Correcting Mistakes Posting and Clearing

If the debits do not equal the credits or you have made a mistake entering a line item or processing open items, you can correct the mistake.

The following functions are available for correcting mistakes:

• Change, delete or enter line items
• Select additional open items
• Edit selected open items

You can reach the document overview screen from any screen during the clearing process.

From the screen for processing open items, you can make the following corrections by selecting the following menu sequences:

Functions in the Document Overview

To	Choose
Correct an entered line item	Goto ® Document overview
Add a new line item	Goto ® Document overview
Delete an entered line item	Goto ® Document overview
Select more open items	Edit ® Choose more

Posting Partial Payments Posting and Clearing

A partial payment is a payment that is posted to an account without any open items being cleared. You allocate this partial payment to an open item. When posting, the system marks the number of the original open item in the line item for the partial payment. The original open item and the partial payment remain open.

To enter a partial payment, proceed as follows:

1. From the menu bar of the screen for processing open items, choose Goto
2. ® Partial pmnt screen. In the Payment amount column, enter the partial payment amount. You can make a partial payment for several one open items. You can assign a reason code to each partial payment. Depending on the reason code you specify, you can send payment notices to your customers.
3. To go back to the standard screen for processing open items, choose Goto
® Standard screen.

The system stores in the partial payment the document number, fiscal year and number of the line item from the invoice. You can find this information in the Payment for field. Thus you can refer to the original open item from the partial payment. When you post the remaining amount for the invoice, both the partial payment and the invoice are cleared.

You can enter partial payments using the mouse. This has the advantage that, if the remaining amount has to be allocated to a single item, you can enter it automatically in the partial payment screen. To do so, place the cursor in the Payment amount field for the appropriate line item, and select this item by double-clicking on it. The system then takes account of the remaining amount for this item.

Posting Residual Items Posting and Clearing

A residual item results when a payment is made for less than the actual amount outstanding. You clear the original open item, and the system posts a new open item. This new open item is for the same amount as the original open item minus the amount paid.

To enter a residual item, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Goto
® Residual item screen from the menu bar of the screen for processing open items.
2. In the Residual items column, enter the amount of the residual item.

You can assign one or more reason codes and reference information about the business partner to the residual items. For each reason code, you can determine whether a new item is to be posted to the business partner account (outstanding receivable) or if the difference is to be charged off. Depending on the reason code you specify, you may be able to send the relevant payment information to your vendor or customer.

3. To go back to the standard screen for processing open items, choose Goto
® Standard screen.

When you post the document, the system enters the document number, fiscal year and item number of the original open item into the Residual for field in the residual item.

For the residual item, the system either uses the terms of payment from the original invoice item or enters the predefined terms of payment. Which payment terms are used depends on the settings made for the tolerance group in the vendor master data.

(I)You can enter residual items and process them using the mouse. This has the advantage that, if the remaining amount has to be allocated to a single item, you can do this automatically in the partial payment screen. To do so, place the cursor in the Residual items field for the appropriate line item, and select this item by double-clicking on it. The system then takes account of the remaining amount for this item.

(II)In the editing options, you can set whether to enter the payment amount or the remaining amount in residual items.

Displaying the Open Items Posting and Clearing

From the screen for processing open items, you can display an entire open item as follows:

Place the cursor on the open item, but not on the amount or cash discount fields.

Double-click on the open item or choose Environment

® Display item from the menu bar.

To go to the next open item in the list of displayed open items, choose Goto

® Additional functions ® Next item in list.

To go to the next open item in the document, choose Goto

® Next item.

To go back to the list of open items to process, select the function Back

Explaining Differences Posting and Clearing

To clear open items, the system requires either:

• that the sum of the line items you enter equals the sum of the activated open items (the debits equal the credits)

or

• that the difference between the debits and credits is within the tolerance limit set in your system configuration.

From the screen for processing open items, you can display an explanation of the difference between the sum of the line items you entered and the sum of the open items you activated.

To do this, choose Environment ® Explain difference.

The Explain Difference dialog box appears.

It informs you about the difference between the payment amount (the clearing item) and the amount of the processed open items (amount to be cleared). Choose Cancel to go back to the list of open items.

Processing Open Items as per Payment Advice Note Posting and Clearing

In order to process open items according to an existing payment advice note, enter a payment advice note number on the screen for selecting open items. Only those open items which are listed in the payment advice note will be displayed for processing. Additional selection criteria are then ignored. You are not required to enter the account number, but it normally does improve the system processing time. The entire account number need not be entered, it suffices when you enter an asterisk *.

If you enter:

*041 the system will search for all payment advice notes ending with the numbers 041.

*ABC* the system will search for all payment advice notes containing the character string "ABC".

MT* the system searches for all payment advice notes beginning with the character string "MT".

For every payment advice note item, those items which fulfill the selection criteria are selected. If a document number is entered in the payment advice note, it has priority over other selection criteria. The number of items selected through this procedure is increased by all the items belonging to the selected invoice with an invoice reference (invoice-related credit memos, partial payments).

If through this procedure several payment advice note items are found, the gross total of all the assigned items will be compared with the gross amount of payment advice note items. If necessary, a combination of the assigned items whose gross total is close to the gross amount of the payment advice note item, is displayed. If a difference remains between the payment advice note and the total of assigned open items, residual items are automatically calculated. If advise note sub-items which explain the difference are present, their amounts will be transferred along with the entered reason codes and the reference information. If afterwards yet another difference exists, it will be removed from the payment advice note via the reason code.

If no payment advice note items exist to explain the difference and reason code is not cited, the system automatically divides up the total difference. Up to three residual items may result from this process. One for each:

• Difference between the gross amounts

• Difference between the cash discount amounts

• Other differences

Other differences appear when in the payment advice note the net amount does not result from the difference between the gross amount -the cash discount amount.

The difference postings, resulting from the different gross amounts or the different cash discount amounts, can be displayed via a separate reason code. You can define reason codes in customizing.

The difference postings are generated as a residual posting for the open item with the greatest amount assigned to the payment advice note.

If several difference postings in a payment advice note have the same reason code, they are added together.

If open items cannot be assigned to a payment advice note item, the system will automatically assign a posting on account for this item. The selection criteria from the payment advice note is in the item text. This makes it easier to allocate the payments in the future. The total amount of these payment on account postings is displayed in the Pyt on act fr.pyt adv. field. If you don’t want these postings to be generated, for example, because the difference must be allocated manually or posted as a total, you can prevent the system from making these postings via the menu path Edit ® Pyt on act fr.pyt adv ® Inactive. To reverse this, choose Edit ® Pyt on act fr.pyt adv ® Active. Alternatively, instead of using the menu paths, you can double click the Pyt on act fr.pyt adv field.

When you post a clearing procedure, the related payment advice is automatically deleted if there is at least one active open item to which an advice item is allocated.

Noting Open Items as Payment Advice Notes Posting and Clearing

When editing open items, you can have the system note the items you have selected along with their current processing status in the form of a payment advice. To do this, choose Edit ® Create pyt adv.. A dialog box appears in which you can enter the key for the payment advice note you require. Alternatively, you can have the system allocate a number internally.

If you have already used an advice note when selecting open items, the following rules apply:

• If the old advice note was created while you were processing open items, when you note the new advice note, the old one is deleted.

• If the old advice note was created in a different function, you cannot create a new note within the open items processing function, as this could cause the old advice note to be deleted. This could mean that detailed information required to process the open items is lost, such as information on those advice items to which no open items have been allocated.

Clearing Between Company Codes Posting and Clearing

In a single clearing procedure, you clear open items across several company codes. The system must, however, be specially configured for this. For each clearing transaction (payment, credit or transfer posting), the system administrator specifies the company codes to which postings must be made (in addition to the company code you have entered).

The open items of all the company codes involved are then automatically selected and when the clearing is posted, several documents (one per company code) with a cross-company code transaction number are simultaneously generated.

Clearing Open Items in Foreign Currency Posting and Clearing

You can clear open items in any currency you want.

The amount of all the selected open items will automatically be translated to the currency in which the clearing is to take place. The translation is executed as follows:

Item currency ® Local currency ® Clearing currency.

You are therefore not required to make additional entries in the translation table for cross-currency clearings.

When clearing, you can only display the open items in either the clearing currency or the local currency. The originally posted amounts for items which were posted in a third currency do not appear in the overview.

You no longer need to make a posting to an interim account (currency exchange account) for payments in a foreign currency which do not correspond to the paid items.

Clearing in a Third Currency

The company code local currency is DEM. An invoice was created on 4/1/94 for 1000 SFR, and on 4/15/94 a payment for 685 USD was entered. If the invoice were created in USD, the amount due would be $687.14. A difference of DEM 8.65 remains in the local currency. This difference is divided up into unauthorized deductions in the amounts of DEM 3.66 and due to the loss in SFR exchange rate fluctuation DEM 4.99.

If you want to clear cross-currency open items, it may be worth your while to view the item currency keys in the overview. In order to do so, you need to define a corresponding display variant in which the field Currency is supported by the internal field name WAERS. In the Accounting IMG, select the step Define processing formats and then Posting ® Clearing procedures ® Line layout to do this. You can either change or add to the existing variants or define completely new variants. For information about system configuration,

Clearing Mixed Currency Open Items in Local Currency Posting and Clearing

If you have G/L accounts which record items in foreign and local currency and you want to clear these items using the local currency, you can choose from two different processing methods:

• 
  
System Translates All Amounts to Local Currency During Clearing (Standard)
• 
  
System Uses Historical Amounts in Local Currency During Clearing (can be set for G/L accounts with open item management)

System Translates All Amounts to Local Currency During Clearing in SAP FICO Posting and Clearing in SAP FICO Posting and Clearing

This option is preset in the standard system. When you clear open items, all amounts in a foreign currency will be translated to the local currency using the current exchange rate. This guarantees that a proper breakdown is made between exchange rate differences and payment differences when payment is made in a currency (for example, the local currency) other than the one in which the invoice was originally received.

Some of the open items in your vendor’s account are kept in local currency, while others are kept in different foreign currencies. You clear all open items using the local currency.

On 01/01/95, you posted an invoice for 1000 DEM, which at that time translated to 580 USD. On 01/23/95, the exchange rate increases from .58 to .63 USD per DEM, and you make a payment to your vendor for 620 USD to clear the invoice.

Transaction	Foreign currency	Exchange rate	Local currency	Amount to be cleared
01/01/95: Invoice	1000 DEM	.58	580 USD
01/23/95: Payment		.63	620 USD	630 USD

If the open item is cleared using the local currency, the system uses the current exchange rate to translate the foreign currency amount to local currency. It valuates the original invoice for 1000 DEM using the current exchange rate of .63 USD per DEM. The invoice amount for clearing now equals 630 DEM. Payment was made for 620 USD, which means the system would post an unauthorized deduction of 10 USD and an exchange rate loss of 50 USD.

The open item in this example was translated into local currency using the current exchange rate instead of the historical rate. If the historical rate had been used, you would have overpaid by 40 USD, and an exchange rate loss would not have been realized.

System Uses Historical Amounts in Local Currency During Clearing Posting and Clearing

If you select the Only balances in local crcy indicator in a G/L master record, the system uses the historical amount in local currency when you clear open items. This means that all amounts - even if they are posted in foreign currency - are recorded as if they were posted in local currency. When clearing open items, the system processes all amounts as if they were posted in local currency. Accounting for foreign currency open items in this way lets you set up special clearing accounts in the G/L accounts area. For example, clearing accounts for goods receipts and invoice receipts can be set up so that items are only posted manually to these accounts and the goods receipts are always posted in local currency. If their amounts always correspond in local currency, you will be able to clear the goods receipts and invoice receipts without having to make any adjusting entries.

You have accounts with open items in local currency as well as different foreign currencies. You clear all open items using the local currency.

On 01/01/1995, you posted an incoming invoice in both German marks and US dollars, 1000 DEM and 580 USD respectively. On 01/23/1995, the exchange rate increases from .58 to .63 USD per DEM. You post the goods receipt, however, in US dollars for 580 USD. When you match and clear these items, the system does not retranslate the amount for 1000 DEM, but uses the historical amount of 580 USD.

Transaction	Foreign currency	Rate	Local Currency	Clearing amnt
01/01/95: Invoice	1000 DEM	.58	580 USD	580 USD
01/23/95: Goods receipt		.63		580 USD

You can clear the items without having to make any further adjustment postings.

If the Only balances in local crcy indicator is suppressed from the screens for G/L account master data maintenance, you will have to set it in Customizing so that the system displays it. To do this, execute the activity Define screen layout per activity (G/L accounts) in Customizing for General Ledger Accounting. On the next screen, select the desired activity (display, create, change), and choose Edit field status. Then choose the Account control group and set the Only balances in local crcy indicator as an optional entry.

Clearing Open Items with a Future Posting Date Posting and Clearing

When performing manual clearing procedures for incoming or outgoing payments, you can even clear items that have a posting date which is ahead of the clearing date.

On 3/26/95, you enter an invoice with the posting date 4/1/95. On 3/29/95, you clear this invoice by posting an incoming payment.

To clear an open item whose posting date is in the future, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Goto
® Open items on the Post with Clearing screen.
2. Select those open items with a posting date in the future that you want to clear.

The open item is inactive for the time being. You can activate it.

The clearing date entered in all items involved in the clearing procedure may not be the same as the posting date of the clearing procedure. If the posting date of one of the open items you want to clear comes after the posting date of the clearing procedure, the system will enter it in all the open items cleared. If there are several posting dates ahead of the posting date of the clearing procedure, the system will use the latest posting date as the clearing date.

Posting and Clearing

The illustration of The Clearing Process shows the normal clearing process for Posting with Clearing. The individual data entry screens are depicted as well.

The process of clearing open items includes:

• 
  
Entering the Document Header
• Selecting a clearing transaction
• 
  
Entering line items (optional)
• 
  
Choosing open items
• 
  
Processing open items
• Posting the clearing document

The system generates a clearing document that consists of:

• A document header
• Line items you entered
• Line items the system generated for clearing the selected and activated items
• Other line items generated automatically for cash discounts, tax adjustments, or gains/losses from exchange rate differences

The system sets the clearing date and clearing document number for the open items to be cleared as well as for the line items it creates to clear the open items.

After you enter data in the document header and select a clearing transaction, you can carry out these steps in any order. You can alternate between these screens.

See also:

Clearing Between Company Codes

Clearing Open Items in Foreign Currencies

Clearing Mixed Currency Open Items in the Local Currency

Clearing Open Items with a Future Posting Date

The Clearing Process

This illustration shows the various screens that are displayed when posting and clearing items.

Entering the Document Header

Proceed as follows:

1. Choose Document entry
® Internal transfer posting ® With clearing from the Accounts Payable or Account Receivable menu.
To clear items in G/L accounts, choose Document entry ® Post with clearing from the General Ledger menu.

The screen to enter the document header data appears. You are required to at least enter the document date, company code, and currency for the document header.

2. Select one of the following clearing transactions:

- Incoming payment

- Outgoing payment

- Credit memo

- Transfer posting with clearing

3. Select the Choose open items button.

Entering Line Items

You can enter one or more line items. Once you have entered the posting key and account at the bottom of the screen, you can proceed to enter the line items as you normally would.

Choosing the Open Items

The purpose of this step is to specify which open items the system selects for clearing. Usually, you display the chosen line items, process them, and then clear them. However, you may also choose the open items and clear them without displaying them first.

After you choose Edit ® Choose open items, the screen for choosing the open items you want to process appears.

On this screen, you can select the following options:

• Account and Account type

This entry is required if you are not selecting a specific document. If you want to post payments for open items from several accounts, you can also specify a work list in the Account field.

To use work lists, choose Environment ® User parameters ® Editing options from the Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable menu. You can create a work list yourself by selecting, from the same menu, Environment ® Current options ® Maintain work lists. If you want to be able to manually process payments for several company codes, you have to set up this function in the Implementation Guide for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable.

• Normal OI (standard open items)

Standard open items are all open items not posted with special G/L indicators. You must select standard open items and/or open items from specific special G/L transactions to clear.

• Special G/L ind.
(special G/L indicator)

A special G/L indicator designates items posted to special G/L accounts. If you have open items posted to special G/L accounts and wish to display these open items, enter the appropriate special G/L indicators.

• Payment advice note number

You can enter the number of the payment advice note here. Only those open items which are supported by that particular advise note can be processed. Additional selection criteria are ignored.

The system automatically carries forward residual items and assigns a payment on the account when differences exist between the payment advice note and the open items.

If you enter the payment advice note, it is not necessary to enter the account number of the customer or vendor. The account number is automatically transferred from the payment advice note. If, however, you administer a lot of payment advice notes in the system, you may want to enter the account number to speed up the system processing time.

• Other accounts

To clear line items of more than one account, click in the box next to this field and then enter the accounts on the next screen.

• Distribute by age

The system distributes the specified clearing amount among the open items with the greatest number of days in arrears so that they are cleared first.

For more information, see:

Distributing the Clearing Amount by Age

• Automatic search

The system attempts to find open items which correspond to the specified clearing amount or are closest to it.

• Additional selection

You can even choose specific types of open items to clear. For example, you can choose open items by document number or open items within a range of amounts.

After choosing the open items to clear, you can either display and process them or choose specific open items. For details about choosing specific open items to clear, read the next topic. To process the open items, choose Goto ® Open items from the menu bar.

Displaying Net Amounts

If you want to display net amounts in the open item list, you need to set this option prior to displaying the list. To do this, choose Settings ® Editing options and then Goto ® Open items, and set the Display net amounts indicator.

Choosing Specific Items to Clear

Clearing Between a Customer and Vendor

Certification Questions

Clearing

Clearing Functions

Clearing Open Items

Choosing Specific Items for Clearing

After you enter an account with open items, you can search for specific open items to clear.

From the screen for selecting open items, you can search for specific open items to clear using the following additional selection fields:

• Gross amount
• Document number
• Posting date
• Other fields depending on the system configuration

To search for open items using the additional selections:

1. Select one of these fields, such as Posting date, by clicking on it. Choose
ENTER.

The screen for entering the posting dates appears.

2. Enter one or more single values or ranges within the selection, such as 01/01/1993 through 01/31/1993 for a range of posting dates.
3. To search for specific open items by other criteria (optional), choose Edit
® Select more.
4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the other selection criteria.
5. After you enter your selection criteria, you can:

- Display the list of open items by choosing Goto ® Open items.

- Display the clearing document header and the items entered so far by choosing Goto ® Doc. Overview

- Post the clearing document by choosing Document ® Post

Clearing Between a Customer and Vendor

If you select a vendor who is also a customer when processing a clearing transaction such as an incoming/outgoing payment or account maintenance, the system will also select the open customer items automatically, provided that:

• The vendor number was entered in the customer master record and
• The Clearing with customer indicator has been set.

The same rule applies if a vendor number which also refers to a customer is selected during a clearing transaction.

Also keep in mind that when processing clearings, authorization checks for both the vendor and customer accounts will be made by the system.