Overview
The definition of the financial statement item numbers and their properties is a crucial step during the implementation of the FI-LC System. FS items are the focal point for posting assignments in Consolidation, on which all consolidation processing is based.
Financial statement items
FS items are not exclusively accounting-related items on the balance sheet and income statement. The system is also capable of managing all types of statistical data and ratios under FS items (see
Ratios) and of storing these in the database.Also, the portrayal of so-called "sub-level item ranges" is generally possible. These contain breakdowns of detailed values for ‘main-level items’ on the balance sheet and income statement. The sub-level item ranges are entered on their own specific (data entry) form after entering their total value in the main-level form. Validation checks of their values should be performed. In general, it is not advisable to portray "sub-level item ranges" for consolidation items since the consolidation entries would have to be posted "after the fact" in the sub-level ranges.
Financial statement chart of accounts
The consolidation system employs exactly one chart of accounts. Its structure is freely definable - in particular, its sequence of items and its totaling capabilities.
Several FS charts of accounts which take into account various accounting requirements have been preset in the standard SAP system. The following list shows FS charts of accounts that are preset as of Release 3.0C, along with their accounting requirements:
Jurisdiction |
Branch |
Statement of Retained Earnings |
IS Accounting |
EC guidelines |
industry |
at the end of the income statement |
period accounting |
EC guidelines |
industry |
on the balance sheet |
period accounting |
Additional FS charts of accounts are scheduled for upcoming releases. These will cover the combinations listed above, the legal requirements for US GAAP, and the insurance and banking industries.
On installation of the FI-LC system, you can choose a default FS chart of accounts from those preset. Alternatively, you can create your own chart of accounts or derive one from other structures which already exist.
Creating different financial statements
If needed, you can generate separate financial statements according to different legal regulations (say, trade law vs. tax law), or according to different methods (e.g., period costing vs. cost of sales) after you have specified the FS chart of accounts. Generate the statements as follows:
The FS items used in the chart of accounts for consolidation are represented by item numbers with a maximum of 10 alphanumeric characters. 8-character item numbers have been pre-defined in the standard delivery system - these have been left-padded with two leading zeroes.