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SAP Predictive Accounting: booking tomorrow’s sales today

Also called the predictive ledger. Sales and purchase orders reach the Universal Journal before anything ships or is invoiced.

  • Extension ledger 0E
  • Incoming sales orders
  • Commitments
  • Margin analysis

By · Updated

What is predictive accounting?

Accounting normally writes the past: a goods issue, an invoice, a payment, once each has happened. Predictive accounting writes what your documents already promise. When a sales order is saved in SAP S/4HANA, the system simulates the goods issue and the billing that will follow and posts them as predictive journal entries to a separate ledger in the Universal Journal. When the real goods issue and invoice are posted, the predictions are reduced until nothing is left.

Many people call it the predictive ledger, after the place where these entries live: an extension ledger of the type “Prediction and Commitments”, called 0E in SAP’s preconfigured content. Each predictive line carries a technical number and the sales order in its source fields (SRC_AWREF). It shipped with SAP S/4HANA 1809 for incoming sales orders, and the same kind of ledger now also holds commitments from purchase requisitions, purchase orders and travel requests.

Below, one sales order is followed step by step through both ledgers. The page then shows how SAP got here, the gap predictive accounting closes, what it did and did not replace, and the transactions and apps key users and consultants need.

For readers outside finance

Think of a restaurant. The till counts meals already paid for. The reservation book counts tables booked for tonight. A good manager reads both: tonight’s takings will be the cash in the till plus the bookings still to come. In SAP the till is the leading ledger 0L, the reservation book is the predictive ledger, and the manager’s figure is what SAP calls the presumed value.

Plan, predictive, actual

Accounting in three tenses

SAP S/4HANA now keeps three kinds of numbers side by side. They answer different questions, so they never replace each other.

  • Plan

    What we want to happen

    Budgets and targets, entered by people or planning tools. Stored in ACDOCP by plan category. It moves when someone changes the plan, not when a customer orders.

  • Predictive

    What our documents already promise

    Written automatically from sales orders, purchase orders and travel requests. Stored in ACDOCA, ledger 0E. It changes when the order changes and disappears when the actual is posted.

  • Actual

    What really happened

    Goods issues, invoices, payments, allocations. Stored in ACDOCA, leading ledger 0L and any parallel ledgers. These are the legal books.

Actual (0L)Predicted (0E)PresumedThe figure the Gross Margin – Presumed/Actual app shows for the month or the quarter.

Predictive accounting in four numbers

  • 1809

    is the release that brought it, with scope item 2FD, Accounting for Incoming Sales Orders, available in 36 countries at launch.

  • 0

    BKPF headers and BSEG lines behind a predictive journal entry. It lives in ACDOCA alone.

  • 4

    values of the obsolete reason tell an active prediction from an outdated one, its cancellation and a reduction.

  • 5

    sales document categories are processed: orders (C), returns (H), free-of-charge orders (I), credit memo requests (K) and debit memo requests (L).

The process

Follow one sales order, step by step

Ten pieces at 1,000.00, standard cost 600.00 a piece. Pick a step to see which lines are posted to which ledger, and how the predicted, actual and presumed margin move.

Step 1 · Sales order created

The order is saved, and the future is booked

When the order is saved, a background step checks the configuration and master data, simulates the goods issue and the billing the order will cause, and posts two predictive journal entries to ledger 0E. The legal ledger 0L does not move. The predicted lines are dated on the planned goods issue date, so an order taken in March for June delivery lands in June.

Lines posted in this step

LedgerAccountAmountType
0EReceivables10,000.00Active
0ERevenue−10,000.00Active
0ECost of goods sold6,000.00Active
0EInventory−6,000.00Active

Two predictive entries: one simulating the billing, one simulating the goods issue.

Where the margin stands

  • Predicted · 0ERevenue10,000.00COGS6,000.00Margin4,000.00
  • Actual · 0LRevenue0.00COGS0.00Margin0.00
  • PresumedRevenue10,000.00COGS6,000.00Margin4,000.00

Did you know? A blocked order gets no prediction at all, and predictive entries never appear in the sales order’s document flow. To find them, filter ACDOCA on the order number in field SRC_AWREF, or open the Incoming Sales Orders app.

Step 2 · Sales order changed

The customer gets 5% off

The price drops to 950.00 a piece. The predicted billing entry is flagged as outdated, a mirror entry cancels it, and a new active entry carries the new value. The goods issue prediction stays as it is, because the cost has not changed.

Lines posted in this step

LedgerAccountAmountType
0EReceivables−10,000.002 · cancels outdated
0ERevenue10,000.002 · cancels outdated
0EReceivables9,500.00Active
0ERevenue−9,500.00Active

The original lines are not deleted: they keep their amounts and are flagged with obsolete reason 1.

Where the margin stands

  • Predicted · 0ERevenue9,500.00COGS6,000.00Margin3,500.00
  • Actual · 0LRevenue0.00COGS0.00Margin0.00
  • PresumedRevenue9,500.00COGS6,000.00Margin3,500.00

Did you know? The prediction is translated into other currencies at the rate of the order’s creation date, even though its posting date is the planned goods issue date.

Step 3 · Goods issue posted

The goods leave the warehouse

The goods issue for all ten pieces posts the real cost of goods sold to 0L. In 0E a reduction posting takes the predicted cost out again, so nothing is counted twice. The presumed margin does not move: one prediction became an actual.

Lines posted in this step

LedgerAccountAmountType
0LCost of goods sold6,000.00Actual
0LInventory−6,000.00Actual
0ECost of goods sold−6,000.003 · reduction
0EInventory6,000.003 · reduction

Partial deliveries reduce the prediction for the quantity delivered only.

Where the margin stands

  • Predicted · 0ERevenue9,500.00COGS0.00Margin9,500.00
  • Actual · 0LRevenue0.00COGS6,000.00Margin−6,000.00
  • PresumedRevenue9,500.00COGS6,000.00Margin3,500.00

Did you know? The prediction runs through the same derivations, document splitting and cost of goods sold split as the real posting. With a cost component split active, the goods issue writes the split too.

Step 4 · Billing document posted

The invoice goes out

Billing posts the revenue and the receivable to 0L, and a reduction posting removes the predicted revenue from 0E. Presumed and actual are now the same figure, and the order’s prediction is used up.

Lines posted in this step

LedgerAccountAmountType
0LReceivables9,500.00Actual
0LRevenue−9,500.00Actual
0EReceivables−9,500.003 · reduction
0ERevenue9,500.003 · reduction

Tax lines of the real invoice are left out here.

Where the margin stands

  • Predicted · 0ERevenue0.00COGS0.00Margin0.00
  • Actual · 0LRevenue9,500.00COGS6,000.00Margin3,500.00
  • PresumedRevenue9,500.00COGS6,000.00Margin3,500.00

Did you know? Errors in predictive accounting never stop the business. A real goods issue with an account determination error is blocked; a sales order whose prediction fails is still saved, and the faulty prediction waits in the Monitor Predictive Accounting app.

Step 5 · Final reduction

Cleaning up the last cent

Rounding and currency translation can leave a few cents of prediction on a finished order. The final reduction job finds completed orders and posts what is needed to bring their predictive balance to exactly zero. In SAP S/4HANA Cloud the job is scheduled automatically; on premise you schedule it yourself.

Lines posted in this step

LedgerAccountAmountType
0EAny residue from rounding or translationto 0.003 · reduction

Report FINS_PRED_FIN_REDUCTION has no selection screen: it works through every completed order.

Where the margin stands

  • Predicted · 0ERevenue0.00COGS0.00Margin0.00
  • Actual · 0LRevenue9,500.00COGS6,000.00Margin3,500.00
  • PresumedRevenue9,500.00COGS6,000.00Margin3,500.00

Did you know? Predictive entries can be archived with archiving object FINS_PRED, whose source documents are the sales orders.

Illustrative amounts in one currency, tax lines left out. The obsolete reason codes and the reduction logic follow SAP’s documented behaviour; account names depend on your chart of accounts and account determination.

Extension ledger

Two ledgers, one report

The prediction ledger is an extension ledger. It stores only its own lines and borrows everything else from the ledger underneath, so a report on 0E shows actuals and predictions together without a single duplicated line.

0L

Leading ledger

  • Goods issues and invoices
  • Payments and allocations
  • Everything the auditor sees
0E

Prediction ledger

  • Predicted goods issues and billing
  • Commitments from requisitions and orders
  • Their reductions as actuals arrive
Report on ledger 0E

Presumed P&L and balance sheet

Actual plus predicted, by any dimension of the Universal Journal: profit center, segment, customer, product.

  • Delta logic, no duplicates

    The extension ledger stores only its own lines. Reports read the underlying ledger for the rest, which is why creating one needs no data migration.

  • Type P: technical numbers, no deletion

    Prediction and Commitments ledgers post line items with technical numbers instead of document numbers. They cannot be deleted, only reversed. The deletable type, S, is for simulations.

  • No manual postings

    Only the system posts here. SAP does not allow manual postings to a prediction ledger, so predictions cannot collide with entries typed by a user.

  • Same principle as its base

    The prediction ledger uses the accounting principle of its underlying ledger and gets a ledger group of its own, holding only that ledger.

  • Switched on per controlling area

    Activation is per controlling area and from a fiscal year, so every company code of the controlling area must be assigned to the prediction ledger.

  • Same dimensions as actuals

    Predictive lines are derived like real postings: profit center, segment, functional area and margin analysis characteristics are all filled.

Evolution

How SAP got here: four steps

Order intake and commitments are old ideas in SAP. What changed is where they live. Pick a step to see it.

Step 1 · SAP R/3 and SAP ERP

Order intake in CO-PA, commitments in their own tables

Incoming sales orders went to costing-based CO-PA as record type A, in the operating concern’s own tables, valued in value fields. Purchase requisitions and orders on cost centers, internal orders and WBS elements became commitments in table COOI, with totals beside it.

Where order intake and commitments lived

  • CE1xxxx · record type A
  • COOI
  • COSP

What it solved

  • Sales managers saw order intake by customer and product
  • Budget availability control could check commitments before money was spent
  • Incoming orders could be shown in the period they were entered or in the period of planned delivery

What still hurt

  • Record type A was never reduced: reports had to filter on record type to avoid counting a sale twice
  • CO-PA value fields did not reconcile with G/L accounts
  • No predicted balance sheet: receivables and inventory were not part of the picture

Did you know? Record type A had a sibling, record type I, for order-related projects in make-to-order. Predictive accounting still has no equivalent for orders assigned to a WBS element.

Step 2 · SAP Simple Finance 1503, then SAP S/4HANA 1511 to 1709

One journal that only knew the past

The Universal Journal put the G/L, controlling and account-based profitability analysis, later called margin analysis, into ACDOCA. Margin analysis records exactly what is posted to finance, so an order that has not shipped or been billed leaves no trace.

Where order intake and commitments lived

  • ACDOCA · 0L
  • CE1xxxx · record type A
  • COOI

What it solved

  • Margin analysis and the G/L became the same line
  • Extension ledgers arrived for adjustments, and 1610 added simulation postings such as foreign currency valuation

What still hurt

  • No order intake in margin analysis
  • Companies that needed it kept costing-based CO-PA running beside margin analysis
  • Commitments still lived outside ACDOCA

Did you know? Extension ledgers store only deltas and read everything else from their underlying ledger, so they can be added in a live system without migrating data. That design is what made predictive accounting cheap to add.

Step 3 · SAP S/4HANA 1809, September 2018

The prediction ledger is born

SAP S/4HANA 1809 brought a new extension ledger type, Prediction and Commitments, and three uses for it: predictive journal entries for incoming sales orders, commitments from purchase requisitions and orders in ACDOCA, and statistical sales conditions such as expected warranty costs posted to an extension ledger.

Where order intake and commitments lived

  • ACDOCA · 0L
  • ACDOCA · 0E
  • COOI · still written

What it solved

  • Order intake in margin analysis, reduced automatically as goods ship and invoices post
  • A presumed P&L and balance sheet by any ACDOCA dimension
  • Commitments in the same table as actuals and plan

What to watch

  • Scenarios outside the scope, such as third-party orders, are simply not predicted
  • Errors were monitored in SAP Application Interface Framework, namespace /FINPR
  • In 1809, purchase order items needed a material master to create commitments

Did you know? At launch, scope item 2FD, Accounting for Incoming Sales Orders, was available in 36 countries.

Step 4 · SAP S/4HANA 1909 to 2025 and the cloud

Commitments, budgets and new sources

Each release widened the scope. 1909 added budget availability control on commitments in the Universal Journal, the Monitor Predictive Accounting app and commitments for items without a material master. Later came travel requests from SAP Concur, a web service for sales orders from external systems, predictive commitments management and profit center reorganization of predictive entries in 2022, and service contracts in the public cloud.

Where order intake and commitments lived

  • ACDOCA · 0L
  • ACDOCA · 0E · sales
  • ACDOCA · 0E · commitments
  • COOI · still written

What it solved

  • Cost center managers see open requisitions, orders and travel requests against budget
  • One ledger serves sales and procurement predictions
  • Corrections through a monitoring app instead of interface logs

What to watch

  • Restrictions differ by release: check SAP Note 3223551
  • Commitments in ACDOCA have no carry-forward and no manual commitments
  • Service contracts were public cloud only when SAP last presented the scope

Did you know? After the CE2408 upgrade, some SAP S/4HANA Cloud customers found ledger 0E in their reports without ever activating it: commitments had moved into a standard scope item (KBA 3508908).

  • COOI outside the Universal Journal
  • ACDOCA · 0L actuals
  • ACDOCA · 0E the prediction ledger
  • COOI · still written kept in parallel

Milestones

  1. SAP R/3Record type ACosting-based CO-PA takes over incoming sales orders from SD; commitments in COOI.
  2. Mar 2015SAP Simple Finance 1503The Universal Journal: ACDOCA, with account-based profitability analysis inside.
  3. Oct 2016SAP S/4HANA 1610Simulation postings to extension ledgers, starting with foreign currency valuation.
  4. Sep 2018SAP S/4HANA 1809Predictive accounting for incoming sales orders, commitments in ACDOCA, statistical sales conditions in an extension ledger.
  5. Sep 2019SAP S/4HANA 1909Budget availability control on Universal Journal commitments; Monitor Predictive Accounting app.
  6. Oct 2020SAP S/4HANA 2020SAP Note 2947863 documents the supported sales processes. SAP PRESS publishes an E-Bite on predictive accounting by Uwe Mayer of SAP.
  7. Oct 2022SAP S/4HANA 2022Predictive commitments management; FPS01 adds profit center reorganization of predictive entries.
  8. Aug 2024SAP S/4HANA Cloud CE2408Ledger 0E switched on through a standard scope item for commitments.

The gap

The gap it closes

The Universal Journal brought finance and controlling into one table, but it only knew what had been posted. Order intake stayed behind in costing-based CO-PA, and commitments in their own tables. Predictive accounting moves both into ACDOCA.

Incoming sales orders: record type A versus the prediction ledger

QuestionCosting-based CO-PA, record type APredictive accounting, ledger 0E
Where is it stored?The operating concern’s own tables (CE1xxxx)ACDOCA, in the prediction ledger
What does it record?Value fields by characteristicG/L accounts with every Universal Journal dimension
Reduced when goods ship and invoices post?No. Record type A stays; reports filter on record typeYes, by reduction postings, until the order’s balance is zero
Reconciles with the G/L?No: CO-PA values with their own valuationYes: same accounts, derivations and account determination as the real postings
Balance sheet viewNoneReceivables and inventory are predicted too
Trace to the sales orderThrough CO-PA line itemsSource fields (SRC_*) on every line
Make-to-order with WBSRecord type INot covered for orders assigned to a WBS element or internal order
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public EditionNot availableAvailable, scope item 2FD
Further development by SAPNone plannedExtended in recent releases

Commitments: COOI versus the Universal Journal

QuestionClassic commitmentsCommitments in the prediction ledger
Where is it stored?COOI, with totalsACDOCA, prediction ledger of type P
Account assignment objectsInternal orders, cost centers, WBS elementsCost centers and WBS elements
Source documentsRequisitions, orders, funds commitments, manual entriesPurchase requisitions and orders; travel requests in the cloud
Reduced byGoods receipt and invoice receiptGoods receipt, or invoice receipt when the order is not goods receipt based
Carry-forward and manual commitmentsYesNo
ReportsClassic commitment line item reportsCommitments by Cost Center (F3016), project cost and budget reports
Still updated?Yes, in parallel, so classic reports and budget management keep workingClassic reports do not show these commitments

Replaced?

Did it replace a submodule?

Short answer: no switch was turned off. It is the successor for one job of costing-based CO-PA, it runs beside classic commitments, and it does a different job from planning.

  • Functional successor

    Costing-based CO-PA, for order intake

    Predictive accounting is how margin analysis gets incoming orders. Costing-based CO-PA still runs on premise, but SAP will not develop it further, and it is not available in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition or with universal parallel accounting.

  • Runs in parallel

    Classic commitments in COOI

    The new solution writes commitments to ACDOCA while COOI is still updated, so classic reports and budget management keep working. The two views do not see each other’s reports.

  • Different job

    Planning and forecasting

    Plan data in ACDOCP and forecasts in planning tools say what you want or expect. The prediction ledger says what your documents will cause. You compare them, you do not swap them.

And it is not machine learning. SAP separates top-down predictions, statistical forecasts from history, from bottom-up ones. Predictive accounting is bottom-up: it reads documents you already have and works out the postings they will cause, so every predicted line can be traced back to its sales order or purchase order.

For key users

For key users: transactions and apps

Nobody posts to the prediction ledger by hand. Users create predictions by doing their normal work, and read them in the finance apps.

Transaction or appWhat it does for the prediction ledgerWho uses itKind
VA01 / VA02Create and change sales order. Saving creates the predictions; every change that alters the simulated goods issue or billing flags, cancels and replaces them.SalesSAP GUI
VL02NPost goods issue. Posts the real cost of goods sold and reduces the predicted one.WarehouseSAP GUI
VF01Create billing document. Posts the real revenue and receivable and reduces the predicted ones.BillingSAP GUI
F2964Incoming Sales Orders – Predictive Accounting. Order intake by customer group, product group or profit center, with drill-down to the order items.Sales accountantFiori
F3417Gross Margin – Presumed/Actual. Predicted and actual revenue, cost and margin for the period or quarter.ControllerFiori
F3228Sales Accounting Overview. Cards that combine the leading ledger and the prediction ledger.Sales accountantFiori
F0708Display Financial Statement. Select ledger 0E to see the presumed balance sheet and P&L.AccountantFiori
F0717AManage Journal Entries – New Version. Has a Predictive Journal Entries tab, and 0E in the ledger group help.AccountantFiori
Margin analysisDisplay Line-Item Margin Analysis. Predictive lines with all market segment characteristics, by extension ledger.ControllerFiori
ME51N / ME21NCreate purchase requisition and purchase order. With a cost center or WBS element, they create commitments in the prediction ledger.Requester, buyerSAP GUI
MIGO / MIROGoods receipt and invoice receipt. Reduce the commitment: at goods receipt, or at the invoice when the order is not goods receipt based.Warehouse, APSAP GUI
F3016Commitments by Cost Center. Open requisitions, orders and travel requests by period and cost type, against actual and plan.Cost center managerFiori
Budget reportCost Center Budget Report. Budget, actual, commitments and what is left. Check which commitment solution your release reads.Cost center managerFiori
Project reportsProject Cost Report and Project Budget Report. Show the new commitments on WBS elements.Project controllerFiori

App IDs from the SAP Fiori apps reference library; availability depends on your release and business roles.

  1. Pick the ledger, pick the story

    A report on 0L shows what happened. The same report on 0E shows actual plus predicted. To tell the two apart in one report, add the source ledger or the predictive flag as a column.

  2. An order is missing? Check three things

    Is the order blocked? Is its item category activated? Free-of-charge items, for example, are often left out. Is it waiting with an error in the monitor?

  3. The date that matters

    With delivery-related billing, predicted revenue is dated on the planned goods issue date. Debit and credit memo requests use the creation date of the request.

  4. Not in FBL3N, ever

    G/L line item lists that read BSEG do not know predictive entries. Use the predictive accounting apps or a ledger-based line item report with 0E.

  5. Never for the auditor

    Statutory reports, tax returns and audits use the leading and parallel ledgers. The prediction ledger is for steering the business only.

  6. Commitments follow the document

    A requisition becomes a commitment, the purchase order takes it over, and goods receipt or the invoice consumes it. Follow the chain and the open amount always makes sense.

For consultants

For consultants: configuration, reports and things few people know

Setup is short. Most of the work is deciding which processes to switch on, and getting reporting and error handling right.

Transaction, view or reportWhat it is forKind
FINSC_LEDGERDefine ledgers. Create the extension ledger with type Prediction and Commitments on top of the leading ledger, and assign the company codes.Customizing
FINS_PRED_INC_SO_ACTActivate predictive accounting for incoming sales orders. Per controlling area, from a fiscal year. Recent releases: Activate Predictive Accounting for Sales Processes.Customizing
FINSV_PRED_RLDNRLedgers for predictive accounting (SM30). The Check Prediction Ledger step: registers the prediction ledger and, since commitments arrived, marks the one relevant for commitment management.Customizing
FINSV_PRED_FKARTBilling type per sales document type (SM30). Which billing type the simulation uses, for example F2 for order type OR. Returns need their own entry.Customizing
FINSV_PRED_FKRELOrder-related billing relevance (SM30). Item categories relevant for order-related billing in the simulation. Activate the item categories with Get Missing Item Categories, then Activate All or one by one.Customizing
FCOV_STAT_ACTStatistical sales conditions. Activates the ledger group that receives statistical conditions, such as expected warranty cost, when the condition is relevant for account determination.Customizing
FINS_PRED_REPOSTRepost predictive accounting data. Creates predictions for orders saved before activation. Enter at least a sales organization; test run first.Report
FINS_PRED_FIN_REDUCTIONFinal reduction. Brings completed orders to a zero predictive balance. No selection screen; schedule it as a job on premise.Report
F3828Monitor Predictive Accounting. Predictive documents with errors, to correct and repost. Available since 1909.Fiori
/AIF/IFMONAIF monitoring, namespace /FINPR. Where 1809 systems monitored failed predictions, through the recipient assignment in /AIF/MYRECIPIENTS.Report
SARA · FINS_PREDArchiving object FINS_PRED. Archives predictive entries whose source documents are sales orders.Report
SE16H · ACDOCARead the lines. Filter on the prediction ledger, the order number in SRC_AWREF and the obsolete reason to see an order’s history.SAP GUI
KPZ2Cost center budget. Maintain the budget that budget availability control checks commitments against.SAP GUI
Web servicePredictive Journal Entry – Manage (Synchronous). Creates predictive entries for sales orders held in external systems.API

Customizing paths moved between releases: in recent ones the activation steps sit under Financial Accounting › Predictive Accounting; in 1809 incoming sales orders were activated under Controlling › Profitability Analysis.

  • Scope

    Activation is per controlling area

    Predictive accounting is switched on for a whole controlling area, so every company code of that controlling area must be assigned to the prediction ledger. Decide this with all the company codes in the room.

  • Reporting

    Empty apps? Look at the FS version

    The incoming orders and gross margin apps read a financial statement version with semantic tags. Without them the apps show nothing (KBA 2793172).

  • Go-live

    Activation is not retroactive

    Orders saved before activation have no predictions until FINS_PRED_REPOST runs. After a conversion, run it again: predictive entries are not migrated.

  • Design

    Keep statistical conditions apart

    Practitioners recommend posting statistical sales conditions to an extension ledger of their own, not the one holding predictions and commitments, so each figure keeps its meaning.

  • Errors

    A failed prediction never blocks the order

    Predictions face the same checks as real postings, but the order is saved anyway and the failure waits in the monitor. Schedule someone to look at it.

  • Valuation

    Prices come from the leading ledger

    Predicted cost uses the material price of the leading ledger, even in parallel ledgers (SAP Note 3033604), and a price change after posting does not correct existing predictions.

  • Commitments

    Know what the new commitments lose

    No manual commitments, no carry-forward, no commitments on balance sheet accounts, no overhead on commitments, and at most 499 account assignments per purchase order, 249 from a requisition (SAP Note 2991264).

  • Reporting

    Report Painter will not help

    SAP’s own training states that classic Report Painter reports cannot run against the extension ledger. Plan CDS-based reports, such as Custom Analytical Queries.

  • Org changes

    Profit center reorganization includes predictions

    Since SAP S/4HANA 2022 FPS01, a profit center reorganization also moves predictive journal entries, so presumed figures follow the new structure.

  • Cloud

    Error RW001 on a purchase order?

    In the public cloud, if ledger 0E is not assigned to every company code, creating a requisition or order can fail with RW001 (KBAs 3508908 and 3414692).

Obsolete reason: the four states of a predictive line

Every predictive line carries an obsolete reason. Nothing is ever deleted: a change flags the old entry and posts new ones, so the history of each order stays readable. The open quantity of an order is its active lines plus its reductions.

  • blankActive: the current prediction
  • 1Outdated: replaced after the order changed
  • 2Cancellation of an outdated entry
  • 3Reduction: taken out by a real goods issue or invoice

Limits

What it does not do, or not yet

Check these before you promise a presumed P&L to the board. Scenarios outside the scope are simply not predicted, so the gap is silent.

  • Orders with a WBS element or internal orderCustomer projects, project-based services and make-to-order with account assignment are not predicted.
  • Third-party and drop shipmentsNo goods issue predictions for orders the vendor ships directly.
  • Changes after partial delivery or billingItem changes after a partial delivery or invoice are not reflected; for billing plans only open billing dates are simulated.
  • Material price changesA new price in the material master does not correct predictions already posted.
  • Maintenance and corrective service ordersMaintenance-centric service orders are outside the scope.
  • CashPayments and due dates are not predicted: this is a profit and balance sheet view, not a cash forecast.
  • Commitments on internal ordersThe new commitment solution covers cost centers and WBS elements; orders, networks and maintenance orders stay with classic commitments.
  • Legal and tax reportingBy design: predictive data is never part of statutory books.

Restrictions change with every release. Before scoping, read SAP Note 3223551 for sales processes (SAP Note 2947863 for SAP S/4HANA 2020) and SAP Note 2778793 for commitments.

Quiz

Myth or fact?

Nine things people say about predictive accounting. Test yourself.

  1. Predictive accounting uses machine learning to forecast sales.

    Right.Not quite. Myth. It reads the sales orders and purchase orders you already have and simulates their follow-on postings. No model, no statistics.

  2. “Predictive ledger” is SAP’s official product name.

    Right.Not quite. Myth. SAP calls the function predictive accounting. The ledger is an extension ledger of type Prediction and Commitments, usually 0E.

  3. When the invoice is posted, the prediction is reduced automatically.

    Right.Not quite. Fact. A reduction posting with obsolete reason 3 takes the predicted revenue out, so the sale is never counted twice.

  4. A predictive entry has a BKPF header like any journal entry.

    Right.Not quite. Myth. It exists only in ACDOCA, with a technical number. That is why FB03 cannot display it.

  5. Activating predictive accounting picks up all open sales orders.

    Right.Not quite. Myth. Only orders saved after activation are predicted. Older ones need report FINS_PRED_REPOST.

  6. Predictive entries can end up in the legal financial statements.

    Right.Not quite. Myth. They live only in the extension ledger. Statutory reporting runs on the leading and parallel ledgers.

  7. Predictive accounting switched off costing-based CO-PA.

    Right.Not quite. Myth. Costing-based CO-PA still exists on premise. Predictive accounting is the successor for its order intake in margin analysis.

  8. With commitments in ACDOCA, table COOI is no longer written.

    Right.Not quite. Myth. Classic commitments are still written in parallel, so the classic reports and budget management keep working.

  9. A sales order with a predictive accounting error is still saved.

    Right.Not quite. Fact. The order goes through; the failed prediction waits in the Monitor Predictive Accounting app to be corrected.

Pick Fact or Myth on each card.Your score: right out of answered, 9 statements in all.

Frequently asked questions

What is the predictive ledger in SAP S/4HANA?

An extension ledger in the Universal Journal, of type Prediction and Commitments, that holds predictive journal entries: the goods issues and invoices that open sales orders are expected to cause, and the costs that open purchase requisitions and orders will cause. SAP’s name for the function is predictive accounting; the ledger is usually called 0E.

Is predictive accounting the same as planning?

No. Plan data, in ACDOCP, says what you want to happen and is entered by people or planning tools. Predictive entries, in ACDOCA, say what existing documents will cause and are posted by the system. Comparing the two is one of the main uses: plan, presumed and actual side by side.

Is predictive accounting AI or machine learning?

No. It does not estimate from history. It simulates the follow-on documents of a real sales order or purchase order with the same account determination and derivations as the real postings, so every predicted line points back to its source document.

Which ledger does it use, and can I choose another?

In SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition it is 0E, delivered by SAP. On premise you define your own extension ledger of type Prediction and Commitments on top of the leading ledger and register it for predictive accounting; 0E is only the usual name.

Why can’t I see predictive entries in FB03 or FBL3N?

Both read the entry view, BKPF and BSEG, and predictive entries have neither. Use the predictive accounting apps, a financial statement or line item report with ledger 0E selected, or the Predictive Journal Entries tab of Manage Journal Entries in recent releases.

Why are the Incoming Sales Orders apps empty?

The usual causes: predictive accounting not activated for the controlling area or the item category, the prediction ledger missing, the order blocked, errors waiting in the monitor, or a financial statement version without the semantic tags the apps need (SAP KBA 2793172). In the cloud, scope item 2FD must be active.

Does predictive accounting replace costing-based CO-PA?

It replaces one job of it: order intake, record type A, for companies using margin analysis. Costing-based CO-PA still exists on premise, but SAP does not develop it further, and it is not available in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition or with universal parallel accounting.

What happens to sales orders created before activation?

Nothing, until you run report FINS_PRED_REPOST. It creates the missing predictive entries for existing orders; enter at least a sales organization and start with a test run. Run it again after a conversion, because predictive entries are not migrated.

Do predictive entries affect the financial statements or taxes?

No. They live only in the extension ledger, and statutory reporting runs on the leading and parallel ledgers. Predictive data is meant for internal steering and never for legal reporting.

Does it cost extra?

For SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, SAP states that scope item 2FD needs no additional licensing (KBA 2685346). On premise it is delivered with SAP S/4HANA and switched on in Customizing.

References

Checked in November 2026. Knowledge base articles need an SAP for Me login.