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Dealing with Payment Differences

Description

The process for payment differences in the form of residual items, partial payments, postings on account, and expense postings has been considerably enhanced in Release 3.0. The most important, new features include the following:

• You can set up several residual items per item.

• You can allocate a reason code and the business partner's reference information to each residual item.

• For each reason code, you can determine whether a new item is created in the customer or vendor account (outstanding receivable) or whether the difference is charged off.
  

• For each reason code, you can determine whether or not a new item being created is regarded as a disputed item . Disputed items do not increase the receivables that are relevant to the credit limit. You can display them separately.
  

• You can assign a reason code per partial payment.
  

• When there are differences without item reference, the difference can be divided up between different on account postings that have different reason codes and customer/vendor reference information.
  

• If you want to charge off the difference, you can define an account assignment model to simplify the posting entry.
  

• Payment notices to the customer or vendor can be chosen depending on the reason code.
  

• You can switch on an additional message requesting the user to check the difference when there are minor differences within the tolerance ranges.

Change system parameters in customizing

Settings and changes concerning the following points need to be made in the Financial Accounting Implementation Guide:

• Definition and classification of reason codes per company code.

• Marking the tolerance groups in which the payment notice type depends on the reason code.

• Account determination for the reason codes in which the difference is to be charged off.

• Account determination for unearned deductions (minor differences).

• Field selection for posting keys and accounts in which the reason code or the reference information can be assigned and displayed.

• Default setting for the message type for checking minor differences.
  

To define reason codes, select the "Define reason codes" step in the "Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable" Implementation Guide. For each reason code, you have to determine whether the difference is to be carried forward or charged off and whether a difference carried forward is regarded as a disputed item. Moreover, you can specify an individual form for the payment notice. The system creates this if the reason code is unique within an incoming payment and a payment notice type dependent on the reason code is desired for the business partner's tolerance group.

To send an appropriate payment notice to the business partner when there is a unique reason code within an incoming payment, you need to maintain the specifications for correspondence. To do this, choose the "Control the automatically generated payment notices" step in the "Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable" Implementation Guide. Per tolerance group, you can specify whether the payment notice type is to be determined according to the reason code in residual items, partial payments, or postings on account for the difference. If there are different reason codes for an incoming payment, the system determines the payment notice type by using the tolerance group.

For recognized differences you want to charge off, indicate the reason codes that belong to these differences. You can specify a separate account for each reason code as well as for each tax code. To do this, choose the "Define accounts for payment differences" step in the "Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable" Implementation Guide. After specifying the chart of accounts, you can enter the posting keys, the rules, and the account numbers for posting the payment differences.

For unearned deductions, there was, until now, one separate category in the tables for account determination. In the change-over to Release 3.0, unearned deductions will be processed in the same manner as payment differences without specified reason codes. During the import of Release 3.0, the system will automatically convert your existing entries. Thus, you will only need to maintain them if you want to change account determination for unearned deductions.

For more information, refer to the "Define accounts for payment differences" step in the "Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable" Implementation Guide.

The field status for accounts and posting keys determines whether the reason code as well as the business partner's reference information can be displayed in the line items and entered during manual posting.

To maintain the posting keys, choose "Define posting keys" in the "Financial Accounting Global Settings" Implementation Guide. After selecting a posting key, click on the Field status button to make the settings for the reason code and the reference key (partner) in the payment transactions group.

To adapt the field selection for accounts, proceed as follows:

• In the "Enter global parameters" step in the Financial Accounting Implementation Guide, determine the field status variant for the company code.

• In the G/L account master record, you will find the field status group.

• Using these two keys, you can find the respective field status definition in the Financial Accounting Implementation Guide. To do this, choose the "Define account groups for customers" and "Define account groups for vendors" steps in the "Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable"Implementation Guide.

• Using the Edit field status button, you can change the field status in the same manner as in the posting keys.

If you want the system to send another control before clearing is made when there are minor differences within the tolerance ranges, you need to activate this system message, which is delivered inactivated in the standard system. To do this, choose "Change message control for document processing" under "Financial Accounting Global Settings" in the Implementation Guide. Enter application area F5. On the following screen, choose New entries . Then enter message number 612 and the letter S in the Online column. Save your entry.

The reason codes and marking an item as disputed can be included in line layout variants in the line item display in the usual manner and can be used as criterion for the Find, Sort, Total and Additional field functions. They can also be used in totals variants.

For more information, refer to the steps for the work area "Display customer line items" and "Display vendor line items" in the "Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable" Implementation Guide.

Changes in procedure

On the screens for processing the open items within a clearing transaction, new fields were inserted at several positions.

For the totals, you will find the Reason code field under the total amount of the difference postings . On the screens for residual items and partial payments, you will find a corresponding input field for every active item.

If you always want to post residual items, partial payments or a difference without reference to an item on account, you can specify a reason code. You can enter further specifications on the difference by positioning the cursor on the required field and double-clicking. Alternatively, you can choose the Distrib.difference key or the Edit -> Distrib.difference path in the menu. The following additional entries are possible:

• For residual items, you can enter the reference information of the business partner and divide up the total amount into individual amounts, for which a different reason code or other reference information is specified.

• For partial payments, you can enter the reference information of the business partner.

• For postings on account without reference to an item, you can enter the reference information of the business partner and divide up the total amount into individual amounts. In this case, another reason code or other reference information can be given in each case. At this point, only reason codes with which the difference is not charged off are provided. If several accounts or company codes participate in clearing, you must additionally specify the required account number.

If you divide up the entire remaining amount, it is automatically ensured that the total of the partial amounts corresponds to the initial amount. For this reason, differences are assigned to the entry for which neither a reason code nor reference information of the business partner are specified. If such an entry does not exist, it is created by the system.

Automatic corrections are made the same way if the amount to be divided up is corrected following the division.

If you want to charge off the payment difference, you can do that with the help of an account assignment model . Account assignment models are a new utility for entering accounting documents. There is more on this in a separate release note.

In the account assignment model, you define, for example, the possible G/L accounts. These are proposed on an entry screen and you only need to complete the amounts and other specifications, such as business area or tax code.

In the Financial Accounting editing options, you define which account assignment model you want to use. You can reach these from the posting transactions via the Settings -> Editing options path.

On the screens for editing the open items, there is the Charge off diff. key by means of which you reach the account assignment model. Alternatively, you can choose the Edit -> Charge off difference path. If you have not predefined an account assignment model, you reach the document overview. In this case, you must make the charge-off of the difference as usual by entering individual line items.

Reason code and reference information of the business partner are also available when manually entering postings. As far as the fields are characterized as ready for input via the field statuses, you can enter the required data after performing the Further data function for the corresponding line items.

The Reason code and Reference key fields are available for the line item display and the OI processing for customers and vendors. They can be defined in the configuration as selection criteria or as fields for the search function and used in line layout variants.

With the fast entry of incoming payments, a selection according to the reference specifications of the business partner is also supported.

Disputed items do not result in an increase of the receivables relevant to the credit limit. Changing a reason code in the document automatically causes a corresponding adjustment of the receivables if as a result the item becomes a disputed or no longer disputed item. In the credit overview, the total of the disputed items is also specified in addition to the total of the line items, if the output of the line items was selected. A line layout variant that contains the reason code and the indicator for disputed items, can be chosen for the display of the line items in the credit overview.

Disputed items are not taken into account for the credit review against the open items.