SAP General Ledger: Document Splitting, Clearing, Closing, and Fiori Apps (Part 2)

Book: Financial Accounting in SAP S/4HANA Finance Simplified: Questions & Answers by Narayanan Veeriah | ISBN 978-93-65898-675

Part 2 of Chapter 15 picks up where document splitting left off and runs through the operational side of G/L: posting documents, clearing open items, running closing programs, calculating interest, and the Fiori apps that replace a lot of old transaction codes. Questions 413 through 444.

Document splitting: active vs passive

Document splitting is one of those S/4HANA features that sounds abstract until you need segment-level balance sheets on demand.

Passive splitting covers system-driven processes like clearing, clearing reset, reversal, and payment-relevant invoice references. You do not control it through customizing. The system inherits account assignments from preceding documents.

Active splitting is where you define the rules. Document splitting methods, rules, and item categories determine how line items split by characteristics like segment, business area, or profit center. The standard method 0000000012 is the default.

The process flow the book describes:

1. Post document, system assigns business transaction and item categories
2. Passive splitting runs first
3. Active splitting applies the splitting rule
4. Enhancement logic fills gaps via inheritance or standard account assignment
5. System creates clearing lines if zero-balance is required but missing

The example with Rs. 50,000 payables split across business areas ELCN and TXTL makes it concrete. Even cash discounts and bank credits get split proportionally. You can simulate splitting in G/L view before posting, which saves a lot of debugging time.

Posting, simulation, and document release

For ledger posting, FB50 posts to all ledgers in one screen. FB50L and FB01L post to a specific ledger group. Restrictions apply: no tax postings, no open-item G/L accounts, currencies must match the ledger group.

Document simulation (F9) runs all posting checks without saving. G/L view simulation shows ledger-specific splits including document splitting results. Handy before you post something that will fail on zero-balance.

Document release ties into parked document workflow. Amount release and account assignment release are separate approval paths. Both must complete before posting.

Clearing: manual, automatic, and cross-company

Open item accounts support manual and automatic clearing.

Manual clearing (F-04, F-06, F-07, F-28): you pick which items match. Used for refunds, debit memos, bank subaccounts. Payment differences within tolerance auto-post to cash discount or gain/loss accounts. Outside tolerance triggers partial payment or residual item processing.

Automatic clearing (F.13, F13E, F13L, FGRIR_CLEARING): the program proposes matches. Run in test mode first, review the proposal list, then execute.

Cross-company code clearing handles centralized payment scenarios. Customer pays company A101 instead of A102? The system creates clearing entries between company codes with a joint transaction number tying documents together. Configure via OBYA (G/L), OB60 (AR/AP).

Bank subaccounts reconcile house bank G/L balances with actual bank movements. Checks payable, wire transfers, direct debits post through subaccounts before hitting the main bank account.

Accruals, periodic processing, and closing

Accruals management uses the accrual engine for manual accruals, PO accruals, service entry sheet accruals, and more. Schedule accrual jobs through Fiori when configured.

Year-end closing in G/L includes check/count (group reconciliation), valuation (foreign currency), regroup (GR/IR rollup), allocation, value adjustment (doubtful receivables), and carry forward.

The Financial Closing Cockpit structures all of this. Structural objects include task lists, task groups, dependencies, and monitoring views. Event-controlled closing with process overview beats scrambling through transaction codes on the last day of the month.

Balance interest calculation

Two interest types exist: balance interest (type S, on account balance) and item interest (type P, on arrears per open item). Balance interest uses fields in the G/L master: interest indicator, calculation frequency, key date of last calculation, date of last calculation.

Customizing runs through OB46, OBAA, OBAC, OB81, OB83, OBV2. Transaction F.52 starts the run. You can set periods manually or let the system calculate from frequency and settlement day. The book includes a worked example with key date 03/18/2023, monthly frequency, settlement day 20, giving lower limit 03/19/2023 and upper limit 04/20/2023.

Fiori apps worth knowing

The chapter closes with a long list of G/L Fiori apps. The ones that stood out:

• Manage G/L account master data: mass change up to 5,000 accounts
• Manage chart of accounts: search, edit, copy FSV assignments
• Upload/verify general journal entries: spreadsheet upload with approval workflow
• Clear G/L accounts: manual clearing with simulation and email sharing
• Balance sheet/income statement: on-the-fly financial statements with drill-down
• Reconcile GR/IR accounts: purchasing and accounting data on one screen
• General ledger overview: revenue, CoS, DSO, tax reconciliation cards

If you are still living in FS00 and F.13 exclusively, these apps are worth exploring.

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