Tuesday, October 1, 2013

SAP FICO Interview Questions and Answers - 4



General Ledger Accounting
140. What is a ‘Document’ in SAP?
SAP is based on the ‘document principle’ meaning that a document is created out of every
business transaction in the system. The Document is the result of a posting in accounting in SAP,
and is the connecting link between various business operations. There are two types of
documents:
1. Original Documents: these documents relate to the origin of business transactions such
as invoices, receipts, statement of accounts from bank, etc.
2. Processing Documents: These include ‘accounting documents’ generated from
postings in the system, ‘reference documents,’ ‘sample documents,’ etc. The
processing documents other than the accounting ones are also known as ‘special
documents’ and they aid in the simplification of document entry in the system.
Every document consists of:
􀂃 A Document Header
􀂃 Two or more Line Items
Before attempting to enter a document, call up the relevant document entry function as the
system provides a variety of ready-made document entry templates suited to different
transactions such as regular GL entry, customer invoice posting, etc. The details entered in a
document can be simulated and displayed before the document is actually posted in the system.
You may also choose to ‘park’ the document and post it later.
141. What is a ‘Document Header’?
The ‘Document Header’ contains information that is valid for the whole document such as:
􀂃 Document Date
􀂃 Document Type (Control Information)
􀂃 Document Number
􀂃 Posting Date
􀂃 Posting Period
􀂃 Company Code
Besides the above, the document header also has information (editable, later on) such as (a)
trading partner, (b) document header text, (c) reference, (d) cross-Company Code number, etc.
142. What is a ‘Document Type’?
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SAP comes delivered with a number of ‘Document Types,’ which are used in various postings.
The document type helps to classify an accounting transaction within the system, and is used to
control the entire transaction and determine the account types a particular document type can
post to. For example, the document type ‘AB’ allows you to post to all the accounts, whereas
type ‘DZ’ allows you to post only the customer payments. Every document type is assigned a
number range.
The common document types include:
Open table as spreadsheet
Doc. Type
Description Doc.
Type
Description
AA Asset posting KG Vendor credit
memo
AB Accounting
document
KN Net vendors
AF Depreciation
postings
KR Vendor invoice
DG Customer credit
memo
KZ Vendor payment
DR Customer invoice KG Vendor credit
memo
DZ Customer payment SA GL account
document
X1 Recurring entry
doc.
X2 Sample document
143. How is ‘Account Type’ Connected to ‘Document Type’?
The ‘Document Type’ is characterized by a 2-character code such as AA, DG, etc., whereas an
‘Account Type’ is denoted by a 1-character code such as A, D, etc., specifying which accounts a
particular document can be posted to. The common account types include:
􀂃 A Assets
􀂃 D Customer (Debtor)
􀂃 K Vendor (Creditor)
􀂃 M Materials
􀂃 S GL
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Figure 30: Document and Account Types
144. What do You mean by ‘Net’ Postings’?
Usually, when a transaction is posted, for example, a vendor invoice (document type: KR), the
system posts the ‘Gross’ amount with the ‘tax’ and ‘discount’ included. However, SAP provides
you the option of posting these items as ‘Net.’ In this case, the posting excludes ‘tax’ or
‘discounts.’ Remember to use the special document type KN. (Similarly, you will use the
document type DN for ‘customer invoice-Net’ compared to the normal invoice postings for the
customer using the document type DR.) For using this ‘net method’ of posting you should have
activated the required settings in the customization.
145. Explain the Various ‘Reference Methods.’
SAP recommends ‘Reference Methods’ as a ‘document entry tool’ to facilitate faster and easier
document entry into the system, when you are required to enter the same data time and again.
Besides making the document entry process less time-consuming, this also helps in error-free
document entry.
The various Reference Methods used in SAP include:
1. Reference Documents
2. Account Assignment Models
3. Sample Documents
146. What is the ‘Document Change Rule’?
The functionality ‘Document Change Rules’ configured in the system maintains the information
relating to ‘what fields can be changed?’ and ‘under what circumstances?.’ As you are already
aware, SAP’s document principle does not allow changing the ‘relevant’ fields once a document
is posted; any changes can only be achieved through ‘Reversal’ or additional postings. Fields
such as company code, business area, account number, posting key, amount, currency, etc., can
never be changed once the document is posted. However, SAP allows changing some of the
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fields in the line items such as payment method, payment block, house bank, dunning level,
dunning block, etc. These can be changed document by document or by using ‘mass change’
for a number of documents in a single step.
The changes to ‘master data’ are tracked and stored per user for an ‘audit trail.’
147. Differentiate between ‘Account Assignment Model,’ ‘Recurring
Entries,’ and ‘Sample Document,’
‘Account Assignment Model’ is a ‘reference method’ used in document entry when the same
distribution of amounts to several Company Codes, cost centers, accounts, etc., is frequently
used. Instead of manually distributing the amount among accounts or Company Codes, you may
use equivalence numbers for distributing both the credit and debit amounts. A cross-Company
Code account assignment model can also be created.
The account assignment model may contain any number of GL accounts. The GL account items
need not be complete. The model can be used across several Company Codes, and can even
include Company Codes from non-SAP systems.
Figure 31: Account Assignment Model
􀂃 You can use the account assignment model while ‘parking’ a document (but you cannot
use a ‘reference document’ for ‘parking’).
􀂃 The use of account assignment models is limited to GL accounts.
Unlike a ‘Sample Document,’ an account assignment model may be incomplete and can be
completed during document entry by adding or deleting or changing the data already saved in the
model.
The ‘Recurring Entry’ original document is used by the system as a ‘reference document’ for
enabling posting of periodically recurring postings such as loan repayments, insurance premium
payments, rent, etc. Since this document is not an accounting document, the account balances
are not affected. In a recurring entry original document, you will not be able to change the (a)
posting key, (b) account, and (c) amount. The recurring entry documents are defined with a
special number range (X1). Unlike an account assignment model, these documents cannot be
used for cross-Company Code postings.
The recurring entry document does not update transaction figures, per se, but acts only as a
reference and as the basis for creating accounting documents. The SAP program SAPF120
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creates the accounting documents from the recurring entry original document. There are two
ways to set the exact date when this document should be posted to:
􀂃 Posting frequency: enter the day of the month and the period (in months) between two
postings.
􀂃 Scheduled run: configure the ‘run schedule’ specifying the calendar days on which the
program should post these documents.
A Sample Document is like a template, which is created and stored so that the information
contained therein can be easily copied into new documents and posted in the system. But once a
sample document is created note that you will not be able to change the ‘line items’ already
contained in that document; all you can do is change the amounts in that sample document. But
you can overcome this by defining a new sample document that can contain other line items or
you may add new line items to the FI document, which is created by copying from the original
sample document.
Sample documents have separate number ranges (X2).
148. What is a ‘Line Item’?
The ‘Line Items’ contain information relating to account number, amount, debit/ credit, tax code,
amount, etc. SAP allows a maximum of 999 line items in a single document. Besides the one
entered by you during an document entry, the system may also create its own line items called
‘system generated line items,’ such as tax deductions, etc. Irrespective of the number of line
items entered, ensure that the total of these is always zero (that is, total debits should equal total
credits). Otherwise, the system will not allow you to post the document.
149. What is a ‘Posting Key’?
A ‘Posting Key’ in SAP is a 2-digit alphanumeric key that controls the entry of line items. SAP
comes with many posting keys for meeting the different business transaction requirements: 40
(GL debit), 50 (GL credit), 01 (customer invoice), 11 (customer credit memo), 21 (vendor credit
memo), 31 (vendor payment), etc.
The posting key determines:
1. What account can be posted to
2. Which side of the account (debit or credit) to be posted to, and
3. What ‘layout’ screen needs to be used for that particular transaction. OB41
It is a normal practice not to change any of the default posting keys in the system, as you would
very rarely require additional posting keys.
150. Differentiate between the ‘Parking’ and the ‘Holding’ of
Documents.
The ‘Parking of a Document’ in SAP is one of the two preliminary postings (the other being
the ‘Holding’ of documents) in the system and refers to the storing of incomplete documents in
the system. These documents can later be called on for completion and posting. While ‘parking’a
document, the system does not carry out the mandatory ‘validity checking.’ The system does notalso carry out any automatic postings (such as creating tax line items) or ‘balance checks.’ As a
result, the transaction figures (account balances) are not updated. This is true in the case of all
financial transactions except in the area of TR-CM (Cash management) where ‘parked’
documents will update the transactions.
The parking of documents can be used to ‘park’ data relating to customers, vendors, or assets
(acquisition only). When a cross-Company Code document is ‘parked,’ only one document is
created in the initial Company Code; when this ‘parked’ document is posted all other documents
relevant for all other Company Codes will also be created. However, it is to be noted that
substitution functionality cannot be used with document ‘parking,’ as substitution is activated
only on transaction processing.
The added advantage is that a document ‘parked’ by an accounting clerk can be called on for
completion by someone else. The ‘parked’ documents can be displayed individually or as a list
from where the required document can be selected for completion and posting. The number of
the ‘parked’ document is transferred to the posted document. The original ‘parked’ document, if
necessary, can be displayed even after it has been posted to.

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