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Currency types, G/L account master data and document splitting in SAP S/4HANA: what each setting does, where to configure it and what to watch out for.

  • SAP S/4HANA 2020
  • FI-GL
  • CO

By · Updated

Currency types

A currency type says which currency an amount is held in and how it is valued. Each ledger keeps the company code currency plus the other currency types you assign to it.

Where to set it

FINSC_LEDGER Define Settings for Ledgers and Currency Types

SPRO › Financial Accounting › Financial Accounting Global Settings › Ledgers › Ledger › Define Settings for Ledgers and Currency Types › Currency Types

One currency, three valuations
CurrencyLegalGroup valuationProfit center valuation
Company code currency101112
Group currency303132

Other currency types

  • 00Document currency
  • 20Controlling area currency
  • 40Hard currency
  • 50Index-based currency
  • 60Global company currency
  • 70Object currency (CO)
  • Y* Z*Your own (freely defined) types

Controlling area currency

The controlling area currency type decides which currency CO uses and whether it can differ from the currency of the assigned company codes. It depends first on the assignment control of the controlling area.

OKKP Maintain Controlling Area

  • Option 11 : 1

    Controlling area same as company code

    Financial accounting and cost accounting see the organization the same way. The system sets currency type 10 (company code currency) automatically.

  • Option 21 : n

    Cross-company-code cost accounting

    One controlling area covers several company codes, so costs can be allocated between them. The company codes must use:

    • The same operative chart of accounts
    • The same number of posting periods (fiscal year variant)
    • The controlling area currency as one of their currencies (S/4HANA)

    Good fit: independent subsidiaries that share one global cost accounting.

G/L account master data

Company code settings of a G/L account that change how postings and clearing behave.

FS00 Edit G/L Account Centrally

Control data · Account control

Only balances in local currency

Transaction figures are kept in local currency only, not by currency. Use it on balance sheet accounts that:

  • Are not open item managed and not kept in foreign currency, or
  • Are open item managed and receive items in several currencies that should clear whenever the local currency amounts match, such as the GR/IR clearing account

Example: GR/IR clearing

  • Goods receiptposted in local currency · EUR 890.00
  • Invoice receiptUSD 1,000.00 at 0.89 · EUR 890.00

Both items clear on their local currency amounts: 890.00 − 890.00 = 0.00. No difference is posted.

At clearing the rate is 0.90, so the system translates USD 1,000.00 into EUR 900.00. Against the EUR 890.00 goods receipt that leaves EUR 10.00: you enter a difference posting and the system also posts an exchange rate difference.

  • Control data · Account control

    Tax settings

    Tax category makes the account tax-relevant. Leave it blank when it is not.

    • *All tax types allowed
    • +Only output tax allowed
    • -Only input tax allowed
    • >Output tax account
    • <Input tax account

    Posting without tax allowed lets you post taxable and non-taxable items. When a tax code is entered, it is still checked against the tax category.

  • Control data · Account management

    Open item management

    Items stay open until they are cleared against an offsetting item. Without it, items cannot be cleared against each other.

    Open items

    • GR/IR clearing
    • Bank clearing
    • Payroll clearing
    • Cash discount clearing

    Not open items

    • Main bank accounts
    • Tax accounts
    • Material stock accounts
    • Reconciliation accounts
    • Profit and loss accounts

    Reconciliation accounts get their open items from the subledger. Stock accounts are posted by inventory management.

  • Create/bank/interest · Document creation

    Post automatically only

    Only the system can post to the account, through account determination. Manual postings are refused.

    Typical for accounts filled by automatic postings, such as stock, tax and exchange rate difference accounts.

Document splitting

Document splitting divides line items by dimensions such as profit center or segment while the document is posted. With the zero balance setting, the document also balances to zero for each of them, so a full balance sheet is available per dimension at any time.

In SAP S/4HANA the entry view is read from BSEG and the general ledger view from the Universal Journal (ACDOCA).

Ledgers no longer have scenarios: all fields are always updated, so the scenario step from the classic New G/L is gone.

Example

Vendor invoice split by profit center

As entered (BSEG)
ItemLineProfit centerEUR
1Vendorblank−1,100.00
2ExpensePC1000600.00
3ExpensePC2000400.00
4Input taxblank100.00
After splitting (ACDOCA)
ItemLineProfit centerEUR
1VendorsplitPC1000−660.00
1VendorsplitPC2000−440.00
2ExpensePC1000600.00
3ExpensePC2000400.00
4Input taxsplitPC100060.00
4Input taxsplitPC200040.00

The payable and the input tax have no profit center, so a balance sheet by profit center would not add up.

The payable and the tax follow the expense lines (60 / 40).Balance PC1000: 0.00 · PC2000: 0.00

Building blocks

How the system decides what to split and how.

  • Splitting method

    The set of rules for how each item category is handled. SAP delivers method 0000000012.

  • Splitting rule

    For one business transaction variant, which item categories are split and which base item categories they follow.

  • Business transaction

    Describes a business process, such as 0300 Vendor invoice, and which item categories may appear in it. Reached through the document type.

  • Item category

    Classifies each line, such as vendor, expense or tax. Every G/L account needs one.

  • Processing category

    • 0Transfer a fixed value, no split
    • 1Split by the base item categories
    • 2Split by the current account balance

When no account assignment is found

Three settings fill the gaps, in this order.

  1. Inheritance

    Lines without a split rule take the account assignment of the document, but only when the combination of split values is the same across the whole document. Only balance sheet (G/L) split fields are inherited.

    Switch it off per business transaction variant with No inheritance of A/c assignments in GSP_RD.

  2. Constant

    Default values for lines that neither a rule nor inheritance could fill. The values work as a set, all or nothing. Example with split fields A and B:

    • A and B empty: the constant fills both
    • A holds the constant’s value, B empty: the constant fills B
    • A holds another value: nothing is filled
    • Another split field is filled: the constant still fills A and B
    • A default of blank counts as a value

    Activate it with Standard A/C assgnmt on the method, or switch it off per variant with No default of A/c assignments.

  3. Zero-balance clearing

    When a dimension does not balance after splitting, the system adds clearing lines and posts them to the zero-balance clearing account of the account key.

    Create that account first. To use several clearing accounts, give each one its own account key and assign the keys to the business transaction variants.

Configuration steps

Document splitting in the order of the IMG. Steps marked SAP standard are delivered by SAP and should not be changed.

1 · Classify

Tell the system what each line is

  1. Classify G/L accounts

    Give every G/L account an item category

    • GSP_LZ2

  2. Classify document types

    Link each document type to a business transaction variant

    • GSP_VZ3
2 · Set up

Split fields and fallbacks

  1. Define zero-balance clearing account

    Per account key

    • GSP_KD1

  2. Define document splitting characteristics

    For G/L: zero balance, partner field and mandatory flags. Also for Controlling and for cash discount capitalized to assets.

    • SPRO

  3. Edit constant for nonassigned processes

    Default values for lines nothing else could fill

    • GSP_CD
3 · Activate

Switch it on

  1. Activate document splitting

    Assign the method, inheritance and standard account assignment, and deactivate per company code if needed

    • SM34 VC_FAGL_SPLIT
4 · Extend

Only when the standard is not enough

  1. Define document splitting method

    Copy 0000000012 to your own method (e.g. Z000000012), copy all its rules, then change it

    • GSP_MD

  2. Define document splitting rules

    Per method, business transaction and variant; also the no-inheritance and no-default flags

    • GSP_RD

  3. Assign transaction codes to variants

    • GSP_VZ1

  4. Assign MM movement types to variants

    • GSP_VZ2

  5. Item categories, business transactions and variants

    • SAP standard
    • GSP_LD
    • GSP_PD
    • GSP_VD

Common issues

What usually goes wrong with document splitting, and where to look.

  • “Balancing field not filled”

    Error at posting. Usually a gap in the setup: an account or document type not classified, or a missing rule for the item category.

    GLT2201

  • Mixed business processes

    Use one document type per business process. Business transaction 0300 Vendor invoice, for example, does not accept customer or bank lines.

  • Activating later

    Switching document splitting on in a productive system that already has postings is a migration project, not a configuration change. Changes to a running setup: read the warnings’ long texts and SAP Note 891144.

  • Cross-company postings

    You can deactivate splitting per company code, but every company code in a cross-company posting must use it. Also assign the company codes to companies.

    OBY6

References