SAP R/3 FI: Accounts Receivable/Payable

SAP R/3 FI: Accounts Receivable/Payable

Unit 1: Organisation

The organisation unit explains R/3’s integrated operating system, the company structure, and the
setting of individual parameters in the System.

In the FI as a Module in R/3 lesson, you’ll learn how R/3’s modular structure is organised and
where the FI module is situated within that structure.

In The Company Structure lesson, you’ll learn how the System represents a company’s structure,
and how this company structure affects the Financial Accounting module.

In the Customising lesson you’ll learn about settings you can make to adapt the System to your
company’s specific needs.

FI as a Module in R/3

The R/3 system integrates different standard modules from the areas of Office Administration,
Human Resources, Accounting and Logistics.

These modules let you carry out the business transactions of a company beyond organisation
boundaries.

The Accounting area includes the Controlling, Investment Management, and Financial Accounting
modules.

The Financial Accounting module includes both General ledger and sub-ledger accounting. Sub-
ledger accounting includes Accounts receivable, Accounts payable, and Asset accounting.

You’ll also learn customer and vendor accounting in sub-ledger accounting.

You manage G/L accounts in general ledger accounting. You also produce balances and calculate
profits and losses.

In customer and vendor accounting, the System displays in detail such documents as outgoing
invoices, incoming invoices, payment outflows and inflows in the various customer and vendor
accounts.

The results of the customer and vendor accounts are then reflected in the General ledger account.

The R/3 Systems integrated operations lets you automate many standard posting procedures on the
basis of shared data management.

The great benefit of the R/3 System becomes apparent when you consider that the Material
Management (MM) module, the Sales and Distribution (SD) module, and the Financial
Accounting (FI) module are interconnected.

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For example, take the following everyday situations: Sales has just recorded a customer order. The
System’s efficiency shows even at the level of recording this order.

When the order was placed, the System ran an automatic check of the customer’s account, which
determined that the customer was creditworthy. This made the order possible in the first place.

The System automatically determines the order number by referring to default settings.

The System automatically determines the prices on the basis of module-specific settings for the
particular material ordered.

The System automatically determines the entries on the payment terms, based on the customer
account master data.

Default settings in the R/3 System determine the G/L accounts for posting the given materials
upon shipment of goods.

When the Sales later issues an outgoing invoice using the SD module, the R/3 System
automatically posts the invoice to the corresponding customer account.

When you receive an incoming invoice, the System automatically posts the open item to the
appropriate vendor account using the MM module.

Information systems menu gives you the option of calling up evaluations, also known as reports,
for each of these areas.

You can call them up from individual application areas, such as Accounts receivable, Accounts
payable, and General ledger.

In the FI work areas, you call up reports using the Periodic processing menu, which we will
discuss in greater detail here.

The FI module is part of the Accounting application. Now open the Accounting menu.

The open menu shows you the modules that belong to the Accounting area. Now select the
Financial accounting menu item.

From this submenu you can select the General ledger, Accounts receivable and Accounts Payable
component.

Whether and to what extent you can work in the Financial Accounting program is determined by
settings in your user-specific authorisation profile.

The R/3 System determines the authorisation level of each user, depending on the organisational
structure and the tasks to be performed. These are determined from the needs of the various user
departments as well as information security issues.

The System stores these protocols in access profiles. The System operator assigns the various
protocols to different individual users.

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For example, an access profile might indicate that a user can work with Accounts Receivable, but
not with Accounts Payable.

In the next lesson you’ll learn how a company’s structure is represented in the R/3 system, and
how the company’s representation affects the FI module.

The Company Structure

The R/3 system processes a company’s business transactions independent of that company’s
particular organisational boundaries.

The System must first reproduce the company’s structure in the R/3 System before it can do this.

The highest level of the hierarchy in the R/3 System is the Client.

The R/3 System can process several different clients simultaneously, however, there are basically
no links connecting the different clients.

Each client is identified by a three-digit client number which the System assigns randomly.

You can set up different charts of accounts for each client. SAP generally supplies country-
specific charts of accounts. For the USA, this is the CAUS: Chart of Accounts, US.

Legally independent organisations are managed in the R/3 system by Company code.

To manage the bookkeeping for several independent subsidiaries at once, the R/3 System offers
the option of defining more than one company code within a single client.

Company codes are four-digit numbers.

You track account balances, profits, and losses at the company code level.

Each company code uses only one chart of accounts.

To handle group or international claims, you can assign a Country chart of accounts, and a Group
chart of accounts to the operative chart of accounts.

That allows you to carry out basic evaluations about the accounts assigned to the group chart of
accounts or the country chart of accounts.

You can define different Business areas for each Company code. Business areas are internal
organisational entities in which you manage the flow of payments to and from the G/L accounts
separately. This helps you analyse them.

For example, you can create an internal balance statement or a P/L calculation for several
company codes if necessary. A business area in this case would be an independent part of the
company.

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Customising

The R/3 System offers the user many different options.

To set up the R/3 System more efficiently for a particular company, you can set individual
parameters. This process is called Customising.

Customising allows you to adapt the R/3 System to the specific needs of your company.

Customising distinguishes between module-overlapping and module-specific settings.

Extra-modular settings include language, countries and currencies.

Modular-specific settings include the definition of document types in the FI module.

Now you will learn how to enter Customising and how to make certain settings in the System.

First select the Tools menu in the initial R/3 screen and select the Customising submenu.

The System displays the initial Customising screen.

The R/3 System offers you guidelines in Customising. These are called the Implementation guide.

The Implementation Guide lists all the steps for setting preferences in the R/3 System, and helps
you verify and document the implementation of these settings.

You’ll use the company implementation guide for further processing.

The R/3 System offers you several different options for calling up the company implementation
guide. They include the menu path “Implement. projects” – Enterprise IMG as well as the direct
method, using the Enterprise IMG button.

In Enterprise IMG, double-clicking on the node text will automatically branch off to R/3’s online
Help for this topic.

Now we will take a closer look at the Global settings in the implementation guide.

Now open the Global settings node by clicking on the Folder icon. The System displays the
corresponding subnodes.

You can set module-overlapping parameters in Global settings. The entries that you make here
apply to all the modules for a particular client.

Unit 2: Master Data

The Master Data unit describes how to work with account-specific master data so that you can
post to the correct vendor account.

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The Create Master Data lesson will teach you how to create a master record for a vendor using the
System. This allows you to post incoming invoices.

In the Maintaining/Changing Master Data lesson you will learn how to change an existing master
record.

Create

All necessary parameters for creating master data have already been set using Customising.

Furthermore, entry settings have been optimised for each new accounting group.

In other words, someone has determined the status of each field that appears in the screens for
creating a master record.

For example, in this case the Name field is a required field. However, the Title field is optional.

Account-specific master data is data that relates directly to a customer or a vendor. It is first
created in the form of a master record so that you can post to the account.

Maintain/Change

Every now and then you need to update an existing master record.

You do this when, for example, the address has changed, or the payment terms have been
renegotiated. These events require changes to the master record.

In this example, assume that you have already entered this vendor’s master data.

Since you didn’t indicate the grace period for the payment of invoices in the master data, you need
to edit the master data specific for this account.

In the following, you’ll see which steps you need to carry out in the R/3 System to change an
account-specific master record.

In the initial Accounts Payable screen you first select the Master record menu, and then the
Change menu item.

The question mark in the Vendor field tells you that an entry here is required.

However, you can no longer recall the vendor account number. Now call up the Entry help for this
field.

The Restrict value range window appears. The System automatically switches to the default
matchcode that corresponds to the General Accounts Payable matchcode. However, you can select
an alternative matchcode at any time and save it as the default matchcode.

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Enter a * (star) in the Search term field, because you can’t recall the search term for this vendor.
Conclude your entry by pressing the Tab key.

You also no longer recall the vendor’s name or zip code.

But you do recall the city where the vendor is located. Enter Calgary into the City field, and
conclude your entry by pressing the Tab key.

In the Company code field, the System suggests the company code most recently processed. We
can accept company code US01 by pressing the Enter key.

The Hit list displays all vendor accounts recorded in the System that correspond to your entries. If
only one matching vendor has been created, the System automatically transfers that vendor. In that
case, the Hit list doesn’t display.

Two vendors have been created with Calgary as the location. You can now select the vendor,
Maxwell, Inc., by double-clicking on the corresponding line.

The account number corresponding to our selection appears in the field.

The company code field contains the entry for US01.

From the General data and Company code areas, you can once again select from the six screens
available to you for processing master data.

The grace period that you want to enter into the master record is part of the payment data. You
find the payment data in the Payment Transactions screen, which you can select from the company
code data area.

Now select the Payment transactions field.

The System has moved to Create Vendor: Payment Transactions screen.

In the Payment terms field, you see the entry 0020, which represents 10 days 1% cash discount, 30
days Due net.

To indicate a grace period of 5 days as a discount period for the payment of invoices, you make
the entry into the Tolerance group field. You don’t change the payment terms themselves. You can
select the appropriate tolerance group using Entry help.

You can see that only one Tolerance group has been created in the System for this company code.

Tolerance group 0001 represents a grace period of 5 days. By double-clicking on that line, we
transfer the tolerance group into the corresponding field.

Since we are already in the Change master data menu, we can add the telephone and fax numbers
to our correspondence information on Maxwell, Inc.

The System can’t show you the screen that allows you to enter this data, because in the Change
Vendor screen you only select the Payment transactions screen, not the Address screen.

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You can switch directly from the Payment Transactions screen to the Address screen without
leaving the Master data. To do so, you first open the Goto menu; then from there you select the
General data submenu, and finally you select the Address menu item.

Now you’re looking at the Change Vendor: Address screen.

To display the Telephone and Fax number fields, you need to scroll down.

Here, you can make the necessary entries. By pressing the Enter key, you return to the Change
Vendor: Payment Transactions screen.

After pressing the Enter key to save your entries, the Last screen reached dialog box appears. You
confirm this message by clicking on the Yes button.

The System has now reduced the changed master record.

You have the option of checking changes by displaying the master data.

To do so, click on the Display changes menu item from the Master records menu. Now display the
changes.

When displaying changes to the master data, the System suggests the most recently processed
vendor for display.

In the company code field you enter the company code US01, and confirm the entry by pressing
the Enter key.

This screen displays all fields in which we entered changes.

The R/3 System gives you the option of displaying all the changes in detail. You can choose this
display option by clicking on the All Changes button.

You can also use the All Changes menu item in the Goto menu to see a detailed display.

The Vendor changes: Overview screen now presents all changes on a single screen.

You can also see when the changes were made.

In addition, the new field contents are displayed alongside the old field contents.

The R/3 System also lets you look at the changes using a change document.

In the Goto menu, click on the Change document menu item.

You’re looking at the change document that displays the changes you just made to the master data.
You may print this document for your records, if you wish.

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Unit 3: Posting

The posting unit explains three different posting procedures and their use with foreign currency.

In the Invoice lesson, you’ll learn how to post an invoice using the detailed Invoice posting
program.

The Credit Memo lesson explains how you post an invoice using the Fast entry program.

The Outgoing Payment lesson explains how to post an outgoing payment using the R/3 System.

Invoice

Some time ago you placed an order with the company Maxwell, Inc. Now you have received the
invoice corresponding to this order.

The invoice has already been checked and found to be accurate.

Since you have already created the account specific master data for Maxwell, Inc., you can post
the invoice immediately. Once you do this, the System can automatically pay the invoice at a later
time.

The Financial accounting menu in the initial R/3 screen is already opened. Here you need to select
the Accounts payable menu item, since you have an incoming invoice in front of you.

Now open the document entry menu item in the initial Account Payable screen to post the invoice.

The Document entry menu offers you two posting tools: the Invoice posting program and the Fast
entry program. You find these options in the Account Payable work area.

The Fast entry program is available to you only from the Accounts Payable work area, not from
the Accounts Receivable area. Therefore, we’ll learn how to post an invoice using the detailed
program.

Select the menu item for posting an invoice.

The System shows you the first in a series of 3 screens that the program for posting invoices offers
you.

The upper part of the screen is called the document header. The data entered here applies to the
entire document, regardless of the line items.

Some fields already contain entries determined in Customising. This saves you a lot of work when
processing the screens.

The fiscal year was designated in Customising as the calendar year. The System automatically
suggests posting period 7 (for July) in the Period field. The System derives this date from the
system settings.

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Now enter July 26,1996 into the Document data field, and then press the Tab key to move to the
next field.

You can leave the System’s default entries in the Document type, Company code, Posting date,
and Period fields as they are.

The Document type is a code that distinguishes the kinds of business transactions that are posted.
The Document type determines the document filing and the Account types to be posted.

Examples of Document types include KR for vendor invoice, KG for vendor credit memo, and KZ
for vendor payment.

Having set the Canadian dollar as the currency, now must set an exchange rate for this posting,
since this invoice was issued in a foreign currency.

The System offers you the option of entering a certain exchange rate as the basis for converting
the invoice. You enter the exchange rate in the Rate field. If the field remains blank, the System
automatically inserts the average rate in the currency table.

It was determined in the Customising that document numbers are assigned internally by the
System. Therefore you can skip this field.

You enter July 26, 1996, as the Translation date. This entry helps the System locate the exchange
rate that is valid for July 26, 1996, or the most recently available exchange rate.

In the Ref. Doc. field you enter the external document number, which is the invoice number that
appears on the incoming invoice. This invoice number is needed when completing the payment
form for this supplier.

You do not want to define any text for the document header or work with different business areas.
You can therefore leave the Document header text field and the Intercomp. no. field blank.

Scroll down in the screen by clicking on the marked area of the scroll bar.

In the first line item area, you enter information in preparation for the entry of individual line item
data. Here you see the Posting key field, which – along with the accounting number – controls
processing at the line item level.

Posting key 31 already appears as the default entry.

Use the Entry help to display more information about Posting key 31.

Now you see all the Posting keys that have been stored in the System.

The Posting key informs you about the account type, and tells you whether the posting is a debit
or a credit posting.

The AccTy column informs you that Posting key 31 belongs to Account type V for Vendors.

The entry in the D/C column tells you that Posting key 31 refers to a credit posting.

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As the user, you don’t have the option of directly designating a credit or a debit entry during the
posting procedure. Exclusively the Posting key controls the posting.

Whenever it is necessary to carry out a special posting, such as a credit memo, you must select the
appropriate Posting key.

In the Account field, you enter the account number for this vendor.

The next field, Special G/L, remains empty. You only make entries here when you are carrying
out a special G/L posting procedure, such as a down payment request.

You only make an entry in the Transaction type field if the invoice has to do with asset
accounting.

Now you have made all the necessary entries in this screen. Press the Enter key to move to the
next screen.

Now you are in the Enter Vendor invoice: Create Vendor item screen for entering line item data.
You enter the total invoice amount to be posted to the previously determined vendor account in
the Amount field.

The amount comes to a total of 6,000 CAD. Now enter this amount and press the Tab key.

You can see by the entry CAD that the System has already transferred the currency code for
Canadian dollar from the first screen.

You don’t have to enter anything into the Local currency amount field, since the System
automatically derives the invoice amount in US dollars based on the exchange rate indicated.

Once you select the Calculate Tax field, the System automatically calculates the taxes during both
actual and simulated postings on the basis of the tax code.

The entries in the Payment (Pmnt) terms and the Days/percent fields are automatically entered
from the master data of the vendor account you entered in the first screen.

If special terms had been negotiated for this document, you could change the payment terms
accordingly. These changes would then apply to this document only.

You can use the Payment block field to block this invoice from the payment program.

You can enter the desired method of payment for this document, such as a check or a bank
transfer, into the Payment method field. If you enter nothing, the entry from the master record
applies.

In the Next line item field group, you enter the posting key of the G/L account used for the offset
posting. The data in this field group helps prepare the recording of the line item data in the
appropriate G/L account.

Using the Possible entries button, you can call up Entry help for this field.

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Recall that you previously entered the Posting key 31, which was a credit posting.

Now to process the offset posting, you need to make a debit posting.

Now you look in the list for the Posting key for the G/L debit account. You select Posting key 40
by double-clicking on it.

You enter the number of the corresponding G/L account in the Account field, and then you press
the Enter key to move to the next screen.

Here, you enter the amount of the offset posting. If you want to use the gross amount entered in
the previous screen for the amount here, you can enter an asterisk (*). This causes the System to
transfer the amount entered for the vendor.

If you don’t want the System to calculate the tax amount, you can use the Tax amount button to
enter the appropriate amount.

Now you want to post the incoming invoice relevant to the cost centre. Therefore, you enter the
cost centre that should be debited here.

We have now made all the required entries in this screen. Now confirm the entries using the Enter
key.

The System has used your entries to automatically calculate the amount in the local currency, US
dollars.

Now please post the invoice by clicking on the Post button.

The message in the status bar tells you that the document has been posted.

After you post your document, you return to the screen for entering header data. Here the system
offers you the option of calling up the posting document using the Document menu.

Now select the Display menu item from the opened Document menu.

The System automatically jumps to the Display Document: Overview screen.

The System displays the document just posted.

In the Line items in document currency area, you see the individual line items listed in the
currency in which the document was posted.

In the next lesson you’ll learn how you post a credit memo using the Fast entry.

Credit Memo

It turns out that a part of the delivery we received from Maxwell, Inc. is faulty.

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The faulty goods are sent back.

A short time later, you receive a credit memo for the corresponding amount.

You now want to post this credit memo.

You have already opened up the initial Accounts Payable screen.

Now open the correct menu for posting the credit memo.

You can use both the Credit memo program and the fast entry program to post a credit memo.

Click on the Credit memo menu item to learn how the program for posting an invoice is different
from the program for posting a credit memo.

The program for posting credit is very similar to the program for posting invoices, which you
learned about in the previous lesson. Generally, the two programs are different from one another
only in the following points.

The entry in the title bar tells you which program you have opened.

Depending on the settings in Customising, the Document type field will display the default entry
for vendor credit memos or vendor invoices. The entry for credit memos is KG.

The System suggests the appropriate posting key in the Post key field of the First line item area.

Although the System suggested key 31 as a credit posting while posting the invoice, it suggests
debit posting key 21 for the posting of credit memo.

Click on the Inv/cr.memo.fast entry menu item.

Fast entry helps speed up the recording or posting of a credit memo or an invoice. You can record
credit memos and invoices. You can also make the appropriate offset posting.

Other procedures, for example recording G/L account line items in debit and credit, can’t be
performed here.

You record the header data once for each work session in a separate screen. The System uses these
entries as default entries.

In the “Specifications for the following documents” area, you enter data that is valid for all
subsequent documents.

The Document type field is a required field, and it requires an entry. You use Entry help for this
field to call up a list of all the document types stored in the System.

Now select Document type KG by double-clicking, since you want to post a vendor credit memo.

You can accept the default values in this field group and move to the next field group.

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The Default data for the following documents area contains suggested values that can be copied
into the next screen for recording line items. You can change these values for each invoice or
credit memo if necessary.

The credit memo from Maxwell, Inc. has been issued in Canadian dollars.

Now please change the currency to Canadian dollars. After your entry, press the Tab key to switch
to the next field.

Enter July 31, 1996 into the Document date field, and confirm your entry with the Enter key.

You have two buttons in the lower application toolbar that you can use for further processing.

The Delete button erases all the data entered in this screen.

The Enter inv./cr.memo button takes you to the next screen for entering line items.

Your entries are correct, and now you want to record the line items. How do you proceed? Please
carry out the next step.

In this screen you enter all the data required for recording an invoice or a credit memo. The
recording takes place in only one screen. Each time you call up the iv/cr.mem.fast entry function,
you’ll move straight to this screen.

The screen for entering default values no longer appears. If you decide to change the default
values for certain documents, you can Specifications in the Goto menu to return to the defaults
screen, where you can change the default values.

The System has transferred the default values from the header data screen for the Document date
and Currency fields.

You’ve also made all your entries in the Translation date, Reference doc. and Account fields.

With a mouse click, you select the Credit memo field, since here you are dealing with a credit
memo posting.

As a next step you enter the Credit memo amount.

Since you are posting the credit memo without any cash discounts, you remove the asterisk from
the Payment terms field. The asterisk would have caused the System to transfer the payment terms
from the master data of our vendor, Maxwell, Inc.

Please enter the following text in the Text field: Credit memo work clothes. After your entry, press
the Tab key.

You make the entries for the offset line items in the lower part of the screen.

You can enter up to 5 line items as offset postings to the G/L accounts.

To make the offset posting, you enter the G/L account, the amount, and the cost centre.

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By entering an asterisk (*) in the Amount field, you transfer the amount that you already entered
in the vendor line items.

Before actually posting the credit memo, you first want to simulate the posting.

Now open the Document menu to do so.

Then click on Simulate.

The system first shows you an overview of the document.

The first page of this document contains the entries for the document header.

You can make changes in the fields with the white background as long as you’re in the Simulate
program.

In the Items in document currency area, you see one document line item that you have assigned to
an account.

The message about the number of line items tells you that there are a total of 2 line items that you
can display using the scroll bars.

You’ll recall that you make no entries about the posting key in the Fast entry program. The
System derives the appropriate posting keys automatically.

If needed, you can still make changes to the document line items by double-clicking on the
appropriate line items.

In the Other line item area, the System lets you carry out additional posting procedures.

You start the posting procedure by clicking on the Post button.

The System displays the posting message in the status bar.

You are once again in the screen for recording line items. Now you can record the next invoice or
credit memo. You can change the default values now for the new document by using the Goto
menu, and clicking on Specifications.

You can display the credit memo document if you wish by selecting the Display menu item from
the Document menu.

In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to post an outgoing payment, and how to allocate open items
in the process.

Outgoing Payment

Now you want to pay the invoice you received from Maxwell, Inc.

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Since you’ve received a credit memo for part of the delivery, you need to deduct the amount of the
credit memo from the invoice amount.

An individual agreement reached with the supplier Maxwell, Inc. grants a 1% cash discount on the
credit memo, even though you posted the credit memo without a cash discount.

To pay the invoice, you issue the check in the amount of the remaining total.

After you issue the check, you post the check as an outgoing payment to an interim account.

Now we want to record the outgoing payment in the System and balance the items that remain
open.

From the initial Accounts Payable screen you select the menu path: Document entry – Outgoing
payment. You then select the Post menu item, since you have already made the payment with a
check issued manually.

You then see the initial Post Outgoing Payments: Header data screen.

You as the user have the option of making individual settings for processing.

Before you enter the data, you want to take advantage of this option. Now open the Settings menu.

Click on the Editing options menu item.

You can set your individual processing options in this screen. For example, you can determine that
documents should be recorded in local currency.

In this example, you want to make entries about the open items.

Now click on the Open items button.

The System gives you the option of determining how the open items should be displayed.

In general, it makes sense to mark the Selected items initially inactive field. By doing so, you
cause all open items to be displayed, but not offset. As the user, you can later select which
individual line items should be offset by an outgoing payment.

If you want these processing options to apply to other sessions besides this one, you must save the
settings. Then the next time you call up the Payment program, the user-specific processing options
you saved will be applied.

In this example, the processing options should apply only to this single document. Therefore you
switch back to the initial Outgoing payments screen using the Previous screen button.

In the initial Outgoing payments screen you notice from the message in the status bar that the
processing options have been changed.

Now you begin to process the outgoing payment. Some fields already contain entries set in
Customising. For example, the entry KZ for Vendor payment appears in the Document type field.

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In the Document data field, you enter the date the check was issued.

You need to overwrite the pre-entered currency with the appropriate foreign currency code,
because the check was issued in Canadian dollars.

You can enter the current exchange rate in the Rate field to catch any possible exchange rate
changes.

We skip the Document number field since the System assigns the document internally.

In the Translation date field you make no entry, since you’ve already entered the current exchange
rate.

Here, you enter the number of the check you issued in the Reference doc. field.

Having completed the Document header, you now come to the Bank data area.

You enter the G/L account in the Account field. In this example that is an interim account.

Now enter the payment amount that appears on the check into the Amount field. As a reminder,
the check amount was 5,340 dollars. After making this entry, press the Tab key to move to the
next field.

The local currency amount field remains empty, since the System will automatically convert the
payment amount into the local currency using the exchange rate you entered.

The document date already appears in the Value date field.

You enter a description of the payment in the Tex field, so that you can more easily allocate the
payment at a later time.

Now you’re in the Open items selection area.

You enter the appropriate vendor’s account number in the Account field. The appropriate vendor
for this example is the now-familiar Maxwell, Inc.

In the Additional selection areas, you have the option of setting further limits on the open items
for the selected account.

Other than the Standard OI’s selection, you need make no additional selections here.

You can now confirm your entries with the Enter key.

In the screen for processing the open items, you can see that all items appear in an inactive state,
which correspond to the settings you made in the Editing options.

You can see that the open items in the field are inactive because no total appears in the Allocated
field. This field contains the allocated documents, or the totals of the allocated open items.

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The Amount entered field contains the payment amount entered.

The System offers you two options for allocating documents and open items. In the first option,
you select the document by placing the cursor on the desired document in the CAD Gross field
then click on the Select button.

You can see that the colour of the figures in the selected line has changed. In the next step you
allocate the document by clicking on the Active button.

As a second alternative, you can allocate the document by double-clicking on the appropriate line
in the CAD Gross field.

The cursor is already positioned on the document you now want to allocate. Please allocate the
document.

Now you have allocated the invoice document to the payment amount. You can see the amount of
5,940 dollars in the Allocation field, which is the invoice amount minus the cash discount amount.

In the next step, you allocate the credit memo to the payment amount.

The document for the credit memo is listed in the first line. Now double-click on the CAD Gross
field to allocate the credit memo.

The amount of 5,340 dollars appears in the Allocated field.

The amount in the Allocated field now agrees with the actual amount paid.

The changes in the Not allocated field tell you that the document has been posted correctly.

Now the document can be posted.

The System automatically carries out the posting. Furthermore, it checks whether there are any
exchange rate differences to be posted based on the exchange rate you entered.

Finally you want to view the document you just opened. So you select the Display menu tem in
the Document menu.

The System displays the most recently posted document. You can see the amounts are displayed in
the foreign currency.

You want to discover which exchange rate differences the system has detected. Since the
exchange rate difference can only be displayed in the local currency, not in foreign currency, we
change the currency by using the Display currency button.

Now click on the Display currency button.

An additional screen appears in which all the document line item appears converted to the local
currency.

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Since you entered a specific exchange rate when entering the header data, the System calculates
the exchange rate difference in the currency table.

In the exchange rate difference line, we see that the System has calculated a difference of $222.75.

You click on the Previous screen button to return to the initial screen. There you can record an
additional payment.

Unit 4: Working with Accounts and Documents

The Working with Accounts and Documents unit explains how you can get information about the
activity of a vendor account. Here you’ll also learn how you can make changes in a document that
has already been posted.

The Balance Display lesson explains how you can get information on the current status of a
vendor account.

In the Display/Changing Items lesson, you’ll learn how you can display an open item. In addition,
the lesson explains how you can make changes to an existing open item.

The Reversals lesson explains how to cancel an invoice in the R/3 System. You’ll learn two
alternative methods for reversing a posting.

In the Account Clearing lesson, you’ll learn what clearing Accounts, and the options the R/3
System offers you for clearing accounts means.

Displaying Balances

Now you’ll learn how to call up information in the R/3 System about any activity in a vendor
account.

Your business relationship with Maxwell, Inc. has existed for some time. Now management has
asked that you find out about all activity in the Maxwell account up to this point.

First of all, you need to find out the account’s balance total. Secondly, you need a detailed
presentation of the open and cleared items.

Beyond that, you also are interested in the actual turnover of goods.

You’re in initial Accounts Payable screen. Now open the Account menu and select the Display
balances menu item from there.

Now please clock on the Display balances menu item.

In the first screen of the balance display, the System automatically suggests the most recently
processed account number and its corresponding company code for you to process.

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You can see by the account number that you’re dealing here with Maxwell, Inc. Since this is the
company whose balance you want to display, you can accept these suggested entries.

The System automatically enters the current fiscal year as a default entry in the Fiscal year field.
Since our business relationship with Maxwell, Inc. started this year, you accept this default entry
as well.

Confirm these entries with the Enter key.

The system displays the Vendor: Account Balance Balances Display screen, which presents the
total credit and debit transactions for Maxwell, Inc.

The first column lists all the periods that were defined in Customising.

You recall that the first posting took place in July of this year.

Since the business relationship with Maxwell, Inc. started in July, the values in the preceding
period are listed as zero.

The values in the following periods also appear as zero. This tells you that only a few postings
were made in Posting periods 7 and 8.

To receive detailed information about the period values displayed, you have several buttons at
your disposal in the lower application toolbar.

You use the Sales/purchases button to get the information you require about sales and purchases.

Now please request information on sales and purchases.

The System shows you a basic list of postings in Maxwell’s vendor account that has taken place
during the current fiscal year.

You only see postings during periods 7 and 9. This means that postings were only made during
these periods.

So far, you have gathered information on sales and purchases. Click on the Account balance
button to return to the Balances Display screen.

Now you’re also interested in knowing about the individual items that comprise the value in
Posting periods 7 and 8.

The R/3 System offers you the option of calling up the debit, credit, or balance postings of the
individual line items.

You can call up individual line items very easily by placing the cursor in the Debit, credit or
Account balance columns of the corresponding line and then clicking on the Line items button.

Request the information about the line items during posting periods 7 and 8 contained in the DC
Bal column.

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You see the basic list, from which you can tell how the balances for posting periods 7 and 8 are
composed.

The individual line items displayed contain both open items and already cleared items.

You have the option in this basic list of calling up additional information about the listed items.

For each line item that you’d like to learn more about, you call up the detailed document
corresponding to it.

For example, you may want to know if exchange rate differences were detected when converting
the currency.

As you already learned in the Posting program, a specific exchange rate was entered while posting
outgoing payments.

To determine the exchange rate differences, you must call up the document for the outgoing
payment that was posted. This is the document corresponding to the vendor payment line item.

Now please call up the corresponding document by double-clicking on it.

The vendor payment document appears, which you may recognise from the Posting program.

You can detect no exchange rate differences from this document line item, so you decide to
display the entire document.

Now display the entire document by clicking on the Document overview button.

The System presents the entire document in overview. Before you can determine if there’re any
exchange rate differences, you first need to recall the exchange rate and the exchange date. These
entries are stored in the document header.

Now open the document header by clicking on the corresponding button.

The Document Header dialog box appears. You can find information about the exchange rate and
date here.

Now click on the Continue button to close the dialog box.

From the Outgoing Payments lesson of the Posting unit, you already know that the currency
differences are only displayed in the local currency.

However, the document in front of you is displayed in the original currency of the posted
document. You must therefore, covert the currency.

To do so, first open the Settings menu.

Then, open the Display currency menu item.

Now you’ve converted the display currency into the local currency.

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Using either the Next document or Previous document button, you can immediately call up the
documents for the individual lines items displayed in the basic list.

The Previous screen button takes you back screen-by-screen to the Balances Display screen. There
you can display the account balance of another account by entering the account number.

In the next lesson, you’ll learn how you can change open items that have already been posted.

Displaying/Changing Terms

After negotiations with Maxwell, Inc. has agreed to change our terms of payment to a higher cash
discount of 2% if an incoming invoice is paid within 10 days.

Therefore, we need to enter the new agreement on the cash discount in the appropriate open item.

Now open the menu in the initial screen that lets you process open items.

The Account menu gives you the option of either displaying or changing the open items.

Now click on Display line items.

You have called up the initial screen for displaying vendor items.

You can accept the suggested entries for the vendor account and for the company code.

In the Line item selection area, the open items are already selected.

Beside the open items, you’d like to know about the items that have already been cleared. To do
this, select Cleared items by clicking the mouse on the appropriate box.

Confirm your entry by pressing the Enter key.

You’re looking at the basic list for displaying vendor line items. That includes items that are still
open and terms that have been cleared.

The Document type column tells you whether these postings include a credit memo, an invoice or
an outgoing payment.

The Posting key column gives you the posting key associated with each item.

If you wish to leave this display, use the Previous screen button to return screen-by-screen to the
initial Accounts Payable screen.

Now you want to correct the changed payment terms for the open items.

Now click on the Change line items menu item in the opened Account menu.

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In the initial screen for changing vendor line items, and in the screen for displaying items, the
System copies the default values for vendor account and the company code.

You don’t wish to select any other items besides the open items.

To determine how the System should display the basic list, the Settings area tells you which
variants you have available for the line layout and which variants are available for totalling and
sorting line items.

You can also see here that the System is set to display the basic list with line items.

For now, you accept these settings as they are suggested by the System.

Here you see the basic list of line items. Only the open items are displayed here.

You’d like to change the vendor invoice item dated August 11, 1996. To do so, you need to call up
the document corresponding to this item.

The appropriate line is already selected. Now please click on the button with the magnifying glass.

You’re now in the document corresponding to the vendor invoice you selected. All fields with red
letters are accessible to you for editing.

In accordance with the agreement reached with Maxwell, Inc., you change the terms of payment
for this document from “within 10 days, 1% cash discount” to “within 10 days, 2% cash
discount.”

Now call up Entry help for the Payment terms field.

The terms of payment you want to transfer are identified as code 0010. Now double-click on the
correct line to transfer these payment terms.

The System has transferred the changed payment terms.

You confirm the new entries by pressing the Enter key.

After doing so, the message in the status bar tells you about the change that has been carried out.

You’ve the option of setting the cash discount percentage rate in the Additional details area. The
System then automatically refers to this fixed discount percentage rate regardless of when the
invoice is due for payment.

Click on the Possible entries button for the Fixed field.

In the Fixed dialog box, you can determine if you want to set just the discount percentage rate, or
the discount percentage rate and the discount amount simultaneously.

Now select the first option, which is already marked, by double-clicking on it.

You have now fixed the discount percentage rate and the discount amount.

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Now save your entries using the Save button.

You’re in the basic list of individual items. The message in the status bar tells you that your
changes have been saved.

You’re back in the basic list of individual items. The messages in the status bar tells you that your
changes have been saved.

The changes that you processed for this invoice should apply only to the corresponding document.
To make sure that the changes you just carried out did not affect the master data, you need to run a
check.

To do so, open the Environment menu.

Select the Master record info menu item in the opened menu.

In this screen, you can check the vendor’s master data.

You can see that the changes in the payment terms have not affected the master data.

Now click on the Previous screen button to return to the basic line item list.

The basic list is displayed with the standard line layout variant. The System suggested this variant
in the initial Change Vendor Line Items screen.

This screen offers you the option of selecting a different display variant for the line layout without
having to return to the initial screen. You have decided to proceed with the line layout variant you
already entered in Customising.

To do so, click on the Line Layout button.

The dialog box now lists all the line layout variants stored in the System.

In the Active variant area, you can see that the System is currently set to display the Standard
variant.

Now double click to select the Two currencies variant.

The basic list now presents all open items in both the local and the foreign currency. You also see
that the System displays the fields with the corresponding column headings, you determined in
Customising.

The R/3 System gives you the option of generating totals using the Total variant button.

In the initial screen, the System suggested the Document type – Posting code totals variant.
However, you’d like to use another variant.

Now click on the button in this screen with the Totals symbol.

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Now select the Currency variant in the opened Total: Variants dialog box by double-clicking on it.

In the screen for displaying the totals you see all the items totalled in their respective currencies.

You see that the total in the local currency consists only of one item, whereas the total in the
foreign currency includes 3 items.

You can display these items by double-clicking on their corresponding line.

The System lists the line items posted in Canadian dollars.

Use the Previous screen button to return to the Change Vendor Line Items: Totals screen.

You may wish to find out which individual items make up the totals for both currencies, or which
subtotals are derived from the line items. To do so, double click on the Line items or the Line
items + subtotal button now.

Line items + subtotal button:

The system lists the individual items in their respective currencies with the subtotal.

Click on the Previous screen button to return to the initial Totals screen.

Line items:

You have a list of all individual items that make up the total.

Use the Previous screen button to return to the Change Vendor Line Items: Totals screen.

In the next lesson you’ll learn how to cancel an invoice that has been posted twice.

Reversals

While checking the accounts, you notice an invoice that has been posted twice.

Now you need to reverse this invoice.

The R/3 System gives you two options when cancelling an invoice.

The first option uses the Invoice posting program. With this method you post a Reverse document.
This means that you generate a new open item.

The second option uses the Document – Reverse menu. With this method you balance the open
items from the invoice with the reversal.

You’ll learn both methods in this lesson, beginning with the first method in which you post a
Reverse document.

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From the initial Accounts Payable screen, you select the Document entry menu, and then the
Invoice function.

You’re already familiar with the following screens for recording Header and Line item data from
the Invoice posting program.

First you fill in all the information you know for the Document header, including the Document
date, the Exchange date, and the translation of the currency into Canadian dollars.

Next call up Entry help for the Posting key field, and then select the appropriate posting key for
reverse postings.

You can see in the dialog box that Posting key 31 represents vendor invoices.

For Reverse postings you need the corresponding debit posting key. In this case it’s 22.

Double-click on Posting key 22 to select it.

Once you enter the Account number, you can confirm all the entries with the Enter key.

As with posting invoices, the System now automatically fills in the item data.

You now enter the amount for vendor line items.

The Reverse document includes a text field that allows you to allocate the document more easily
later.

In the Next line item area, you enter the posting key for the offset posting.

You can use Entry help to locate Posting key 50, which is the appropriate credit posting.

After selecting Posting key 50 and entering the G/L account into the Account field, we confirm all
our entries by pressing the Enter key.

In the screen for creating G/L account items, you select the amount by entering an asterisk into the
Amount field.

Since the invoice you want to cancel was posted to the relevant cost centre, you must also post the
Reverse document to the relevant cost centre by filling in the Cost centre field.

Before you start the posting process, you first want to simulate the Reverse document. To do this,
open the Document menu, and then select Simulate.

You can check all entries for the posting document here for accuracy. You can make changes in
the fields with white backgrounds, or you may record additional line items.

The Items in document currency area contains the line items you have posted. You now see the
first line item in the display.

To display the remaining 3 line items, use the scroll bars in the upper application toolbar.

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The entries in your posting document are correct. Now post the Reverse document by clicking on
the Post button.

The message in the status bar tells you that the document has been posted.

Once you display the individual vendor items, you can see that you have generated a new open
item by posting the Reverse document. You’ll have to clear this item manually at a later point.

Now you’ll learn the second method for cancelling an invoice. This time you choose the
Document – Reverse menu path.

Now open the Document menu in the initial Accounts Payable screen.

Select Reverse.

You see the screen for recording Header data.

You enter the number of the document to be cancelled in the Document number field.

The System provides default entries for the Company code and the Fiscal year. You accept these
entries.

You enter the Posting date in the Reverse posting details area. The date you enter is the date of the
Reverse posting.

You make no entry in the Posting period field, since the System automatically derives the Posting
period from the Posting date.

Now confirm these entries with the Enter key.

No error message appears in the Status bar, meaning that the invoice document you entered does
exist.

Before cancelling this invoice, you want to make sure that you have indicated the correct invoice
document.

To do this, click on the Display document button now.

The System presents the document for the invoice you want to cancel.

You have made certain that you are dealing with the correct document. Now return to the previous
screen for entering Header data using the Previous screen button.

Start the reverse posting by clicking on the Post button.

The System tells you in the status bar that the posting has been completed.

Now you want to look at the Reverse document you just posted. To do so, select the Display menu
item in the opened Document menu.

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Now click on the Document header button in the Display Document: Overview screen to receive
further information on the header data.

The dialog box for entering the document header appears. The System automatically enters KA in
the Document type field.

The entry in the Reference document field makes clear which document this posting cancels.

Close this dialog box by clicking on the Continue button.

You can use the Account menu to display the individual vendor item. Only the cleared items will
be displayed.

The last two line items listed are the posted Reverse document, indicated by the KA document
type, and the invoice to be cancelled, indicated by the KR document.

These two documents are marked by the code 005 in the Cleared column. This number consists of
the last three digits of the clearing document number, which clears both documents.

Cancelling an invoice by using the Document menu has the advantage of not producing any
additional open items. This posting procedure is simpler and includes fewer steps than posting a
Reverse document.

In the next lesson you’ll learn how to clear an open item as part of the clearing of accounts.

Clearing Accounts

In SAP’s terminology, “Clearing Accounts” means clearing open items that were not offset by
another item when they were posted.

For example, you must clear accounts when you’ve used the program for recording invoices to
cancel an invoice, and thus created a new open item.

You also clear accounts if you didn’t indicate the relevant posted invoice when posting a payment
to an account by using the Outgoing payment function. When this happens, you must clear the
open items at a later time.

One alternative for clearing open items can be carried out automatically by the System using the
Periodic processing menu. In these cases the System uses the clearing criteria entered in
Customising.

An employee can also clear the open items manually by using the Account menu.

You open the Automatic clearing menu item from the Periodic processing menu.

Here, you enter the company code in the Automatic Clearing screen. You can accept the default
entry for the fiscal year.

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You also mark the Select vendors field and enter the account number of the vendor. In this case,
the vendor account is 500026.

Now you mark the Test run and the Detail list fields in the lower part of the screen, so that you can
check which open items you will clear. You confirm all entries with the Enter key.

The System offers you the Detail list of open and cleared items for your verification.

Before starting the actual production run, you deactivate the Test run and Detail list fields. Then
you can start the clearing by clearing on the Execute button.

In the status bar, the System warns you that this is an actual production run, not a test run. Once
you acknowledge the message with the Enter key, the clearing procedure starts.

The System provides a Short list of open and cleared items, indicating that this is part of an actual
clearing.

You return to the initial screen by using the Previous screen button. From there you can start
additional clearings.

In the following lesson you’ll learn how to clear open items manually.

You’ve already learned how to balance an open item in the context of outgoing payments.

The System also offers you the option of clearing accounts at any time using the Account – Clear
menu path. This way you’re not restricted to clearing open items in the Payment program.

In the Outgoing payments program, you already posted a payment on account, which hasn’t yet
been matched against any invoice.

Now you’d like to clear this open item manually.

To do so, click on the Clear menu item in the Account menu.

In the Clear Vendor: Header data screen, you first enter the vendor account number in the Account
field.

The default values in the Clearing date, Company code, and Currency fields are correct.
Therefore, you accept them.

You can make further entries about the open items that are to be balanced against one another by
making selections in the Open item selection and Additional selection areas. This makes the
allocation of open items easier.

For now, it’s sufficient to make the Normal open items selection.

You then confirm your entries with the Enter key.

The program for manual clearing presents the same screens and functions for allocating open
items that you should recognise from the Payment program.

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As with the Payment program, you can allocate the open items here either by selecting and
activating them, or by directly double-clicking on them.

The Allocated field doesn’t yet contain any entries, which means that you’ve not yet allocated any
open items. The selected open items are still inactive, in accordance with the user processing
options you entered previously.

There are altogether 5 open items present.

The second-to-last line item is the invoice to be cleared. You now want to allocate it.

Now allocate the invoice. Double-click on the USD Gross field in the last line.

You have allocated the invoice.

To carry out the next step, you need the corresponding payment on account.

In the Manual clearing program, the Find Amount function simplifies the clearing of the
corresponding payment on account. The System automatically locates the corresponding payment
on account document by searching for the account, and it clears both items.

Now click on the Find Amount button.

Now you see in the Allocated field that the invoice and the payment on accounts document are
cleared.

The highlighted status of the payment on account document tells you that you’ve processed an
allocation here.

Now post the manual clearing by clicking on the Post button.

You’ve posted the document.

You can display the document you just posted using the Document – Display menu path.

You can see in the document display that a cash discount was involved with the payment on
account.

If you use the Account menu to display cleared line items, you see the three items you have
cleared.

When clearing the documents, the System assigns the documents a Clearing number. This clearing
number allows you to recognise which items have been cleared. The items here have the Clearing
number 000.

The cash discount amount detecting during manual clearing is listed in the line containing
Document type AB.

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If you call up the manual clearing program again, the System will now display only three open
items.

Unit 5: Periodic Processing

The Period processing unit explains which tasks an employee normally carries out at the end of a
posting period, and how to perform these tasks using the R/3 System.

In Initialising Periodic Processing, you’ll learn what the term “Periodic processing” means.
Additionally, this lesson will acquaint you with the menu structure so that you can call up any
reports you need.

Open Items List explains how you can create an Open items.

In Balance in Local Currency List, you’ll learn how to create the Balance in local currency list.

Due Date Forecast describes how to create a list that displays the due dates for all invoices still to
be paid.

Finally, Payment History explains how you can gather information from the System about the
vendor’s commodity sales during any given period.

Initialising Periodic Processing

An employee needs to carry out periodic processing at certain intervals, often at the end of a
posting period.

The creation of evaluations, also called reports, is an essential component of periodic processing.

These evaluations include, for example, the Open items list, the Balance in local currency list, the
Due date forecast and the Payment history.

These special evaluations are listed in the Report selection function. In the following example
we’ll show you how to access the Report selection function in the R/3 System.

You reach the Report selection function by using this menu path: Periodic processing – Info
system – Report selection.

Now open the Periodic processing menu in the initial Accounts Payable screen.

The Periodic processing menu offers a number of functions for further processing. For example,
here you find the Automatic clearing and Dunning functions. These topics will be covered later in
their respective courses.

You learned about the Automatic clearing function in Unit 4, along with special functions like
Interest calculation, Print correspondence, and Recurring entries. You also find these functions
here.

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Now open the Info System submenu in the Periodic processing menu.

Now click on the Report selection submenu.

You’re now in the Report selection Vendors screen. The report selection displayed here is the
default listing provided by SAP. You also have the option of creating user specific report
structures and storing them in the System.

Sub-trees of the Report tree can be opened or closed by using the Edit menu.

The function available to you for this are called Expand sub-tree and Collapse sub-tree.

In the Report selection screen, we’ve already opened the sub-trees to a point that you can call up
the Balances in local currency list, the Open items list, the Due date forecast, and the Payment
history. We’ll introduce you to these 4 reports in the following lessons.

In the next lesson you’ll learn how to create an Open items list.

Open Items List

Among other things, the Open items list displays the number of open items for each account
managed by the System.

Furthermore, this report gives you detailed information about the total sum of liabilities and how
this total is reached.

You use the Open items list to reconcile the Open item area, which is a sub-ledger area, with
Payables accounts in the General ledger.

Now call up the Open items list in the Report selection screen.

In the initial screen, you can use the Vendor account fields to limit the Open items list to just one
account or to a number of accounts.

Here, we limit the list to the company account Maxwell, Inc.

Click on the Dynamic selections button to select the entries about the posting date and the
document type.

You’re now in the Dynamic selections area. You can set the Posting date fields here to display
only those open items that were posted during the time period you indicate.

Now the posting date is set from June 1, 1996 to August 23, 1996.

You also need to display the open items for the vendor invoice document type. Therefore the
Document type field contains the entry “kr”.

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By pressing the Save button you move back to the initial screen, and here you see that the
Dynamic selections button has been replaced by the 2 dyn. sels active button (2 dynamic selection
active).

You also enter the company code in this initial screen. You need to limit the Open items list to
company code US01.

The entry in the Open items at key date field tells the System to display only those items that were
entered up to the date shown here, regardless of whether the items have already been reconciled by
the current date.

In the Output control area you determine the selection criteria for displaying the Open items list.

The S-Sort indicator determines how the master records are sorted in the list.

The P-Sort indicator tells you how the open items within the individual master records are sorted.

Now please open the Help screen to learn what the entry S-Sort indicator 1 stands for.

Here you can see the individual sort indicators that have been stored in the System to sort master
records, along with the meaning of each sort indicator.

Sort code 1 stands for sorting by reconciliation account. Here, the reconciliation account refers to
the Payables account.

After closing the dialog box, you check the additional selection criteria in the lower part of the
screen. Preset criteria are automatically transferred here and no further criteria are necessary.

You have checked all the entries and you now need the System to create the Open items list.

Click on the Execute button now, to do this.

The System displays the open items for the vendor, Maxwell, Inc. The Master records have been
sorted here according to the indicator, and by reconciliation account.

Using the scroll bar, you can look at the other information contained in this report.

By moving the list to the right, you can read information such as the terms of payment.

After you’ve evaluated the information contained in this report, you use the Previous screen
button to return step-by-step to the Report selection screen.

In the next lesson you’ll learn how to create the Balance in local currency list.

Balance in Local Currency List

You always create this balance report at closing, for example, at the monthly or quarterly closing.

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Unlike the Open items list, which you use to reconcile the Open item area with the Liabilities GL
accounts, you use this balance list more as an additional cross-check.

The Balance in local currency list helps you to check whether the balance from the accounts
payable balance list agrees with the balance from the Open items list and therefore with the
general ledger.

To create the balance list, you must call up the corresponding report in the Report selection screen.

In the initial Vendor Balances in Local Currency screen, you can determine the conditions for the
balance list.

You need to create a balance list for all the accounts of company code US01. Therefore, you leave
the Vendor account – to field blank. You enter US01 into the Company code field.

The System automatically selects the default entry for the fiscal year.

In the Further selections area, the report periods 01 to 16 have already been entered. Since you
want to create a balance list for all 16 periods, you can accept these entries.

In the Output control area, the System provides you with the selection fields Account sorting and
Summarisation level.

For example, if a supplier delivers to several company codes, you can use account sorting to
determine whether the accounts should be sorted by supplier or by company code.

You can use the summarisation level to determine, for example, whether to summarise the
accounts payable balances by vendor, or the reconciliation accounts by vendor.

You accept the default entry, Summarisation level 0, which means that the accounts payable
balances will be summarised by vendor in the balance list.

Except for the Normal balances selection, you don’t need to set any further limits for the Balance
in local currency list.

Now please have the System create the balance list. Click on the Execute button to do this.

The Vendor Balances in Local Currency list contains all the vendors in company code US01.

To gather more information on the Vendor, Maxwell, Inc., you could page through the balance list
until you find this vendor. But the System offers you a Search function as a faster alternative, and
lets you call up the desired vendor directly from the list.

Now click on the Find button to begin the Search function.

You enter the account number for Maxwell, Inc. into the Find field, and then you click on the Find
button in the dialog box.

Now double-click on the line that reads “Maxwell” to go directly to the point in the balance list
that contains the vendor Maxwell, Inc.

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The System goes to the exact point in the list where the selected vendor is displayed.

Using the scroll bar, you can read the remaining information. Among other things, you can see
here that the balance at the beginning of the period was 0.

In addition, you can also read the debit and credit totals for the report periods, as well as the credit
balances.

As soon as you reach the end of the list, you see the totals of all company codes. But since you
indicated in the initial screen that only company code US01 would be selected, the balance list
only reflects this company code.

Using the Previous screen button, you return step-by-step to the Report selection screen.

In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to use the Due date forecast report to generate an overview of
short term financial requirements.

Due Date Forecast

The Due date list gives you a list of the incoming invoices that are due on specific dates. It also
gives you an overview indicating the time frame in which these invoices are due for payment.

Accounts Receivable offers you a report that is analogous to the Due dates list. It’s called
“Customer evaluation with OI sorted list”. With it you can see a schematic indicating the time
period in which amounts such as the “net payment due” or the “full payment due” are to be paid
for all the customers of a company code.

Now select the Due date forecast report from the Report selection screen by double-clicking on it.

As with the creation of the Balance in local currency list, we’ll not limit the Due dates list by
vendor accounts. Instead we’ll limit the report to company code US01.

You can accept the default date already entered by the System in the Open items at key date field.

The Output control area displays the due date cycles in days. Due date level 1 is set to display
payments that are due within 8 days.

Due date level 2 is set to display payments that are due within 30 days.

We accept these default values, which you can always change if the need arises.

You use the Execute button to call up the Due dates list.

You’re now looking at the report that displays the due dates for all open items of company code
Us01. Now click on the marked area of the scroll bar to move the screen and display the vendor,
Maxwell, Inc.

The key date, October 10, 1996, shows a total amount of $4,500 that is due.

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The due date cycles indicate that this amount is due within 30 days.

If you move down to the end of the list, you can see the total amount due on open items for all
customers with company code US01, and what sums are due at what time.

If you wish, you can also go directly to the total sums page from the Due dates list. To do so, you
need to mark the “Output totals only” check box in the Output control area of the initial screen.

The System then immediately presents the sum totals of all open items.

You can use the Previous screen button to return to the initial screen.

Now click on the Previous screen button to return to the Report selection screen.

In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to call up the Payment history report, and how to save it as a
variant.

Payment History

You create the payment history to gather information about the commodity sales of a vendor
during a given time period.

You limit the payment history to vendor accounts 500000 to 599999.

After you enter company code US01, we move to the Output control area.

In the Accounting sorting field, you enter the correct sorting code. Since you don’t know the exact
meaning of each individual sorting code, you now call up Entry help.

You select Sort by volume of sales from the sorting codes.

The corresponding sorting code has been transferred.

You mark the field that indicates Accounts without sales, since you want to include such accounts
in the payment history.

Now select the Accounts without sales field by clicking on the check box.

You’ve now entered all the data for the Payment history report. Since we create a payment history
based on these selection criteria on a frequent basis, you can save these criteria as a variant.

To do so, click on the Save variant button.

Now enter the name for this variant in the Variant field. Enter the variant name K_US01 and then
use the Tab key to move to the next field.

In the Description field, you make additional entries about the variant.

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To make the entries in the Field attributes area, the System automatically uses the selection criteria
that were previously entered for this variant.

You save the Variant K_US01 by clicking on the Save button.

The message in the status bar tells you that the variant you created, K_US01, has been saved.

Whenever you wish to call up a variant that has been saved in the System, you can use the Get
variant button, which is found in the lower application toolbar.

Now click on this button if you want to select a variant.

In the screen that is now opened, you see a list of all the variants. Since you have only saved one
variant, you only see one variant.

Click on the Execute button to call up the Payment history report.

Now you’re looking at the Payment history report.

You must scroll to the left of the list to see information about sales.

The total sales in this list consists of the commodity sales for the following vendors: Metalworks
Ltd., maxwell, Inc. and Millar Lmtd. Vendor accounts 500000-599999 contain only these three
vendors.

At the end of the payment history, you see the total of all company codes in the form of a totals
page.

After you’ve gathered the information you need from the payment history, you can use the
Previous screen button to return to the Report selection screen. From here you can call up a new
report.

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