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As you begin your career, it is generally advisable for you to remain in a FICO end user position to gain experience and understanding of the processes from a user's perspective.
After you gain more experience, you will be able to move up to a junior consultant or analyst position.

The following are responsibilities your work as an FICO end user might include:

• Preparation of financial statements
• Profit and loss (P&L) analysis
• Balance sheet accounts reviews and reconciliations
• General Ledger (GL) and Cost Center (CC) master data management
• Purchase price valuation (PPV) analysis
• Supply Chain Management (SCM) reporting
• Month-end closing processes
• Quarterly reporting
• Audits
• Support of Liaison
• Participation in annual budget preparation
• Understanding FICO modules to the extent that you are able to suggest process improvements
• Preparation of Federal/state Income tax return statements

Difference between End Users and Power (key) Users

The end user is someone who is responsible for entering business data and executing business transactions on a daily basis.
Power (key) user responsibilities extend further, such as managing master data, troubleshooting, and training of end users.

Job Description of an SAP FICO consultant

Consultants could be either in-house or external.
In-house consultants work for the company during implementation and after go-live periods, while external consultants are only part of the implementation team.
Their responsibility ends when the projects go-live.
Consultants play a more important role than end/power users in the company because they are responsible for the implementation and system configuration based on business requirements, GAAP analysis, improving processes, and looking for new opportunities/products.
Becoming an FI/CO consultant is a next big step in a career.
You can find some useful information and tips in our other articles.

Listed below are the primary responsibilities of a consultant:

• Experience in SAP FI and CO modules (usually at least 2 - 5 years) - General Ledger (GL), Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR), Cost and Profit Center Accounting (CPA) and Internal Orders
• Configuration of SAP FI, CO modules in IMG based on business requirements
• Looking for improvement opportunities in business systems
• Assisting in testing process in order to discover errors and issues in business processes, documentation or user's lack of experience
• Application support and training of end users
• Cooperating with consultants from other modules such as MM, PM, PP and PS
• Implementing SAP Business Warehouse (BW)

Job Description of an SAP FICO Project manager

The project manager is also called a team leader or director.
He/she is an important person during the implementation of the project.
The project manager should have a extensive experience as an SAP FICO consultant.
He/she is also a part of the sales process, so he/she should have strong negotiation and management skills as well.

Responsibilities of project managers are an extension of consultant's responsibilities:

• Managing team of consultants in order to deliver final solution to customer based on contract conditions
• Managing client relationships
• Supervising and coaching junior consultants in the project