The Line Items contain information relating to account number, amount, debit/ credit, tax code, amount, etc. SAP allows a maximum of 999 line items in a single document. Besides the one entered by you during an document entry, the system may also create its own line items called system generated line items, such as tax deductions, etc. Irrespective of the number of line items entered, ensure that the total of these is always zero (that is, total debits should equal total credits). Otherwise, the system will not allow you to post the document.
What is a Posting Key?
A Posting Key in SAP is a 2-digit
alphanumeric key that controls the entry of line items. SAP comes with
many posting keys for meeting the different business transaction requirements:
40 (GL debit),
50 (GL credit),
01 (customer invoice),
11 (customer credit memo),
21 (vendor credit memo),
31 (vendor payment), etc.
The posting key determines:
1. What account can be posted to
2. Which side of the account (debit
or credit) to be posted to, and
3. What layout screen needs to
be used for that particular transaction.
It is a normal practice not to
change any of the default posting keys in the system, as you would very
rarely require additional posting keys.
Differentiate between the Parking
and the Holding of Documents?
The Parking of a Document in SAP
is one of the two preliminary postings (the other being the Holding of
documents) in the system and refers to the storing of incomplete documents
in the system. These documents can later be called on for completion and
posting. While parking a document, the system does not carry out the mandatory
validity checking. The system does not also carry out any automatic postings
(such as creating tax line items) or balance checks. As a result, the transaction
figures (account balances) are not updated. This is true in the case of
all financial transactions except in the area of TR-CM (Cash management)
where parked documents will update the transactions.
The parking of documents can be
used to park data relating to customers, vendors, or assets (acquisition
only). When a cross-Company Code document is parked, only one document
is created in the initial Company Code; when this parked document is posted
all other documents relevant for all other Company Codes will also be created.
However, it is to be noted that substitution functionality cannot be used
with document parking, as substitution is activated only on transaction
processing.
The added advantage is that a document
parked by an accounting clerk can be called on for completion by someone
else. The parked documents can be displayed individually or as a list from
where the required document can be selected for completion and posting.
The number of the parked document is transferred to the posted document.
The original parked document, if necessary, can be displayed even after
it has been posted to.
During a transaction when you do
not have a piece of required information, you can Hold the Document and
complete it later. As in the case of parked documents, here also the document
does not update the transaction figures.
What is an Automatic Posting?
When you post documents in SAP,
there are instances where the system also adds some more line items (such
as tax, cash discount, gain/loss from foreign exchange transactions, etc.)
besides the ones you have entered in the document. This helps to reduce
your work as the system calculates these automatically. However, you need
to define accounts you want the system to automatically post to; this will
ensure that no manual posting is allowed to any of these accounts.
What is clearing?
Clearing in SAP refers to squaring-off
open debit entries with that of open credit entries.
Clearing is allowed in GL accounts
maintained on an open item basis and in all customer/vendor accounts. The
clearing can either be manual or automatic. In the case of manual clearing,
you will view the open items and select the matching items for clearing.
In the case of automatic clearing, a program determines what items need
to be cleared based on certain pre-determined open item selection criteria
and proposes assignments before clearing these assigned items.
Whatever the type of clearing,
the system creates a clearing document with the details and enters the
clearing number against each of the cleared open items. The clearing number
is derived from the document number of the clearing document. You will
also be able to do a partial clearing when you are unable to match open
items exactly;
In this case, the balance amount
not cleared is posted as a new open item. You may also configure clearing
tolerance and also define rules on how to tackle the situation where the
net amount after clearing is not zero (such as, writing off, posting the
difference to a separate clearing difference account, etc.).
In the case of customers who are
also vendors, you will be able to clear between these two provided it is
duly configured in the relevant master data (by entering the customer number
in the vendor master record and the vendor number in the customer master
record).
Explain Reversal of Documents
in SAP?
If you need to change some of the
accounting information relating to an already posted document, you can
only achieve this by Reversing the original document and posting a new
one with the correct information. However, reversal is possible only when:
The origin of the document is in
FI (not through SD or MM, etc.)
The information such as business
area, cost center, etc., is still valid (that you have not deleted these
business objects)
The original document has no cleared
items
The document relates only to the
line items of customer/vendor/GL
While reversing, the system automatically
selects the appropriate document type for the reversal, and defaults the
relevant posting keys. (Remember that the document type for the reversal
document would have already been configured when the document type was
defined in the configuration.) Also note that if you do not specify the
posting date for the reversal document, the system defaults to the posting
date of the original document.
What is Fast Entry?
Instead of the regular document
entry screens, SAP provides Fast Entry screens for facilitating a quick
way of entering repetitive line items in a transaction. For achieving this,
you need to define a Fast Entry Screen Layout, which will specify what
fields you will require for data entry, and in what order. You may configure
these fast entry screen layouts for GL account line items, credit memos,
and customer/vendor invoices. Each of these fast entry screen layouts will
be denoted by a 5-character screen variant in the system. Fast entry screens
are used in complex (general) postings.
SAPs enjoy postings are also meant
for similar data entry screens, but the difference is that in the case
of fast entry you will start from scratch when identifying the fields,
positioning them in the line item, etc., whereas in enjoy postings, the
system comes with all the fields activated and you will select the fields
that you do not want to be made available for data entry.
How do You Create GL Account
Master Data?
GL Account Master Data can be created
using any one of the following methods:
1. Manually
2. Creating with reference
3. Through Data Transfer Workbench
4. Copying from existing GL accounts
The Manual Creation of GL account
master records is both laborious and time consuming. You will resort to
this only when you cant create master records using any of the other methods
listed above. You will follow the second method, Creating With Reference,
when you are already in SAP and have an existing Company Code (Reference
Company Code) from which you can copy these records to a new Company Code
(Target Company Code).
You will be able to do this by
accessing the Menu:
General Ledger Accounting>GL Accounts>Master
Data>GL Account Creation> Create GL Accounts with Reference.
While doing this, you can copy
the account assignments as well ensuring that the integration of GL with
other applications is intact. SAP facilitates so that you can
(i) limit the number of GL
records thus copied to the target Company Code,
(ii) create new records if necessary,
and (iii) change the account number/name.
When your GL accounts are in a
non-SAP system and you feel that these accounts will meet your requirements
you will then use the Data Transfer Workbench of SAP to transfer these
records into SAP, and change them to suit the SAP environment. Since this
will not have Account Assignment logic as defined in SAP, you need to be
careful when defining these assignments.
You will resort to the last option
of Copying from Existing GL Accounts only when you feel that there is a
Chart of Accounts in the system that meets your requirements 100%. Otherwise,
follow the second method described above.
What is Collective Processing
of GL Accounts?
Collective Processing helps you
to make systematic changes to a number of GL accounts in a single step.
For example, you have used the creating with reference method to create
GL accounts in a new Company Code and you want to change the account names
as well as the GL account type (P&L or B/S). Then you will use the
mass processing method. You can make changes to:
1. Chart of accounts data
2. Company Code data
Use Menu Path: Accounting>Financial
accounting>General ledger accounting>Master records>Collective processing.
This can be achieved in IMG through: Financial Accounting>General Ledger
Accounting>GL Accounts> Master Data>GL Account Creation>Change GL Accounts
Collectively.
Remember that the collective processing
helps only to edit and you cannot use this method if you need to create
new master records.
What is Individual Processing
of GL Accounts?
In contrast to the collective processing
of GL accounts where you edit a number of accounts in a single step, Individual
Processing helps to edit or create GL account master records one at a time.
Here you can edit (including display, change, block, unblock, and delete)
or create a new
GL account in three different ways:
1. Centrally: You will be editing
or creating a GL account master record in both the Chart of Accounts area
and Company Code area in one step. This is also known as one-Step GL creation.
2. In the Chart of Accounts area:
you first edit or create the record here before doing it in the Company
Code area.
3. In the Company Code area: you
edit or create the record here after it has been done in the Chart of Accounts
area. Put together, steps 2 and 3 relate to the step-by-step creation of
GL account master records
Is it Possible to Change an Existing
B/S GL A/C to the P&L Type?
Technically, you will be able to
change all the fields, except the account number, of a GL account in the
Chart of Accounts area. However, in this particular instance when you change
the GL account type from B/S to P&L, make sure that you again run the
balance carry-forward program after saving the changes so that the system
corrects the account balances suitably.
Why doesn’t the System allow
You to Change the Tax Category in a GL A/C Master?
You will be able to change the
Company Code related fields such as tax category, currency, etc., provided
that there has not been any posting to these accounts. Pay attention to
the following:
1. If you need to denote an existing
GL account to later be managed on an open item basis or vice versa, then
make sure that the account balance is zero in either case.
2. If you are trying to change
an existing reconciliation account (to a regular GL), then make sure that
the account has not been posted to.
3. If you are attempting to denote
an existing ordinary GL account into a reconciliation account, ensure that
the account has a zero balance.
