independent recommendations regarding solution readiness, design risks, and corrective actions.
• Support program governance committees through objective and evidence-based quality assessments.

12. System Integration Testing (SIT) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

• Review SIT strategies, test plans, scripts, scenarios, and expected results.
• Validate testing coverage for:
  • Legal Consolidation
  • Management Consolidation
  • Intercompany Matching and Reconciliation
  • Intercompany Elimination
  • Currency Translation
  • Ownership and Investment Consolidation
  • Financial Data Integration
  • Group Close and Consolidation Processes
  • Consolidated Financial Reporting
• Assess positive, negative, exception, and end-to-end consolidation testing scenarios.
• Review testing involving multiple consolidation units, currencies, ownership structures, and reporting periods.
• Evaluate SIT execution results, defect classification, resolution progress, and retesting evidence.
• Assess UAT readiness, business participation, test scenario completeness, and acceptance criteria.
• Validate testing exit criteria and business sign-off procedures.
• Identify critical test coverage gaps and recommend corrective actions before deployment.

13. Data Migration and Financial Reconciliation Assurance

• Review data migration strategies and procedures relevant to SAP Group Reporting.
• Assess migration mapping, transformation logic, data cleansing, and load methodologies.
• Evaluate the migration of:
  • Consolidation Units and Groups
  • Financial Statement Items
  • Consolidation Master Data
  • Ownership and Investment Structures
  • Historical Financial Balances
  • Intercompany Balances
  • Consolidation Adjustments
  • Currency Translation Data
• Review the completeness and accuracy of migrated financial data.
• Validate reconciliation between legacy consolidation systems, entity-level financial records, and SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting.
• Assess migration testing results, exception handling, and reconciliation sign-offs.
• Identify data integrity risks that may affect financial consolidation, reporting, or auditability.

14. Cutover, Go-Live and Post-Go-Live Assurance

• Review cutover strategies, deployment plans, and group consolidation transition arrangements.
• Evaluate readiness of financial data, consolidation configurations, interfaces, and reporting structures.
• Assess cutover rehearsals, task dependencies, deployment timelines, and operational readiness.
• Review business continuity arrangements, contingency plans, and rollback procedures.
• Evaluate readiness for initial group consolidation and financial reporting cycles following deployment.
• Conduct independent Go-Live readiness assessments for SAP Group Reporting.
• Assess unresolved defects, reconciliation differences, and reporting risks before production deployment.
• Review post-Go-Live hypercare arrangements, incident management, and stabilization activities.
• Recommend corrective actions to support accurate and reliable financial consolidation after deployment.

15. Risk Management, Governance and Executive Reporting

• Identify functional, financial reporting, integration, data migration, testing, and deployment risks associated with SAP Group Reporting.
• Maintain structured QA findings, risk registers, observation logs, and recommendation trackers.
• Monitor resolution of critical findings and independently assess corrective actions.
• Prepare detailed quality assurance reports, management summaries, and executive presentations.
• Communicate risks and recommendations to program leadership, Finance stakeholders, the System Integrator, and governance committees.
• Engage with Group Finance, Financial Consolidation, Accounting, IT, and project management teams.
• Escalate significant issues that may impact consolidation accuracy, IFRS compliance, implementation quality, or reporting deadlines.
• Maintain independence and objectivity throughout all quality assurance assessments.

Mandatory Skills and Experience

Candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Minimum 10+ years of SAP consulting experience, with extensive expertise in financial consolidation and SAP Group Reporting.
• Minimum 5 end-to-end SAP implementation projects, with substantial involvement throughout the implementation lifecycle.
• At least 2 SAP implementations within the Oil & Gas, Midstream, Downstream, Petrochemical, or Energy sectors.
• Strong hands-on experience in SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting.
• Comprehensive functional knowledge of:
  • Legal Consolidation
  • Management Consolidation
  • Consolidation Unit and Group Structures
  • Consolidation Methods and Ownership Structures
  • Investment Consolidation
  • Intercompany Matching and Reconciliation
  • Intercompany Elimination
  • Currency Translation
  • Financial Statement Item Mapping
  • Consolidation Data Collection and Integration
  • Group Financial Close Processes
  • Consolidated Financial Reporting
• Strong understanding of applicable IFRS requirements, particularly those related to consolidated financial statements, business combinations, foreign currency translation, and financial reporting.
• Proven experience in independent quality assurance, solution reviews, design validation, or SAP implementation governance.
• Strong understanding of SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting architecture, standard functionality, and leading practices.
• Experience reviewing Solution Design Documents, functional specifications, consolidation rules, and integration designs.
• Hands-on experience in reviewing SIT, UAT, data migration, cutover, Go-Live readiness, and stabilization activities.
• Strong understanding of financial data integration between SAP Finance and Group Reporting.
• Ability to independently challenge consolidation solution designs and identify accounting, functional, and integration risks.
• Strong financial accounting, consolidation, reconciliation, and reporting process knowledge.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, documentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong verbal and written English communication skills.
• Ability to prepare executive-level reports and present findings to senior management.
• Willingness and availability to work onsite in Saudi Arabia according to project deployment requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• SAP S/4HANA certification in Group Reporting, Financial Consolidation, or a related functional area.
• Previous experience working as an Independent QA Consultant, SAP Group Reporting Solution Assurance Consultant, SAP Consolidation Lead, or SAP Group Reporting Solution Architect.
• Experience supporting large-scale SAP S/4HANA transformation programs within the GCC region.
• Previous SAP Group Reporting implementation or assurance experience in Oil & Gas or energy organizations.
• Strong understanding of SAP Activate methodology and project quality gates.
• Familiarity with SAP Signavio, SAP Solution Manager, or SAP Cloud ALM.
• Experience with SAP Intercompany Matching and Reconciliation (ICMR).
• Exposure to SAP Group Reporting Data Collection and financial data integration from non-SAP systems.
• Experience working with major System Integrators on enterprise SAP transformation programs.
• Strong understanding of IFRS consolidation and statutory reporting requirements.
• Arabic language proficiency will be considered an advantage.

Expected Deliverables

The consultant will be expected to contribute to the following independent quality assurance deliverables:

• SAP Group Reporting Solution Design Review Reports
• Legal and Management Consolidation Design Assessment Reports
• Consolidation Structure and Ownership Review Reports
• Intercompany Matching, Reconciliation, and Elimination Assessment Reports
• Currency Translation and Consolidation Rules Review Reports
• Group Reporting Data Integration and Mapping Assessment Reports
• Group Financial Close and Consolidation Calendar Review Reports
• Design Assurance and Quality Gate Assessment Reports
• SIT and UAT Coverage and Readiness Assessments
• Data Migration and Financial Reconciliation Review Reports
• Cutover and Go-Live Readiness Assessments
• QA Findings, Risk, and Issue Tracking Logs
• Post-Go-Live Stabilization and Hypercare Review Reports
• Executive-Level Quality Assurance Status Reports and Recommendations

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a senior SAP S/4HANA Group Reporting specialist with a strong combination of hands-on financial consolidation implementation experience, IFRS accounting knowledge, Oil & Gas industry expertise, and independent quality assurance capabilities.

Candidates should demonstrate extensive experience designing, implementing, reviewing, or governing complex financial consolidation solutions across multiple legal entities, reporting hierarchies, and currencies.

The successful consultant must be capable of independently evaluating consolidation solutions developed by System Integrators, challenging functional and accounting design decisions, identifying risks, and providing recommendations aligned with SAP S/4HANA leading practices and applicable financial reporting standards.

Experience engaging with Group Finance teams, consolidation specialists, financial controllers, SAP implementation partners, and senior project governance stakeholders is essential.

Important: This is primarily an Independent Quality Assurance, Group Reporting Solution Review, and Implementation Governance role, rather than a conventional SAP Group Reporting configuration or implementation position.

Candidates must demonstrate proven experience reviewing, assessing, and validating SAP implementation deliverables in addition to their functional and financial consolidation expertise.