Run Long SAP Reports in the Background (SM36 and SM37 for Business Users)

Big SAP reports — a year of vendor line items, a full stock list — can time out or freeze your session. Running them in the background solves both problems.

The quick way: from the report

1. Open the report (e.g. FBL1N), fill the selection screen and save it as a variant.
2. Menu Program → Execute in Background (often F9).
3. Choose an output device if asked (your default printer/spool) and “Immediate”, or set a start date and time.

Check the result: SM37

1. Transaction SM37 → your user name → Execute.
2. Status: Scheduled, Released, Active, Finished or Cancelled.
3. Select a finished job → Spool to view the output; from there you can export it (List → Save → Local file) or download.
4. Cancelled? Open the Job log for the reason (authorisation, variant error, no data).

Schedule repeating jobs: SM36

For a report every working day at 6 am, or on the first of each month, define the job in SM36: job name, step (program + variant), start condition (date/time, periodic). Many companies restrict SM36 to key users — ask your SAP support team if you don’t have access.

Tips

• Use dynamic dates in the variant (e.g. “current month”) so a scheduled job doesn’t keep reporting the same old period.
• Name jobs clearly: Z_AP_AGEING_DAILY_PRIYA.
• Delete jobs you no longer need — orphaned schedules run for years.

More in SAP transaction codes for business users.