Number Ranges for Accounting Documents

Document number, a key concept used every day in our SAP work. 

Have you ever asked how this number is generated? In this post you have the response.

SAP standard transaction to manage Number Ranges for Accounting Documents is FBN1
Also you can access following in customizing following path:

SAP Customizing Implementation Guide-> Financial Accounting (New) -> Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) -> Document -> Document Number Ranges -> Document in Entry View -> Define Document Number Ranges for Entry View

In the first screen, you have to enter the Company Code because document ranges depends on it.

In the second screen to set the ranges, you will see that document ranges for accounting also depends on fiscal year.

During each fiscal year, it is specified the range to be used when an accounting document is created, and for your information also you can see in the last document number created.

 

Splitting in General Accounting

To set-up the splitting in SAP, following steps have to be performed. Path in customizing to perform those steps is: Financial Accounting (New)->General Ledger Accounting (New)->Business Transactions->Document Splitting

1) Classify G/L Accounts for Document Splitting.
It is specified the item category and the account ranges to be managed in the splitting (Item category is derived from account type. For example, Vendors).

2) Classify Document Types for Document Splitting.
Each document type is associated to a business transaction type, so entering the business transaction and the variant in this screen, the corresponding type of document appear in this customizing.

3) Define Document splitting characteristic for General Ledger - Field “Zero Balance”: If you mark the flag, when the characteristic is not equal to zero, the system generates automatically a clearing line for balance purpose.
- Field “Partner field”: Is you specify this field, a sender/received relationship is documented the clearing line created additionally.
- Field “Mandatory field”: To force to fill a value.

4) Edit Constants for Nonassigned processes
In customizing also is defined which constant is set when the derivation is not possible, for example “Dummy” (Edit Constant for no assignment processes).

5) Activate Document splitting
Splitting has to be activated in customizing and select the method for the splitting.
- Field “Inheritance”: If you mark this flag, the document splitting characteristics for General Accounting are forwarded to lines that not have any assignments.
- Field “Standard Account Assignment”: A constant value is inherited in the splitting lines.

6) Extended Document Splitting->Define Document Splitting Method
Is defined the method to be used in the previous step when we are activating the splitting.

7) Extended Document Splitting->Define Document Splitting Rule
Perhaps this is the most important step in the splitting. During the process of splitting each business transaction entered here is analyzed specifying its business transaction variant. The splitting will be done following a “Processing category” specified, for example “1-Splliting based on base item categories”. And in this step also we specified which those base item categories are in order to perform correctly the splitting.

8) Extended Document Splitting->Assign Document Splitting Method
Is the same step than step 5.

9) Extended Document Splitting->Define Business transaction Variants
Variants used in step 7 are defined here and item categories are assigned to the variants in order to be used also in step 7.

To have a clear picture for splitting, the best option is show an example. If have these customizing done following previous steps:

Step1: (Accounts to be split) Item Category “0001” for Vendor accounts from 4000000 to 4100000. Also we have the Item Categories used as base for the splitting, for example “0002” will be Expenses and “0003” will be Revenues.

Step2: (Documents to be split) Business transaction “0001” with variant “0001”for documents KR (Vendor Invoices)

Step3: Profit Center has been selected for splitting

Step4: None in this example.

Step5: Method “0000000001” is activated, with Inheritance.

Step6: Method “0000000001” is defined.

Step7: For method “0000000001”, business transaction “0001” and variant (KR Invoices) and item category “0001” (vendor accounts 4000000 to 4100000) the splitting will be done following the “Processing Category” for example “1” where means “Splitting based on base item categories” and in this case we will indicate the “base item categories” to perform the splitting, for example item category “0002” Expenses and “0003” Revenues.

Step8: Same than 5.

Step9: Is defined the variant “0001”.

With this example when we enter a Vendor Invoice KR and we use 1 vendor account between 4000000 and 410000 and 2 expenses accounts (each one with a different profit center), the splitting will split the item line of the vendor in two items, because the item of the vendor fulfill with the configuration to be done the splitting, and the splitting will be done in base on the two items of expenses (as has been specified in the configuration), so the new two lines of the vendor will have each one a different profit center assigned, one from the first expense and other one from the second. 

Ledger Scenarios

In this post we will explain the meaning of term "Scenario" in Financial Accounting. In first place, it is important to know that Scenarios are assigned to Ledgers. To have a clear picture about the concept of Scenario this could be a good definition: "A Scenario defines the fields to be transferred from different application components in General Ledger Accounting".

In Customizing, to assign a scenario to a Ledger, we follow this path:

Also in customizing, to display the fields for a scenario, we follow the path:

For using in your particular project, SAP provides several standard scenarios as “Cost Center update”, “Profit Center update”, etc, but it is possible to create customer ones if any of previous ones match your needs.

To finish this post, when we assign a scenario to a Ledger we have to take into account the performance. A great quantity of assigned scenarios could low the system performance.

Standard totals table

It's sure that you have used those tables in whichever moment of your SAP life. They are very useful, functionally or technically speaking. SAP provides Totals Table in Financial area and Funds Management area containing several available fields (Profit center, segment, functional area, etc). The tables allow distinction between leading ledger and non.leading ledger.

Also, it is important to know that the tables allow field enhancements to adapt them to our needs.

FI Area: FAGLFLEXT

FM Area: FMGLFLEXT

In customizing the tables are specified following the path:

Activation of New General Ledger

A small action, a big change! The benefits of the New General Ledger is explained in a separated post. Now we indicate how to activate it. New General ledger is activated following the path in customizing:

SPRO-> SAP Customizing Implementation Guide->Financial Accounting>Financial Accouting Global Settings->Activate New General Ledger Accounting

The activation will modify paths in customizing, changing the menu to “Financial Accounting (New)” and “General Ledger Accounting (New)”.

New General Ledger

What say about New GL? The response is easy: The use of New General Ledger provides some advantages in compassion with previous versions.

• More Integration, most of ledgers are integrated into one with less cost of reconciliation and closing effort.

• Easier to maintain than classic GL.

• Document splitting in real time, it allows obtain balances at more detailed level than company code.

• Integration in real time from CO to FI.

• Segment reporting. Information at segment level.

• More power in Reporting because we obtain lower level of detail.

• Parallel ledgers (leading ledgers [0L] and non-leading ledgers), to provide the information following different financial principles.

• Customized fields can be added to the ledger.

Main components of Financial Accounting

This is a short post... but important! Although there are several sub modules included in FI, the four related in this post are the common ones in a SAP installation:

• FI-GL. General Ledger Accounting. It is the main module; it provides the central picture for external accounting.
• FI-AP. Accounts Payable. Accounting data for Vendors, closely related with purchasing module.
• FI-AR. Accounts Receivable. Accounting data for Customers, closely related with sales module.
• FI-AA. Assets Management. The module manage assets from the acquisition to the retirement, and the evolved calculations (depreciation, etc)