What are posting keys and what is the purpose of defi ning them?

Posting keys determine whether a line item entry is a debit or a credit, as well as
the possible fi eld status for the transaction. Posting keys are delivered in the SAP
solution. If you want to change posting keys, such as making additional fi elds
optional on payment type, the best possible action is to copy the posting key that
needs to be modifi ed and then modify it. Figure 1.24 shows the standard posting
keys in SAP solutions.

What is an employee’s tolerance group? Where is it used?

An employee’s tolerance group controls the amount that is to be posted. Tolerance
groups are assigned to user IDs, which ensures that only authorized persons can make postings. By defi ning the employee’s tolerance group, you are restricting
employees from entering certain transactions for which they are not authorized.
This basically controls who is authorized for what amount.

What are document types and what are they used for?

Document type is nothing but types of vouchers containing line items. Several
business transactions can be identifi ed within a particular document type. The
document type controls:
■ Document number ranges
■ Header part of document
■ Line item level of the document
■ Filing of physical document

What are posting periods?

A posting period is a period of time in which you are posting a transaction. It may
be a month or a week. In the fi scal period confi guration, you defi ne how many
posting period a company may have. A posting period controls both normal and
special periods for each company code. It is possible to have a different posting.
period variant for each company code in the organization. The posting period is
independent of the fi scal year variant.

What is a shortened fi scal year? When is it used?

A shortened fi scal year is a fi nancial year that has fewer than 12 normal posting
periods. This type of fi nancial year is used for shifting an accounting period from
one fi nancial period to another fi nancial period. For example, say Company X
was following accounting period Apr xxxx to Mar xxxx+1, and has now decided
to follow accounting period Jan xxxx to Dec xxxx. Now the current accounting
period duration is only 9 months, i.e., from Apr xxxx to Dec xxxx, which is less than
12 months. This type of fi scal year is called a shortened fi scal year.

What are special periods used for?

The special periods in a fi scal year variant can be used for posting audit or tax
adjustments to a closed fi scal year. The logic behind the use of special periods is
to identify and have control over transactions after the closing of normal posting
periods

What are substitutions and validations? What is the precedent?

Validations are used to check the presence of certain conditions. It returns a message
if the prerequisite check condition is not met.
Substitutions are similar to validations. They actually replace and fi ll the fi eld
with values behind the scenes without the user’s knowledge, unlike validations
that create on-screen messages for the user.

How many charts of account can be attached to a company code?

A maximum of three charts of account can be assigned to a company code:
(1) operational COA, (2) group COA, and (3) country COA.

In the G/L master you have the options Only balances in local crcy and Account currency. What do these mean?

Account currency is the currency assigned to the G/L account. If you decide that
you want to maintain company code currency, then you can post a transaction in
any currency in that account. If you want to maintain separate currency for that
G/L, note that there will be a difference because of the conversion rate.
Some G/L accounts can’t be maintained on an open item basis and can’t be in
a foreign currency, such as clearing accounts or discount accounts, etc. In that case,
you can specify Only balances in local crcy to show the balance in local currency.

What do you mean by year dependent in fi scal year variants?

A year-dependent fi scal year variant is the fi nancial year for which the confi guration
settings are valid for that particular fi nancial year. You generally use a
year-dependent fi nancial year when the preceding fi nancial year or succeeding
fi nancial year is a shortened fi nancial year.