The following particular specifications with regard to the document type are among those which are important if you make postings between affiliated companies:

• Multiple companies in a document
• Trading partner in the G/L account item.

To eliminate IC sales for the consolidation of several internal trading partners, the system must be able to recognize receivables and payables between affiliated companies. You therefore define a consolidation company ID in your customer and vendor master records. When you post to these accounts, the system automatically transfers the ID from the master record to the customer, vendor, and G/L account line item. The consolidation company ID, however, is not displayed in the line items.

When you post these receivables and payables, the system must be able to assign the revenue or expense items to exactly one affiliated company. During document entry, the system checks whether you are posting to companies that have the same consolidation company ID. If this is not the case, the system prevents any further entry.

In postings that do not have to be differentiated by affiliated company, the system does not have to check whether the companies have the same consolidation company ID. The consolidation company ID is not checked, for example, in incoming or outgoing payments. This means you can then make one bank posting to clear open items for several customers or vendors who represent different affiliated companies.

You use the document type to control whether the system checks the consolidation company ID. To allow users to post documents with different consolidation company IDs by using a particular document type, select the Multiple companies checkbox for that document type. Otherwise, only one consolidation company ID can be used in each document.

To consolidate companies, the system requires that the consolidation company ID is maintained in the G/L account item when posting revenue and expense items for affiliated companies. The consolidation company ID is needed to eliminate IC sales.

The system determines this ID from the customer or vendor master record and automatically enters it into the trading partner field in the line item. When you are manually posting to G/L accounts only, the system cannot determine the ID from the master record. You therefore must be able to enter it into the G/L account item yourself. It must also be possible to enter the ID into the trading partner field during automatic adjustment postings, for example, for foreign currency valuation. The system determines the ID from the customer or vendor master record.

You use the document type to control whether an entry can be made in the trading partner field. To allow users to enter a trading partner in G/L account items, select the Enter trading partner checkbox for the document type.