Assumptions for document splitting: The operative process (of document entry) must not be disturbed (changed) by the online check
The entities defined as splitting characteristics are inherited in non-account-assigned posting lines
Lesson 4 CO-FI Reconciliation
The aim of the CO-FI Integration (functionality of the New General Ledger) is to ensure correction postings are made immediately in FI in case cross-organizational unit postings (e.g. profit centers) are executed in CO.
Only the opposite direction, from CO to FI, was not previously possible in real-time. This involves, for example, changes to characteristics in the following processes/transactions such as: Periodic allocations (assessment, distribution, transfer posting) Manual transfer postings to CO [=>
transaction KB11(N)] Activity allocations [transaction KB21(N)] Settlement from orders or projects [transactions KO88 and CJ88]
Transaction KALC is no longer available (by default) after the new G/L is activated to determine which characteristic changes will generate real-time FI line items; you can use the checkboxes, define Boolean rules, or implement a BAdI with your own program logic. It does not make any sense to select characteristics that you have not assigned to at least one ledger in the scenarios.
To transfer secondary cost elements from CO to FI, you have to define an account assignment.
Lesson 5 Ledger Group Postings
Sometimes, for the sake of deviating accounting values, it may be necessary to post directly to a ledger group.
Different accounting rules can (still) be modeled using the account-based solution in the new G/L. In addition to accounts, however, the new G/L also lets you use different ledgers to save the different valuation approaches – this is called the ledger solution (in the new G/L).
We recommend that existing customers who upgrade to SAP ERP do not change the leading view. A change of the leading view should always be dealt with in a separate project, as before. The leading ledger is the (only) ledger that is integrated with CO. The use of non-leading ledgers also enables you to use different fiscal year variants within one company code
A ledger can be assigned one scenario, several scenarios, or even all six at once. The decision as to how many scenarios to assign depends solely on which "facts"/"business aspects" you want to model in the corresponding (non-leading) ledger.
The ledger group is option for simplifying and/or accelerating the work in certain cases. No customer should be forced to create their own ledger groups.
Unit 11 – Closing Cockpit
Lesson 1 Closing Cockpit
Possible applications of the Closing Cockpit: This support function enables you to create a structured interface for executing transactions and programs that form part of complex processes, such as closing processes. The structural layout supports processes within an organizational structure, such as a company code, as well as scenarios affecting multiple organizational structures.
The Closing Cockpit can be used as an application tool in the following cases in particular:
o When activities recur periodically
o When more than one person responsible may be involved
o When the activities are performed within a process that has a fixed chronological sequence or is determined by dependencies
o The activities need to be supported by a shared, uniform interface for all involved o The status of all periodic activities needs to be documented and made transparent and
available for all involved
o The closing tasks are documented for later checks
To support the closing process, the Closing Cockpit offers the following options:
o Hierarchies to display the organizational objects involved in the closing process o A task list template based on the organizational structure
o A detail view of the characteristic values of the individual hierarchy levels used in the task list template
o Task lists that are derived from the task list template
o A list display in which all tasks to be managed or executed from the respective task list are made available for processing or for monitoring task progress
o A monitor that provides an overview of the sequence of tasks, their status and dependencies, and critical paths in graphical form.
o Detailed information for evaluating the technical settings of tasks as well as for analyzing background programs (spool, job log information)
o Dependencies for displaying the conditions that are prerequisite to processing the individual tasks
The Closing Cockpit can be used once a task list template has been created and assigned to an organizational structure (such as controlling area/company code, company code, arc), tasks (subfolders, transactions, programs, flow definitions, notes) have been assigned to the task list template, and a task list has been derived and released for the application.
The entry you select in the super ordinate Org. Level field determines the later use of the organizational object in the organizational hierarchy. If you do not define a super ordinate
organizational level, the organizational object is only available in the hierarchy as an initial node.
You can summarize the data in the task list template across organizational levels by chart of
accounts, fiscal year variant, currency, or valuation area. The system proposes the same substructure (subfolder) for the different attributes on one organizational level.
The system generates a proposal for a task list template in accordance with the selected hierarchies and using all organizational objects available in the system
A template (ten-character technical key) is used to structure the individual steps of a process. In this interface, all users involved in the closing process can access the relevant activities in tasks that are
executed online or in background processing. The scope of a template should not be determined by application-related aspects. Instead, its scope should be oriented towards the overall process and the organizational units involved.
Task folders are used to arrange organizational levels into substructures in the task list template.
Default values for task folders can be stored as subfolders in the generic maintenance of the organizational levels.
Users in the Closing Cockpit (CLOCO) application can access the required transaction or background processing for programs and flow definitions directly from the central interface.
Four types of task are available:
o 1. Programs: with program variant (background processing) Standard programs are generally available for processing activities in the background. If these programs are included in the task list template with corresponding parameters (that is, with a variant), you can later start background processing directly from the Closing Cockpit. Without program variant the report can be started and processed online in the task list of the Closing Cockpit application.
o 2. Online transactions: You can start these transactions manually from the task list and go directly from the Closing Cockpit to the relevant application transaction.
o 3. Note: Used only as a reminder or milestone.
o 4. Flow definition: Flow definitions are used for multiple programs with variants that are to be processed automatically. Such programs are combined to form a logical flow chain with unique predecessor and successor relationships.
o When a flow definition is executed (or scheduled to be executed), all of the related programs are processed in the specified sequence, and then the results are made available for analysis under Detailed Information.
Task dates: In the graphic display of the Monitor, you can portray the planned runtime on the basis of the scheduling dates. This planned runtime is displayed in the MONITOR accordingly. In this way, you can schedule dates for closing operations.
If completion of the task has an essential deadline for closing operations, this activity can be identified as a critical path and then displayed accordingly in the application (CLOCO)
To perform programs included in a task list, you need to specify variant values. With the separation of the task list template from the task list, you can define the structured process flow as a generic template and then make a task list available for processing with specific parameter values.
Programs and transactions that have been included in the task list template using chronological process steps as part of an organizational structure frequently involve business-related or system-related dependencies that need to be portrayed for the process flow to be processed smoothly.
The monitor shows you the processing status of the tasks:
o Blue: Scheduled o Gray: Initial
o Green: Ended without errors o Red: Canceled/Ended with errors o White: Active
o Yellow: Ended with warnings
o A vertical blue line shows the current time.
In addition, the detailed view for a task shows you:
o Name and description
o Report name and variant name o Processor and person responsible o Start time and end time
In the list display, you can display all the details for the tasks as well as the processing status. You can navigate directly to the detail list for a task at any time, where you can immediately check or process:
o The spool request o The job log
o The batch input session
If you change the status of a task, the system updates change documents for the task to make it easier for you to track and document the history of the processes.
In the flow definition, you can group tasks that are to be executed in the background in a particular order. You use the workflow to control these flow definitions. You can structure sub flows and include them in a flow definition.
To specify your tasks further, you can also store notes and documents for your tasks. In the monitor, you can also display the tasks according to processor or person responsible. In addition, you can send mails to the people assigned to the task list.
Unit 12 – Additional Material
(Not part of TFIN50 – Not examinable)
Lesson 1 – Financial Statement Adjustments in Classic General Ledger Accounting
The financial statement adjustment breaks the receivables, payables, and taxes down into the additional account assignments “Business area” and “Profit Center”, which are stored in the G/L account items. If an error occurs, you can carry out a reversal run.
The reversal posting is made if the adjustment item posted is cleared at the key date of the new run.
The profit and loss statement adjustment breaks down cash discount and exchange rate differences which accrue when customer and vendor invoices are paid according to the following additional account assignments from the cleared document’s G/L account assignment:
o Business area
o Partner business area (Consolidation) o Profit center
o Partner profit center o Some of the CO objects
o All of the fields you defined in the coding block.
Lesson 2 – Controlling
In some cases, the general ledger should be updated for the postings internal to CO. This is a requirement when the CO cost flows cross FI organizational units (company codes, business areas, and functional areas).
The reconciliation ledger stores all cost flows within controlling in a summarized form. In the SAP System, the reconciliation ledger represents cost element accounting.
The reconciliation ledger compares the CO view of data to the FI view and enables you to automatically reconcile controlling with financial accounting.
Lesson 3 – Cost of Sales Accounting
The profit and loss statement can be created using two types of accounting:
o Period accounting - In period accounting, the total result for a period and the total costs of this period are summarized.
o Cost of sales accounting - In cost of sales accounting, the sales revenue for a period and the sales costs of the period are summarized.
The cost of goods manufactured is determined when the goods are issued. In period accounting, the posting is “GR/IR clearing account to balance sheet change”. In cost of sales accounting, the posting is “GR/IR clearing account to cost of goods manufactured”.
To assign the remaining costs to their origin, the SAP system requires an additional characteristic:
the functional area. Typical functional areas are sales, production, marketing, administration, research & development.
Cost of sales accounting requires the use of organizational units called functional areas to divide costs posted to the same expense account to separate report items. As you can see from the slide, you can present the same type of expense in different sections of your profitability analysis. By grouping expenses by function (production, sales, administration), cost of sales accounting also defines the business transaction that each individual expense in the company results from.
In cost of sales accounting, the coding block (that is, the list of account assignment objects) is extended to include a field for the functional area. This field is filled by
o Manual entries
o Automatically entering the functional area using substitution rules
o Automatically copying a functional area entered from the master record of the P&L account o Automatically copying a functional area entered from the master record of the CO object
The sequence above also indicates the priority of the derivation options.
Cost of sales accounting in the classic general ledger accounting:
If additional transaction figures are to be maintained using existing or new account assignment fields, the Special Ledger component must be used to
o Extend the coding block
o Maintain the additional transaction figures in a separate ledger. These can then be evaluated using the Report Painter, Report Writer or Drilldown Reporting tools.
Cost of sales accounting in the new general ledger accounting:
The totals table of the new general ledger (=> FAGLFLEXT) updates the functional areas when the scenario “Cost-of-Sales accounting” is assigned to a ledger. There is no need to activate a special ledger in the Special Ledger component
Lesson 4 – General Tax Processing
Lesson 5 – Tax Reporting in USA Lesson 6 – Tax Reporting in Germany
Lesson 7 – Tax Reporting in European Union
Lesson 8 - Reporting in Accordance with German Foreign Trade Regulations Lesson 9 – Consolidation
The individual financial statements of all associated companies forms the basis for consolidation.
These aggregated financial statements contain a large number of itemized values that are merely the result of an exchange of services within the group. These values must not be included in the balance sheet, since an external third-party cannot form a realistic picture of the real financial strength and performance of the group. Comparisons cannot be made with other groups until all of the group-internal values have been eliminated.
The economic unit concept, however, states that the consolidated balance sheet cannot include payables and receivables from companies within the same group.
The consolidation activity “Elimination of intercompany unit payables and receivables” eliminates group-internal financial relationships This includes the following:
o Down payments made, down payments received for purchase orders o Receivables from affiliated companies, payables to affiliated Companies o Bills of exchange receivable, bills of exchange payable to affiliated companies o Prepayments and accrued income/accrued expenses and deferred income
As part of the consolidation of investments, the parent company’s interest has to be offset against the subsidiaries’ equity. Any differences between the interest and equity first have to be checked for hidden reserves and goodwill.
The SAP consolidation software eliminates the relevant transactions in a series of tasks. These tasks can be tailored to suit the customer’s requirements.
KPI reporting based on interpretation models includes:
o Measure Builder
Database with business-oriented tasks serves as the infrastructure for the SEM-CPM interpretation models.
o Measure Tree Display
Interpretation model that illustrates the impact of operative value drivers on the KPIs with strategic significance.
o Balanced Scorecard (interpretation model)
Models strategies, implements them, and measures their effectiveness by linking them to the correct KPIs. The Balanced Scorecard is part of the Management System.
o Management Cockpit (interpretation model) Provides an effective means of graphically presenting KPIs online and/or on walls in conference rooms, thus increasing the efficiency of management communication
Data model
The data basis defines the consolidation data model, that is, the characteristics and key figures, as well as their role in consolidation. The consolidation area can work with a subset of the
characteristics and key figures that exist in the data basis.
Data Streams
The data streams identify where the consolidation data is stored.
The consolidation monitor provides a graphical overview of the consolidation units and/or consolidation groups and tasks. This is the central working environment for
o Executing tasks (for collecting the overall reported data, standardizing the reported data, and consolidation processing)
o Monitoring the process of task processing for individual consolidation units and groups
Eliminations are always posted in pairs. To enable the system to eliminate IC trading partner
relations, therefore, you need to enter the relevant financial statement item data using trading partner account assignments.