The following topics explain the different requirements and features for clearing open items in the R/3 System.
Introduction to the Clearing Functions
Self-Defined Clearing Procedures
Payment Differences
Automatic Postings for Clearing Procedures
Clearing Open Items Across Company Codes
Bank Sub-Accounts
Facilities for Processing Open Items
Open items are in fact unfinished transactions. For example, a vendor invoice that has not been settled remains in the vendor account until it is paid.
The open items of an account can only be cleared once you post an identical offsetting amount to the account. In other words, the balance of the items assigned to each other must equal zero as shown in the illustration below.
When these items are cleared, the system assigns them a clearing document number and the date on which they were cleared. Invoices in a customer account, for example, would then be marked as paid, while items in a bank clearing account would be marked as cleared.
In order for you to clear items from an account, the account must be kept on an open item basis. Customer and vendor accounts are always kept on an open item basis. This lets you monitor your outstanding receivables and payables at any time. The open item management option, however, must be set for general ledger accounts. You would set this option, for example, for bank sub-accounts and clearing accounts in order to be able to track whether the business transactions posted to these accounts are closed yet.
Open item management ensures that all items that have not yet been cleared are available in the system. Only after every open item in a document is cleared can a document be archived.
You can track open items in line item display or document display. In line item display, you can see the last three digits of the clearing document number if you choose the standard line layout variant. You will want to view clearing documents to find out how the open items were cleared.
There are two functions you can choose from to clear open items: Account Clearing and Posting with Clearing. These functions are described in more detail as follows.
Using the account clearing function, you choose and match those open items from an account that balance out to zero. The system marks them as cleared by assigning them a clearing document number and the date on which they were cleared (clearing date). The clearing date can be the current date or a date that you enter yourself. The clearing document number is the number of the most recent document involved in the clearing procedure. Since postings do not have to be made during account clearing, documents are usually not created. However, the system might have to make clearing entries if line items from different business areas are part of the clearing procedure as shown in the illustration below. In this case, a document is created, and the number of the clearing document is set in every item cleared.
Conditions for Clearing
Generally speaking, you use the account clearing function for bank sub-accounts and clearing accounts. You use the check number to select, for example, an item in your account for incoming checks, to clear it against the cashed check.
Automatic Clearing
Instead of clearing items manually, you can also use a program to clear them automatically, provided no new items have to be created to clear the open items. For more information on this, see the Clearing Program.
Using the posting with clearing function, you enter document line items and then select the open items that are to be cleared. Once the total amount of selected open items equals the amount of the entered line items, the system clears the open items by creating one or more offsetting entries.
A customer pays for several receivables amounting to 5,000 USD with a check. You enter the amount of the check payment in the Checks Receivable account (see step 1 in the illustration below). To clear the receivables in the customer account, you choose the open items (see step 2 below). The amount you enter and the items you select must balance to zero. When you save your entries and selections, the system posts the incoming payment (automatic offsetting entry) to the customer account (see 3 below) and marks the open items as cleared (see 4 below). All four steps are performed in one procedure.
In this clearing procedure, the system generates a clearing document comprised of the items you entered and the offsetting entries it created to balance the document to zero.
The system marks the items as cleared and sets the clearing date and clearing document number in the open items you selected and in the offsetting entries it created. The clearing date is usually the posting date. But if the items you select for clearing have a posting date that comes after the posting date of the clearing document, the system uses the most recent posting date as the clearing date. The following illustration shows the item that the system posted automatically in the above example. The open item is cleared, and the document line item it is matched to contains the clearing information.
There are three functions you can choose from for posting with clearing. With a basic function, you can process any type of business transaction in which items need to be posted and cleared. The two other functions are specially designed for incoming and outgoing payments.
Options when Clearing Open Items
You can:
Automatic Clearing
You can also execute posting with clearing automatically by running the payment program. Normally, you will run the payment program to pay vendor invoices. You can also use the payment program if you and your customers have agreed on a debit memo procedure (collection or direct debiting procedure).
Some special G/L transactions, such as bills of exchange, are cleared using special functions. You can find additional information on special G/L transactions in the FI - Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable documentation.
The standard system contains a clearing procedure for each clearing function that creates documents. The clearing procedures are:
A clearing procedure represents a business transaction that carries out a clearing. To clear items against an incoming payment, you would use the Incoming payment clearing procedure. To post a payment you make to a vendor, you would use the Outgoing payment clearing procedure.
There are two separate transactions specially designed for each of these clearing procedures: incoming payment and outgoing payment. They both use special entry screens that make it easier to process open items. The fast entry function enables you to quickly enter payment lots. The fast entry function for incoming payments uses the posting key that was set up for the "Incoming payment" clearing procedure.
Self-Defined Clearing Procedures
Procedures for Posting with Clearing
Procedure for Account Clearing
Defining and Maintaining Clearing Procedures
In addition to the incoming and outgoing payment functions, the system offers a general clearing function that you can use in posting with clearing. You can use it to clear any type of transaction. Once you access the function, you can choose the transaction you want to process as shown in the illustration below. You can define your own clearing procedures for this general function to make it easier for users to post and clear items. Your accounting clerks can then use the procedure that best suits the business transaction they are processing.
The following overview lists the clearing procedures in the standard system and the functions used to post them.
The system has to make clearing entries for each function apart from account clearing (see Account Clearing and Posting with Clearing). To do this, it requires posting keys that suit the corresponding clearing procedure.
The required posting keys are already defined for these procedures in the standard system. You will have to change the standard settings or make new settings if:
The following illustration shows the clearing procedures defined in the standard system (see 1) and the options for choosing one of the procedures in the general clearing function (see 2).
Posting Keys for Clearing Procedures
Each procedure contains the following debit and credit posting keys per account type:
When defining your own procedures, you should maintain all posting keys for each account type. The illustration below shows the posting keys that were maintained for the incoming payment procedure.
In posting incoming payments, the system requires a posting key to generate the offsetting entry for open items you select from the customer account. To generate this offsetting entry, it uses the customer credit posting key that is specified for the clearing entry. All the other posting keys are used for special situations that may occur when posting an incoming payment:
The system can also deal with payment differences when you post and clear items, but requires a posting key to do this. You can process payment differences as follows:
The posting keys you specify for the Transfer posting with clearing procedure are used for the general clearing function and, if the system has to make internal transfer postings, for the account clearing function as well.
The payment program and the special functions for outgoing and incoming payments use the posting keys defined for the Incoming payment and Outgoing payment procedures.
You cannot delete these three procedures.
Posting keys for the invoice and credit memo fast entry function are defined separately in the system.
Normally you will use the Account clearing function without posting an item. However, the system may have to automatically make transfer postings in some cases. You want to clear items in a clearing account that were posted to different business areas. When clearing the items, the system has to generate a document for the clearing entries between the business areas as show in the figure below. For account clearing, you would specify an account, account type, a clearing currency, clearing date and, if necessary, a special G/L indicator. The document type and posting keys that might be required for any clearing entries that have to be made are predefined in Customizing for the Transfer posting with clearing procedure. The standard system is delivered with a standard document type set up for all account types (see table below). If the system has to generate documents for account clearing, it assigns them a number from the number range set up for this document type. Standard Document Types for Account Clearing Function
Account type | Document type | Description |
D | AB | General document |
K | AB | General document |
S | AB | General document |
If you do not use the standard document type in your system, you will have to specify one of your own document types. If a valid document type is not specified for clearing between business areas, the system cannot clear the items between the different business areas specified on the debit and credit sides. This means that you can also prevent entries from being offset automatically if, for example, your organization does not want its users to clear items between different business areas.
Transfer posting with clearing is set up as the procedure for account clearing in the standard system. It is not possible to use any other procedure for account clearing. You can, however, make changes to the transfer posting with clearing procedure. See Defining and Maintaining Clearing Procedures.
You can change the clearing procedures that are delivered with the standard system. The functions for incoming and outgoing payments and the function for account clearing were both assigned to a separate clearing procedure. If your company requires additional procedures, you can define them for the general clearing function. To do this, you have to maintain the necessary posting keys and the text that is displayed for choosing the procedure on the initial screen of the general clearing function.
You cannot delete the procedures that are included in the standard system. You can delete only the procedures that you define.
For more information on how to create or change clearing procedures, in Customizing for Financial Accounting see the Define Posting Keys for Clearing activity .
Payment differences can occur when clearing open items if, for example, a customer does not pay enough or takes an unauthorized cash discount. If the difference is immaterial, you will usually clear the receivable and post the difference. You can determine how to post possible payment differences as follows: See also:
Differences Within Tolerance Limits
Differences Outside Tolerance Limits
Reason Codes
Differences within tolerance limits are posted automatically. The system can either adjust the cash discount amount or post the difference to a separate gain or loss account. When setting up your tolerance limits, you also specify how the system should post the differences. You can set: Tolerance limits are defined separately for users and business partners. The system checks both limits when clearing open items. The lowest limit always has priority. For one of your customers you set a maximum amount of two USD for adjusting the cash discount amount when a payment difference occurs. For the accounting clerk that processes this customer account, however, you set a maximum amount of one USD. If differences occur when this clerk clears items from this customer account, the system can adjust the cash discount amount only up to a maximum of one USD. Settings you make for tolerance limits are valid in the currency of your company code (local currency). The currency is always displayed when defining limits.
Defining Tolerance Limits
You set tolerance limits separately for your users and your business partners:
For the cash discount adjustment, you can set separate maximum amounts of permitted payment differences per gain and loss (see 1 in figure below).
Only if a cash discount posting exists and the cash discount amount allows the system to make an adjustment can immaterial differences be cleared by adjusting the cash discount.
If the payment difference cannot be cleared by adjusting the cash discount, the system posts it to a separate gain or loss account. For posting the difference to a separate gain or loss account, you also set a maximum amount for your users and your business partners. The lowest limit has priority in clearing procedures. You can set an absolute amount (see 2) or a percentage (see 3). The lowest limit has priority here as well.
To use only absolute amounts or percentages, simply enter greater values for the other limits. Limits can be set per gain and loss.
Grouping Business Partners
If you want to use the same tolerances for several customers or vendors, you can group them together using the tolerance group code. You simply define the tolerances under a tolerance group code and then enter that code in the master records of the customers or vendors that should be assigned those tolerances.
You can also define tolerances without specifying a tolerance group for them by leaving the tolerance group field empty. These tolerances will then affect all customers or vendors that are not assigned any tolerance group in their master records, that is, the field in the master record is left blank.
By grouping your business partners under tolerance group codes, you can assign different tolerances to different groups of business partners. For instance, all your major customers could be assigned the same tolerances, which are more lenient than those assigned to new customers. Extraordinary business partners could be assigned special tolerances that are defined under a separate code.
Tolerance groups are defined per company code. This ensures that all tolerance settings you make are effective in the company code’s currency. It also lets each company define its own tolerances for the same business partners.
When defining tolerances, you can also make other settings that facilitate open item processing. See Facilities for Processing Open Items. For more information about setting tolerances, see the Define tolerances (vendors) or Define tolerance group for users activity in Customizing for Financial Accounting.
Differences exceeding the tolerance limits set for clearing them automatically may still occur during a payment procedure due to various reasons. Your customer could, for example, send you a payment advice note informing you of the items he or she is sending the payment for, but the amount paid may not be enough to match the amount of outstanding receivables.
In processing the customer’s open items, you can choose from one of the following options:
The system requires posting keys for each of these transactions. You predefine these keys in the system. For more information on this, see Posting with Clearing.
To post residual items, you have to specify what terms of payment you want to apply to these items. Per business partner, you can determine that:
To use the clearing document to find out why a difference existed, you have to assign reason codes to the line items. Using a key, you can define various reason codes in Customizing.
You can assign reason codes to:
When you create residual items, the reason code also controls how the remaining amount is posted. The remaining amount can be posted to:
Other features of reason codes:
Reason codes determine:
· To define reason codes, see the following activities in Customizing for Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable:
- Define reason codes (incoming payment)
- Define reason codes (outgoing payment)
- Define standard reason codes for clearing procedures
When clearing open items, the system can automatically post:
To have the system post these items automatically, you have to define the accounts that are posted to. The following information explains the preparations necessary for automatically posting gains or losses from overpayment and underpayment and for posting bank account items and bank charges. Information on setting up other transactions can be found under the following two topics:
Gains or Losses from Payment Differences
Bank Charges and Bank Posting
Where are automatic postings explained?
Function | Topic |
Cash discount postings Tax adjustments and withholding tax | Terms of payment and cash discounts
Taxes |
Exchange rate differences | Foreign currency |
Cash discount clearing with the net procedure | Terms of payment and cash discounts |
If a payment difference during clearing is within the predefined tolerances, the system can post it automatically.
The system does not require any additional entries to clear a difference by adjusting the cash discount. To post it however to a separate gain or loss account, it requires special rules to determine the appropriate account to post to.
The accounts can be determined based on the following three criteria:
Debit or credit
Select the debit or credit criterion to have different accounts posted to depending on whether the difference is an overpayment or underpayment.
Tax code
Select the tax code criterion to have different accounts posted to based on the tax code specified in each line item.
Reason code
Select the reason code criterion to have different accounts posted to based on the reason code specified in each line item.
If you choose to differentiate accounts by tax code and/or reason code, you have to specify accounts for each tax code and each reason code.
The system also requires the posting keys to debit and credit G/L accounts for automatic postings.
All of these settings are already made for the charts of accounts included in the standard system. If you do not use these charts of accounts, you will have to make the necessary settings yourself.
The functions for incoming and outgoing payments contain a field for bank charges, in which you can enter any bank charges that are part of the payment being made or received. For incoming payments, the system subtracts the bank charges from the clearing amount, while in outgoing payments, it adds the charges to the clearing amount.
The system posts the charges to an expense account. To do this, it requires a posting key and an account assignment, both of which are already defined in the standard system. If you are not using the charts of accounts included with the standard system, you will have to enter your own account specification for posting bank charges. The Relevant to cash flow indicator must be set in the master records of accounts that record bank charges.
For the system to make the bank posting, you have to specify the bank account and amount in the clearing functions. The posting keys for G/L account postings are already defined in the standard system. You will only have to change them if you are not using the standard posting keys to debit and credit G/L accounts.
If taxes have to be posted for bank charges, you have to set up the bank charges account as tax-relevant. When posting the bank charges, the system then determines from the account master record that tax entries have to be made for the charges, and displays a screen for users to make the necessary entries.
You can enter cross-company code transactions in one step in the General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable application components. This function would be used, for instance, for centralized procurement or payment.
If all payments are made centrally, each company code enters its own invoices separately, while one company code pays the invoices centrally. When clearing the invoice open items, the system makes clearing entries between the company codes participating in the clearing procedure. This clears receivables and payables that exist between the company codes participating in the centralized payment process.
A separate document is created for each company code and assigned a common transaction number so that you can easily track the transaction.
The following defines the prerequisites for centralized payment transactions, if carried out manually. See also in the FI - Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable documentation, the section on payments.
Company code 0001 processes its own incoming payments as well as those for company code 0002. The invoices are entered in the individual company codes.
The following invoices were posted in the illustration above:
Once payment is received, you clear the open items by choosing them from the customer account in company code 0001, since this company code is also responsible for company code 0002. The open items from company code 0002 are automatically selected for processing as well.
See also:
Prerequisites for Clearing Across Company Codes
To clear open items across company codes: For information on how to make these settings in Customizing, see the Prepare manual cross-company payments activity in Customizing for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable.
The charts of accounts included in the standard system contain a number of bank sub-accounts. There are bank sub-accounts for outgoing checks, incoming checks, outgoing wire transfers, and direct debits.
Bank sub-accounts make it easier to reconcile your actual bank account balance with the balance on your books, since outgoing and incoming payments are posted to the G/L bank account only after your bank actually debits or credits your account. Incoming and outgoing payments are posted to the G/L bank account once you receive the bank statement.
See also:
Requirements for Using Bank Sub-Accounts
Example: Posting a Customer CheckTo use the sub-account methodology, you have to create the necessary accounts for each bank account that is used in payment transactions. You can review the charts of accounts delivered with the standard system to find out exactly which sub-accounts you require and how they should be set up.
Sub-accounts are usually kept on an open item basis and permit line item display to enable you keep track of whether or not a business transaction was cleared. For example, you can display the line items in the Checks Payable account to determine if a check you issued was cashed at your bank yet.
You can use the field status definition in the G/L account master record to design the screens for posting items to bank sub-accounts. For example, you will only need the fields Allocation number, Text, Value dates and Bank charges for subaccounts. You can hide any fields you do not require. This makes it easier to enter business transactions and prevents you from making incorrect entries. The Allocation field is specially designed for assigning items in a sub-account to each other. In a check clearing account, for example, you can enter the check number in this field. For further information on the Allocation field, see the FI Document Posting manual.
The payment program and the extended banking and treasury functions also use the sub-account methodology.
A customer sends a check payment for 5,000 USD. You post this payment to the Incoming Checks subaccount and to the customer’s account (see step 1 in the illustration below), while at the same time clearing the receivables in the customer’s account (see step 2 below).
Once your bank credits the check amount to your account, you post the check to the G/L bank account and select it from the Incoming Checks account (see step 3 in the illustration above). The system credits the Incoming Checks account and clears the posting items from this sub-account (see step 4 above). The check is then marked as cashed. The bank account set up in the general ledger reflects only the amounts that your bank actually debits or credits.
To help you process open items efficiently, you can use the following utilities:
Selection and search functions
Prior to processing open items, you can enter specific values to find the items that you want to process. In the line item display, you can search for individual items. Fields are available in which you can enter your search values. You can determine the fields for which the selection and search functions are available. See also Fields for the Selection, Search, and Sort Functions.
Payment advice notes
Payment advice notes in the system contain the following information about incoming payments for clearing open items:
Payment advice notes are stored in the system under a key made of the company code, account type, account number, and a payment advice number. Payment advice notes are either entered manually or created automatically (payment advice notes via EDI or electronic bank statement).
When posting and clearing items, you can reference a payment advice note and have the system automatically select and activate the items that match the entries in that payment advice note. The system will also handle any payment differences using the reason codes specified in the payment advice note.
Sort function
In line item display, you can sort the items according to various criteria. To do this, you have to preset the fields that can be sorted so that when you access the sort function. You can choose from a list of fields that can be sorted. See also Standard Sort Sequence.
Line layout of document information
The first screen that appears in all functions of open item processing is an overview screen that displays the most important information about a document. This information can come from the document header and line items and is displayed in one line. You decide which data to display on this line by defining the line layout. You can set up several variants of the line layout. Accounting clerks can store the line layout they use most often under their editing options or in their user master record. Once the clerk executes the function, the system displays the document information based on this variant. When processing open items, the clerk can choose multiple variants and switch back and forth between them. See also Line Layout of Document Information
Default values for cash discount terms and grace days
To process open items, you can also define a default value for the cash discount terms and grace days displayed for the due date calculation of receivables. To define the grace days and the default values for cash discount terms, you make entries in the following fields:
Work lists
To process open items, you can specify a work list instead of individual account numbers. You use work lists to group together the accounts that you want to include in line item display and open item processing. In their editing options, accounting clerks can specify whether they want to use work lists. For more information, see the Implementation Guide for Financial Accounting.
Block for manual payment
You can use payment block reasons to prevent open items from being processed with the functions for incoming and outgoing payments. To do this, you define the necessary keys for payment block reasons and set them correspondingly. It is still possible to make transfer postings or reverse the items manually.
Internal payment advice notes
If you have to interrupt open item processing, you can save the current state of processing in the form of an internal payment advice note. Later, you can continue processing by referencing the payment advice number.
For more information on the settings you need to make in Customizing, see the Open Item Processing activity in Customizing for Financial Accounting.For selecting, searching, and sorting, you can determine which fields should be displayed for every function separately. You can also determine the sequence in which the fields appear in the selection screen and you can enter the required field description.
All the specifications needed for these functions are already contained in the standard system. You can change or add to these predefined entries.
The figure below shows the selection screen for the open items and the selection fields that are possible (see figure 1 below). In the figure above this, you can see the specification as to which fields should be displayed for selection (see figure 2 below). An accounting clerk will often want to specify the gross amount or a document number for selection. That is why these fields were placed at the beginning of the field list.
The system displays open items from an account according to the standard sort sequence using the Allocation, Document number, and Fiscal year fields. If you select line items by specifying individual document numbers, the system displays the items in the same order in which you specified the document numbers. You can set up your own sort sequences as needed. See Fields for the Selection, Search and Sort Functions.
In processing open items, you can choose from several variants for the line layout. If you choose the variant Document number, the most important data from the document header, such as document number and document date, is displayed as well as the days in arrears, the amount and the cash discount as shown in the following figure. If you choose the variant Reference number, the external document number is displayed instead of the document type and the document date. The above-mentioned variants are predefined in the standard system. You can change them or create your own. The line layout determines what information is displayed in open item processing (see example). You can assign a line layout variant to every user via their master record. As a result, the information necessary for this person's task is displayed directly when the open items are being processed. The line variant does not have to be changed. Information on dunning eligibility can be important for an accounts receivable accountant. You should therefore, via the master record, assign him/her a variant which contains this information. In other words, you can use the variants to prepare information on the open items tailored to the tasks of your accounting clerks.
Defining a Line Layout
To define your own line layout variants, you have to:
The figure below shows how the Document number line layout was defined. The fields were specified in the sequence required for the line layout (see 1). The display length for the Document type field is 2; the distance between it and the previous field is 1. The output of the Document type field was not shortened (see 2). The system makes all the other display format settings. The column heading is displayed in the open item display in the same way it was specified in the definition (see 4 below).
Standard Default for the Line Layout
For every clearing function in the system, you can determine what variant should be used for the line layout when the function is called up. You can use a different variant for every account type. This default value takes effect if no variant is specified in the user master record.
Grace Days and Proposal for Cash Discount Terms
For processing open items, you can set up two further defaults depending on agreements with your business partners. These include:
For each customer, you can specify that grace days be granted for the due dates of the terms of payment in the document. These days are taken into account when the due date is calculated for an incoming payment. You can use grace days to include bank transfer days in the calculation of payment periods, for example. This makes processing open items much simpler.
You can choose what cash discount terms should be displayed with cash discount information for the clearing procedure. Normally, you will want to display this information with the current cash discount terms. This is the default setting for the functions. You can change the cash discount terms in the display at any time. If you do not want to display the cash discount information with the current cash discount terms, but always with the same particular cash discount terms, you should specify this in the system.
If the amount to be found for an open item deviates from the amount to be paid that is stated on the payment advice note, you can decide for specific payment differences whether a residual item should be set up automatically. You then specify the absolute or percentage deviation that must be reached or exceeded before a residual item is created automatically.
For further information on how to define and change line layout variants, see the FI Document Posting manual.
The section on the Clearing Program introduces you to the clearing process in the R/3 System and explains how to automatically clear open items using the clearing program.
The section on clearing functions describes the requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to clear open items in the R/3 System.
The section on Clearing Open Items sapurl_link_0003_0003_0004 describes the process of clearing open items using the Post with Clearing function.
The section on Clearing Open Items in Release 4.0 describes the new functions for clearing open items in Release 4.0.
Open items of an account can be cleared manually using the Account clearing function, or they can be cleared automatically by the system. Automatic clearing is especially useful for clearing accounts in the G/L account area.
This section describes:
Introduction to the Clearing Program
Prerequisites for Clearing
Executing the Clearing Program
Parameters for Running the Program
Running the Clearing Program
Reviewing the Clearing Results
Generating a Line Item List and Additional Log
You can clear open items from customer, vendor, and G/L accounts by running the clearing program. This program uses predefined criteria to group together open items per account. If the balance of the group of open items equals zero in local, foreign, and where applicable, the parallel currency, the items are marked as cleared.
When clearing open items, the program sets a clearing document number and a clearing date in the line items. It uses the document number and posting date from the most recent document (highest document number) that is part of the clearing process.
The program groups together those items from an account that have the same:
You can specify criteria for each account type based on a single account or an interval of accounts. These criteria let you select what items to process together and ensure that only those items that are part of the same business transaction are cleared with each other.
You want to clear the open items in the Goods Receipt/Invoice Receipt Clearing account automatically. In addition to the criteria predefined by the system, you set the criteria for the purchase order number. This criteria ensures that only goods receipt items and invoice items that belong to each other are cleared by each other.
The following prerequisites must be met in order for open items to be cleared:
See also:
Open Item Management
Criteria for Grouping Open Items
Items That Are Not Cleared
The basic prerequisite for automatic clearing is that the accounts must be kept on an open item basis. Customer and vendor accounts are always kept on an open item basis. This lets you monitor your outstanding receivables and payables at any time. The open item management option, however, must be set for general ledger accounts. You would set this option, for example, for clearing accounts and bank sub-accounts in order to be able to track whether the business transactions posted to these accounts are closed yet. Open item management ensures that all items that have not yet been cleared are available in the system. Only after every open item in a document is cleared can a document be archived.
In addition to the criteria predefined by the system, you can define up to four other criteria to group together open items for clearing. To do this, enter the following when configuring the clearing program:
Fields from tables BSEG or BKPF can be entered as criteria. If possible, you should select fields so that they will also be contained in tables BSIS (G/L accounts), BSID (customer accounts) or BSIK (vendor accounts).
The clearing program does not clear any special G/L transactions, and because it cannot post new documents, it does not clear items if extra postings would have to be made to clear them.
You posted a vendor invoice. This item could be cleared with a credit memo. At the time of clearing, cash discount would have to be posted. Therefore, the clearing program cannot clear the item.
Items that require an extra posting are:
An extra posting would also be required if the items balance to zero in document currency, but not in the local currency or parallel currency (group or global company currency, etc.). Automatic clearing could not be made in this case either.
You can use the special program SAPF123W to clear the Goods Receipts/Invoice Receipts Clearing accounts. This program can post exch
For the program run, you specify in which company codes which accounts should be cleared. You can specify individual accounts or intervals of account numbers. You can restrict the selection of open items even more by specifying a fiscal year. If you do not enter any parameters, the entire dataset is selected. You should therefore always specify company codes and accounts. To avoid having to enter the parameters repeatedly for every program run, you can store your specifications in variants. A variant consists of a complete group of clearing parameters which you save and call up together .
To execute the clearing program from the General Ledger, Accounts Payable, or Accounts Receivable menu:
In the General Ledger menu, you can choose to clear General G/L accounts or the GR/IR clearing account.
The screen to enter the parameters for clearing open items appears.
To have the program actually clear any open items and update the database, make certain that the Test run indicator is not selected. The test run mode is the default mode.
The system lists the results of the clearing procedure.
The program outputs:
You can print the lists by selecting List ® Print.
You can calculate interest on the balance of those of your G/L accounts which are managed with open item display by using the balance interest calculation function in the FI system. This function can be used, for example, to double-check the interest calculated on your accounts by the bank. You can also use balance interest calculation in accounts receivable and accounts payable. In these areas it is used, for example, to calculate interest on the staff loan accounts managed in accounts receivable and payable. The following topics describe what options you need to consider before carrying out a balance interest calculation, and how this type of calculation is executed.
When you calculate interest on G/L accounts, a graduated list is produced. You can also have the balance interest calculation run logged by the system. This is especially useful if the run does not produce the result you expected. By checking the log, you can find out why interest was not calculated for a certain account.
The balance interest calculation program is controlled using the following specifications:
The following topic deals with those fields in a G/L account master record which are relevant for balance interest calculation. The topics after it explain how the interest indicator works and how the interest calculation period for the balance interest calculation run is determined. You may have to modify the interest rates defined in the system before running the balance interest calculation program. For more information on this, see Modifying Interest Rates.
The last topic in this section describes how to carry out a balance interest calculation run and how you can control this procedure.
There are four fields in the company code-dependent data area of a G/L account master record that are relevant for balance interest calculation.
Interest indicator
In order to calculate interest on G/L account balances, the interest calculation report references the interest indicator from the account master record. The most important specifications for interest calculation are stored in this indicator, such as the rules used for calculating interest and the interest rate.
The interest indicator must belong to the interest calculation type "balance interest calculation".
Interest calculation frequency
In this field you enter a number of months, which determines how often the interest calculation program is to be run. However, it is only necessary to make an entry in this field if you are planning to have the system determine the interest calculation period automatically. The interest calculation period always refers to the field Key date of last int.calc. You can also define an interest calculation frequency under an interest indicator. However, the entry in the master record has higher priority.
Key date of last int.calc. (interest calculation)
After the interest calculation program has been run in the background, it enters in this field the upper limit of the interest calculation period. This date is used by the system to automatically determine the interest calculation period for an account.
Date of last int.calc. run
In this field the report enters the CPU date of the last balance interest calculation run. This information is necessary in order to determine whether interest must be calculated for items with a value date in the past. These are items which are posted to a period for which interest has already been calculated. You can find more information on this special case in the program documentation.
All accounts that you want to be included in the interest calculation run must have an entry in the field Interest indicator in their master record. If you want to block an account for interest calculation, you should remove the interest indicator.
You can find out how to change or display a master record in G/L Account Master Data.
The interest indicator controls interest calculation. The following data is stored in the system under the interest indicator:
You can also specify under the interest indicator that the program should use an interest calculation numerator to calculate the interest. Otherwise, the program calculates the interest directly.
Note that, under certain circumstances, no interest is calculated for an account:
In general, all the specifications regarding interest calculation are made during the configuration of your system. You can find more information on this topic in the General Ledger IMG under "Bank Account Interest Calculation".
The interest calculation period is demarcated by an upper and a lower limit (i.e. dates). The days in between these two dates are those for which interest is calculated.
There are two methods for determining the interest calculation period in the SAP system:
Defining the Interest Calculation Period Manually
Automatic Determination of the Interest Calculation Period
If you want to define the interest calculation period manually, you must enter it for every interest calculation run you carry out. You do not need to fill any extra fields when defining the interest calculation period. In particular, you should not make an entry in the field Key date of last int.calc.
The system does not recognize overlaps with previous balance interest calculation runs. You thus have be sure that you do not enter a period for which interest has already been calculated.
You can use this method if you always calculate interest on accounts for periods of the same length, for example, once every month.
To ensure that interest calculation periods do not overlap, you can have the interest calculation period determined automatically. This is especially useful if you want to charge interest on accounts at irregular intervals. The interest calculation program then determines which accounts should be included in the respective calculation run.
For some of your accounts you run the interest calculation program every month; for others every three months. This can easily lead to overlaps if you enter the calculation periods manually.
If you want the interest calculation period to be determined automatically, you must carry out the following steps in the system:
The system uses this data to determine the upper and lower limit of the interest calculation period.
It does so in the following way: The program adds one day to the data in the field Key date of last int.calc. and uses the result as the lower limit for the interest calculation period.
The upper limit is determined as follows:
You have defined the following data in the system:
Key date of last int.calc. (interest calculation) 5/31/94
Interest calculation frequency in months 3
Interest calculation day 31
From this data, the system determines a lower limit of 6/1/94 and an upper limit of 8/31/94.
An account is only included in the interest calculation run if the upper limit you specify in the program is not later than the upper limit specified for interest calculation. You can thus carry out the interest calculation independently of the specified frequency with which interest is calculated on the accounts.
The system has determined 8/31/94 as the upper limit for this account. If you are calculating interest for the period 7/1/94 to 8/15/94, the account is ignored. However, if your calculation is for the period 7/1/94 to 9/1/94, the account is included.
This following topics describe how to modify the interest rates defined in the system. This may be necessary before running the interest calculation program. It also describes how to run this program.
Modifying Interest Rates
Running the Interest Calculation Program
It may be necessary to update the interest rates defined under the interest indicator before running the interest calculation report. Interest rates can be defined in various ways, such as the following:
To change a fixed interest rate or enter a different reference rate, proceed as follows from the Accounting Configuration menu:
Reference interest
If you want to use another interest rate as a reference, enter it in this field. This reference rate must be defined in the system already. To define a reference rate, go to the General Ledger IMG and select Define reference interest rates. You can find more information on system configuration in Configuring the System Using the Implementation Guide
Surcharge
If you want to use a fixed interest rate, enter it in this field. You can, however, use both a fixed rate and a reference rate. In this case, the surcharge is added to the reference rate during the interest calculation run.
Amount from
If you want the choice of rate to be dependent on the amount
involved, enter that amount here.
You start the interest calculation program from the General Ledger menu as follows:
The first screen for entering the selection criteria appears.
Your entries in this screen define the following:
You can limit the number of accounts included in the interest calculation by entering an interval for the chart of accounts, G/L account number, company code, interest indicator, and business area, or an individual value. Note that, generally speaking, only those accounts which have an interest indicator for balance interest calculation in the master record, and are managed with line item display, are included in the calculation.
The period you enter here determines the calculation period for the interest calculation run. If the field Key date of last int.calc. in the master record is filled, the system determines the interest calculation period automatically. For more information on this, refer to Determining the Interest Calculation Period.
This entry is important if you have not entered this date in the master record. The date is used to decide whether items should be treated as value dates in the past. These are items that are posted to a period for which interest has already been calculated. For more information on this special case, refer to the program documentation.
This field lets you determine whether the program takes the value date, posting date or document date as the reference date for interest calculation. For balance interest calculation for customer and vendor accounts, the report uses the baseline date for payment as the reference date.
You can select whether, when calculating interest using either the Gregorian or the Japanese calendar, the system should calculate for 366 days (leap year). If you mark the field Standard int.calculation with a X , the interest calculation period is put back by one day. This means that the system also calculates interest on the carry forward balance. Those items for which interest would usually be calculated up to the period upper limit are not included in the run.
The system displays an interest scale for each account. The form that is used for this is stored under the interest indicator in the system. In addition to this, you have the option of requesting an interest rate overview. This is printed after the interest calculation run, with the interest broken down into debit and credit interest. By selecting a certain summarization level, you can determine how detailed the interest scale should be. If you want to be able to monitor the interest calculation run, you can have the system log the run. However, if you request a log, this should not be for more than a handful of G/L accounts. To this end, you should always enter the names of the appropriate accounts in the field Accounts for additional log.
The interest calculation data in the G/L account master records (see Interest Calculation: Fields in the Master Record ) is only updated if you enter X in the Update master record field and specify a session name for the background run in the Batch input session name field. You should always choose to update if you want to have the settlement period calculated automatically.
