SAP S/4HANA 2026: Deadlines, Credits, and Customer Risk
2026 is a critical year for SAP customers. Understand S/4HANA maintenance deadlines, Compatibility Pack risks, cloud options, and declining conversion credits.
2026 is a critical year for SAP customers due to expiring maintenance, Compatibility Pack usage rights, and reduced S/4HANA conversion credits.
As 2026 approaches, SAP customers face a convergence of maintenance deadlines, licensing changes, and declining commercial incentives. Decisions delayed today are becoming materially more expensive tomorrow, while unresolved technical dependencies may introduce compliance and operational risk.
This article explains what SAP customers need to know about SAP S/4HANA in 2026, including maintenance timelines, cloud deployment options, Compatibility Pack risks, and the financial impact of delayed conversion.
SAP Cloud ERP (formerly RISE with SAP)
In April 2025, SAP rebranded RISE with SAP as SAP Cloud ERP. While the name has changed, the underlying commercial and technical model remains largely the same.
SAP Cloud ERP is designed to accelerate the transition of on-premises SAP ERP customers to SAP-managed cloud environments by bundling SAP software, infrastructure, and technical services.
This change supports SAP’s long-term strategy to move customers away from legacy ERP deployments as support deadlines approach.
Organizations considering this route should ensure they understand the commercial and contractual implications before committing to SAP-led cloud programmes.
SAP Maintenance Deadlines: Why 2026 Matters
SAP’s maintenance roadmap creates increasing pressure for customers running ECC or older S/4HANA releases.
Key SAP maintenance dates:
- ECC 6.0 EHP 0–5 and S/4HANA 2020: Support ends 31 December 2025 (no extended maintenance available)
- S/4HANA 2021: Support ends 31 December 2026 (no extended maintenance available)
- S/4HANA 2022: Support ends 31 December 2027 (no extended maintenance available)
- Recent S/4HANA releases: Supported until 2040
- ECC 6.0 EHP 6–8:
- Mainstream maintenance until 31 December 2027
- Optional extended maintenance available until 2030
Extended maintenance is offered at a premium above standard support, typically in the region of a 2% uplift for ECC and a 4% uplift for S/4HANA, depending on contract terms.
After mainstream and extended maintenance expire, customers are moved to Customer-Specific Maintenance (CSM). While support costs remain broadly similar, the scope of fixes, updates, and innovation is significantly reduced.
For many organizations, this is the point at which maintaining the status quo becomes both operationally and commercially unsustainable.
SAP ERP, Private Edition Transition Option (2031–2033)
SAP offers a Private Edition Transition Option for customers with large or complex ERP landscapes that are not yet ready to complete a full S/4HANA transition.
Available between 2031 and 2033, this option allows customers to extend mainstream support until 2033 while using SAP ERP cloud licensing and specialised transition services.
This option provides additional time, but it should be viewed as a temporary runway, not a long-term alternative to S/4HANA. Customers should use this period to address technical debt, data complexity, and commercial exposure rather than deferring decisions further.
S/4HANA Public Cloud (GROW with SAP): Licensing Changes
SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, offered under GROW with SAP, has introduced a new licensing model.
Historically, Public Cloud relied on Full User Equivalent (FUE) licensing. While FUEs remain in use for Private Cloud, Public Cloud now uses Business Suite User Packages.
These packages are modular, ready-to-run bundles aligned to functional business areas and include best-practice processes, documentation, testing assets, and extensibility tools.
Business Suite User Packages
Business Suite User Packages are sold per user and aligned to six core functional areas:
- Finance
- Supply Chain
- HR
- Procurement
- Sales
- Service
While this model simplifies procurement, it can reduce flexibility where users operate across multiple functional areas, making package selection and user allocation commercially important.
Organizations should assess whether Public Cloud packaging aligns with how their teams actually work, rather than assuming it will automatically reduce cost or complexity.
| Business Suite Package | License | Price (USD / month per user) | Included Capabilities (Summary) |
| Finance | Finance Base | 291 | – Financial – Revenue & cost accounting – Cash management – Compliance reporting – Central payments – O2C & P2P foundation – SAP Build extensibility |
| Finance | Finance Premium | 408 | – Everything in Finance Base – Subscription management – CX & enterprise service management – Expense management – Procurement networks – Project & resource management |
| Supply Chain | Supply Chain Base | 291 | – Product design – Production planning – Inventory & warehousing – Shipping – Plant maintenance – SAP Build extensibility |
| Supply Chain | Supply Chain Premium | 408 | – Everything in SC Base – Sustainable products – Emissions visibility – Carbon tracking – Safety & regulatory compliance |
| HR | Core HR | 18 | -People data – Time & attendance – Payroll – AI self‑service – Localization – SAP Build extensibility |
| Procurement | Strategic Procurement | 2,420 | – Sourcing (RFI/RFP) – Contract management – Supplier qualification – Supplier performance management – Source‑to‑contract |
| Sales | Sales | Unavailable | – 360° customer view – Sales engagement – Customer relationship improvement |
| Service | Service Cloud v2 | 113 | – AI‑enabled service management – Agent desktop – Insights – Analytics – Cloud modularity – SAP Build extensibility |
Compatibility Packs: A Major 2026 Risk
Compatibility Packs (CPs) allow certain ECC-based processes to run temporarily within S/4HANA environments.
According to SAP Note 2269324 (Compatibility Scope Matrix), many CP usage rights expire in May 2026
Continuing to rely on Compatibility Packs beyond expiry may result in:
- SAP license non-compliance
- Loss of SAP support and updates
- Transactions becoming read-only or non-functional
- Failures in dependent custom code and interfaces
For organizations planning an S/4HANA project in 2026, or already live, unresolved Compatibility Pack dependencies represent a significant operational and commercial risk.
Identifying these dependencies early is a critical part of any S/4HANA readiness or audit-defence activity.
S/4HANA Conversion Credits: Declining Each Year
When customers transition from ECC to S/4HANA, SAP offers Contract Conversion Credits that allow unused or redundant legacy licenses to offset the new S/4HANA maintenance base.
The maximum credit cap has reduced year on year:
- 80% in 2023
- 70% in 2024
- 60% in 2025
- Expected ~50% in 2026
2026 Conversion Example
A customer moves from $1,000,000 in ECC maintenance to $1,200,000 in S/4HANA maintenance.
With a 50% credit cap:
- Credit applied: $600,000
- Net payable: $600,000
Under the 2025 cap of 60%, the same customer would pay $120,000 less simply by converting earlier.
This reduction means timing now plays a direct role in long-term SAP cost exposure.
What This Means for SAP Customers in 2026
2026 represents a narrowing window for SAP customers. Expiring maintenance, Compatibility Pack deadlines, and declining conversion credits all increase the cost and risk of delay.
There is no single transition path that suits every organization. Customers must assess their current SAP landscape, Compatibility Pack exposure, commercial leverage, and long-term operating model before committing to any SAP-led direction.
An independent, evidence-based approach helps organizations retain control, reduce unnecessary spend, and avoid being forced into sub-optimal decisions under time pressure.
