Paying for Goods and Services 

Purpose

In the Federal Government solution, goods and services are paid for using the standard functions provided by the SAP Financial Accounting (FI) application component.

However, the procedure used in Federal Government differs from the standard procedure in a number of important ways, which are addressed in this documentation.

Prerequisites

·        You need to switch on the payment method supplement field in customizing.

·        You need to configure the payment medium formats. To do this, go to the IMG and choose Financial Accounting ® Accounts Receivable and Payable ® Business Transactions ® Outgoing Payments ® Automatic Outgoing Payments ® Payment Media ® Make Settings for Payment Medium Formats from Payment Medium Workbench

For detailed information, see the documentation for the Payment Medium Workbench.

Process Flow

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       1.      Access FI accounts payable by choosing Financial Accounting ®Accounts Payable ®Periodic Processing ®Payments.

The Automatic Payment Transactions: Status screen appears.

       2.      Enter the run date. If you are entering more than one run on one date, enter an identification for each one.

       3.      Access the Parameter tab and enter the:

¡        Company code(s) for which you want to make payments

¡        Payment method(s) to be used

¡        Date of the next payment run

¡        Vendor accounts for payment

       4.      In the Free Selection tab, enter the values, such as document numbers, to be covered by this run.

Check the Exclude values box to process all values in the range except the ones you enter here.

       5.      On the Additional Log tab, select the additional information, such as the due date check, if any, that you want used.

Use the Printout /Data Medium tab only if you are using the conventional programs listed under Prerequisites above.

       6.      When you have made all your selections, save the data. Then choose Proposal.

       7.      In the Schedule Proposal dialog box, check the Create Payment Medium box. If required, also change the date or check the Start immediately box.

       8.      When the message Payment proposal has been created appears on the Status tab, you can display the proposal log.

       9.      If there are no errors, you can schedule the payment run.

The system generates one or more DME files to be transmitted to the Treasury Department. Each file is identified by a unique schedule number.

   10.      Transmit the DME file to the Treasury using the procedure standard to your agency.

Result

·        When you post the disbursement, the system does not create a check or check number. Instead, it posts the disbursement to a “disbursements in transit” (DIT) account. This is an open item account and contains an item for each payment that the US Treasury is to handle for your agency. You can display this account in the same way as you would any other G/L account.

·        On receiving the information contained in the DME file, the Treasury makes the payment.