1. Explain the ‘Account Payables’
Sub module?
Accounts Payables a sub module
under Financial Accounting (FI), takes care of vendor-related transactions as
the module is tightly integrated with the purchasing transactions arising from
the ‘Procurement Cycle.’ The module helps in processing outgoing payments
either manually or automatically through the ‘Automatic Payment Program.’ It
also helps in ‘Vendor Evaluations.’
2. What Documents Result from
‘Procurement Processes’?
In Materials Management (MM):
1. PR: Purchase Requisition (manual or automatic using MRP)
2. PO: Purchase Order
In Financial Accounting (FI):
1. Invoice Verification
2. Vendor Payment (manual or automatic)
Both MM and FI areas:
1.
Goods Receipt
You may also group these documents into
(1) Order documents
(2) GR (Goods Receipt) documents
(3) IR (Invoice Receipt) documents.
While GR/IR documents can be displayed both in MM and FI views, the order
documents can only be viewed in MM view.
3. Describe a ‘Purchase Cycle?
A ‘Purchase Cycle or Procurement
Cycle’ encompasses all activities including purchase
requisition, purchase order,
goods movement, goods receipt, invoicing, invoice verification, payment to
vendors, and ends with the updating of vendor account balances.
4. What is a ‘Purchase Requisition’
(PR)?
A ‘Purchase Requisition,’ PR, is
the document that outlines a company’s purchasing needs of a material/service
from vendor(s). A PR, typically an internal document that can be created automatically
or manually, identifies the demand for a product and authorizes the purchasing department
to procure it. In the automatic creation of a PR, this is done as a result of
MRP (Material Requirements Planning). The PR, after identifying the vendor, is
processed further to result in a RFQ (Request for Quotation) or directly to a
Purchase Order (PO).
5. What is a ‘Request for Quotation’
(RFQ)?
A ‘RFQ (Request for Quotation),’
which can be created directly or with reference to another RFQ or a PR or an
Outline Agreement, is actually an invitation to vendor(s) to submit a
‘quotation’ for supplying a material or service. The RFQ will contain the terms
and conditions for supply. You may send the RFQ to single or multiple vendors,
and you can monitor it by sending reminders to those who have not responded to
the RFQ.
7. What is an ‘Outline Agreement’?
An ‘Outline Agreement,’ a
declaration binding both the buyer and seller, is the buyer’s intention to
purchase a material/service with certain terms and conditions agreed to by both
parties. The essential difference between the ‘outline agreement’ and
‘quotation’ is that the outline agreement does not contain details such as
delivery schedule or quantities. Outline agreements can be contracts or
scheduling agreements.
8. What is a ‘Contract’?
A ‘Contract,’ also referred to as
a ‘Blanket Order,’ is a long-term legal agreement between the buyer and the
seller for procurement of materials or services over a period of time. The
contract, created directly or with reference to a PR/RFQ or another contract,
is valid for a certain period of time with start and end dates clearly
mentioned. There are two types of contracts:
Quantity Contracts and Value
Contracts.
9. What is a ‘Release Order’?
A ‘Release Order’ is a ‘purchase order’ created against a Contract. The
release orders usually do not contain information on quantities or delivery
dates and are also called ‘Blanket Releases,’ Contract Releases,’ or
‘Call-Offs.’
10.
What is a ‘Scheduling Agreement’?
A ‘Scheduling Agreement’ is also
a long-term agreement with the buyer and seller for
procurement of certain materials
or services subject to certain terms and conditions. These agreements can be
created directly or with reference to other documents such as another scheduling
agreement, or an RFQ or PR. These agreements help in promoting Just-In-Time
(JIT) deliveries, less paperwork, they reduce supply lead times, and ensure low
inventory for the buyer.
11. What is a ‘Quotation?
A ‘Quotation’ contains
information relating to the price and other conditions for supply of a material
or a service by a vendor, and is the vendor’s willingness to supply the same
based on those conditions. You will be able to compare the data from quotations
using a Price Comparison List and will help in identifying the most reasonable
vendor for supply of that item(s). After you receive the quotations, you will
typically enter the quotation data (pricing/delivery) in RFQ. The SAP system
can easily be configured to automatically print ‘Rejections’ for vendors whose
quotation are not selected.
12. What is a ‘Purchase Order’ (PO)?
A ‘Purchase Order’ (PO) is a legal contract between a vendor and a buyer
concerning the material/service to be purchased/procured on certain terms and
conditions. The order mentions, among other things, the quantity to be
purchased, price per unit, delivery related conditions, payment/pricing
information, etc.
A PO can be created:
1. Directly or
2. With reference to a PR/RFQ/contract or another PO. Remember, all items
on a PO
should relate to the same Company Code.
13. What is a ‘PO History’?
The ‘Purchase Order History’ (PO History) lists all the transactions for
all the items in a PO such as the GR/IR document numbers.
14. Will the FI Document be created
with the Purchase Order (PO)?
No. There will not be any document created on the FI side during creation
of a PO. However, there can be a document for posting a ‘commitment’ to a Cost
Center in CO. (The offsetting entry is posted at the time of GR.)
15. Explain FI-MM Integration?
FI-MM Integration is based on the following:
1.
Movement Types
2.
Valuation Class
3.
Transaction Keys
4.
Material Type
The Movement Type is the ‘classification key’ indicating the type of
material movement (for example, goods receipt, goods issue, physical stock
transfer). The movement type enables the system to find pre-defined posting
rules determining how the accounts in FI (stock and consumption accounts) are
to be posted and how the stock fields in the material master record are to be
updated.
The Valuation Class refers to the assignment of a material to a group of
GL accounts. Along with other factors, the valuation class determines the GL
accounts that are updated as a result of a valuation-relevant transaction or
event, such as a goods movement.
The valuation class makes it possible to:
1.
Post the stock values of materials of the same material type to different
GL accounts.
2.
Post the stock values of materials of different
material types to the same GL
account.
The Transaction Key (also known
as the ‘Event Key or Process Key’) allows users to
differentiate between various
transactions and events (such as physical inventory transactions and goods
movements) that occur within the area of inventory management. The transaction/event
type controls the filing/storage of documents and the assignment of document numbers.
The Material Type groups together materials with the same basic attributes, for
example, raw materials, semi-finished products, or finished products. When
creating a material master record, you must assign the material to a material type.
The material type determines:
Whether the material is intended for a specific purpose, for example, as
a Configurable
Material or Process Material.
1.
Whether the material number can be assigned internally or externally.
2.
The Number Range from which the material number is drawn.
3.
Which screens appear and in what sequence.
4.
Which user department data you may enter.
5.
What Procurement Type the material has that is, whether it is
manufactured in-house or procured externally, or both Together with the plant, the
material type determines the material’s inventory management requirement, that
is:
6.
Whether changes in quantity are updated in the material master record.
7.
Whether changes in value are also updated in the stock accounts in
financial accounting.
16. What Happens, in SAP, when You
Post a ‘Goods Receipt’?
When you post a ‘Goods Receipt’
(GR), the stock account is debited (stock quantity increases) and the credit
goes to the GR/IR Clearing Account, which is the intermediate processing account,
before you actually process the vendor invoice or payments to the vendor:
Debit: Inventory Account
Credit: GR/IR Clearing Account
During this (1) a material document is created, (2) an accounting
document to update the relevant GL account is created, (3) PO order history is
updated, and finally (4) the system enables you to print the GR slip.
17. Explain ‘Invoice Verification’
(IV) in SAP?
Invoice Verification involves:
1. Validating the accuracy of the invoices (quantity, value, etc.).
2. Checking for ‘blocked’ invoices (which vary to a great extent from
that of the PO).
3. Matching of invoices received from vendors with that of the Purchase
Order/ Goods
Receipt. At this point in time, the PO History is updated for the
corresponding PO Line
Item(s) of the matched invoice.
4. Passing of matched invoices to the FI module. The system posts the
following entries:
Debit: GR/IR Clearing Account
Credit: Vendor a/c (Accounts
Payable open line item)
Credit: GL Reconciliation Account
The different scenarios in invoice verification include:
4. GR-based Invoice Verification indicator is not set in the PO detail
screen:
Although this setting enables you to post the invoice referenced to a PO
prior to
making a GR, the system will block the invoice for payment (this kind of posting
results in a Quantity Variance as there has not been a GR).
5. GR-based Invoice Verification indicator is set in the PO detail
screen: When the
PO number is referenced the system brings up all the unmatched items of
GR in
the selection screen. You will not be able to post the invoice for its
full value, unless
the PO has been fully received.
18. How do You Deal with ‘Tax’ when
you Post an Invoice?
When you enter an invoice, based on the configuration settings, the
system checks the Tax Code and calculates the applicable tax or validates the
Tax Amount entered by you:
1. Manual Entry: Input the Tax Code and the Tax Amount. The system will
validate and
issue a message in case it does not find the tax code or if the amount is
different.
2. Automatic Entry: Leave the Tax Code and Tax Amount fields blank. Check
the
Calculate Tax indicator. The system picks up the corresponding tax code
and calculates the tax amount automatically.
19. What ‘Variances’ do you come
Across in Invoice Verification?
The system needs to be configured
properly with ‘Tolerances’ so that you are not hampered with variances when you
try Invoice Verification. You need to define the lower and upper limits for each
combination of the Company Code and the tolerance key defined for the various
variances. The system then checks these tolerance limits and issues warnings or
prevents you from proceeding further when you process an invoice. ‘Variances’
arise because of mismatch or discrepancies between the invoice and the PO
against which the invoice has been issued. Normally you will encounter:
1.
Price variances: If there is a discrepancy in invoice price and PO item prices.
2.
Schedule variances: If the planned delivery date is later than the invoice postings.
3.
Quantity variances: If the delivered quantity (or delivered quantity less the previously invoiced
quantity) is not the same as that of the invoiced quantity. When the invoiced quantity
is more than the GR, the system requires more GRs to square off the situation.
20. Outline ‘Vendor Payments’ in the
SAP System?
The payments to single or
multiple vendors can either be handled in a manual process or through an
‘Automatic Payment Program.’ The open liability item created for the vendor
during the invoice verification will be squared off when you make the vendor
payment or when you run the automatic payment program. The payment program in
SAP is designed to allow you to enjoy the maximum discount allowed by that
vendor.
21. Explain Automatic Payment
Program?
The ‘Automatic Payment Program’ in SAP helps to process payment
transactions both with customers and vendors. AR/AP/TR/Bank Accounting uses the
payment program.
The ‘automatic payment program’ helps in determining:
What is to be paid?
To do this, you specify rules according to which the open items to be
paid are selected and grouped for payment.
When is payment to be carried out?
The due date of the open items determines when payment is carried out.
However, you can specify the payment deadline in more detail via configuration.
To whom the payment is made?
You specify the payee (the vendor or the alternate payee as the case may
be).
How the payment is made?
You determine rules that are used to select a payment Method.
From where the payment is made?
You determine rules that are used to select a bank and a bank account for
the payment.
22. Explain Automatic Payment
Program Configuration?
Before you are ready to run the ‘Automatic Payment Program,’ the
following should have been defined/configured in the system:
House Bank and the corresponding bank accounts.
Payment Methods to be used for the Company Code.
SAP comes with predefined payment methods, both for AR and AP. The
following payment methods are available for you to select from depending on the
requirements:
a. Accounts Payable
Check (S)/Transfer/Postal Giro
transfer/Bill of exchange
b. Accounts Receivable
Bank collection/Bank direct debit/Refund by
check/Refund by bank transfer/BE payment request Bank Chain defined, if
necessary. Bank chains are used to make payment via more than one bank, for
example, via the correspondence banks of the house bank, the recipient bank, or
the intermediary banks. You can define up to three banks. Payment Forms
defined. SAP delivers standard forms, which can be modified, or new forms can
be created for use. You may do most of the configurations by using the
Transaction Code FBZP and branching to individual sections thereon. Or you may
use the following Transaction Codes for individually doing it:
1. (Sending) Company Code specifications
a. Sending the Company Code—if Company Code ‘A’ is making payments on
behalf of ‘B,’ then ‘B’ is the Sending Company Code. Otherwise, the
sending
Company Code is considered the paying Company Code (both are one and the same).
b. Tolerance days
c. Paying Company Code specifications
Minimum amounts for incoming and
outgoing payments.
Forms for payment advice and EDI.
Bill of Exchange parameters
2. Payment Methods/Country and Bank determination
a. Payment Methods/Country
Payment Method for outgoing/incoming?
Payment Method classification
Master data requirements
Posting details—document types
Payment medium details—Print
programs
Permitted currencies (leave blank
to allow all currencies)
b. Bank Determination
Ranking Order
Per Payment Method:
Which bank should be used first,
second, etc.
Currency
Bill of Exchange
Bank accounts
Available amounts
Per House Bank and
Payment Method combination:
Offset a/c for subledger posting
Available funds in each bank
Clearing accounts for Bill of
Exchange
Value date
Charge
3. Payment methods per Company Code
a. For each Payment Method and Company Code you need to define:
Minimum/maximum payment amounts
Whether payment abroad or in
foreign currency is allowed
Payment Media
Bank optimization
4. House Bank
23. How do You Execute an ‘Automatic
Payment Program’?
The following are the series of events happening in the system when you
try to execute an ‘Automatic Payment Program’:
1. Maintain Payment Parameters
To start with, you need to maintain the parameters required such as date
of execution of
‘payment run,’ ‘payment run identifier,’ etc. Once this is done, you need
to specify the
‘posting date’ of these payments, the ‘document date’ up to which the
program should
consider the items, the paying Company Code, payment methods to be
considered, the
‘next posting date,’ is there certain accounts which need to be excluded
from the run, etc. The payment run then needs to be scheduled either
immediately or at a specified
time/date.
2. Payment Proposal
The system creates a ‘payment proposal’ based on the payment parameters
maintained in
(1) above. The system selects the eligible Open Items based on the
following sequence:
a. Due date is determined via the Base Line Date and the Terms of Payment
for each of the line items.
b. Program calculates the Cash Discount Period and due date for the Net Payment.
c. Grace Periods are then added to this due date.
d. Which Special GL accounts are to be included, based on what you have
already
maintained as the parameters in (1) above.
e. The system will determine whether to include an item during the
current run or for
the future one based on the specifications you made in (1).
f. Blocking an item.
The payment proposal can be displayed for further processing; the ‘log’
can be
checked to see the system messages, and the exception list can be
generated for
further evaluation.
3. Payment Proposal
With the payment proposal available, you can now edit the proposal to:
a. Change House Bank, from what was maintained earlier
b. Change Payment Method, if necessary
c. Change Payment Due Date to relax or restrict certain open items
d. Block/Unblock line items
4. Payment Run
After the payment proposal has been edited, you can run the Payment
Program that
creates the payment documents and prepares the data for printing the
forms or creating
the tape or disk. Before printing the forms, check the logs to determine
that the payment
program run was successful.
5. Print Run
Payment Medium Programs use the data prepared by the payment program to
create
forms (payment advice, EDI accompanying sheet, etc.) or files for the
data media. The
data created by the payment program is stored in the following tables:
REGUH Payee or Payment Method data
REGUP Individual Open Items data
REGUD Bank Data and Payment Amounts data
You need to define Variants for print programs, which need to be defined:
a. Per Payment Method per country->assign a Print Program
b. To run the Print Program->at least one Variant per Print Program
per Payment
Method
24. Can You Pay a Vendor in a
Currency Other than the Invoice Currency?
With release 4.5A, you can pay a
vendor in a currency that is different from that of the
transaction/invoice currency.
This is achieved by entering the required currency code directly in the open
item. Prior to this release, to pay in a different currency, you had to
manually process the payment.
25. What is a ‘Payment Block’?
A ‘Payment Block’ prevents you
from paying an open item of a vendor. The payment block is entered in the
‘Payment Block’ field in a vendor master record or directly in the open line
item. Use the payment ‘Block Indicators’ to define the ‘Payment Block Reasons.’
You may use the SAP delivered payment block indicators (A, B, I, R, etc.) or
create your own. An indicator such as is used when you want to skip the
particular account, and a blank indicator indicates that the account/item is
free for payment. However, for each of these ‘block indicators,’ you need to configure
whether changes would be allowed while processing the payment proposal. Then,
it is also possible to block a payment or release a blocked one while
processing the ‘Payment Proposal.’
You may also propose a ‘payment
block indicator’ while defining Terms of Payment.
26. How do You Release Blocked
Invoices for Payments?
The system will block an invoice
if it comes across with an item with a ‘Blocking Reason.’ The blocking reason
may be due to variances or inspection-related issues. When the system blocks an
invoice for payment, the ‘payment block’ field is checked by the system. You
will use an ‘Invoice Release Transaction’ to select the blocked invoices for
processing further. The ‘release’ of blocked invoices for payments can be
handled either manually or automatically.
27. What is the Account Assignment
Category?
The ‘Automatic Account
Assignment’ logic takes care of posting to the correct GL accounts for ‘Stock
Material’ with the ‘Material Type’ permitting inventory management, and the
material master contains information as to which GL account needs to be updated.
But there are material line items (‘Non-Stock’ materials) created manually in
the Purchase Requisition/Purchase Order/Outline Agreement for which someone
needs to decide the account assignment data and manually enter it in the
Purchase Requisition. Here, the Account Assignment Category determines where to
allocate the costs relating to such materials. The account assignment category
helps you to define the type of account assignment (Sales Order-C, Project-P,
Cost Center-K, etc.) and which accounts are to be posted to when GR/IR is
posted to.
28. What is a ‘Credit Memo’?
A ‘Credit Memo’ is issued by a
vendor who has earlier supplied you some services or materials. The occasion is
necessitated when the delivered goods are damaged or you have returned some of
the goods back to the vendor. The system treats both the invoices and the
credit memo in the same way, except that the postings are done with the
opposite sign. If the credit memo is for the entire invoiced quantity, the
system generates the credit memo automatically. However, if the credit memo
relates to a portion of the invoiced quantity, you need to process it manually
in the system.
29. What are ‘Special GL
Transactions’?
Special GL Transactions are not
directly posted to the GL (Reconciliation Accounts) though these are related to
sub ledger accounts such as AR/AP. The transactions to these accounts are shown
separately in the balance sheet. There are specific posting keys/indicators
defined in the system to regulate the postings to these items. You need to
specify a Special GL Indicator (such as a F-Down Payment Request, A-Down
Payment) for processing such a transaction. And the system will make use of the
specially defined posting keys (09-customer debit, 19-customer credit, 29-vendor
debit, and 39-vendor credit) for posting these special GL transactions.
There are three types of Special GL transactions:
1.
Free Offsetting Entries (Down Payment)
2.
Statistical Postings (Guarantee)
3.
Noted Items (Down Payment Request)
30. Differentiate ‘Free Offsetting
Entry’ from a Statistical Posting?
Free Offsetting Entry postings
are part of the regular postings but with a freely definable offsetting entry,
and relate to the On-Balance Sheet Items. On the other hand, in a Statistical Posting,
you will always be posting to the same offsetting entry, and these are all the
Off Balance Sheet Items.
31. What is a ‘Noted Item’?
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