Sap Fico

General Ledger Accounting

GENERAL LEDGER ACCOUNTING

There are two types of data.
1. Master data: the data which is permanent in existence is called master data. The
record which contains the master data is called master record. The master data is
again and again used during processing.
2. Transactional data: it is the data which is posted to the master record during the
daily management of the business. This is temporary in existence
The General ledger master record contains the data under two segments.
1. Chart of accounts segment: this segment contains the data such as account group,
short text and long text etc. When all the company codes are using the same chart
of accounts this data is same in every company code.
2. Company code segment: this segment contains the data such as account currency,
line item display and sort key etc. This data is specific to every company code.
We can create the general ledger master record in the following ways.
1. At chart of accounts level first then at the company code level
2. Centrally (we can enter the data both in chart of accounts segment and
company code segment at the same time)
The fields in the General Ledger master record:
1. Account Currency: it is the currency in which the GL account is maintained.
The account currency is automatically defaulted from the company code local
currency. We can change the account currency, if necessary. If the account
currency is company code local currency then we can post the business
transactions in any currency into that account. If the account currency is other
than company code local currency (foreign currency), then we can post the
business transactions into that account in that currency only.
2. Only balances in local currency: if this check box is selected, the system
displays the balances in the company code local currency only. For this
purposes if any foreign currency business transactions are posted, the system
will convert those foreign currency business transaction in to the company code
local currency. For this we require some settings.
3. Line item display: by selecting this check box the system displays the line items
in this GL account. i.e it maintains the details of the business transactions
posted.
4. Sort key: it is the criteria according to which the business transactions are
organized in the GL account. The sort keys are system defined.
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Faculty: K.Lakshmana Swamy.

Sap Fico

General Ledger Accounting

EDITING GL MASTER RECORD

Once the GL account master record is created we can not change the following fields
1. GL Account number
2. Company code
3. Account group
4. Status of open item management if the any business transactions are existing as open
items in that GL account. Once open items are cleared we can change the status
PARKING THE DOCUMENTS
It is the activity of keeping the documents pending for posting due to want of
authorization. The need for parking arises due to the operation of tolerance group for
employees. The documents are parked by the junior level employees and authorized by
the senior level employees. The parked documents do no update any gl accounts. The gl
accounts are updated when that is authorized i.e. posted by the senior employees. The
junior level employee or the senior level employee can change the parked document
before it is authorized. Once it authorized and posted by the senior employee neither of
them can change it. While authorizing the parked document the senior employee has the
following options.
1. he can post it as it is
2. he can change it if necessary
3. He can delete
Even though the parked documents do not update any GL accounts, the system considers
these parked documents for evaluation purposes such calculating taxes etc.

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Faculty: K.Lakshmana Swamy.

Sap Fico

General Ledger Accounting

HOLDING DOUMENTS
It is the activity of keeping the documents pending for posting due to want of
information. When the information necessary to post the document is not completely
available we hold the document. The held documents do not update any gl accounts.
When the required information is available we can retrieve the held document and give
the information and we can post it. Then only the gl accounts are updated. When holding
the document the system will ask for the temporary document no. which is to be given by
the user. The temporary document no is alphanumeric.
SAMPLE DOCUMENTS
This is the special type of document. This is used to post the business transactions which
occur frequently every day. Using the sample document we can reduce the posting
burden on the users. The sample document is template for original/accounting document.
Sample documents do not update any transaction figures. We have to define a special
number range for sample documents. The number range no. for sample documents is X2.
The following functions are available for the sample documents.
1. Display
2. Change
3. Delete.
RECURRING DOCUMENTS
There are some business transactions which occur regularly at fixed intervals. Examples
are rent payment; payment of term loan installment and payment of vehicle loan
installment. In order to post this type of transactions we can use this recurring document
functionality. To use the recurring documents two conditions are to be satisfied..
1. The day of posting should be same in every interval
2. The amount of the transaction should be same in every interval.
For every recurring document we should specify the fist run date. Last run date and
interval for posting.
The original recurring documents do not update any transactional figures. The
transactional figures are updated when the accounting documents are posted using the
recurring documents by running the recurring cycle.
The following functions are available for recurring documents.
1. Display
2. Change
3. Delete.
We have to define the special number range for recurring documents also. The number
range no. for recurring documents is X1.

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Faculty: K.Lakshmana Swamy.

Sap Fico

General Ledger Accounting

FOREIGN CURRENCY POSSTINGS

Translation ration for currency translation: it is the relation between the minimum
units of two currencies in the commercial usage for the conversion purpose. For any
pair of currency the translation ration is always 1:1. but for the Japanese Yen the
relation is always 1:100
Foreign exchange quotations: there are two types of quotation which we can enter in
the foreign currency tables.
1. Direct quotation: for one unit of foreign currency how many number of units of
company code local currency. It is convenient to use the direct quotation when the
foreign currency is bigger than the company code local currency.
2. Indirect quotation: for one unit of company code local currency, how many number
of units of foreign currency. It is convenient to use the indirect quotation when the
company code local currency is bigger than the foreign currency.
Transaction currency: it is the currency in which the business transaction occurs. It is
also called document currency. For every foreign currency posting the system stores
two figures. One in document currency and the other in company code local currency.
INTEREST CALCULATIONS
Interest calculation types: there are three interest calculation types in sap.
1. Balance interest calculation. This type is used to calculate interest on gl account
balances. For example on term loans. This type is denoted as S in the system
2. Item interest calculation. This type is used to calculate the interest on
vendor/customer account balances. This type is denoted as P in the system.
3. Penalty interest calculation. This type is used to impose the penalty on the interest
payments. this is denoted as Z in the system
The first and second types are used by the commercial enterprises and the third type
is used by the financial institutions.
Interest indicator. This is the identification for which we assign all values necessary for
calculating the interest. The interest indicator is assigned in the term loan account master
record to enable he system to calculate the interest according to the values specified in
it.
Reference rate of interest. It is identification for which we assign the real interest rate i.e.
12%, 13% etc. the reference rate of interest is assigned to the interest indicator. We can
define any no of reference rates of interest.
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Faculty: K.Lakshmana Swamy.

Sap Fico

General Ledger Accounting

Calendar type: the calendar type determines the no of days to be considered for per
period for which interest is calculated. There are 4 types of calendars available for
interest calculations in sap.
1. Bank calendar (B): it uses 30days as basis for the month and 360 days as the basis for
the year
2. French calendar (F): it uses the actual no of days in a month as the basis for the month
and 360 days as the basis for the year
3. Gregorian calendar (G): it uses the actual no of days in a month as the basis for the
month and 365 days as the basis for the year.
4. Japanese calendar (J): it uses 30 days as the basis for the month and 365 days as
the basis for the year.

REVERSALS
The reversal function is used to reverse the error documents. There are five types of
reversals in sap.
1. Individual reversals: this function is used to reverse a single document only at a
time. When the document is reversed, the system reverses the posting keys only.
2. Reverse of reversal: this function is used to reverse a document which was
already reversed.
3. Mass reversal: this function is used to reverse a group of documents at a time.
But once the document is reversed it cannot be reversed directly. We can do it in
the indirect way.
4. Accrual/deferral document reversals: this function is used to reverse the accrual
and deferral documents posted on the last day of the month
5. Cleared item reversals: this function is used to reset the open items which were
cleared.
At the time of reversing the documents, the user can give the date on which the reverse
document is to be posted. If the user does not give any date, the system posts thereverse
documents as on the posting date of the original document.
While reversing the document the user has to specify the reversal reason. We can define
our own reversal reasons in addition to the reversal reasons which were already defined
in the system

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Faculty: K.Lakshmana Swamy.

Sap Fico

General Ledger Accounting

ACCRUAL AND DEFFEREAL DOCUMENTS.

In every business transaction there are two aspects.
1. service aspect
2. payment aspect
if the service aspect happens first and then the payment aspect, it is called accrual
business transaction. Example: out standing expenses (expenses payable) and out
standing incomes (incomes receivable). If the payment aspect happens first and then the
service aspect then it is called deferral business transaction. Example: pre paid expenses
and incomes received in advance.
Open item management: if any GL account is maintained on the open item management
then we can display the items which are pending for payment or the items which are
pending for receipt. We can manage only the balance sheet accounts on the open item
management. For the GL account which is managed on the open item management we
display
1. only open items ( items which are pending for payment or the items which are
pending for receipt
OR
2. Only cleared items (the items on which the amount was paid or the items on
which the amount was received
OR
3. all items : we can display both open items and cleared items ( in one screen).

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Faculty: K.Lakshmana Swamy.