Enable General Ledger Management

This document explains how to configure the general ledger for:

  • Basic general ledger and voucher management
  • Tax management and legal reporting
  • Cost control by commitment monitoring
  • Certain accounts receivable and accounts payable functions

Outcome

The financial system can manage:

  • User-defined debit/credit codes
  • Internal transactions for cost accounting
  • Automated transaction checks
  • Books of account
  • Transaction reconciliation for internal purposes
  • Voucher entry between divisions and voucher cancellation
  • A third currency
  • Automatic complementation of accounting strings
  • Enhanced use of accounting structures for monitoring purposes
  • VAT and VAT reporting as well as reporting of cash discount on EU sales
  • Doubtful customer debts
  • Automatic updates of credit limits for customers
  • Customer payment receipts and cash registers
  • The creation of supporting information for supplier invoice handling
  • Cost control by commitment monitoring

The configuration affects all transactions created in the financial system.

The settings are saved in the CSYPAR table.

Before you start

You must have a clear understanding of the legal requirements as well as the company's internal routines and policy.

Follow these steps

  1. Read carefully through the alternatives available in the Parameters to set section and make notes on which functions to use.

  2. Start 'Settings - General Ledger' (CRS750/B).

  3. Select the Change option for the company/division.

  4. Configure the general ledger on the E, F, and G panels. Press F3 to exit.

Parameters to set

Program ID/Panel Field The field indicates …

General Ledger and Voucher Management

(CRS750/E) Debit/credit code used [three fields]

… whether debit and credit transactions are recorded with signs other than plus or minus.

(CRS750/E) External/internal transactions

… whether internal transactions are used in the system. This way, internal transactions are flagged as such in the general ledger, and internal or external transactions can be selected in inquiries and reports. Internal transactions have their own journal number series.

(CRS750/E) Check transaction file

… whether the values of each transaction are checked during entry.

Alternatives:

0 = No check

1 = Check

2 = Same as alternative 1, but no check of currency discrepancies is done.

If you select alternative 1 or 2, every transaction value specified in the basic file and the parameter file are checked to make sure they are correct. This also keeps unbalanced vouchers out of the general ledger. Alternative 1 is recommended.

Cancellation account; Voucher text for cancellation account; Voucher name

… field values applied when a voucher is canceled after it is assigned a voucher number, but before the accounting journal is printed. To avoid a break in the voucher number series, a voucher is created with only one transaction in the amount of 0.00.

(CRS750/F) Book of account

… whether books of account are used to divide sub-ledgers and the general ledger into smaller units. If this alternative is selected, information on the voucher number series is stored with each transaction in each book of account in the general ledger file. This information can then be used for inquiries and sorting purposes.

You can review vouchers per book of account and FAM function used for the entry in 'Book of Account. Display' (CRS408).

(CRS750/F) Reconciliation

… whether reconciliation is to be used in 'Account. Reconcile Externally' (GLS180) and 'Account. Reconcile Internally' (GLS185), or 'Account. Reconcile Internally' (GLS385).

(CRS750/F) Cross division voucher

… whether cross-division vouchers are used.

(CRS750/F) Third currency; Exchange rate type

… any third currency used in the financial system and the exchange rate type to be applied.

(CRS750/F) Prevent balance file accumulation

…whether to prevent balance accumulation on the selected dimension for balance key 8 in the General Ledger balance file. When selected, the dimension(s) will be treated as dimension(s) without a value in the balance file. By activating this functionality for a dimension where, for example, order number is used, the number of records stored in the balance file will decrease significantly. This in turn will improve the performance in programs using balance key 8, for example, (GLS215), (GLS210), (GLS535), (GLS130), (GLS940), (GLS915), (GLS905), and (RGS600).

Note that you cannot select an activated dimension in those programs when balance key 8 is used. Instead, you should select another applicable balance key that holds the information for the dimension(s) that are prevented for balance key 8. For example, this could be balance key 6.

Example before activating this functionality: See Accounting transactions created in (CAS300)

The number of records created for balance key 8 in the FBAKEY table (keys for the balance file), when transferred to GL, is equal to 6 since one record for each unique accounting string is created.

After activating the functionality for dimensions 6 and 7, the number of records created for balance key 8 in the FBAKEY table is equal to 1 since no accumulation will be done in dimensions 6 and 7.

Since it is common (for various analysis purposes) to include the order number in the accounting string, the number of records in the balance file increases rapidly for a business with large transaction volumes. Therefore, by activating this functionality, unnecessary accumulation will be prevented and the performance will improve in programs using the balance file.

(CRS750/F) Customer invoice date control … whether the invoice date should be checked for customer invoicing. If selected, the invoice date used for invoicing must not be before the last invoice date on (CRS750/F).
(CRS750/F) Last invoice date … the date of the last customer invoice. The date is updated if the customer invoice date control is enabled, and the invoice date used for invoicing is after the last invoice date on (CRS750/F).
(CRS750/F) User class … whether users included in the user class should be able to override the customer invoice date control. If a user class has been entered, only users included in the user class can create invoices with an invoice date before the last invoice date on (CRS750/F). The last invoice date will not be updated in this scenario. Removing the user class from the 'User class' field in (CRS750) is highly recommended once the intentional backdated invoicing is done. Otherwise, it becomes a great risk that the customer invoice date control is overriden unintentionally as warning messages cannot be given in all invoicing functions.
(CRS750/E) Account addition

… whether account addition is used to automatically update specific accounting strings with one or several identities. This is then triggered by other selected accounting identities. All transactions can then be mass-updated so that they are recorded for one accounting identity (such as Project X), as well as automatically recorded for a different accounting identity (such as cost center Y).

The normal use of account addition is to report management and statutory accounts. A French example: The statutory account is in accounting dimension 1. You use the account addition function to automatically post transactions to management accounting identity in accounting dimension 7. The management accounts for all divisions can use dimension 7 and the French legal reports can use dimension 1.

These triggering accounting identities are defined in 'Account Addition Table. Open' (GLS020).

(CRS750/F) Accounting ID in multiple structure

… whether an accounting identity can exist in more than one accounting structure. If you select this check box, a check is done when connecting an accounting identity to an accounting structure in 'Accounting Structure. Open Lines' (CRS646) to ensure that the same accounting identity does not exist in any other structure within the same From and To period.

Accounting structures are used in balance keys to display information in a structured way in the general ledger balance file.

Tax Management and Legal Reporting

(CRS750/F) VAT report from date

… the date from which transactions are to be selected for VAT reporting in 'VAT Run. Open' (TXS100).

The 'VAT from date' in (CRS750) is used to provide (TXS100) with a default value. It is not used to prevent transactions from being included in a VAT run. Transactions marked with 9 in the general ledger table (FGLEDG) in the 'VAT reported' field, EGVATR, are not included. This field is updated when you update the VAT declaration voucher from (TXS100).

It is possible to select transactions with an earlier date than the 'VAT from date' because you may want to check that no transactions are back-dated into a previous period. Therefore, the date from (CRS750) is only a default value.

(CRS750/F) Last run date

… the date for the latest VAT run (displayed for information purposes only).

(CRS750/F) VAT check online

… whether to check the calculated VAT against the recorded VAT for each VAT code when a voucher is specified, as well as whether to define the maximum allowed deviation.

(CRS750/F) Accepted VAT deviation

… the maximum deviation allowed during the automatic online VAT check.

(CRS750/F) VAT date type

… which date to use as a basis for the VAT reporting.

Alternatives :

1 = Invoice date

2 = Accounting date

3 = Delivery date (based on accounting date)

4 = Delivery date (based on invoice date)

5 = Due Date

In many countries, VAT reports to the authorities must be based on invoice date. In others, you are allowed to report VAT based on the accounting date.

In some regions, VAT is based on the date the goods were delivered. If you select delivery date as VAT date type, a delivery date must be specified when recording supplier invoices in 'Supplier Invoice. Record' (APS100/F).

See Manually Enter Supplier Invoice for Payment.

Example:

If you create a VAT report for February a specific year, do you want to include all invoices dated in February or all invoices with an accounting date of February?

  1. An invoice dated January 28 might be processed (accounting date) on February 2.

  2. An invoice dated February 28 might be processed (accounting date) on March 2.

You might report January's VAT on February 5. Do you include invoice 1? You might report February's VAT on March 5. Do you include invoice 1 and/or 2?

The VAT amount based on the VAT report is posted automatically to a clearing account using accounting event TX01. You can review the difference between the VAT amount based on the invoice date that is posted to this clearing account and the VAT amount based on accounting date on your VAT Payable/Receivable account in 'General Ledger. Display Transactions' (GLS210).

(CRS750/F) VAT printout

… how VAT amounts in local currency are managed for invoices in a foreign currency.

Alternatives:

0 = Not managed. VAT is calculated using the invoice rate.

1 = Local VAT amounts are not managed in accounts payable, but are printed on customer invoices as additional information.

2 = Local VAT amount is calculated based on the invoice rate but can be overridden at supplier invoice entry in accounts payable. The difference is posted automatically as an exchange rate gain or loss. Not printed on customer invoices.

3 = Managed in accounts payable (like alternative 2) and printed on customer invoices.

(CRS750/F) CD for EU sales

… whether cash discount records for EU sales are included as a separate line in the quarterly EU report created in 'EU Quarterly Sales Report. Print' (CRS345).

Note: Reports are now created in 'EU Sales/Purchase. Open Proposal' (TXS130) instead. If you select this check box, EU sales transactions will still be created and displayed in 'Trade Statistics. Display Transactions' (TXS300) as before but they will not be used for the new EU sales report.

See Reporting Trade Statistics.

Accounts Receivable Management

(CRS750/F) Base amount—calculation of doubtful accounts

… how the calculation of doubtful customer debts is to be done.

Alternatives:

0 = Based on net amount (excluding charges and taxes)

1 = Based on gross amount (including VAT).

Doubtful debts are managed in 'Customer Invoice. Process Doubtful' (ARS360) and 'Doubtful Account. Create Allowance' (ARS130). Refer to the documents in the See Also section for details.

(CRS750/F) Update general ledger

… whether a doubtful debt allowance will update the general ledger.

(CRS750/F) Credit check including VAT; Credit check including blocked invoices

… whether VAT and blocked invoices are included when customer credit limits 1–3 and accumulated amounts are updated.

Credit limits and accumulated amounts are displayed in 'Customer Order. Stop' (OIS120/E). Refer to the documents in the See Also section for details.

(CRS750/E) Interest invoicing—total transactions

… whether offset transactions for interest invoice transactions with the same accounting string are accumulated and totaled. If the field is selected, only one credit transaction with transaction code 11 is created, based on accounting rule AR50-320 (Interest revenues).

(CRS750/F) Draft accounting method

… whether account entries are created when discounted drafts are processed in 'Customer Risk Cancellation. Create' (ARS330). Refer to the documents in the See Also section for details.

(CRS750/F) Payment receipt type … whether payment receipts are created:

0 = Not used

1 = Payment receipt per document

(CRS750/F) Cash register … whether cash registers for payment receipt are used.

Commitment Calculation

(CRS750/G) Use commitment

… whether the committed value is calculated for monitoring the company's purchase commitments for non-inventory items. The purpose of this function is to help controlling overhead and capital expenditure. Refer to the documents in the See Also section for details.

If this check box is selected, the other fields on the panel must be filled in.

(CRS750/G) Committed value: Budget number; Budget version

… the number and version of the empty budget that will contain the committed values.

(CRS750/G) Manual value: Budget number; Budget version

… the number and version of the budget that contains any manually specified overspend (optional).

(CRS750/G) Budget value: Budget number; Budget version

… the number and version of the control budget with all budgeted expenditures.

(CRS750/G) Block/warning

… what happens if a user creates a purchase order (PO) using an accounting string for which there is no budget limit left:

1 = The PO is blocked and receives status 15

2 = A warning message is displayed

(CRS750/G) Comparison at

… against which value the actual expenditures should be compared:

1 = Full-year budget

2 = Budget up to and including current period

(CRS750/G) Commitment date

… the date from which the committed value is calculated:

1 = PO order date

2 = Date of delivery

(CRS750/G) Reduce at

… when the committed value is reduced:

1 = At goods receipt in 'Purchase Order. Receive Goods' (PPS300)

2 = At invoice matching in accounts payable

(CRS750/G) Accounting dimensions used

… which accounting dimensions are used for storing the committed value and which are checked during PO order entry. Accounting dimension 1 and at least one another dimension must be selected.

Accounting transactions created in (CAS300)

Account Dim 2 Dim 3 Dim 4 Dim 5 Dim 6 Dim 7
1450 200 1100 11001 CUST01 1000000001 OI10-951
1450 200 1100 11001 CUST01 1000000002 OI10-951
1450 200 1100 11001 CUST01 1000000003 OI10-951
1450 200 1100 11001 CUST01 1000000004 OI10-951
1450 200 1100 11001 CUST01 1000000005 OI10-951
1450 200 1100 11001 CUST01 1000000006 OI10-951
1450 200 1100 11001 CUST01 1000000007 OI10-951