First Steps in SAP

Financial Accounting (FI)

Ann Cacciottoli
Table of Contents

Preface 5
How this book is organized 6

1 What is SAP FI? 9

1.1 What is SAP? 9
1.2 Introduction to accounting 9
1.3 Why SAP FI? 11
1.4 SAP FI menu 11
1.5 SAP documents 14
1.6 Exercises 17

2 Getting started with SAP General Ledger 19

2.1 What is FI master data? 19
2.2 What is SAP New GL? 32
2.3 G/L transactions 36
2.4 Exercises 87

3 Getting started with SAP Accounts Receivable 89

3.1 What is SAP Accounts Receivable (AR)? 89
3.2 Customer master data 90
3.3 SAP Accounts Receivable transactions 94
3.4 SAP Accounts Receivable (AR) reports 117
3.5 Exercises 132

4 Getting started with SAP Accounts Payable 135

4.1 What is SAP Accounts Payable (AP)? 135
4.2 Vendor master data 136
4.3 SAP Accounts Payable (AP) transactions 138

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

4.4 SAP Accounts Payable (AP) reports 165

4.5 Exercises 174

5 Configuration for getting started with SAP FI 175

5.1 Create a Company Code 175
5.2 Assign company code to controlling area 177
5.3 Copy chart of accounts to company code 178
5.4 Prepare for General Ledger document entry 179
5.5 Prepare for Accounts Receivable document entry 182
5.6 Prepare for Accounts Payable document entry 187

A About the Author 198

B Index 199

C Solutions to Exercises 201

Solutions for Chapter 1 201
Solutions for Chapter 2 205
Solutions for Chapter 3 213
Solutions for Chapter 4 219

D Disclaimer 223

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2 Getting started with SAP General
Ledger
Before posting transactions to the general ledger in an SAP system,
you must first understand the master data that is required in order
for postings to be processed. This chapter includes a discussion of
master data as compared with transaction data. You will learn how to
create or simply view master data. The chapter also describes and
compares SAPs Classic GL with New GL. Finally, the chapter intro-
duces many of the transaction codes that enable you to enter actual
postings.

2.1 What is FI master data?

One fine morning I arrive at my local bank to deposit a check that I have
received. Unfortunately, I have not remembered to bring a deposit slip,
nor can I remember my account number. The teller must log into the
bank system and find my account number. The record in the bank sys-
tem that contains my name, address, other personal information, and my
account number is known as master data. The master data represents
(relatively) static information about me, but does not in any way reflect
activity that has occurred or will occur in my account. When the teller
processes my deposit, additional data is recorded in the bank system
transaction data. Without my master data, the deposit transaction could
not be entered in the bank system. However, my master data may exist
in the bank system for any period of time, even if there are never any
transactions entered. Therefore, you can think of master data as descrip-
tive information and of transaction data as activity information.

Many master data objects are required to post a general ledger transac-
tion depending on the specific configuration of the SAP environment; the
most common object required is a general ledger (or G/L) account.

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GETTING STARTED WITH SAP GENERAL LEDGER

2.1.1 G/L accounts

Section 1.2 introduced the concept of an account. Looking at types of
accounts in more detail, a general ledger (or G/L) account is an excellent
example of master data specifically related to the general ledger. A gen-
eral ledger account must exist before transactions can be recorded.
When a general ledger transaction is recorded, it includes a general
ledger account number and an amount. The nature of the account is not
included in the transaction record; instead, this information is included in
a general ledger master file which contains a list of general ledger ac-
count numbers and descriptions.

You can think of a master file as a collection of index cards. Each card
details the account number and a description of the account. Of course,
in the SAP system, there are no physical index cards; instead, the cards
or records are contained in data files. The master file record also con-
tains other attributes for the account. For example, the general ledger
master file contains information about the type of account (balance sheet
or profit & loss), the currency the account is maintained in, etc.

A chart of accounts is a collection of accounts. SAP delivers sample

charts of accounts and it is common for companies to copy a sample
chart and edit it to meet the specific business requirements of the com-
pany. In addition, during the course of business, it is often necessary to
make changes or create new accounts in the chart of accounts.

In this section we will explore the creation of G/L accounts in the chart of
accounts.

Among the transactions that are used to display and/or change the chart
of accounts, we will explore the following:

Display, create, or change an account in the chart of accounts

(FSP0)
Display, create, or change an account assigned to a company
code (FSS0 or FS00)

To change an existing account, we navigate to the G/L account from the

SAP Easy Access menu:

ACCOUNTING FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING GENERAL LEDGER MASTER REC-

ORDS G/L ACCOUNTS INDIVIDUAL PROCESSING FSP0 IN CHART OF AC-
COUNTS

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 GETTING STARTED WITH SAP GENERAL LEDGER

Transaction for account maintenance in a chart of

accounts
Rather than navigating to the transaction via the menu,
you can type FSP0 in the command field and press
(Enter) to access the screen for editing charts of ac-
counts directly.

Lets display the data for account 474240 in chart of accounts INT1. We
enter the account number in the G/L ACCOUNT field and the chart of ac-
counts in the CHART OF ACCOUNTS field and then click to display the
data.

Figure 2.1: Displaying/editing a G/L account in a chart of accounts

Information about account 474240 in chart of accounts INT1 is now dis-

played. In Figure 2.2, we can see that the account is a profit and loss
account for collecting other travel expenses. Had we chosen the editing
icon , we would be able to make changes to attributes of the account.

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GETTING STARTED WITH SAP GENERAL LEDGER

Figure 2.2: Displaying a G/L account in a chart of accounts

Lets create a new account, 474270 for travel expenses related to auto
rentals, in chart of accounts INT1. We enter 474270 in the G/L ACCOUNT
field, INT1 in the CHART OF ACCOUNTS FIELD, and then click
as shown in Figure 2.3. While we could have chosen to create the
account, it is easier to copy the settings from an existing account (i.e.,
use a template) and then edit only the information that is different for our
new account.

Figure 2.3: Creating a G/L account with a template

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 GETTING STARTED WITH SAP GENERAL LEDGER

The SAP system now prompts you to enter the reference account (tem-
plate) to be used for creating the account. Enter 474240 and chart of
accounts INT1 and click to continue (Figure 2.4).

Figure 2.4: Entering the reference account

The text for the account to be created will need to be changed since it
currently displays the text for account 474240 (Figure 2.5):

Figure 2.5: G/L account description

Change the text and then click in the toolbar at the top of the screen
to save the changes. Figure 2.6 shows the amended text.

Figure 2.6: Changed G/L account description

A message confirms that the account has been saved (Figure 2.7):

Figure 2.7: Data saved message

If other languages are used in the chart of accounts, the system displays
a reminder prompting you to check the names in the alternative lan-
guages (Figure 2.8). Save the record by clicking .

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 INDEX

B Index
A customer line items, display
account 10 120
account currency 31 customer master 90
account group 31, 91 customer open item report 124
account, change G/L 20
account, create G/L 22
D
account, general ledger 20 default account assignment 185
accounting formula 10 document display 14
Accounts Payable (AP) 135 document splitting 34, 179
Accounts Payable Information double-entry accounting 9
System 171 due date analysis 172
Accounts Payable reports 165
Accounts Receivable 89
E
Accounts Receivable ERP 6, 9
Information System 123
Accounts Receivable reports F
117 F-02 46
F-22 97
B F-26 112
balance sheet 10 F-27 103
bank determination 192 F-28 106
batch input session 66 F-41 147
F-43 141
C FAGLL03 76
change G/L account document FB02 72
72 FB03 69
chart of accounts 20, 178 FB50 45
Classic GL 32 FB60 139
closing process 34 FB65 145
company code, create 175 FB70 94
credit memo 101 FB75 101
credit memo, vendor 145 FBD1 60
custom selection criteria 78 FBL5N 120
customer account group 182 FD01 90
customer balances, display 118 FI CO integration 35
customer invoice 94 field status group 25, 31

199
INDEX

fiscal year variant 39 payment terms 184

FV50 50, 115, 150 payment, customer 106
FV60 149 post payments 163
post with clearing 54
G posting key 40
G/L Information System 84 posting period, open 181
global parameters 177
R
I reason code 184
IDES 6 reconciliation account 31
recurring document 60
L
layout, create 128 S
line item listing 76 SAP FI 11
SAP FI menu 11
M segment reporting 33
master data 19 subledger 90
master file, general ledger 20 subsidiary ledger 90

N T
New GL 32 tolerance group 181
number range 180 transaction data 19

P V
p&l report 10 variant 80
parallel accounting 33 vendor balance, display 165
park customer document 115 vendor document, park 149
parked document 50 vendor invoice, post 139
paying company code 188 vendor line items, display 167
payment method 191 vendor master 136
payment run 152 vendor, create 136

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