Key Features
2.5.3 Financial Operations
2.5.3.1 Invoice and Payables Management 2.5.3.1.1 Accounts Payable
Business Background
Invoices are created in purchasing and submitted to accounts payable. As an accounts payable accountant, when you receive an invoice, you can view key performance indicators (KPIs) for the invoice and process the invoice.
Key Features
The following features support you with this process:
Table 19:
Key Feature Use
Analysis of payments to suppliers You use this feature to view information about payments to suppliers. You can check the overdue payable amount and the future payable amount. If you identify negative trends in the payable amount, you can notify the responsible persons to take action.
Management of cash discounts You use this feature to forecast the available cash discounts and to monitor the cash discount utilization in your responsi
ble area. You can find out where you need to make better use of cash discounts in order to avoid cash discount loss in the future.
Reviewing of cleared overdue invoices You use this feature to get details and statistical facts about cleared overdue invoices.
Evaluation of days payable outstanding You use this feature to identify suppliers with the highest or the lowest days payable outstanding.
Management of payments You use this feature to create, post, and, if necessary, reverse payments.
Management of payment blocks You use this feature to set and remove payment blocks on in
voices or supplier accounts. You can identify irregularities or potential fraud in invoices through integration with SAP Fraud Management for SAP S/4HANA*.
Management of payment proposals You use this feature to revise and release payment proposals.
Journal entries are then generated in the finance system.
Management of payment media You use this feature to transfer the data required for elec
tronic payment transactions to banks via a data medium. A payment medium is created with each successful payment run.
*SAP Fraud Management for SAP S/4HANA is not part of SAP S/4HANA, but part of the add-on SAP assurance and compliance software for SAP S/4HANA, for which you need a separate license.
2.5.3.1.2 Dynamic Discounting (Ariba Network Integration)
Business Background
If you have enabled discount management for suppliers on the Ariba Network, you can manage cash discounts from initial offer through to agreement. This optimization of cash discounts can increase your company's profits, and gives your suppliers the opportunity to receive their payments earlier.
Key Features
Table 20:
Key Feature Use
Open payables Send information about open payables to the Ariba Network.
Updates to open payables Send updates to information already sent to the Ariba Net
work about open payables if there are changes that impact the negotiations about early payment.
Adjustments to open payables Receive information from the Ariba Network about adjusted cash discounts and due dates of open payables.
Monitoring Monitor, troubleshoot, resend, and cancel outbound cXML
messages.
2.5.3.1.3 Payment Advice Collaboration (Ariba Network Integration)
Business Background
You are able to collaborate with your suppliers by sending them payment advices via the Ariba Network. These payment advices are based on the results of a payment run and explain the payments made to your suppliers.
Key Features
Table 21:
Key Feature Use
Payment advices Send payment advices to suppliers via the Ariba Network.
Key Feature Use
Monitoring Monitor, troubleshoot, resend, and cancel outbound cXML
messages.
2.5.3.2 Receivables Management 2.5.3.2.1 Accounts Receivable
Business Background
Accounts Receivable allows you to record and manage accounts receivable data of all customers. All postings to accounts receivable are triggered in response to operative transactions in sales and logistics. Simultaneously, postings are recorded in the general ledger. Different general ledger accounts are updated depending on the transaction involved, such as receivables, down payments or bills of exchange. Customer line items are cleared when incoming payments are received.
You can monitor open items by using, for example account analyses, due date lists and a flexible dunning function. You can adjust the correspondence forms to your requirements, as well as payment notices, balance confirmations, account statements, and interest calculations. You can assign incoming payments to receivables due. The payment function automatically executes direct debiting and down payments. A range of tools allows you to document transactions in accounts receivable, such as balance lists, journals, balance audit trails and other standard reports.
Prerequisites
To use accounts receivable, you have to also use general ledger.
For more information, see General Ledger [page 24].
Key Features
The following table explains the key features available:
Table 22:
Key Feature Use
Master Data You can manage and store your customer data as business partner data. You can create and change customer data using the business partner, so that you do changes, for example, in address data, only once.
Key Feature Use
Monitoring of Receivables You can display overdue receivables and customer balances. In addition, you can process individual customer items.
Posting Business Transactions You can post accounting data for customers in accounts receivables and the data entered is transferred to the general ledger. General ledger accounts are updated according to the transaction concerned (receivable, down payment, bill of exchange, and so on).
Clearing of Open Invoices You can post incoming payments and either manually clear open items or have them cleared automatically by the system.
Correspondence You can send correspondence to your customers, such as payment notices, open item lists, balance confirmation or account statements. You can adjust the forms for the correspondence according to your requirements.
Periodic Activities and Closing Operations You can prepare and carry out periodic activities, such as automatic payment or dunning, or activities that arise for day-end closing, month-end closing or year-end closing.
Analytics You can carry out evaluations and analyses for your customers, such as payment history, currency risk or Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) analysis.