Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
SAP FICO FREE STUDY MATERIAL FROM F2F INFOWARE, BANGALORE
                                                Finance 
Client: In commercial, organizational and technical terms, a self-contained unit in an R/3 System with separate master records and its own set of tables.
Company Code: The smallest organizational unit of Financial Accounting for which a complete self-contained set of accounts can be drawn up for purposes of external reporting.
Business Area: An organizational unit of financial accounting that represents a separate area of operations or responsibilities within an organization and to which value changes recorded in Financial Accounting can be allocated.
Social enterprise structure, description of the way in which an enterprise is organized, in divisions or user departments.The HR application component portrays the social structure of an enterprise
fiscal year variant: A variant defining the relationship between the calendar and fiscal year. The fiscal year variant specifies the number of periods and special periods in a fiscal year and how the SAP System is to determine the assigned posting periods.
Fiscal Year: A period of usually 12 months, for which the company produces financial statements and takes inventory. 
Annual displacement/Year shift: For the individual posting periods various entries may be necessary. For example, in the first six periods the fiscal year and calendar year may coincide, whereas for the remaining periods there may be a displacement of +1.
Chart of Accounts: Systematically organized list of all the G/L account master records that are required in a company codes. The COA contains the account number, the account name and control information for G/L account master record. 
Financial statement version: A hierarchical positioning of G/L accounts. This positioning can be based on specific legal requirements for creating financial statements. It can also be a self-defined order.
Account group: An object that attributes that determine the creation of master records. The account group determines: The data that is relevant for the master record A number range from which numbers are selected for the master records.
Field status group:  Field status groups control the additional account assignments and other fields that can be posted at the line item level for a G/L account.
Posting Key: A two-digit numerical key that determines the way line items are posted. This key determines several factors including the: Account type, Type of posting (debit or credit),Layout of entry screens .
Open item management: A stipulation that the items in an account must be used to clear other line items in the same account. Items must balance out to zero before they can be cleared. The account balance is therefore always equal to the sum of the open items.
Clearing: A procedure by which the open items belonging to one or more accounts are indicated as cleared (paid).
Reconciliation account: A G/L account, to which transactions in the subsidiary ledgers (such as in the customer, vendor or assets areas) are updated automatically.
Special G/L indicator: An indicator that identifies a special G/L transaction.Special G/L transactions include down payments and bills of exchange.
Special G/L transaction: The special transactions in accounts receivable and accounts payable that are shown separately in the general ledger and sub-ledger.
They include:
- Bills      of exchange 
- Down      payments 
- Guarantees      
House Bank: A business partner that represents a bank through which you can process your own internal transactions. 
Document type: A key that distinguishes the business transactions to be posted. The document type determines where the document is stored as well as the account types to be posted. 
Account type: A key that specifies the accounting area to which an account belongs.
Examples of account types are:
- Asset      accounts 
- Customer      accounts 
- Vendor      accounts 
- G/L      accounts 
Dunning procedure: A pre-defined procedure specifying how customers or vendors are dunned.
For each procedure, the user defines
- Number      of dunning levels 
- Dunning      frequency 
- Amount      limits 
- Texts      for the dunning notices 
Dunning level: A numeral indicating how often an item or an account has been dunned.
Dunning key: A tool that identifies items to be dunned separately, such as items you are not sure about or items for which payment information exists.
Year-end closing: An annual balance sheet and profit and loss statement, both of which must be created in accordance with the legal requirements of the country in question.
Standard accounting principles require that the following be listed:
- All      assets 
- All      debts, accruals, and deferrals 
- All      revenue and expenses 
Month-end closing: The work that is performed at the end of a posting period.
Functional area: An organizational unit in Accounting that classifies the expenses of an organization by functions such as: 
- Administration      
- Sales      and distribution 
- Marketing      
- Production      
- Research      and development 
Classification takes place to meet the needs of cost-of-sales accounting.
Noted item: A special item that does not affect any account balance. When you post a noted item, a document is generated. The item can be displayed using the line item display. Certain noted items are processed by the payment program or dunning program - for example, down payment requests. 
Accrual and deferral: The assignment of an organization's receipts and expenditure to particular periods, for purposes of calculating the net income for a specific period.
A distinction is made between:
- Accruals      - 
An accrual is any expenditure before the closing key date that represents an expense for any period after this date.
- Deferral      -
Deferred income is any receipts before the closing key date that represent revenue for any period after this date.
Statistical posting: The posting of a special G/L transaction where the offsetting entry is made to a specified clearing account automatically (for example, received guarantees of payment).
Statistical postings create statistical line items only.
Valuation area: An organizational unit in Logistics subdividing an enterprise for the purpose of uniform and complete valuation of material stocks.
Chart of depreciation: An object that contains the defined depreciation areas.It also contains the rules for the evaluation of assets that are valid in a specific country or economic area. Each company code is allocated to one chart of depreciation. Several company codes can work with the same chart of depreciation.The chart of depreciation and the chart of accounts are completely independent of one another.
Asset class: The main criterion for classifying fixed assets according to legal and management requirements.
For each asset class, control parameters and default values can be defined for depreciation calculation and other master data.
Each asset master record must be assigned to one asset class.
Special asset classes are, for example:
- Assets      under construction 
- Low-value      assets 
- Leased      assets 
- Financial      assets 
- Technical      assets 
Depreciation area: An area showing the valuation of a fixed asset for a particular purpose (for example, for individual financial statements, balance sheets for tax purposes, or management accounting values). 
Depreciation key: A key for calculating depreciation amounts.
The depreciation key controls the following for each asset and for each depreciation area:
- Automatic      calculation of planned depreciation 
- Automatic      calculation of interest 
- Maximum      percentages for manual depreciation 
The depreciation key is defined by specifying:
- Calculation      methods for ordinary and special depreciation, for interest and for the      cutoff value 
- Various      control parameters 
Period control method: A system object that controls what assumptions the system makes when revaluating asset transactions that are posted partway through a period.
Using the period control method, for example, you can instruct the system only to start revaluating asset acquisitions in the first full month after their acquisition.
The period control method allows different sets of rules for different types of asset transactions, for example, acquisitions and transfers.
Depreciation base: The base value for calculating periodic depreciation.
The following base values are possible, for example:
- Acquisition      and production costs 
- Net      book value 
- Replacement      value 
Controlling
Controlling Area: An organizational unit within a company, used to represent a closed system for cost accounting purposes. A controlling area may include single or multiple company codes that may use different currencies. These company codes must use the same operative chart of accounts.
Cost center std Hierarchy : Indicated hierarchy of cost center groups in which all cost centers in a controlling area are gathered together.
Cost element : A cost element classifies the organization's valuated consumption of production factors within a controlling area. A cost element corresponds to a cost-relevant item in the chart of accounts.
Primary cost element: A cost element whose costs originate outside of CO and accrual costs that are used only for controlling purposes
Secondary cost element: A cost element that is used to allocate costs for internal activities. Secondary cost elements do not correspond to any G/L account in Financial Accounting. They are used only in Controlling and consequently cannot be defined in FI as an account.
Cost element category: The classification of cost elements according to their usage or origin.
Examples of cost element categories are:
- Material      cost elements 
- Settlement      cost elements for orders 
Cost elements for allocating internal activities
Reconciliation ledger: A ledger used for summarized display of values that appear in more detailed form in the transaction data.
The reconciliation ledger has the following functions:
- Reconciles       Controlling with Financial Accounting: The reconciliation ledger provides       reports for monitoring the reconciliation of Controlling with Financial       Accounting by account.
- It       can identify and display value flows in Controlling across company code,       functional area, or business area boundaries
- Provides       an overview of all costs incurred : Reconciliation ledger reports provide       an overview of the costs and are therefore a useful starting point for       cost analysis. For example, an item in the profit and loss statement from       the Financial Information System (FIS) can be examined in the       reconciliation ledger reports with respect to the relevant costs. For       more detailed analysis, reports from other components within Controlling       can be accessed from the reconciliation ledger reports.
The definition can be based on:
- Functional      requirements
- Allocation      criteria
- Physical      location
- Responsibility      for costs
Cost center category: An attribute that determines the type of cost center.
Example
- F      - Production cost center 
- H      - Service cost center 
Controlling area: An organizational unit within a company, used to represent a closed system for cost accounting purposes. 
A controlling area may include single or multiple company codes that may use different currencies. These company codes must use the same operative chart of accounts.
All internal allocations refer exclusively to objects in the same controlling area.
Statistical key figure: The statistical values describing:
- Cost      centers 
- Orders      
- Business      processes 
- Profit      centers 
There are the following types of statistical key figures:
- Fixed      value - Fixed values are carried forward from the current posting period      to all subsequent periods. 
- Total      value - 
Totals values are posted in the current posting period only
Activity type: A unit in a controlling area that classifies the activities performed in a cost center.
Example
Activity types in production cost centers are machine hours or finished units.
Allocation cost element : A cost element used to illustrate activity allocation in terms of values. The allocation cost element is a secondary cost element , under which the activity type or business process is allocated.
The allocation cost element is the central characteristic used in all CO postings. It is therefore also an important criterion for reporting - for example, many reports are structured according to the posted cost elements.
Assessment cost element: A secondary cost element for costs that are assessed between Controlling objects.
Reposting: A posting aid in which primary costs are posted to a receiver object under the original cost element (the cost element of the sender object).
Repostings are used to rectify incorrect postings. The following methods are available:
- Transaction-based      reposting - 
Each posting is made in real time during the current period.
- Periodic      reposting - 
Produces the same results as transaction-based reposting. The costs being transferred are collected on a clearing cost center and then transferred at the end of the period according to allocation bases defined by the user.
Distribution: A business transaction that allocates primary costs.
- The      original cost element is retained in the receiver cost center. 
- Information      about the sender and the receiver is documented in the Controlling document.      
Assessment: A method of internal cost allocation by which you allocate the costs of a sender cost center to receiver CO objects (such as orders and other cost centers) using an assessment cost element. 
The SAP System supports the following:
- Hierarchical      method (where the user determines the assessment sequence) 
- Iterative      method (where the SAP System determines the sequence of assessment using      iteration). 
Example:
The costs from the cafeteria cost center could be assessed based on the statistical key figure "employee", which was set up on the receiver cost center.
Receiver cost center I has 10 employees, receiver cost center II has 90. The costs of the cafeteria cost center would be transferred (assessed) to receiver cost center I (10%) and receiver cost center II (90%). The credit on the cafeteria cost center and the debit of the two receiver cost centers are posted using an assessment cost element. Depending on the system setting, the total costs or some of the costs for the cafeteria cost center would be 
Internal order: An instrument used to monitor costs and, in some instances, the revenues of an organization.
Internal orders can be used for the following purposes:
- Monitoring      the costs of short-term jobs 
- Monitoring      the costs and revenues of a specific service 
- Ongoing      cost control 
Internal orders are divided into the following categories:
- Overhead      orders - For short-term monitoring of the indirect costs arising from      jobs. They can also be used for continuous monitoring of subareas of      indirect costs. Overhead orders can collect plan and actual costs      independently of organizational cost center structures and business      processes, enabling continous cost control in the enterprise. 
- Investment      orders - Monitor investment costs that can be capitalized and settled to      fixed assets. 
- Accrual      orders - Monitor period-based accrual between expenses posted in Financial      Accounting and accrual costs in Controlling. 
- Orders      with revenues - Monitor the costs and revenues arising from activities for      partners outside the organization, or from activities not belonging to the      core business of the organization. 
Order type: A tool that categorizes orders according to purpose.
The order type contains information which is necessary for managing orders. Order types are client-specific. The same order type can be used in all controlling areas in one client.
Example
- Production      orders 
- Maintenance      orders 
- Capital      investment orders 
- Marketing      orders 
Cost of sales accounting: A type of profit and loss statement that matches the sales revenues to the costs or expenses involved in making the revenue (cost of sales).
The expenses are listed in functional areas such as:
- Manufacturing      
- Management      
- Sales      and distribution 
- Research      and development 
Cost of sales accounting displays how the costs were incurred. It represents the economic outflow of resources.
 
