The Universal Journal was introduced with SAP S/4HANA Finance 1503 as the book of original entry for business transactions in SAP S/4HANA Finance and Controlling. It is based on the new table called ACDOCA, which can be accessed through transaction code SE16N.
The Universal Journal, also known as the Single Source of Truth, records all the line items of business transactions along with the reference of header information normally recorded by the table BKPF. This includes FI documents, CO documents, and AA documents, eliminating the need for reconciliation between them. Both OLTP (Online Transactional Processing) and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) can be run from the same table.
Before SAP S/4HANA, data was stored in different tables, leading to data redundancy and slow access. With the new architecture of the Universal Journal table ACDOCA, those tables are no longer required.
The new journal entry consists of a header (table BKPF) and the respective items (table ACDOCA). The Universal Journal entry document is dependent on the fiscal year and company code.
Key points about the Universal Journal:
- There are 6-digit fields for line-item numbering and 23 digits for currency fields in the Universal Journal.
- SAP provides a new transaction number for every 999 document lines.
- All non-statistical items are updated as Universal Journal entries.
- Data from COEP, FAGLFLEXA, ANEP, MLIT tables, etc., is stored directly in ACDOCA.
- In some rare cases, there may be no document header for entries in ACDOCA, such as balance carryforward or corrections during migration.
- Fast multi-dimensional reporting is possible on the Universal Journal without replicating data to Business Intelligence (BI). If BI is in place, only one single BI extractor is needed.
- The Universal Journal can be extended with customer fields for enhanced reporting.
- Extensibility is available for all components that use the Universal Journal, such as GL, CO, AA, and ML.
- ACDOCP: Plan Data Line Items
- ACDOCU: Universal Consolidation Journal Entries
- ACDOCC: Consolidation Journal
Simplification and Compatibility Views:
- The data storage and access have been simplified and accelerated since the data is now stored in one table (ACDOCA).
- Old tables, including index and aggregate tables, have been eliminated in SAP S/4HANA Finance, reducing data redundancy and increasing transaction throughput. Derived data can be calculated on the fly from accounting documents and line items instead of being physically stored in the database.
- Compatibility views allow organizations to access data as per the eliminated tables if needed.
