Below is a practical, ready-to-use overview of SAP consulting for financial services — what firms typically offer, which SAP products matter, common project types, team/engagement models, selection criteria, risks, and quick next steps you can act on.

What “SAP consulting for financial services” covers

• Strategy & roadmap: business-case, target operating model, solution selection (S/4HANA vs. industry solutions), migration approach, cost/benefit analysis.
• Core finance implementation: S/4HANA Finance (ledger, A/R, A/P, close automation, central finance), GL/FP&A integration, intercompany, tax localization.
• Industry solutions: SAP for Banking (core banking integration, payments, risk & compliance), SAP for Insurance (policy/claims integration, billing), Treasury & Risk Management (cash, liquidity, market risk), SAP Payments, and SAP FS-specific accelerators.
• Data & integration: data model design, master data management, data migration, real-time integration (APIs, middleware like SAP PI/PO or SAP CPI), and legacy system decommissioning.
• Analytics & reporting: embedded analytics, SAP BW/4HANA, SAC (SAP Analytics Cloud), IFRS/ regulatory reporting.
• Regulatory & controls: regulatory reporting support, audit trails, segregation of duties, SOX/AML/PSD2/BCBS/IFRS compliance enablement (as applicable).
• Process transformation & automation: order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, record-to-report, R2R automation, RPA/automation for reconciliations.
• Testing, cutover & post-go-live support: test strategy, user training, hypercare, stabilization, continuous improvement.

Key SAP products relevant to financial services

• SAP S/4HANA Finance (aka SAP S/4HANA for central finance) — core finance, close, treasury integration.
• SAP Central Finance — useful for phased migration across multiple ERPs.
• SAP Banking Suite / SAP for Banking — bank-specific capabilities and interfaces.
• SAP for Insurance / SAP S/4 for Insurance (where used) — policy/claims/billing integration.
• SAP Treasury & Risk Management (TRM) — cash, liquidity, market risk.
• SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) — extensions, integration, CI/CD, analytics.
• SAP Cloud Integration (CPI), SAP PI/PO — middleware.
• SAP BW/4HANA and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) — reporting & analytics.

Typical engagement types and timelines

• Quick assessment / fit-gap (4–8 weeks): business-case, target architecture, high-level roadmap.
• Rapid implementation (6–9 months): greenfield for a limited scope (finance only) with agile sprints.
• End-to-end transformation (12–36 months): multi-module, multi-country, legacy migration, regulatory changes.
• Central Finance/coexistence projects (6–18 months): aggregate financials across ERPs before full migration.
• Stabilization & continuous improvement (post-go-live, ongoing): 3–12+ months of hypercare then managed services.

Team roles you should expect from a good SAP consulting partner

• Engagement lead / program manager.
• SAP Finance functional architects (S/4HANA Finance, FSCM, TRM).
• Industry specialists (banking/insurance domain experts).
• Technical architects: integration, data migration, BTP/CPI, security.
• Developers / configuration consultants.
• Test manager, QA team, change management & training leads.
• Data engineers & reporting analysts.

Commercial models

• Fixed-price for a well-defined scope (use for small, clearly bounded projects).
• Time-and-materials (T&M) — flexible, common for discovery / complex transformations.
• Managed services / outcome-based — post-go-live support, cloud operations, or finance-as-a-service.
• Hybrid: fixed for baseline implementation + T&M for changes.

Selection criteria for a consulting partner

• Financial services industry experience — references from banks/insurers with similar scale and regulatory environment.
• Proven S/4HANA Finance and Central Finance track record (show completed projects).
• Technical depth in integration (CPI/PO), data migration, and cloud/BTP.
• Local regulatory & tax knowledge for your countries of operation.
• Delivery model & team stability (low bench churn, named resources).
• Clear approach to testing, cutover and data reconciliation.
• Strong change management and training capability.
• Commercial flexibility and transparent pricing.
• Client references, case studies, and outcomes (time-to-close reduction, automation metrics).

Common risks and how to mitigate them

• Scope creep → enforce change control and phased delivery.
• Data quality & migration issues → invest early in data profiling and a migration factory.
• Integration complexity with legacy systems → run integration proof-of-concepts and use standardized APIs.
• Regulatory gaps → include compliance stakeholders early and map controls to requirements.
• User adoption problems → allocate time for role-based training, shadowing, and hypercare.
• Performance issues post-go-live → load testing, sizing, and capacity planning before cutover.

Typical KPIs and targets to measure success

• Month-end close time (days) — target reduction.
• Time to reconcile intercompany accounts.
• Number of manual journal entries / reconciliation exceptions.
• Time to produce regulatory reports.
• On-time payments and cash forecasting accuracy.
• User satisfaction / training adoption rates.
• Stabilization tickets and MTTR during hypercare.

Practical next steps (if you’re evaluating or planning a project)

1. Run a 4–8 week discovery: map current processes, systems, and pain points; produce a target-state blueprint and high-level roadmap.
2. Prioritize a minimal viable scope (e.g., record-to-report + treasury) for a fast win.
3. Shortlist 3 SAP partners with FS experience; ask for case studies, named resources, and client references.
4. Require a migration/data strategy and a cutover plan in proposals.
5. Build a business sponsor / steering committee and involve compliance/risk early.
6. Budget for 15–25% of implementation cost for change management, training, and hypercare.

If you want, I can:

• Draft an RFP template specific to SAP finance for financial services.
• Create a one-page project roadmap (discovery → build → cutover → hypercare) tailored to banks or insurers.
• Help shortlist SAP partners based on region/scale (I can include suggested partner names if you want).

Which of the follow-ups above would you like me to do now?