sap financials real time issues and tips

SAP FINANCIALS ISSUES AND TIPS REAL TIME ISSUES ALONG WITH SOLUTION Prepared By: Ms.Pramila Nagaraj First Class MBA Finance Graduate (2009-10) Global Academy of Technology, Bangalore (VTU- Belgaum) Trained up in SAP FICO @ SAPTAC Bangalore (FRESHER)

© 2010-2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


1. How to zero out an account balance in local currency? On occasion you may run into a situation where an account has a balance in local currency but not in foreign currency. This may happen for numerous reasons such as problems with the revaluation process, leftovers from a data conversion or some other issue.

Figure 1 Account line item display (FBL3N) See Figure 1 for an example of such an account summarized by document currency. The local currency of the company code is EUR and we have balances in local currency of USD and EUR but the balance in document currency is zero If you try to enter a transaction using FB01, if the transaction currency equals the local currency (EUR), you will not have an option to enter the local currency value. SAP will default the value entered in the amount field into the amount in local currency, see Figure 2. If the transaction currency is different than the local currency for example USD, SAP will not allow you to enter a zero value in the document currency field.


Figure 2 Journal entry in local currency

The solution to this is to use transaction code FBB1. This transaction code is the same one that is used by the revaluation program to enter transactions with a zero value in the amount field of a financial transaction.

Using tcode FBB1 allows you to enter an amount of zero in the different currency amount fields See Figure 3 for an example of using this transaction. In this case I have entered a zero value in the amount field and 775.19 in the amount in local currency field. Note that if you manage additional currencies such as group currency you need to handle them as well.

Figure 3 Transaction entered using FBB1 Figure 4 Account line item display (FBL3N) after journal entry If you now take a look at Figure 4, the GL account detail (FBL3N) you will see that the amount in local currency for


currency USD is zero. Of course, as always you should check this in your test environment to understand the impact on your account balance and the revaluation program.

Figure 4 Account line item display (FBL3N) after journal entry

2. Why are my invoices not selected in F110?

Often time’s users in SAP are puzzled by why a certain vendor's invoices are not selected by the payment run. There may be many reasons for this and I will cover them in a subsequent issue but today, I will touch on one reason that is easy to identify and resolve. When running a payment proposal SAP blocks the vendors whose invoices have been selected in another proposal. The savvy user will check the payment proposal log where he will be able to see vendors that are blocked by another proposal.

Figure 1 Automatic payment proposal

In this case I have run a proposal on the 18th but for some reason vendor 1000's invoices are not showing up. By pressing the proposal log button from within the payment run, Figure 1, the proposal log will be displayed, Figure 2. When examining the log, I will easily see that,


that vendor 1000 is contained in a different proposal. At this point I have two options, either

complete the other proposal or delete it to release the blocked invoices.

Figure 2 Proposal log

Query on table REGUS allows you to identify vendors that were blocked in a payment proposal But what if you want to see all the vendors that are blocked by different proposals not just the ones that have been selected for payment in a specific proposal. In this case you can query table REGUS: Accounts blocked by payment proposal By querying the different rows in this table you will be able to obtain a listing of all the

vendors that have been blocked in a proposal. Figure 3 displays the output of table REGUS.

Figure 3 Identification of vendors blocked in table REGUS


By reviewing the contents of this table you will be able to see the “Run On” and “Identification” fields required for finding the payment proposals that are blocking payment to your vendors.

3. How to post to a VAT account? In certain cases you may need to make an entry in the VAT account. This may be required when you need to make an adjustment to the VAT account directly. Another reason may be that you do not post automatically from the SAP standard VAT report “S_ALR_87012357 Advance Return for Tax on Sales/Purchases” and need to post to the VAT payable account manually.

Figure 1 VAT Input tax account

As you may know, if your VAT accounts are configured correctly as displayed in Figure 1, when posting to a VAT account SAP will request you to enter a VAT code and the base amount as displayed in Figure 2.


Figure 2 Journal entry to tax account

This is not recommended since it will require maintaining a special tax code for this reason and also since it will need to be excluded when running the standard SAP VAT report. The solution to this is to use transaction code FB41. This transaction code is the same one that is used by the standard SAP VAT program to post to the tax payable accounts.

Using tcode FB41 allows you to post to the VAT account When using this transaction you do not need to enter a VAT code or a tax base amount. See Figure 3 below. Note that the tax code and checkbox for calculating the base amount are not part of this screen. See Figure 4 for the posted document.


Figure 3 Transaction entered using FB41

Figure 4 Posted Document

4. Modifying Header Text in Line Item Reports The G/L Account, Vendor and Customer line item reports are some of the most frequently used reports by accounting personnel, see Figure 1. As such, users often times want to modify the layout and display of these reports. Users are not always familiar with the fact that the header of these reports can also be changed. In the following pages I will show you a simple way to make such a change.

Figure 1 Vendor Line Item Display Report (FBL1N)


To add a field to the report header section, you need to navigate from the top menu bar to: Settings, Layout and then Current Header rows. See Figure 2.

Figure 2 Current Header Rows

A Simple Way to Change the Header Rows of the Line Item Reports This will place you in the “Change Headers” screen and allow you to modify the report header, as demonstrated in Figure 3. From this point you can make a change to a general variable such as date or page number. You can also make changes to characteristics, which are vendor master data related such as address and name etc.

Figure 3 Change Headers for Vendor Line Item Report

In Figure 4, I am inserting the “Date of Output” general variable to the report header, which is displayed between <brackets>


Figure 4 Insert of Date General Text Variable

Modification to Header Rows Impacts the Report Throughout the Organization; Therefore, Care should be Exercised. After saving, the change will be immediately reflected in the report as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5 Report after the inserting on the date variable


To have the header data repeat for each vendor the sort order must be set as displayed in Figure 6, otherwise you will get asterisks (*) for the header data. The account field needs to be included and a page feed must be selected.

Figure 6 Setting of Sort Order

Note that the change of header rows impact anyone running the report in the organization so care must be taken when making these changes.

5. Drill Down Reporting in SAP FI In this article I will introduce some basic FI reporting capabilities. For example, Accounts Receivables provides several out-of-the-box reports for Balance and Line Item Analysis. These reports can be accessed by using transaction code FDI0, see Figure 1.

Figure 1 AR Drill down reports FDI0

By running the due data analysis reports you will obtain the report as displayed in Figure 2.


Figure 2 Due Date Analysis Report

Drill Reporting in FI, tcodes: FDI0 FKI0 FSI0 At this point you have several options: (1) drill down to the customer line item report, (2) change the leading column on the report and (3)filter and sort. To drill down to the customer line item report you place the mouse pointer on the cell you wish to drill down on and then press the ‘call up report’ button, see Figure 3. This will bring up the customer line items report.

Figure 3 Drilling Down to the Line Item Report


Another feature of this report is the ability to display the data by the different characteristics of the report. These are the values that appear on the upper left hand part of the report, in our case, they include: Document Type, Company Code, Country and Posting Key. For example, if I would like to display the receivables by country, I press the customer field which changes color to orange and the press the country key which will switch the summarization of the report between customer and country. On the next page I will explain how to do this. Displaying the report by a different attribute First press the customer field and then the country field as can be seen in Figure 4 and the new output in Figure 5.

Figure 4 Selecting Country Characteristic on Report


Figure 5 Report Summarized by Country

Changing Report Defaults To change the selection characteristics of the report you can change the report. While selecting the report, select, Drilldown report, change from the drop down menu. This will bring up a screen that allows you to change characteristics, output type and additional options. Note that you should do this on your Z version of the report. See Figure 6. On the left you will see the existing characteristics and on the right the available ones. For example, we can add Acctg Clerk to the report if we wish to track receivables by this characteristic.

Figure 6 Changing Report Defaults


There are many other settings that can be made in this report change area. I have just demonstrated a small part of the options and you will need to experiment with the rest. Note that there is also the option of creating your own report layouts but this topic is out of the scope of this article.

6. Posting to an Asset Reconciliation Account

In this article I will introduce transaction code, ABF1, which allows posting directly to an

asset reconciliation account. This may be required when there is a difference between the value in the asset sub-ledger and the balance in the related general ledger account. This can occur due to many reasons such as incorrect reconciliation after ‘go live’ or a program error for example. As you may know, you cannot post directly to an asset reconciliation account, see error message in Figure 1. You can use transaction OAMK to change the status of the account, but only if the company code is not in active status; you also run the risk of someone else inadvertently posting to the asset reconciliation account when it is open for posting.

Figure 1 Error when posting to reconciliation account

SAP provides transaction ABF1 which allows you to post directly to the asset reconciliation account without specifying an asset number as you would need to in FB01. In Figure 2 you can see how this posting is carried out.


Figure 2 Using Transaction ABF1

Using ABF1 to post to an asset reconciliation account Note that I am using posting ‘Key 70’ to debit the reconciliation account 218100. For crediting the account use 75. Pressing enter will send you to the next screen in which the asset number field is filled with an asterisk, see Figure 3. Pay attention that if you manage multiple currencies you need to post the correct amount in the different currencies. The posted document can be seen in Figure 4.

Figure 3 Asset Number Displayed as “*”


Figure 4 Document after posting

To summarize, you need to be especially careful when using this transaction since it impacts the reconciliation between the asset sub-ledger and the general ledger. Make sure to reconcile the two after making any such posting.

7. Maintaining an IBAN

In this article I will discuss how to maintain an IBAN (International Bank Account

Number) in table TIBAN. If you work with vendor bank accounts in Europe you know that the IBAN is used as the primary bank account identifier in most European countries. The IBAN is composed of a two digit country code, two check digits and then the basic bank account number. See Figure 1, for an example of an IBAN for a German bank. When you delete an IBAN that is assigned to the bank account it is not deleted from the TIBAN table.

Figure 1 Vendor IBAN


This may cause problems since when you maintain the same bank information in the vendor SAP will bring up this IBAN which is associated with the vendor which may not be what you require, it may also cause problems in bank statement import. In the past you needed to use SM30 with view V_TIBAN to delete the IBAN. An alternative is transaction FIBAN which can now be used to maintain the IBAN data. See Figure 2.

Figure 2 Using Transaction FIBAN

Using FIBAN to maintain the IBAN in table TIBAN I checked extended selection and am presented with the selection screen in Figure 3 in which I entered the IBAN I want to maintain.

Figure 3 IBAN selection screen


Figure 4 Maintenance screen for IBAN

After pressing enter I can maintain or delete the IBAN, as seen in Figure 4.

8. Searching by Reference Number

In this article, I will discuss how to search for a financial document by the reference

number (no.).This is useful, for example, when you need to search for a vendor invoice by the vendor’s invoice number (see Figure 1), and you don’t know the SAP document number. Every finance user knows how to display a financial document by using the FB03 display document transaction.

Figure 1 Vendor’s Invoice Number

A simple accounting editing option allows you to switch on the search by ‘Reference no.’ option. To do this, use transaction FB00 to display the accounting editing option (see Figure 2).


Figure 2 Accounting Editing Options

Using FB00 to allow search by Reference no. Selecting this checkbox adds the Reference no. field to FB03 (see Figure 3), which allows searching by this field. In Figure 3, I entered the Reference no. 123456 and was able to search by this field.

Figure 3 Display Document Using Reference no

If more than one document has the same Reference no. you will receive a message that several documents exist and by pressing enter you will receive the list as displayed in Figure 4.


Figure 4 List of Documents With the Same Reference No.

Double clicking on a document in Figure 4 will display it in detail. Note that some organizations limit access to FB00 so you may need technical support in performing this change. ACCOUNTS PAYABLES Question: Problem in running a automatic payment program. Suppose we have a balance of $125000 in my bank account and today we running an Automatic payment run. Total payment of the run is $175000. So when we run Automatic payment run it is not giving any error message. What to do with this problem. Answer: The Automatic Payment Program does not check the Balance of your Bank Account. (GL A/c. Bal.) What it does check is the min & max amounts that you have maintained in your customization. In Bank determination (FBZP), you have to fill in the available amounts for each Bank. This is the maximum amount up to which payments will be generated by the Auto. Pay. Run. So if you want to ensure that on any single day the payment run does not pay more than bank balance, you have to update on a daily basis available balance to match with your bank balance. Accounts Receivables: A. How SAP handles the Dunning process? In SAP system there are 9 predefined payment reminder notices which we can directly use as a notice for the particular customer relating to one dunning area (OB61) You define your dunning levels in the dunning procedure (FBMP), and you may define as many as 9 dunning levels. To simplify, dunning levels may be understood as counter for the dunning notices you send to your customers: - for dunning level 1 you will send him a kind payment reminder - for dunning level 2 you send him a reminder (not so kind) - for dunning level 3 you add to the reminder a deadline for payment etc...


So the dunning levels will reflect the number of letters sent, also the number of days the items is overdue (Interest will be calculated based on number of days & amount –OB42, and dunning charges will be calculated based on overdue due amount specified in notice),and dunning text(type of notice –Reminder/formal/with interest/) will be specified per dunning level Following a dunning run (F150), the dunning procedure/area/level/ block reasons, is updated in the customer master record (FD01) and in the open items. B. Lock Box Question: We are using partial payment option in lockbox (OB10) and we have 0 tolerance at both customer and user level. The customer has an open invoice of $82500 and that he pays $95000 towards this invoice. When tested this scenario - the check status as applied and - the Invoice and the payment document is still open. What is the reason for this situation? Answer: The check status applied is that because of ‘0’ tolerances, lockbox applied the cash to that invoice. If we had any tolerances then overpayment beyond the tolerance amount is not allowed and that the amount sits on the account. Coming to the point b, because the customer is overpaying the invoice (not exact invoice amount) the invoice is still open. Asset Accounting: What is unplanned Depreciation and when we post it? Unplanned depreciation (ABAA) Use this procedure to post an unplanned depreciation manually. Ordinary depreciation reflects the deduction for wear and tear during the normal use of the asset. Unusual influences, such as damage that leads to a permanent decrease in the value of the asset, are covered by unplanned depreciation.


CO-PA Question: Client requires the CO - PA report (KE30) match with their Profit & Loss Account ( F.01). Our doubt is the revenues we can get from SD, But other Incomes (ex : Interest recd, Excess Expenses paid recovered, Excess Taxes paid recovered etc ) and the Expenses how can we get the values in our CO - PA report. So, overall we want the CO-PA report like Profit and loss account. How it can be achieved? Answer: 1. For a complete reconciliation between FI P&L with COPA, the best way is to activate Account based COPA and develop reports. Also ensure that all the P&L GL accounts have to be created as Cost elements or 2. All FI postings which were not flown to CO-PA through PA transfer structure can be uploaded directly into CO-PA through T code: KEFC, but prior caution is needed while preparing the upload file where appropriate value fields are to be selected. This way we can run the KE30 report in close proximity to F.01 report.

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