SAP License cost consumes most of the IT budget to any SAP customer. Also, the risk of facing SAP License auditing is an ongoing challenge for any SAP customer despite expensive IT budget allocation to SAP software.
The research says that many SAP customers are NOT using 100% of their SAP License but ends up with paying additional licenses over the time due to hiring, mergers & acquisitions. This is mainly due to lack of understanding such as how SAP Licensing works and License compliance expectations from SAP.
Many software publishers do charge their License based on "one software installation equals one user license. This limited understanding about SAP User License which is for sure to invite SAP License auditing in the near future. Efficient management of SAP License requires an in-depth understanding of SAP Licensing works & which is more complicated than IRS tax publications.
When it comes to SAP License, It charges a different price for various named user license types. For example, the customer pays more for Developer License type than Information user license type. If SAP customer does not manage their active Developers count correctly, they would end up paying thousands of dollars unnecessarily. Same is true for Professional License type which is costlier than Developer License.
SAP requires customers to perform system License measurement yearly using transaction codes like USMM and SLAW in the SAP system. These transaction codes are designed in favor of SAP to count/submit the actual License volume at every customer site. Once SAP receives USMM / SLAW information that would enable SAP to send an invoice for additional Licenses when SAP customer exceeds their allowed License count.