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

  • SAP S/4HANA 2020
  • FI-GL
  • CO

By · Updated

Currency types

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

Where to set it

FINSC_LEDGER Define Settings for Ledgers and Currency Types

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

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

Other currency types

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

Controlling area currency

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

OKKP Maintain Controlling Area

  • Option 11 : 1

    Controlling area same as company code

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

  • Option 21 : n

    Cross-company-code cost accounting

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

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

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

G/L account master data

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

FS00 Edit G/L Account Centrally

Control data · Account control

Only balances in local currency

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

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

Example: GR/IR clearing

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

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

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

  • Control data · Account control

    Tax settings

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

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

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

  • Control data · Account management

    Open item management

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

    Open items

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

    Not open items

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

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

  • Create/bank/interest · Document creation

    Post automatically only

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

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

Cost elements

A cost element tells controlling (CO) which costs or revenues it records and how they got there. In SAP S/4HANA it is no longer a master record of its own: it is a G/L account, and two settings in FS00 make it a cost element.

FS00 Edit G/L Account Centrally

  • SAP ECC

    Separate master records

    • Primary: a G/L account in FS00 plus a cost element with the same number in KA01
    • Secondary: a cost element in CO only (KA06), with no G/L account
    • CO postings reached the G/L through real-time integration or the reconciliation ledger
  • SAP S/4HANA

    One G/L account

    • Created and changed in FS00, which replaces KA01, KA02, KA03 and KA06
    • Secondary cost elements are G/L accounts too, of type Secondary Costs
    • Actual CO postings, secondary ones included, are lines of the Universal Journal (ACDOCA)
    • Cost element groups stay: KAH1, KAH2, KAH3

Which G/L accounts are cost elements

The G/L account type on the Type/Description tab of FS00 decides. Only two of the five types are cost elements.

  • Not a cost element

    Balance Sheet Account

    Assets, liabilities and equity; the balance is carried forward. Not a cost element, except category 90 for statistical postings (below).

  • Not a cost element

    Cash Account

    Bank reconciliation account that several house bank accounts can share. Since SAP S/4HANA 2020.

  • Not a cost element

    Nonoperating Expense or Income

    P&L account kept out of cost accounting, such as investment gains. Postings need no CO object.

  • Cost element

    Primary Costs or Revenue

    Costs and revenues of the business, mostly posted from other components: purchases, payroll, depreciation, goods issues, billing.

  • Cost element

    Secondary Costs

    Values that only move between CO objects: allocations, overhead and settlements.

Primary or secondary

Primary accounts carry the costs and revenues of the business, mostly posted directly from other components. Secondary accounts carry values that one CO object passes to another, posted indirectly by CO processes.

  • Mostly direct posting

    Primary costs or revenue

    Most values come from financial accounting, purchasing, payroll, asset accounting or billing: you enter the account, or account determination finds it. Three categories are filled by CO runs instead: 03 and 04 by accrual calculation, 22 by settlement to receivers outside CO.

    • The line needs a CO object: cost center, order, WBS element or profitability segment
    • OKB9 can give the account a default cost center or other object
    • Example: an energy invoice in MIRO or FB60 debits a cost center

    Categories010304111222

  • Indirect posting

    Secondary costs

    The value only moves inside CO. An allocation or settlement run takes the account from its own settings. Only manual cost allocation (KB15N) lets you enter one, and an FI journal entry never accepts it.

    • The account comes from the allocation cycle, the costing sheet, the activity type or the allocation structure of the settlement profile
    • In allocations and settlements the sender is credited and the receiver debited on the same account, so total costs do not change
    • Example: machine hours confirmed to a production order

    Categories213141424350515261

Cost element categories

The cost element category is set per controlling area on the Control Data tab of FS00. It decides which business transactions may post to the account.

Primary costs or revenue · Mostly posted from other components · 6 categories

  • 01
    Primary costs / cost-reducing revenues

    Most expense accounts: materials, salaries, energy, depreciation, goods issues. Also credits that should lower costs, such as a vendor credit memo.

    FB60MIROMIGO

  • 03
    Accrual/deferral per surcharge

    Percentage method of accrual calculation on cost centers: irregular costs, such as holiday pay or bonuses, are charged each period as a percentage of a base, such as salaries. The actual costs are still posted from financial accounting when they occur.

    KSA3

  • 04
    Accrual/deferral per debit = actual

    Target=actual method: each period the cost center gets its target costs (the planned costs adjusted to the actual activity) as actual accruals, to be compared later with the real costs.

    KSA3

  • 11
    Revenues

    Revenue from billing. CO shows it as a credit, with a minus sign. On a cost center it is only statistical.

    VF01FB70

  • 12
    Sales deduction

    Discounts and rebates that reduce revenue, with the same account assignment rules as revenues. Freight or surcharges billed separately are revenues (11), not deductions.

    VF01

  • 22
    External settlement

    Settles orders, projects and cost objects to receivers outside CO: assets or assets under construction, materials, G/L accounts. The settlement also posts in financial accounting.

    KO88CJ88

Secondary costs · Posted by CO processes only · 9 categories

  • 21
    Internal settlement

    Settles orders and projects to receivers inside CO: cost centers, orders, WBS elements, profitability segments.

    KO88CJ88

  • 31
    Order/project results analysis

    Keeps the results of period-end results analysis and WIP calculation on the order or project: work in process, reserves, calculated cost of sales. Event-based WIP in SAP S/4HANA does not use them.

    KKAXKKAO

  • 41
    Overhead rates

    Surcharges defined in a costing sheet (KZS2, in Customizing): the credit object, usually a cost center, is credited, and the order, project or cost object is debited.

    KGI2CO42

  • 42
    Assessment

    Moves the primary and secondary costs of a sender under one account; the receiver no longer sees the original accounts. In universal allocation (Manage Allocations app) it is called overhead allocation, not to be confused with overhead rates (41).

    KSU5

  • 43
    Internal activity allocation

    Activity types, such as machine or labour hours, valued at the activity price, from cost centers to orders, other cost centers or projects. Also used in activity-based costing.

    KB21NCO11NKSII

  • 50
    Project-related incoming orders: sales revenue

    Expected revenue of sales orders assigned to a project, from orders received in the current period.

    CJA2

  • 51
    Project-related incoming orders: other revenues

    Other expected revenue of those sales orders, such as imputed interest.

    CJA2

  • 52
    Project-related incoming orders: costs

    Expected costs of those sales orders.

    CJA2

  • 61
    Earned value

    Earned values from progress analysis in Project System.

    CNE1

Balance Sheet Account · statistical
90

Statistical cost element for balance sheet account

The only cost element category a balance sheet account can carry. In FS00 it comes with the Record Account Assignment indicator on the Control Data tab, which is offered for asset reconciliation accounts (AO90) and stock accounts (OBYC). CO updates these postings statistically only, even on real CO objects.

Typical use: budget control for assets capitalized directly. Enter an investment order or WBS element in the asset master; each acquisition posted to the asset reconciliation account then also lands statistically on that order or WBS element, where availability control checks it against the budget.

FS00AS02

One asset acquisition, two updates

  1. Acquisition postedTo the asset reconciliation account, with the asset
  2. Asset AccountingThe asset value goes up: the real posting
  3. Investment order or WBS elementA statistical copy, checked by availability control
  • No planning on these accounts
  • The statistical values are never settled
  • No automatic statistical posting for down payments or settlements to an asset under construction: investment measures cover those
Categories 11 and 01 on a cost center

Revenue or credit memo?

Before creating a revenue account, check whether the credit is really a cost reduction you want the cost center to see. Then it belongs on a category 01 account, not on category 11.

  • Revenue on a cost center is statistical: it can be reposted to other cost centers with KB41N, but not allocated further.
  • The cost center must allow it: lock indicator for actual revenues on the Control tab (KS02).
  • CO shows revenue as a credit, with a minus sign. Costing-based CO-PA is the exception: its value fields hold revenue as a positive amount. Margin Analysis reads the G/L accounts in ACDOCA, where revenue is a credit, as in the G/L.

Example: a credit of 5,000.00

  • Costs 0110,000.00
  • Revenue 11statistical−5,000.00
  • Left to allocate10,000.00

The revenue is statistical on the cost center: all 10,000.00 still has to be allocated, and the activity price calculation ignores it.

  • Costs 0110,000.00
  • Credit memo 01−5,000.00
  • Left to allocate5,000.00

A credit on a category 01 account is a negative cost: only 5,000.00 is left to allocate.

Quick test: which category?

Guess first, then open a card for the answer.

  • An investment order is settled to an asset under constructionShow the answer
    22 External settlement

    The asset is outside CO, so the settlement also posts in financial accounting.

  • A marketing order is settled to the sales cost centerShow the answer
    21 Internal settlement

    Order and cost center are both CO objects: the value never leaves CO.

  • Canteen costs are charged to all cost centers by headcount, as one lineShow the answer
    42 Assessment

    One secondary account carries all the sender’s costs. To keep the original accounts, use distribution instead.

  • Machine hours are confirmed to a production orderShow the answer
    43 Internal activity allocation

    The activity type is valued at its price: the production cost center is credited and the order debited.

  • A material overhead surcharge is added to production ordersShow the answer
    41 Overhead rates

    The costing sheet credits the overhead cost center and debits the order.

  • A vendor credit memo should lower a cost center’s costsShow the answer
    01 Primary costs / cost-reducing revenues

    A credit on 01 is a negative cost. On a category 11 account it would stay statistical.

  • Freight charged to the customer on the invoiceShow the answer
    11 Revenues

    Billed separately, freight is revenue, not a sales deduction.

  • A volume rebate granted to a customerShow the answer
    12 Sales deduction

    Rebates and discounts reduce revenue: they are sales deductions.

Good to know

  • Distribution keeps the account

    Distribution moves only primary costs and keeps their original accounts on the receiver; assessment replaces them with one category 42 account. Pick distribution when the receiver must see what the costs were.

    KSV5KSU5

  • Default account assignment

    OKB9 gives a cost element a default cost center or other CO object per company code, so automatic postings such as price or exchange rate differences still find a CO object.

    OKB9

  • Cost element groups

    Groups still exist in SAP S/4HANA and are used in reports, allocation cycles, costing sheets and planning.

    KAH1KAH2KAH3

  • Find them in the tables

    In table SKA1, field GLACCOUNT_TYPE holds X (balance sheet), C (cash account), N (nonoperating), P (primary) or S (secondary). The category per controlling area is field KATYP of table CSKB.

    SE16H

Document splitting

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

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

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

Example

Vendor invoice split by profit center

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

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

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

Building blocks

How the system decides what to split and how.

  • Splitting method

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

  • Splitting rule

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

  • Business transaction

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

  • Item category

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

  • Processing category

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

When no account assignment is found

Three settings fill the gaps, in this order.

  1. Inheritance

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

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

  2. Constant

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

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

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

  3. Zero-balance clearing

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

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

Configuration steps

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

1 · Classify

Tell the system what each line is

  1. Classify G/L accounts

    Give every G/L account an item category

    • GSP_LZ2

  2. Classify document types

    Link each document type to a business transaction variant

    • GSP_VZ3
2 · Set up

Split fields and fallbacks

  1. Define zero-balance clearing account

    Per account key

    • GSP_KD1

  2. Define document splitting characteristics

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

    • SPRO

  3. Edit constant for nonassigned processes

    Default values for lines nothing else could fill

    • GSP_CD
3 · Activate

Switch it on

  1. Activate document splitting

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

    • SM34 VC_FAGL_SPLIT
4 · Extend

Only when the standard is not enough

  1. Define document splitting method

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

    • GSP_MD

  2. Define document splitting rules

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

    • GSP_RD

  3. Assign transaction codes to variants

    • GSP_VZ1

  4. Assign MM movement types to variants

    • GSP_VZ2

  5. Item categories, business transactions and variants

    • SAP standard
    • GSP_LD
    • GSP_PD
    • GSP_VD

Common issues

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

  • “Balancing field not filled”

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

    GLT2201

  • Mixed business processes

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

  • Activating later

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

  • Cross-company postings

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

    OBY6

References