Consolidation Chart of Accounts (SAP Library

Consolidation Chart of Accounts

Definition

Systematic classification of financial statement items that enables preparation of consolidated financial statements. The classification is based on the external or internal requirements regarding the consolidated financial statements that you want to prepare on the basis of the consolidation chart of accounts.

Use

For the administration of operational data, the consolidation units use local charts of accounts with corresponding levels of detail. To enable preparation of consolidated financial statements from the financial data of the consolidation units, however, the operational data must first be aggregated uniformly across the group and reported to the head office. In the head office, you therefore define one or more consolidation charts of accounts to be used by the consolidation units.

The following overview lists the predefined consolidation charts of accounts that are included in the standard system. These charts of accounts are structured according to statutory requirements. You can also define charts of accounts structured according to your internal reporting requirements.

Consolidation Charts of Accounts in the Standard System

Legal framework	Industry	Income statement accounting	Disclosure of retained earnings	Remarks
US GAAP	Manufacturing	Cost of sales	balance sheet	See 1
EU directives	Manufacturing	Period	income statement	See 1
EU directives	Manufacturing	Period	balance sheet	See 1
EU directives	Banking		income statement	See 2
Japanese GAAP	Manufacturing	Cost of sales	balance sheet	See 3

Notes:

The standard system contains subsequent Customizing settings for these consolidation charts of accounts with the corresponding financial statement items, such as data entry layouts.
The consolidation chart of accounts for Banking contains German item texts.
The consolidation chart of accounts for Japanese GAAP contains English item texts.

Structure

Like the dimension, the consolidation chart of accounts is one of the foundations in the architecture of consolidation. The consolidation chart of accounts is not dependent on any data except the client.

Note

The consolidation chart of accounts is therefore not dependent on the dimension. You can use a consolidation chart of accounts for multiple dimensions or consolidation types.

The financial statement items and the breakdown categories are dependent on the consolidation chart of accounts.

In the consolidation chart of accounts, you arrange the items into FS item hierarchies. For example, you define a consolidation chart of accounts with an FS item hierarchy for balance sheet items and a hierarchy for items in the income statement.

The following graphic illustrates part of an FS item hierarchy:

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text

You enter the following information in the master record of a consolidation chart of accounts:

The name of the consolidation chart of accounts
The output length of the item numbers
How the appropriation of retained earnings is stated
You can also set the master record of the items to read-only.