In order to develop Z reports, it is necessary to use ABAP. There is no other way.

SE38 is the main transaction to create ABAP programs. I cannot give you any other transactions
(T-Codes).

In the SAP world, when we say 'develop Z reports', we are usually referring to the work done by
the developer, the programmer that creates the ABAP code. I now assume that your questions
have to do with the logical steps (outside of the actual coding itself) that go into creating a Z-
Report.

1. Gather the business requirements from the business users.

a. What do the users want? What business processes will be supported by this new report?

b. Is there an existing report that will serve their needs, or can an existing report be modified?

c. How are they getting the requested information now?

d. How often will the report be run? Who will be running the report?

e. What kind of output will they want? Spoolfile? Download? Some kind of alert? Should it be
sorted? How?

f. What kind of selection criteria will they need? Which data must be included? Excluded?

g. What kind of calculations will be required?

h. Determine what methods the users are currently using to obtain the info they seek.

i. Determine any other special requirements that will affect the report.

j. Determine if a new z-transaction will be required to execute the report.

k. Research if there are any authorization concerns. Who should be authorized to run the report?
Who should be authorized to obtain the output? Is there any sensitive data being displayed?

2. Create the specifications document. There should be enough information in this document so
that a competent ABAPer can begin his work. Hand the specs off to the ABAPer.

3. Use the specifications to write the code

4. Unit test the code. Amend the specs as necessary. Write end user documentation.

5. Hand the tested code and user docs to the end users for integration and acceptance testing.
6. Move to production. In most businesses, there is a three tier system in place. There is a system
for development, there is a system for quality testing, and there is a system for production. If this
is the case, enlist the assistance of a Basis person to transport the code from Dev>qual>Prod.