SAP FICO Interview Questions and Answers - 5

151. What is an ‘Automatic Posting’?

When you post documents in SAP, there are instances where the system also adds some more

line items (such as tax, cash discount, gain/loss from foreign exchange transactions, etc.) besides

the ones you have entered in the document. This helps to reduce your work as the system

calculates these automatically. However, you need to define accounts you want the system to

automatically post to; this will ensure that no manual posting is allowed to any of these accounts.

152. What is ‘Clearing’?

‘Clearing’ in SAP refers to squaring-off open debit entries with that of open credit entries.

Clearing is allowed in GL accounts maintained on an ‘open item’ basis and in all customer/vendor

accounts. The clearing can either be manual or automatic. In the case of manual clearing, you

will view the open items and select the matching items for clearing. In the case of automatic

clearing, a program determines what items need to be cleared based on certain pre-determined

open item selection criteria and proposes assignments before clearing these assigned items.

Whatever the type of clearing, the system creates a clearing document with the details and

enters the ‘clearing number’ against each of the cleared open items. The clearing number is

derived from the document number of the clearing document.

You will also be able to do a ‘partial clearing’ when you are unable to match open items exactly;

in this case, the balance amount not cleared is posted as a new open item. You may also

configure clearing tolerance and also define rules on how to tackle the situation where the net

amount after clearing is not zero (such as, writing off, posting the difference to a separate

‘clearing difference’ account, etc.).

In the case of customers who are also vendors, you will be able to clear between these two

provided it is duly configured in the relevant master data (by entering the customer number in the

vendor master record and the vendor number in the customer master record).

153. Explain ‘Reversal of Documents’ in SAP.

If you need to change some of the accounting information relating to an already posted document,

you can only achieve this by ‘Reversing’ the original document and posting a new one with the

correct information. However, reversal is possible only when:

􀂃 The origin of the document is in FI (not through SD or MM, etc.)

􀂃 The information such as business area, cost center, etc., is still valid (that you have not

deleted these business objects)

􀂃 The original document has no cleared items

􀂃 The document relates only to the line items of customer/vendor/GL

While reversing, the system automatically selects the appropriate document type for the reversal,

and defaults the relevant posting keys. (Remember that the document type for the reversal

document would have already been configured when the document type was defined in the

configuration.) Also note that if you do not specify the posting date for the reversal document, the

system defaults to the posting date of the original document.

154. Explain ‘True Reversal,’ How is it different from regular

‘Reversal’?

As you are aware, any reversal results in opposite postings to the credit/debit sides of the original

posting, leading to an increase in the account balances and the ‘trial balance’ is automatically

inflated on both the sides. This is against the law in some countries such as France where it is

required that even after reversal, there should not be an increased account balance. As a result,

SAP came out with ‘True Reversal’ which overcomes this problem by ‘negative postings’ to the

same line item(s) during reversal. The account balance, which was originally increased, is

restored to the actual balance during the reversal:

Open table as spreadsheet Account 100000 Account 200000

Type of Reversal

Type of

Posting

Debit Credit Debit Credit

Original

Posting

Traditional Reversal $2500 $2500

Reversal $2500 $2500

‘True’ Reversal Original

Posting

$2500 $2500

Open table as spreadsheet Account 100000 Account 200000

Type of Reversal

Type of

Posting

Debit Credit Debit Credit

Reversal 􀃬$2500 􀃬$2500

155. What is ‘Fast Entry’?

Instead of the regular document entry screens, SAP provides ‘Fast Entry’ screens for facilitating

a quick way of entering repetitive line items in a transaction. For achieving this, you need to

define a Fast Entry Screen Layout, which will specify what fields you will require for data entry,

and in what order. You may configure these fast entry screen layouts for GL account line items,

credit memos, and customer/vendor invoices. Each of these fast entry screen layouts will be

denoted by a 5-character screen variant in the system. Fast entry screens are used in complex

(general) postings.

SAP’s enjoy postings are also meant for similar data entry screens, but the difference is that in

the case of ‘fast entry’ you will start from scratch when identifying the fields, positioning them in

the line item, etc., whereas in enjoy postings, the system comes with all the fields activated and

you will select the fields that you do not want to be made available for data entry.

156. How do You Create ‘GL Account Master Data’?

‘GL Account Master Data’ can be created using any one of the following methods:

1. Manually

2. Creating with reference

3. Through Data Transfer Workbench

4. Copying from existing GL accounts

The Manual Creation of GL account master records is both laborious and time consuming. You

will resort to this only when you can’t create master records using any of the other methods listed

above.

You will follow the second method, Creating With Reference, when you are already in SAP and

have an existing Company Code (Reference Company Code) from which you can copy these

records to a new Company Code (Target Company Code). You will be able to do this by

accessing the Menu: ‘General Ledger Accounting>GL Accounts>Master Data>GL Account

Creation> Create GL Accounts with Reference.’ While doing this, you can copy the ‘account

assignments’ as well ensuring that the integration of GL with other applications is intact. SAP

facilitates so that you can (i) limit the number of GL records thus copied to the target Company

Code, (if) create new records if necessary, and (iii) change the account number/name.

When your GL accounts are in a non-SAP system and you feel that these accounts will meet your

requirements you will then use the ‘Data Transfer Workbench’ of SAP to transfer these records

into SAP, and change them to suit the SAP environment. Since this will not have ‘Account

Assignment’ logic as defined in SAP, you need to be careful when defining these assignments.

You will resort to the last option of Copying from Existing GL Accounts only when you feel that

there is a Chart of Accounts in the system that meets your requirements 100%. Otherwise, follow

the second method described above.

157. What is ‘Collective Processing’ of GL Accounts?

‘Collective Processing’ helps you to make systematic changes to a number of GL accounts in a

single step. For example, you have used the ‘creating with reference’ method to create GL

accounts in a new Company Code and you want to change the account names as well as the ‘GL

account type’ (P&L or B/S). Then you will use the mass processing method. You can make

changes to:

1. Chart of accounts data

2. Company Code data

Use Menu Path: ‘Accounting>Financial accounting>General ledger accounting>Master

records>Collective processing.’ This can be achieved in IMG through: ‘Financial

Accounting>General Ledger Accounting>GL Accounts> Master Data>GL Account

Creation>Change GL Accounts Collectively.

Remember that the ‘collective processing’ helps only to edit and you cannot use this method if

you need to create new master records.

158. What is ‘Individual Processing’ of GL Accounts?

In contrast to the ‘collective processing’ of GL accounts where you edit a number of accounts in a

single step, Individual Processing helps to edit or create GL account master records one at a

time. Here you can edit (including display, change, block, unblock, and delete) or create a new

GL account in three different ways:

1. Centrally: You will be editing or creating a GL account master record in both the Chart of

Accounts area and Company Code area in one step. This is also known as ‘one-Step’ GL

creation. T Code FS00

2. In the Chart of Accounts area: you first edit or create the record here before doing it in

the Company Code area. T Code FSPO

3. In the Company Code area: you edit or create the record here after it has been done in

the Chart of Accounts area. T Code FSOO

Put together, steps 2 and 3 relate to the ‘step-by-step’ creation of GL account master records.

159. Is it Possible to Change an Existing B/S GL A/C to the P&L

Type?

Technically, you will be able to change all the fields, except the account number, of a GL account

in the Chart of Accounts area. However, in this particular instance when you change the ‘GL

account type’ from ‘B/S’ to ‘P&L,’ make sure that you again run the ‘balance carry-forward’

program after saving the changes so that the system corrects the account balances suitably.

160. Why doesn’t the System allow You to Change the ‘Tax

Category’ in a GL A/C Master?

You will be able to change the ‘Company Code’ related fields such as tax category, currency,

etc., provided that there has not been any posting to these accounts. Pay attention to the

following:

1. If you need to denote an existing GL account to later be managed on an ‘open item basis’

or vice versa, then make sure that the account balance is zero in either case.

2. If you are trying to change an existing ‘reconciliation account’ (to a regular GL), then

make sure that the account has not been posted to.

3. If you are attempting to denote an existing ordinary GL account into a ‘reconciliation

account,’ ensure that the account has a zero balance.

161. What is an ‘Account Group’?

The ‘Account Group’ (or GL Account Group), a 4-character alphanumeric key, controls how

the GL account master records are created in the system. This helps to ‘group’ GL accounts

according to the ‘functional areas’ to which they must belong. Account group is mandatory for

creating a master record. The same account groups can be used by more than one more

Company Code if they all use the same Chart of Accounts. Each GL account is assigned to only

one account group.

The Account Group determines:

1. The number interval that is to be used while creating the master record.

2. The screen layout that is to be used while creating the master record in the Company

Code area.

While defining the account groups in the system, you also need to define the corresponding field

status for each of these groups. Otherwise, you will not be able to see any fields as all these

would be hidden by default.

SAP comes delivered with a number of ‘account groups’ such as:

􀂃 SAKO (GL accounts general)

􀂃 MAT. (Materials Management accounts)

􀂃 FIN. (Liquid Funds accounts)

Figure 32: GL Account Group
T Code OBD4

In most situations, you will not require additional groups other than the ones already available in

the standard system. However, if you need to create a new one, it is easier to copy an existing

one and make modifications to it instead of creating one from scratch.

162. Describe ‘Number Range Interval.’

A ‘Number Range’ refers to a number interval defined in the system so that when documents are

posted, the system assigns a number from this range. You will define different number ranges for

different document types. Each document in SAP is uniquely identified by the combination of (a)

document number, (b) company code, and (c) fiscal year.

The number range for a document type can be defined:

1. Per fiscal year or

2. Until a fiscal year in future.

If defined to last only one fiscal year, then the number range needs to be defined every year.

When number ranges are defined every year, the system starts from the first number in the range

for that particular year, which helps to prevent reaching the upper limit too fast.

Figure 33: Document Number Range

If you specify the fiscal year as ‘9999,’ then the document number range is valid forever (well,

almost!) and you do not have to do this exercise of maintaining number ranges every fiscal year.

But every year the system starts from the last number used up in the previous year and if a small

number range is defined for a document type, you could easily run out of the number range fast.

The document numbers can either be:

1. Internally assigned by the system or

2. Externally input when the same is created.

The number ranges can be defined in such a way that the system generates the number

automatically when a document is created. This is known as ‘internal number assignment.’

Under this, the system stores the ‘last number’ used for a document in the ‘Current Number’ field

and will bring up the next number when another document is created.

If ‘external numbering’ is used, the user needs to input a document number every time a

document is created in the system. Since the user supplies the number every time, the

subsequent numbering may not be sequential. Unlike an internal numbering, the system does not

store the ‘last number’ in the ‘Current Number’ field.

The numbers in a number range can either be numeric or alphanumeric. If numbers are

numeric, the system will prefix the number with the required zeros to make the number length

uniform at 10 digits. If you are using alphanumeric numbering, then the number is padded with

zeros from the right. If you are following ‘year-specific’ numbering, it is better not to mix numeric

and alphanumeric numbering for a particular document type in various fiscal years.

The system creates a minimum of one document when a transaction is created/completed. SAP

recommends ‘filing’ original documents (under the number of the processing document (the

document generated in SAP)). The best practice is to enter the (external) number of the ‘original

document’ in the ‘Reference’ field of the document created in the SAP system. For easy crossreference,

the SAP document number thus created needs to be noted on the ‘original document.’

The following are the activities you need to complete for configuring the number ranges properly

in the system:

1. Defining the number ranges T Code  FBN1

2. Copying the number ranges to Company Code(s)  OABH1

3. Copying the number ranges to fiscal year(s)  OABH2

163. What is a ‘Screen Layout’?

The ‘account group’ determines which ‘Screen Layout’ should be used while creating a GL

account master record. For each of the account groups, you can define different screen layouts,

which essentially determine the ‘Field Status’ of a field.

The field status refers to whether the field is:

1. Suppressed (field is invisible, hidden from display)

2. Required (display on, entry mandatory)

3. Optional (display on, entry not mandatory)

Figure 34: Field Status

All the above three are shown as ‘radio buttons’ against each of the fields in the screen layout,

and you should select any one to set the status to that field; by default all the fields are

‘suppressed.’

There are two levels of controls of field status:

1. Field status at the account group level

2. Field status at the activity (create/change/display) level (i.e., at the transaction level).

You may also have the field status defined for posting keys (40-debit and 50-credit for the GL

account postings). Also remember to define the field status for ‘reconciliation accounts’ as you will

not be able to define any such status in the subledger accounts (for example, customer or

vendor).

SAP has built-in rules, called link rules, to link these two levels and to decide the final status of a

field in the ‘screen layout.’ The link rules also help to overcome the field-status setting differences

arising out of different settings at the Client level (field status for posting keys) and the Company

Code level (field status settings at the account group level).

164. What is a ‘Field Status Group’?

The ‘field status’ of an individual field or a group of fields is marked in a ‘Field Status Group,’

which is then assigned to individual GL account master records. You may attach field status

groups to a field status variant so that the ‘field status groups’ are used in various Company

Codes.

Figure 35: Field Status Variant (FSV)

The Field Status Variant is named similar to the Company Code. For example, if your Company

Code is 1000, the field status variant is also named 1000, and it is assigned to the Company

Code.

Figure 36: Assign a FSV to Company Code