Configuring the G/L Accounts

Configuring the G/L Accounts

Slide 2

G/L Overview If the transaction appears externally

(FI), it’s recorded to the general ledger Via direct posting Via sub-ledger accounts (reconciliation

accounts) Via settlements from internal accounting

systems It’s the complete, centralized, real-time

record of all business transactions

Slide 3

G/L Overview Accounting data is always complete and

accurate We can look at (in real time)

Detailed account information Summarized account totals Evaluations such as balance sheets and

P/L statements G/L accounts and cost accounting areas

are updated automatically

Slide 4

Everything Financial winds up in the GL

From help.sap.com

Slide 5

Financial Master Data It’s data that lives for an extended

period of time G/L accounts Customer (A/R) ledger Vendor (A/P) ledger

Slide 6

Financial Transaction Data It’s short lived data that archived or

removed after a period of time Of course, we might archive to our DW or

not archive it at all G/L transactions Payments Cash transactions

Slide 7

G/L Account Types (1) They mimic accounting account types

Assets At various levels of liquidity

Liabilities At various levels of liquidity

Equity (retained earnings)

Slide 8

G/L Account Types (2) P & L accounts

Revenues Expenses

SAP predefines comment expense categories

Contain a pointer to a “special” retained earnings account so that the P & L accounts can be closed to retained earnings

Slide 9

Reconciliation Accounts Recon accounts (payables and receivables) Each sub-ledger is tied to a G/L reconciliation

account Both the sub-ledger and G/L account are

always synchronized

Slide 10

G/L Master Records (Contents) Applicable COA Company code Account number and name Account type

Balance sheet or P & L Account group

Account groups must be created before G/L accounts can be created

Slide 11

Account Groups They configure the behavior of G/L accounts

G/L accounts belonging to the same account groups work similarly

We typically create account groups for Balance sheet accounts P/L accounts Recon accounts

The account groups already exist for the simulation

Use account groups to define the numeric range of accounts

Slide 12

Configuring G/L Account Groups (1) Select G/L Account group and click

Field Status Field Status groups are used by account

groups and many other configurable SAP screens They are used to configure whether a

screen or field is hidden / optional / required /

Slide 13

Configuring G/L Account Groups (2) Account Groups or organized into sub

groups

Slide 14

Configuring G/L Account Groups (3) And finally, select the optional and

required fields

Slide 15

G/L Account Currency The currency used to record GL

transactions Only balances in local crcy if set, forces

accounts to be cleared in the local currency GR / IR accounts for example

Slide 16

Tax Categories Think of taxes as one of two types

Input tax is used for tax paid on purchases Input for production, for example Usually paid to vendors or the govt.

Output tax is charged to customers on sales

Charted to customers by us and then paid to the government

Look at transaction code FTXP

Slide 17

Tax Categories (Illustration)

Slide 18

Open Item Accounting (1) “Open Item” accounts are those that

require clearing All accounting systems and ERP

systems support it An OPEN ITEM is a contractual or scheduled

commitment that is not yet reflected in Financial Accounting but will lead to actual expenditures / receipts in the future, e.g. a purchase order that is not shipped in full will list those unshipped items as open items within the shipping invoice

Slide 19

Open Item Accounting (2) Bank accounts are typically not cleared Salary / Payroll accounts are cleared GR / IR accounts are cleared Vendor and customer accounts are

automatically cleared (Open Item Management is enabled

Slide 20

The GR/IR Account Example: Clearing accounts such as the

Goods Receipt/Invoice Receipt (GR/IR) account

When goods are received for a purchase order, a credit is created in the GR/IR account to show that an invoice must be received

When the invoice is received, a debit entry is created to clear the goods receipt entry

You can only archive documents if all line items are cleared

Slide 21

Line Item Display If this item is selected, then all debit and

credit detail for the account is available When posting items to such accounts and

displaying line items, additional storage space and system time are required

Line item display should not be used for reconciliation accounts, accounts that have a summation function and are analyzed by another application, such as the accounts "Revenue" and "Stock“ and input and output tax accounts

Slide 22

Sort Keys Necessary when Line Item display is selected Determines the field that will be used to sort

the line items, for example: Posting date Document date Cost center

Slide 23

G/L Accounts Individual vs. Collective Processing Individual processing applies changes to

a single (G/L) account Collective processing applies changes to

a range of accounts